What is the Good News of Grace for all People?
The gospel literally means “good news.” But in order to have good news, there must first be bad news. The bad news is this: each one of us was born with a broken relationship with God. The Bible says “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). We all don’t measure up to God’s standard because of the wrong things we have thought, done, or said.
God has revealed His character and who He is to us through the Bible. The Ten Commandments, His law, and all of Scripture teach us that He is a God of absolute standards. Because of his purity, holiness, and hatred of sin he promises that he will punish everyone that goes against has absolute standards on the Day of Judgment. He even tells us that the punishment will be everlasting in what is called a lake of fire. The problem is that there is not one person that can faithfully keep and obey all of his standards and commandments, so according to His law, we are all doomed to Hell.
This broken relationship, due to sin between man and God, is the exact reason why Jesus came to this earth. Although God is holy and he does judge sin, the Scriptures also reveal to us that he is merciful, loving, and forgiving. Therefore, he sent Jesus to be judged in the place of sinful man, to make a way for restoration between man and God. Jesus made a way to be forgiven. Through his death, burial, and resurrection, Jesus communicated his great love for sinners.
Jesus also said that wide is the gate that leads to destruction and many enter it, and narrow is the road that leads to life, and only a few find it (Matthew 7:13,14). How do you go through the narrow road to eternal life? How do you restore your broken relationship with God? How do you take part of the complete forgiveness of God? How are you saved from the judgment of a God of purity and absolutes? Well, let me tell you what it is not.
It is not a matter of turning over a new leaf. It is not a matter of getting back in church. It is not a matter of trying to obey God's commands more, and it is not trying to live a better life. Those are all works or deeds, and they are the result of becoming a Christian, not the foundation. The only way to be forgiven and be restored in your relationship with God is through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.
You repent of your sins and your sinful life, which means you are convicted that you sin, you acknowledge your sin to God, and due to a changed heart you are willing to turn from your old way of life. Along with your repentance you place your faith in Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and Lord. He becomes the most important relationship in your life as you place your faith in Him. This repentance and faith in Jesus Christ becomes the foundation of your restored relationship with God. It is the foundation of your complete forgiveness and new life. Jesus says that all who hears His words and in believes in God, who sent him, shall have Eternal Life (John 5:24).
Where are you at right now? Have you experienced a genuine conversion through repentance and faith? If you have, you know it, because ever since your life has not been the same. If you have not, the Scriptures say that today should be the day of your salvation. Do not spend another day spiritually lost with a broken relationship with God. Seek repentance and faith in Jesus Christ and you will experience a restored relationship with the Father, and you will have a new life as a follower of Jesus Christ.