UNASHAMED
“The Gospel”
1 This letter is from Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, chosen by God to be an apostle and sent out to preach his Good News. 2 God promised this Good News long ago through his prophets in the holy Scriptures. 3 The Good News is about his Son. In his earthly life he was born into King David’s family line, 4 and he was shown to be the Son of God when he was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit, He is Jesus Christ our Lord. 5 Through Christ, God has given us the privilege and authority as apostles to tell Gentiles everywhere what God has done for them, so that they will believe and obey him, bringing glory to his name. 6 And you are included among those Gentiles who have been called to belong to Jesus Christ. 7 I am writing to all of you in Rome who are loved by God and are called to be his own holy people. May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. Romans 1:1-7 NLT
You are not ready for the Bible’s good news until you understand the Bible’s bad news.
• The Bible tells us that all of us are sinners, and it tells us that the wages of sin is death.
• The Bible tells us that outside of the Lord Jesus Christ the bad news is that people who die in their sins and go to a terrible place called hell.
The word Gospel means good news.
Good News – The God of Creation clothed Himself in flesh, came into the world born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, went to the cross dying a substitutionary death on behalf of sinners in order to receive the judgment we deserved and to offer to sinners forgiveness and His righteousness.
Christ suffered for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to God. He suffered physical death, but he was raised to life in the Spirit. 1 Peter 3:18 NLT
You’ve got to believe.
1 Let me now remind you, dear brothers and sisters, of the Good News I preached to you before. You welcomed it then, and you still stand firm in it. 2 It is this Good News that saves you if you continue to believe the message I told you – unless, of course, you believed something that was never true in the first place. 3 I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. 4 He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 NLT
This is accomplished from start to finish by faith in what God has done.
16 For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes – the Jew first and also the Gentile. 17 This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.” Romans 1:16-17 NLT
The evidence of our faith is our obedience and our actions.
21 “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. 22 On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ 23 But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’ Matthew 7:21-23 NLT
22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! Galatians 5:22-23 NLT
To proclaim the gospel is to declare Christ’s death, burial and resurrection.
Next Steps for me today…
• To fully understand God’s bad news for those who reject His provision for salvation in the person of Jesus Christ.
• To put my faith in Jesus Christ and what He has done to pay for my salvation.
• To commit to share this good news with everyone that I can.