The Gospel
There is a fundamental difference between religion and Christianity
that can be summarized in two words: DO and DONE.
DO
Ultimately, religion puts a high emphasis on doing enough good or religious
things to somehow please God, earn his forgiveness, and gain entrance
into heaven. This self-effort plan can take many forms, from trying
to be a moral, decent person to becoming an active participant in an
organized religion (even Christianity). This may be beneficial as far
as it goes but there are two significant problems with this approach.
How can a person know that he or she has ever done enough? How can we be assured of peace with God when it all depends on us? At best, all we can do is cross our fingers and hope that God grades on a curve.
Even more serious is the fact that the Bible makes it clear that we can never do enough to merit God’s forgiveness or earn heaven. Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” and Romans 6:23 adds, “For the wages (penalty) of sin is death…”.
Simply put, the DO plan cannot bring us peace with God or even peace with ourselves. The bad news is that we are stuck on an endless treadmill of trying to gain something that is completely out of our reach. That is, unless God first reaches to us.
DONE
Christianity is spelled D-O-N-E. In other words, what we could never
do for ourselves, Christ has already done for us. He lived the perfect
life we could never live, and He died in our place on the cross to
pay the just penalty for all of our wrongdoings. And now he freely
offers us the gift of forgiveness and leadership in our lives – “The
wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ
Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23).
This priceless gift is called the Good News or Gospel. Think of the joy, not to mention the relief of dismounting the treadmill of counting on your efforts in order to put your trust in the perfect work of Christ DONE on your behalf.
WHAT MUST
I DO?
Again, you and I bring nothing to the table except a humble awareness
of our need and a willingness to accept Jesus Christ as our Forgiver
and Leader (Savior and Lord). God offers this Gift, but He won’t
force you to receive it. However, once you ask Him for His forgiveness
and leadership in your life, your DOING changes dramatically from
that moment on. Would you agree that there is a fundamental difference
between doing things in order to be saved by God and doing things
because you already are saved? Motivation means the world when you’re
living a certain way because of love and gratitude versus doings
things under threat or obligation.
Here’s how the Apostle Paul
says it:
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and
this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works,
so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us
to do.”
Ephesians 2:8-10 (N.I.V.)
If you want to exchange your DO for Christ’s DONE, here’s how you (and anyone) can receive this GIFT:
ADMIT: Tell God you are a sinner and offer no excuses. You’re not telling Him something He doesn’t already know, but you won’t really believe you need the Good News until you squarely face the bad news (see Romans 3:10, 11).
BELIEVE: You’re not cleaning yourself up for God (you can’t); you’re banking everything on the perfect life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ on your behalf. Tell God in your own words that you are putting your faith in Jesus Christ as your forgiver and leader (see John 1:12).
CONFESS: There is a need to say out loud what has transpired in your heart (see Romans 10: 9). Tell another Christian of your decision. Christian baptism is a biblical way of confessing your new identity and entry into a new life (see Acts 2:38 or Romans 6: 3, 4).
If you have any questions about anything you’ve read here or would like to talk to somebody about your relationship with God, feel free to contact one of our Pastors or members at Roxbury.
