The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. 1 Timothy 1:15
If you were to ask a group of Christians “do you believe the gospel?” most of them would emphatically answer, “of course!” Yet, if you then asked them what the gospel is, odds are you will get a lot of ‘ums’ and blank stares. It is imperative that we know and understand the gospel we say we believe. Romans 1:16 says that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation for those who believe. If eternal salvation hangs in the balance, shouldn’t we make sure that we understand the gospel?
In its most basic understanding, the gospel is the ‘good news’ that Jesus Christ came to die for sinners. Why is this good news, you ask? It is good news because you and I are sinners. All have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory (Rom. 3:23). We are all deserving of death and hell for our sins against the one, true, and holy God, according to Romans 6:23. But, as we see in the second part of that verse, “the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus our Lord.”
Jesus, the perfect Son of God, came from heaven to earth to die the death that we deserved. He bore our sins on the cross where He died the death of a criminal. He was buried in a rich man’s tomb. Then, three days later, He rose victoriously from the grave, defeating the power of sin, death, and hell! If we believe in Him, we will be saved from God’s coming wrath and receive that incredible gift of eternal life (John 3:16).
Application:
Every Christian should become well acquainted with the gospel. In the words of Jerry Bridges, we should (literally) preach the gospel to ourselves daily. The gospel is like a jewel with many facets, so we will never stop learning new things. But at a minimum, we should be able to tell others the simple, yet powerful, good news that Jesus came to save sinners.
The Real Zeal 