The Gospel

What is Salvation

To understand God's salvation, we must first understand our need for salvation. Since Adam and Eve committed the first sin by disobeying God's instructions in the Garden of Eden, everyone after that has been born into sin. We, like Adam and Eve, have been separated from God's original design by our sins.

GOD'S DESIGN

God has a design for every area of our lives—our families, marriages, (Genesis 2:24-25; Ephesians 5:22-6:4) money, sex life, work (Genesis 1:28) and just everyday life (Exodus 20:3-17). God designed us to be in relationship with Him, (Genesis 3:8-9) but we have all departed from that design (Genesis 3:1-19).

THE PROBLEM

The Bible calls this departure SIN. We’re born with a sinful nature so sin comes naturally to us. There is no one who gets it right all of the time. We all sin and fall short of God’s perfect design (Rom. 3:9-19, 23; Galatians 3:22; 1 John 1:8-10;). This sin leaves us in brokenness (Romans 5:12-19).  We see this brokenness in broken relationships, addiction, depression, discouragement, guilt and shame. The biggest signs of our brokenness are sickness and death because this was not part of God’s original design for us (Genesis 2:17).  And personally we see the brokenness in ourselves, as we fall short of what we know to be right (Romans 2:14-15).  We all want out of brokenness, so we try to fix it. We medicate it with drugs or numb it with alcohol, yoga, self-help books, religions, entertainment or even good works (Ephesians 2:3; Isaiah 64:6). We strive to be better people, hoping that somehow, someway, our good will outweigh our bad. We look for ways to alleviate our pain. When we do that, we just get more and more broken. (Matthew 16:26)

This feels like a bad thing, but in many ways, brokenness is a good thing because it’s the way God gets our attention. (Romans 1:18-20; 2 Corinthians 7:8-10; Luke 15:7)

We crave change – God offers it in Jesus Christ –

THE SOLUTION

We need change.  Brokenness gets us ready to try God’s solution, which is to REPENT and BELIEVE the gospel. (Mark 1:14-15; Acts 2:38, 17:30; Psalm 51:17.)  The change we really need comes from Jesus.

God sent Jesus to live a perfect life, die the death we deserve, and be raised to life again, (1 Corinthians 15:1-4; Acts 2:24-33) proving He is who He says He is and can do what He says He can do. Jesus came to forgive our sins and does it by taking our place in punishment. (Romans 3:21-28; Romans 5:6-11)  When we repent and believe in Him, He gives us His Spirit, who helps us RECOVER and PURSUE God’s design. (John 17:17-19) He also puts us in fellowship with his people where we serve and grow.  (Ephesians 4:11-12) Then we help others in brokenness to recover and pursue. (Matthew 28:18-20; 2 Corinthians 5:17-20)

ARE YOU READY?

Are you ready to accept the free gift of salvation? You can begin here:

  • Believe that Jesus is the Son of God.
  • Believe that Jesus died for your sins.
  • Believe that Jesus was raised from the dead, and now lives forever at the right hand of God in Heaven.
  • Turn away from your sins, and commit yourself to Jesus Christ and His ways.

We don’t believe that a prayer can save, only Jesus can. But to solidify your desire to follow Jesus, you’re welcome to pray the following:

God, I know I am a sinner and I have lived for other things besides you first. But I believe Jesus died for my sins and that somehow someway that crucifixion counted for me. And I believe He rose from the dead. From this day forward, as best as I know how, I will live for you first. I receive the gift of salvation by faith alone. Thank you God for making me a Son or Daughter.

If you just prayed this prayer…CONGRATULATIONS! Please email us and let us know! We would love to help you grow, because accepting Christ is just the beginning of an awesome life-long journey!