Before we can understand the good news, we first need to understand the bad news.
Although God is holy and sinless, you and I are not. Because we sin, we can't stand in the presence of God. Have you ever wondered why people die? It's because the penalty for our sinfulness is death. The Bible tells us that beyond physical death, there is something called the "second death." The second death is a painful separation from God forever. You and I have a major problem.
1 Samuel 2:2; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:23; Isaiah 59:2; Hebrews 9:27; Revelation 20:14
The Bible says that whether we sin a little or shred God's law into dust, the result (death) is the same. It also doesn't matter how we sever our connection with God (lying, cheating, disrespecting our parents, using God's name flippantly, having sex outside of marriage, hurting someone, holding a grudge,...). If our sin is what separates us from God, then couldn't we just do enough good to outweigh the bad? God says no. "Works" is the word the Bible uses for those things we do to try to fix our problem. ...you know, things like penance, baptism, prayer, rituals, giving money, serving in soup kitchens, going to church. But according to the Bible, you and I can't be good enough or do enough good things to bridge the gap between us and God. It's literally impossible. Even at our very best, we fall far, far short of God’s standard: perfection. We are powerless to fix our problem. You and I stand condemned and are absolutely helpless to do anything about it. Where's the good news in that?!?
Ecclesiastes 7:20; James 2:10; Romans 3:20
"While we were still helpless," God Himself did something to save us from the second death. God clothed Himself in human flesh and stepped into history. He was called Jesus Christ. Jesus taught the truth, healed people, performed miracles, and loved people so deeply that He took the sins of the entire world on Himself. Because Jesus bore our sins, and the penalty for sin is death, that meant Jesus had to die in our place for our sins. Jesus was killed by being nailed to a cross. He paid off our sin debt once and for all. Jesus came back to life, proving that our sin debt really has been paid in full! Because Jesus lives forever, he has the ability to raise us to eternal life, too. Jesus' work on the cross is the only thing sufficient to provide forgiveness and bridge the chasm between us and God. He offers this gift of forgiveness to you and me. How do we receive this gift?
Romans 5:6; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; Isaiah 53:5; John 14:6; Colossians 2:14; Acts 13:38
If you believe that Jesus is who He says He is and that He did what He said He did, then God forgives your sin (past, present, and future) and gives you eternal life. To believe means not only to agree that something is true, but to rely on it—to trust it fully. That's sometimes referred to as having faith. Believe the good news that Jesus' work on the cross is all you need to go to heaven—that there's nothing you can add to or substitute for what He did. Jesus' blood is the only currency God accepts. Our currency ("works") is worthless. What you and I could not do for ourselves, God did for us! By grace we have been saved. Grace means undeserved favor. We don't earn or deserve eternal life. Instead, we have earned the second death. God offers us this incredible gift of life forever with Him out of sheer grace. Will you trust Jesus as your own personal Savior today?
John 3:16; John 3:18; Ephesians 1:7; Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 6:23; John 10:28; Isaiah 61:10
Now get rooted in God's truth. Get to know what the Bible says. Cultivate a relationship with Jesus. You're welcome to start by going through the sermons on this website so that your understanding grows. You'll come to know who you are, your purpose in this world, what ‘eternal life’ means in both the present and future, what God's character is like, how to navigate successfully through life, basic Bible doctrine, God's revelation about the future, and more.
John 14:16-17; John 16:7-15; Romans 8:1-11; 1 Corinthians 12:12-14; 2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13-14; Ephesians 4:30
Men and women were created by God in His image. The disobedience of the first man, Adam, led to both the physical and spiritual death of all mankind. Everyone is born with a sinful nature and has become alienated from a holy God. There is nothing that anyone can ever do on their own to remedy this sin problem, and they can be saved only through the work of Jesus Christ.
Genesis 1:26-27; John 3:16; Romans 3:9-12; Romans 3:23-25; Romans 5:12, Romans 5:18-19; Ephesians 2:12
Each person can only be saved by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus as their Savior. All people are born with a sin nature and are therefore justly condemned to eternal separation from God. Through His grace and mercy, God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross as full payment for the sins of the world. Jesus died, was buried, and physically rose from the dead on the third day. All who believe are declared righteous by God, born again of the Holy Spirit, granted eternal life, and adopted as His children. Once saved, believers can never lose their salvation. The assurance of their salvation rests entirely in the work of Jesus Christ.
John 3:3-8; John 3:16; John 6:40; John 10:27-30; Acts 16:31; Romans 3:21-24; Romans 8:1; Romans 8:14-16; 1 Corinthians 15:3-8; Ephesians 1:7; Ephesians 2:8-9; 1 Timothy 1:16; 1 Peter 1:18-19
The Holy Spirit indwells all believers, and God calls believers to be holy, as He is holy. At the moment of salvation, all believers receive a new spiritual nature and are no longer slaves to their old sin nature. However, they still retain their old sin nature, which is in direct conflict with the new nature. Sanctification is the ongoing process by which God, through the Holy Spirit, helps believers to grow in holiness and resist the temptations of their sin nature. Although believers may sometimes stumble, there is nothing that a believer can do to lose his salvation. This assurance should not be used as a license to sin or legalism.
Matthew 5:13-16; Romans 6:5-13; Romans 12:1-2; Galatians 5:13-25; Ephesians 4:17-32; Colossians 3:1-17; 1 Peter 1:14-16
The Church consists of all believers who have placed their faith in Christ as their Savior. It is a living body, of which Christ is the head, and its mission is to evangelize, baptize, and disciple people of all nations. The local church is an assembly of believers that has been organized to carry out the work of the Church and administer the ordinances of believer’s baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 9:31; Romans 12:5; 1 Corinthians 12:12-17; Ephesians 1:20-23; Colossians 1:18; Hebrews 10:25
All believers are given spiritual gifts to equip them for ministry and edify the Church. Sign gifts are distinct from other spiritual gifts and include speaking in tongues, prophesying, and healing. Sign gifts were given for the specific purpose of authenticating the gospel message and the ministry of those who preached it within the early Church, and they are not normative for the Church today. There is only one baptism of the Holy Spirit that takes place at the moment of salvation, and all believers are indwelled by the Holy Spirit.
Acts 2:38; Acts 4:10-16; Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 12:1-31; 1 Corinthians 13:8-10; Ephesians 4:7-13; Hebrews 2:4; 1 Peter 4:10-11
All believers are called to correctly handle God’s Word. The Bible is intended to be interpreted in a literal, historical-grammatical method, and this consistently literal hermeneutic must be applied to all of God’s Word. As a result of this approach, dispensationalism offers the best way to understand how God has worked throughout history. Salvation has always been by grace alone through faith alone, but God has worked in different ways (dispensations) at different times in history. These dispensations include innocence (Genesis 1:1-2:25), conscience (Genesis 3:1-7:24), human government (Genesis 8:1-11:32), promise (Genesis 12:1-Exodus 19:25), law (Exodus 20:1-Acts 1:26), grace (Acts 2:1-Revelation 20:3), and kingdom (Revelation 20:4). Because the Bible is to be interpreted literally, the Old Testament promises to Israel have not been transferred to the Church; they will be fulfilled just as God promised, and the Church has not replaced Israel in God’s program.
Genesis 1:1-2:25; Genesis 3:1-7:24; Genesis 8:1-11:32; Genesis 12:1-Exodus 19:25; Exodus 20:1-Acts 1:26; Acts 2:1-Revelation 20:3; Revelation 20:4; 2 Timothy 2:15
Jesus will return to earth in an imminent, personal, visible, and glorious manner, just as He promised. Prior to establishing His kingdom on earth, He will rapture His Church, ushering in the 7-year tribulation on earth for the purpose of preparing Israel for her Messiah. At the end of the seven years, Jesus will return to earth with His Church to establish the millennial Messianic Kingdom. At the end of Jesus’ thousand-year reign, Satan and all unbelievers will be judged and thrown in the lake of fire, where they will suffer everlasting punishment. Following this judgment, God will establish a new heavens and a new earth, where believers will be surrounded by the everlasting presence of God.
Note: While this view of the end times is the most accurate according to a literal interpretation of Scripture, it is not an essential doctrine, and there may be differing beliefs among Christians concerning the end times (1 Corinthians 13:9-12).
Daniel 9:25-27; Zechariah 12:1-14:21; Matthew 24:3-51; 1 Corinthians 13:9-12; 1 Corinthians 15:51; Philippians 3:20; 1 Thessalonians 3:13; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17; Titus 2:11-14; Revelation 6:1-22:21