The Gospel is God's solution to everybody's problem with sin. Sin is that which separates us from God, and having a complete, intimate relationship with him. “Everyone who commits sin practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.” (1 John 3:4)  Sin is anything which does not perfectly reflect God's holiness and his precepts. Sin is that which distorts the image of God within us and keeps us from the purpose for which we were created in God's image. Unfortunately, sin and sinning are the natural disposition of every person born into this world. Sin not only keep us from having a relationship with God the Father, it makes us the object of God's righteous anger. Sin is an affront to God's holiness; it cannot be tolerated in his presence and therefore must be destroyed. 

Since God is a God of justice, he must hold those responsible for breaking his laws accountable. Otherwise, lawbreakers have nothing to hold them back from breaking the law and continuing in sin. Without consequences for breaking the law, lawbreakers have nothing to fear. A law which is not enforced against those who break it, becomes meaningless. God punishes sinners because it is justice demands. Moreover, it helps lead to repentance. ““The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” (Proverbs 9:10) 

The Gospel is the answer needed to both our sin, and God's Wrath. The Gospel is the good news, which delivers us from the consequences of our sin and God’s righteous anger. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)  As harsh as it may sound, we ALL deserve to die for even if we were to only sin but one time. God is perfect, and demands we be perfect in order to come into his presence. One sin is all that is required to prove our unworthiness to come before the living God. “For whoever keeps the entire law, and yet stumbles at one point, is guilty of breaking it all.” (James 2:10)  Death is the just sentence for sin, because sin violates the life-giving law of Jesus. We can say death is less a sentence and more a consequence resulting from sin, but we all earn it from our sinful behavior.

Amazingly, the love of God is such that even though we richly earn, and deserve, death, God mercifully provides a divine provision to pay for our sin, so we don’t have to. His divine provision was made through Jesus Christ, the Son, when he went to the cross on our behalf, to die, and take away the sin of the world. (John 1:29)  Jesus, during his time on earth as a man, in his incarnation, lived a perfect life. He alone, of all mankind, did not earn, neither did he deserve to die. Nevertheless, he willingly went to the cross, a horrible form of torture and punishment, and willingly gave up his life. He did this not for himself, but for others. Moreover, he did so to offer his death, as an atonement, in the place of the death we all deserve to die. 

This is the truth of the Gospel and the cross: When we believe and trust that Jesus died in our place, that His death on the cross was to pay the penalty for our sins, and that His sacrifice is sufficient to fully cover our sin debt, He offers his death as a gift to pay for the guilt of our sins. In order to receive this marvelous gift, which the Bible calls the gift of salvation, all we need to do is believe in our hearts, and confess with our mouths, that Jesus is Lord. (Romans 10:9)

Confessing with our mouths affirms we are in agreement with what Jesus, and the Bible, say about how we can be saved. In other words, our confession must mean we are fully persuaded and trust everything we just learned about sin, and God’s provision to pay for sin, through Jesus Christ. At the same time, our confession must affirm Jesus is also Lord and God. For a man alone could not accomplish our salvation and save us from sin.  Only the divine work of God is able to forgive sin. ““I am the one (and only), I sweep away your transgressions for my own sake and remember your sins no more.” (Isaiah 43:25) 

As proof of Christ’s ability to take away sin, and as proof that he is God, he rose again from the dead, on the third day, after having been crucified to death. Since he was underserving of death, having never committed any sin, death could not hold him in the grave. “He did not commit sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth;” (1 Peter 2:22) “For this is the kind of high priest we need: holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.” (Hebrews 7:26)  Rising from the dead, he proved he was victorious over the very power of death. “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, he was buried, and he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.” (1 Corinthians 15:3–4) Moreover, he proved himself to, indeed, be the very God of Life. 

God, who is merciful and loving did this, “For God so loved the world, He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) So that, “Anyone who believes in him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.” (John 3:18) Eternal life is the reward God generously offers to sinners, which means every person who has ever be born into the world. He is truly a merciful and loving King. Not only does he offer us his own life in place of ours, but when we trust in his work, when we confess with our mouths and believe in our hearts that he is Lord, he also gives to us his very own righteousness. A righteousness which then allows us to come into the very presence of God. 

In other words, the Gospel, is everything we need to bring us, and keep us, in a loving relationship with the Living God. Do you believe this? If so, then you may be saved. Ask the Lord God for mercy to believe and be saved. Do not stop asking for the faith to believe fully until you are certain you have been saved. “Who knows? God may turn and relent; he may turn from his burning anger so that you will not perish.” (Jonah 3:9)