The Gospel

The truth of the gospel sets us free. Free from striving, free from guilt, free from our chains. The gospel begins with the truth that every single one of us are needy and desperate for a Savior, because no one is righteous, not even one (Romans 3:10). No one can work for the love of God, nothing we could ever do could be looked at by the Father as good because our works are filthy rags in front of Him. When this stands alone, I feel pretty defeated, pretty helpless. But this is where the hope comes through Jesus Christ. Jesus, complete in His deity and in His flesh, came to the world to live a sinless life and die on the cross, as the atoning sacrifice for our past, present and future sins. Through our faith in Jesus Christ, we are saved-made new. We are justified freely by His grace (Romans 3:24) and this is a gift that only the Father can give. It is nothing we have done, but only by the love, grace and mercy of God that we can have a relationship with Him. Once we have put our faith in Jesus Christ, there is no longer any condemnation for us. NONE. This is the hardest concept for me to grasp, because when we become Christians and live out the journeys of our lives, we continue to mess up over and over again. In my flesh, I feel guilt for my failings and feel like I have to work my way back to the love of God. But once we have crossed over from death to life, He has granted us unmeasurable love, unmeasurable grace and unmeasurable spiritual blessings. He is bigger than our failings, bigger than our weaknesses. The gospel brings me back to complete dependance upon Him. When I am weak, He is strong. He wants me to rely and rest solely on Him. And for me and my go-getter self, I will usually only do that when I am broken down and on my knees. So continuously, He will lead me to this point. But I can have hope when I am on my knees-because Jesus Christ already paid the price for MY sin. His love and His grace are big enough for my sinful self, wandering heart and selfish deeds. Praise be to Him.