John 20:30-31: Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Jesus did all sorts of things not written and it doesn’t matter because we have what we need to know to be saved
Don’t need anything added to the gospel message
Nothing is missing from the gospel message
Eph 1:13: “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit”
WHEN you HEARD the gospel AND BELIEVED
SEALED, by God, with the Holy Spirit.
These are the essential truths of the most important and most powerful message in all of eternity:
Slaves to sin are in an eternal spiritual debt because of sin, need a savior to free them from the penalty of their sin and pay their debt owed because of sin.
Jesus was perfect
Jesus born of a virgin (Is. 7:14)
Jesus lived a sinless life (1 Pet 2:22; Heb 4:15; 2 Cor 5:21; 1 John 3:5; 1 Pet 1:19)
Jesus is of God
Jesus performed miracles, foretold the future, read minds, controlled the weather, raised the dead, and revealed God’s truths
Jesus fulfilled prophecies
Jesus was the perfect sacrificial lamb for the sins of the world that the day Passover was pointing to
Jesus claimed to be God (John 8:57-58 [Ex 3:14]; 10:30-33; 20:28; Mark 10:17)
Jesus accepted worship like God (Matt 2:11; 14:33; 28:9, 17; Luke 24:52; John 9:38)
Everyone understood Jesus claimed to be God (Matt 1:23; John 1:1-14; Acts 20:28; 2 Pet 1:1; Heb 1:8; Titus 7:14; Col 2:9-10)
Ignatius of Antioch, a disciple of John, stated around 105 AD “God himself was manifested in human form for the renewal of eternal life… Continue in intimate union with Jesus Christ our God”
Jesus was buried in a sealed tomb
Jesus rose from the dead
Jesus proved his risen state by appearing to hundreds of people
John 14:6: Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Acts 4:12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Jesus is the only way
No one else can save you
You can’t save yourself
Jesus is the only truth
All other ways to be saved are lies
Jesus is the only life
No one can live sinlessly
No one can pay for someone else's sins because they will still have their sin debt remaining.
No other life is righteous and satisfactory to God of themselves
If we could save ourselves or others, we wouldn’t need to go through Jesus to achieve righteousness and eternal life.
Luke 7:50; “And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
Faith in who the person of Jesus really is and what he came to do (the gospel)
Acts 16:31: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
Ephesians 2:8: For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
Romans 11:6: But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.
If you believe this Gospel Message and trust in the person and work of Jesus Christ, you are GIFTED SAVING GRACE AND FAITH from God.
You can not save yourself. (Isaiah 64:6; Romans 3:20)
You cannot decide your way into heaven
You can not work your way into heaven
You can not argue your way into heaven
It’s a whole lot of “you” for a place that isn’t even yours…
Romans 1:16-17: For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”
The Gospel Message is:
The power of God
It saves
It reveals the righteousness of God
Faith in it, enables us to live righteously in God’s eyes
Because we are covered by Christ’s righteousness
Romans 4:4-5 Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. 5 And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,
Romans 3:22: the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction
Faith in the Gospel enables us to be counted as righteous
God literally GIVES us Christ’s righteousness through FAITH, not works, heritage, decisions, or arguments.
Mark 1:15 “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
Acts 2:38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Acts 26:20 "but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance."
There are a bunch of places in Scripture where people were commanded to repent and believe in Jesus.
Repentance IS PART OF BELIEF IN THE GOSPEL. One can not work without the other.
You can't fully grasp, understand, and WALK in the Spirit of new life in Christ if you are unwilling to repent and admit you NEED Jesus to save you from all the sins God has judged you for.
Romans 12:9 "Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. "
To abhor something is to be disgusted by it, to have a deep sense of distain; to hate it. To repent of your sin is to HATE YOUR SIN, turn away from it, cut it off, cut it out, avoid it, flee from it, fight it.
If you don't hate your sin, why would you think you need Jesus to save you from it?