The first thing that people need to understand about the Gospel is that it's simple, it's
easy.
The Bible says, "But I fear lest by any means as the serpent beguile leave through his subtlety,
so your mind should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ."
So the Bible clearly tells us that there's simplicity in the Lord Jesus Christ and that
there's simplicity in salvation.
So salvation is not a complicated thing.
No matter what any internet teacher might say, no matter what any person might preach
out there, the Bible says that the Gospel is simple, that it's easy.
The Bible simply even says just believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.
And so the first thing that people need to understand before being able to be saved is
that they're not saved and that they are condemned if they have not believed on the name of the
Son of God.
The Bible says, "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God."
And so obviously all of us are sinners, none of us are exempt from that.
And the Bible does say that sin is the transgression of the law.
So when we break God's law, we sin.
And the Bible says that there's a penalty for sin, the Bible says that the wages of
sin is death.
And so because we're sinners, one day we're going to have to die.
Now you only have to do one sin to be a sinner and the Bible says that all liars shall have
their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.
Now I know that everybody's lied before, I've lied before, you know, and if you say that
you haven't lied before, you're lying right now, you're lying to yourself.
And so everybody's committed sin and we've all done stuff worse than lying.
So according to God's word, we would deserve hell.
The Bible says, but the fearful and the unbelieving and the abominable and murderers and whoremongers
and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth
with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.
And so that's what we deserve for our sin is the second death.
And without Christ, the Bible says that we will go there, we will have to pay for our
own sins and endure the second death, which goes on forever and ever.
But the Bible says that God commendeth his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us.
And so even though we were sinners, even though we didn't deserve the gift of salvation and
the opportunity to go to heaven, Jesus Christ took our place as a substitute.
The Bible says that he was God manifest in the flesh and so Jesus was basically God with
skin on.
And the Bible says that he did not commit any sin.
The Bible says he was tempted at all points, like as we are, yet without sin.
So Jesus was fully God and fully man.
And Jesus went about doing many miracles and Jesus would always tell the truth.
Because sometimes whenever you tell people the truth, they get really offended.
And they got so offended at the words of Christ that they took and nailed him to the cross.
And the Bible says that while Jesus was on the cross, it says who his own self bear our
sins in his own body on the tree.
So literally every sin I've ever done, every sin you've ever done, it was as if Jesus had
done it himself.
You know, he was being punished in our place for our sins.
And so he was the substitute lamb.
He was the one who came and took our sins upon his own shoulders on that cross and bear
them in his own body, as the Bible says.
The Bible even says that Christ died for us.
And so Jesus took our place.
He took my place, he took your place.
And salvation is actually as simple as that.
It's as simple as realizing that you can't save yourself and that you're a sinner and
you deserve hell.
But Jesus Christ himself came and took your place, took your sins and my sins and bear
them in his own body and wiped away that punishment and was the substitute lamb for us.
Now obviously they took Jesus' body down and buried it, but three days later he rose again
from the dead.
And that's the gospel, is believing that Jesus died for your sins, was buried and rose again.
The Bible even just simply says in Acts 16, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou
shall be saved."
Now it doesn't say thou might be saved or thou could be saved or you just might make
it somehow.
No, the Bible says that if you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ or you trust him and
what he did on that cross, you shall be saved.
There isn't any question about it.
When you put your trust in Christ, he promises to hold on to you.
And one of the most important things to understand is that once you're saved, you're always saved.
The Bible says in John 5, 24, "Jesus said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth
my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come
into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life."
And so those are some pretty powerful words that tell us that once we trust Christ, once
we receive that gift of salvation, that we are passed from death unto life.
And he also says that you have everlasting life.
Now everlasting by definition goes forever, and so if I had eternal life today and I lost
it tomorrow, that didn't last forever.
And just as you may have children of your own, nothing that they could ever do would
be able to separate them from being your son or daughter.
And it's the same way with God.
Once you're born into his family, there's nothing that you can do to remove those genes.
The Bible says that it's not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according
to his mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost.
So when we get saved, it's not by our own righteousness, but by the righteousness of
Christ and by the washing of regeneration.
The Bible also says that to as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons
of God, even to them that believe on his name, which were born.
So you get born again into his family the moment you receive him as your savior.
Even the most famous verse in the entire Bible says, "For God so loved the world that he
gave his only begotten son."
So notice how it says he gave his only begotten son, it's a gift.
So when God gave Jesus as a gift to us, as a gift to mankind, a salvation, we just simply
receive it.
You don't work for a gift, you receive a gift.
So if God gave his only son, that tells me, and that tells anybody reading the Bible,
that you receive Christ as savior.
God makes a promise to everybody that trusts in him that he will never leave them nor forsake
them.
He will never leave thee nor forsake thee, that's a promise.
you