Essential Gospel Verses
What is the Bad News?
A friend said to me in my garden “I don’t need God, I’m fine as I am.”
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” Romans 3:23
What is the Gospel?
“The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God.” Mark 1:1
It centres on Jesus who is God’s son and our Saviour.
What are the implications of the good and bad news?
“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. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” John 3:16-18
What does ‘believe’ mean
Lady in 40s said that she had been a churchgoer all her life, accepted Christian ethics and believed in the importance of church but she had never entered into a personal relationship with Jesus. She asked ‘Does that mean I am not a Christian?’ The following was said to church people who were not devoted to Jesus
“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” Revelation 3:20
Salvation is given to those who are committed to Jesus and therefore live as he says,
“Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.” John 5:24
Can we be sure we have eternal life?
A medical student attending a Conference was on a walk. She had recently become a Christian. I asked her,
“So you have accepted Christ into your life but surely a much more important question is ‘Has Christ accepted me?’ How do you know he has accepted you and given you eternal life?”
The following are some promises of God
“Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” John 1:12
“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.” John 3:16
“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,” Romans 8:1
“Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.” 1 John 5:12-13
These verses on assurance are promises of God.
How do we receive salvation and what are we Christians for?
“ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:8-10
Are all Christians meant to share the gospel with others?
“ But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” 1 Peter 2:9
“I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” John 17:23
“ Yet I have written you quite boldly on some points to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles. He gave me the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:15-16
