The Gospel of Jesus Christ
“Now after that John was put in prison,
Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand:
repent ye, and believe the gospel.” ~Mark 1:14-15 KJV
I’m so glad you are here so I can share with you about the most important issue in this life! Grab a Bible or visit one online, like at www.blueletterbible.org, to see what the included verses say.
Mark 1:15 ends with the word, “gospel,” meaning good news.
Mark 1:1, 1:14, Romans 1:1 and Ephesians 1:13 call it the gospel of Jesus Christ, gospel of the kingdom of God, gospel of God and gospel of salvation, respectively. 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 and Acts 1:9-11 show the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ as the essence of this glorious gospel.
The most popular verse in the Bible and the verse right after it (John 3:16-17) proclaim: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”
Saved from what? God’s wrath over our sin (Romans 5:9, 6:23; 1 Thessalonians 5:9). Sin is any disobedience toward God and must be punished. Unfortunately, we are all born into sin, and sin must be punished (Psalm 51:5, Ephesians 2:3). Jesus took that punishment for all who will repent their sin and believe upon Him in faith as God the Savior (1 Peter 3:18; Titus 2:11-14).
Back to Mark 1:15. This key verse closes with two commands given by Jesus. They are to 1) repent; and 2) believe the gospel (also read Romans 10:8-10). Let’s first consider what it means to repent…
REPENT
Repent is a verb that means to change our mind about something. This change of mind leads to behavioral changes in our life that are noticeable and observable.
This change of mind is a complete turn-around from how we previously thought or believed about a particular subject.
Before we repent our sin, we live as an enemy of God (Romans 8:7; James 4:4) away from Christ. When we repent our sin, it means we acknowledge to God that we agree with Him that we are a sinner in need of His salvation (Romans 3:23, 6:23; 1 John 1:8-9).
Repentance is a work of God’s Holy Spirit in the life of a person who God knows has the righteous kind of sorrow for their sin.
But, wait! There’s more…
AND BELIEVE THE GOSPEL
Jesus Christ is God manifested in the flesh as a human man (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:21-23). Jesus is and was the only One qualified to atone (pay) for the sin of mankind (1 Peter 1:18-21).
All of us are sinners in need of Jesus the Savior to save us from the wrath (punishment) our sin deserves (Genesis 6:5; Jeremiah 17:9; Romans 3:23, 6:23).
Jesus Christ paid the death penalty we sinners deserve. He was buried in a tomb, and on the third day, God raised Him from the dead (Romans 5:10; Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:21-23; Matthew 27:57-60; 1 Corinthians 15:4), He ascended to heaven (Acts 1:9-11), and He now sits at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2).
Mere lip service will never lead to a person’s true salvation in Christ. The proof is in the pudding, so to speak.
John 8:31-32 says, “Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, if ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” That’s a BIG “if;” did you catch it? Please read and ponder this passage carefully, because God’s message of salvation is found here.
1 John 2:3-6 and James 2:18-20 teach us that our commitment to God will be evident by the way we live for Jesus Christ after we come to know Him personally via eternal salvation. Our salvation is not based upon our works. Instead, our works after we are saved are ‘the proof in the pudding’ I mentioned above. We will desire to do the works of the Father to the glory of Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthians 15:3 instructs us to examine our self to make sure we are even in the faith as a true Christian. The Bible is loaded with passages that help us examine our self in this way. Does our lifestyle reveal a true love for God? Someone asked, “If your faith were on trial, would there be enough evidence to convict you as a Christian?” Well said. These are good places to start in examining our self to see if we are even in the Christian faith.
My blog articles on my “Guard Thy Heart” page are written to help us develop a deeper and more mature relationship with Jesus Christ. My blog articles on my “Garden Thy Heart” page are written to give some practical garden analogies to spiritual lessons to which we can relate in everyday life. I hope you will read them and share them with others who would be blessed by reading them, too.