Simiply the Gosple

I have just finished reading articles and looking at pictures of the earthquake that hit Haiti. The estimates of how many people have died are horrific. An estimated 500,000 could be the death toll as a result of the earthquake. My prayers are with them, however its too late for what a lot of them needed. I was writing about the Gospel before the quake and do not want this seen as a response to the catastrophe, but use the event to as a wake-up call to a message I wanted out here. And yes, my thoughts, prayers and tears are with the Haitians.

The Gospel

How many ways are there to get to Heaven and am I going? Its a good question especially among the plethora of answers that can be given. As simply or harsh as this sounds the fact is that there is only one way to Heaven; There is only one way to please God.

John 14:6 (NIV)
"Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'"

Jesus is the ONE and ONLY way to get to Heaven. It's so simply. It bothers me that people want there to be many, many ways to get to Heaven when the only way is so simple, loving, peaceful, and full of joy.

If Jesus is the only way to get to Heaven, we should be telling everyone, right? No, we like to guard Gospel, protect it, shield it, hide it, and in most cases just don't know it. This is serious! People are Dying! As Francis Chan said during a sermon, we like to think of Noah's ark and all the pretty animals and the big boat, but the reality is that millions of people died and went to Hell. In one shake of the earth in Haiti 500,000 people are dead. What are the chances they knew Christ? This should not just make us upset but be in pain for those who know Jesus. Paul said, "I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit— I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, the people of Israel."- Romans 9:1-4 (NIV). It is for the reason of saving people that Jesus Christ came to earth and His Gospel is the source and the power that we have been given to show people "The Way".

Romans 1:16 (NIV)
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.

I want to make the Gospel as simple as possible. I have narrowed it down to 3 verses. 3 verses that are easy to remember and help us walk through the entire Gospel of Christ hitting upon the essentials of salvation. Let's walk through it as if we were explaining it to someone else.

Romans 3:23
"...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

• What is sin? Sin is what is wrong in the eyes of God. Many of which are bad in the minds of people. Lying, Murder, Adultery, and Theft are all recognized by the majority as wrong. They are also sins
• Who has sinned? The answer is, "All" we have all sinned. All is everyone!
• What is the glory of God? God is perfect and Holy, He has not sinned, will not ever sin and can not sin. He cannot even be around sin.
• Are we perfect like God? Obviously not, we fall short.

Romans 6:23
"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

• What is a wage? It is something that you earn. When you get a job you probably get money for working, that is your wage.
• What is the wage of sin? Death. We all die a physical death, our hearts will stop beating and lungs stop working and our brain will not function and we will be dead. This death is spiritual death. God is the giver of life, being separated from Him is death, it is the separation from God that is death and that the dead live is Hell.
• This means we have earned death. We deserve death. We deserve to be separated from God because of our sin.
• What does a gift cost? Nothing, you are given a gift and it cost you nothing
• What is the gift God is offering? Eternal life, being with Him forever. Is death is being away from Him, life is being with Him.
• Through who do we get this life? Jesus Christ.

John 3:16
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

• Who does the word world include? All or everyone.
• What does it mean that He gave His one and only Son? He sent His only perfect Son, Jesus to us, and He was killed as a substitute for our sins. He died so we could have eternal life.

So how do we get saved through Jesus?

Romans 10:9
"That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."

• What does it mean to Confess? To say it with honesty. If you confess to something that you did wrong, you are telling the truth.
• What is a Lord? A Lord owned a large amount of land and allowed other to farm on it in return for protection. If the Lord said something it was the law, you did what the lord of the land said. Kind of like a king. Thus, Jesus is the Lord of lords, and King of kings.
• What is it that you are believing?
• What will happen if you confess and believe? YOU WILL BE SAVED.

That's it, that is what every believer should know and even more be sharing with everyone they meet. It is serious, people are dying! 4 verses, get with it.

Romans 3:23
Romans 6:23
John 3:16
Romans 10:9