The gospel message is the only means for the salvation of man that is prescribed in the Word of God. Without the gospel, nothing else we believe matters. What we do with the gospel is what separates the two kinds of people in this world. Nothing else matters; no demographic labels, no IQ, no education, and no economic circumstances mean a thing. What is your response to the revealed Word of God?

Romans 3:23 reads: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…” Our first step toward crossing over from death to life is to acknowledge that we have sinned, and that because of our sin, we are not suited for eternal life in heaven, and that we have earned the wrath of God’s judgment, because He is just and righteous. When I acknowledge that God is right in His judgment of my sin, and I desire to be freed from its power, then I am repentant.

Romans 6:23 reads: “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Our next response, once we have acknowledged our condition, is to acknowledge that God loved us enough not to leave us in that state. He, in the person of His Son Jesus, substituted Himself for each of us. He did what we could not, living without sin and bearing the punishment for our guilt, satisfying the just requirement of God’s righteous law (Isaiah 53:5).

Romans 10:9-10 reads: “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, to righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, to salvation.” Once I have acknowledged the truth, I must put my faith in the completed work of salvation, accomplished by Jesus and no one else. I must entrust myself to Him, and call on Him to forgive and to save me. John 12:42-43 teaches that some believed Jesus, but “were not confessing Him…for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God.” We see the same principle at work in the account of the rich young ruler, found in Matthew 19, Mark 10, and Luke 18. He believed that Jesus was who He said He was, but loved his wealth more than the Lord. It is not enough to believe His Word, we must entrust ourselves to Him, demonstrated in part by confessing Him as Lord.

Romans 10:13 reads: “for ‘Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.’” Once we entrust ourselves to the Lord, we call to Him to forgive and to save us, and we may take Him at His Word, knowing that He will save us.

Regardless of what popular philosophy says, or what fashionable thought dictates, the gospel stands for all time. “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

Please contact me at Doug@DougChumley.com or in the comments section below if you have any questions.