I'M NEW

the good news

The Gospel is the heart of the Christian faith. The term Gospel simply means good news. It is a joyful announcement of something that has already been done for you. 


We were all born alienated from God because of our sin. Scripture makes that clear in Romans 3:23: All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. In other words, every single person who has ever lived has sinned and as a result cannot enjoy the close personal relationship with God that we were meant to have. We were born permanently separated from God, and there is nothing we could ever do on our own to be reconciled to him. Reconciliation required God’s intervention.


Out of his immeasurable love for us, God sent his son Jesus Christ into this world – fully human and fully God – to live a perfect life and die on a Roman cross in our place. He took on the penalty of our sins and dealt with them once and for all. Jesus has already done this. It is finished. The Gospel is the good news that Jesus has already died for you and offered you salvation from your sins. He did not wait to do this until you had everything together. He did it while you were still far away.


Romans 5:6-8 sums this up: At just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.


Scripture is clear that we are saved not because of our works – we could never be good enough to earn our way to heaven. We are saved because of Christ’s work on the cross. We are rescued because of God’s grace. Ephesians 2:8-9 says it this way: It is by grace you have been saved, through faith -- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God -- not by works, so that no one can boast.


Our salvation is a gift. We do not earn it in any way. The only thing we have to do to be saved is to place our trust in Christ for our salvation – to ask him to come into our lives and rescue us. The moment we do that, we are fully and finally forgiven of any sin we have ever committed or will commit, and we have the assurance of a relationship with God now and eternity with him in heaven.


That’s the Gospel, the good news! If you would like to respond to this good news and place your trust in Christ, all you have to do is pray and ask Jesus to save you. There are no specific magic words to pray, what matters most is what’s in your heart. But, here is an example of something you might pray: 


Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner. I know that there is no way I could ever save myself. I confess that I need you. Thank you for dying on the cross in my place. Please save me, Jesus. Rescue me. Come into my life and change me. Wash me clean from my sins and give me a new life. I know I don’t have all the answers, but I trust you. Thank you for your love and your grace, and lead me in this new life. Amen.


If you just prayed that prayer or you placed your trust in Christ during one of our services, please email us at info@manchacabaptist.org and let us know so that we can celebrate with you and talk about you getting baptized you as a part of that celebration.