subject: THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO THE BIBLE [print this page] THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO THE BIBLE THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO THE BIBLE
There are various views today, even among professing Christians, as to what constitutes the Gospel and, along with this, who is the person of Jesus. Movies, books, and plays, recently have all had a part in this mixture of concepts regarding this subject. To add to this confusion Christians have not taken a stand and clearly spoken about Jesus and the Gospel.
The Bible makes it very clear about both, at least for those who believe the Bible to be the source of absolute spiritual truth. For people who do believe this way, many of them are ignorant of what the Bible has to say concerning this subject. How many people, including Christians, if asked on the spot, could give a concise and biblical answer?
I Corinthians, chapter l5, provides the answer, if one chooses to accept it. It says the Gospel consists of two basic elements: the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It then states that if these two tenets are not present, then preaching is in vain and we will die in our sins.
In contrast to all of this I have heard people say to just believe in Jesus. Well, I believe in Jesus and all of the other historical figures who have walked upon the earth down through human history. So what is the point if he is just another man? No other historical figure or religious leader, for that matter, was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, performed miracles, died on a cross, and rose from the dead? And, by the way, this is all recorded historical fact. No other person ever divided history into two sections: B.C. and A.D. Then there are the claims that He made about himself, which are recorded in the four gospel accounts, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. For a person to make the kind of claims that he made, he would have to be a lunatic, a liar, or exactly who he claimed to be. He was God in human flesh. Plus, much of the New Testament was written by people who had either first hand experience with Christ or were not more than a generation removed from the time that He lived. These people all agree that Christ is who He said He was.
So it really saddens me when people say that all one has to do is to believe in Jesus for salvation, because that puts it on the same level as saying that all that I have to do for my sins to be forgiven and to have eternal life, is to believe in Abraham Lincoln.
The Bible says that there is no other name given among men whereby we can be saved. I do not know about you, but I really think it is exciting that a person who was fully man and fully God, even though I do not understand how this could be, walked upon the earth in order to redeem mankind. By the way, did you know that some day in the future, which I personally believe will be fairly soon, Jesus Christ is coming back again. But this time it will not be as a baby; He will come back as King and Ruler of the Universe and will straighten out all of the mess that this world has gotten itself into. And He will give all people a final chance turn to Him. Where do you stand?
