The Good News

I wanted to write this section for those who don’t believe in Jesus, or for those who believe that there is a God or a higher power out there, but are skeptical about Christianity and what Jesus has to offer. When I read comments online or listen to conversations in our culture today, I see and hear so many misconceptions about what it means to be a “Christian.” Misconceptions that, in my mind, do not begin to do justice to the good news of Jesus.

I’d say one of the biggest things I’ve learned is that it’s not about religion, but it’s all about relationship. To me, the word ‘religion’ can be a charged word. There are a lot of things done in the name of a religion that aren’t indicative of what it means to be a follower of Jesus, and it’s something to be mindful of. In Matthew 23:1-5, Jesus warns of this.

23 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2 “The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses. 3 So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach. 4 They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden.

5 “Everything they do is for show. On their arms they wear extra wide prayer boxes with Scripture verses inside, and they wear robes with extra long tassels.

On the topic of outward religion itself, the Bible says the following in James 1:27 NLT.

27 Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.

With that being said, for someone like me who is very task oriented, “religion” can be very ritualistic. My mind tends to go to, “what do I need to do to be a Christian?” This inevitably leads to me trying (and failing miserably) to achieve something that He has already accomplished on my behalf. Salvation cannot be earned. Heaven cannot be earned. I could read my Bible every single day, pray for hours every single day, never miss a Sunday service, participate in missions, give money to the poor, help a stranger, and do every single good work imaginable, and it wouldn’t be enough. I think the Amplified version of Ephesians 2:8-9 explains it best to me.

8 For it is by grace [God’s remarkable compassion and favor drawing you to Christ] that you have been saved [actually delivered from judgment and given eternal life] through faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [not through your own effort], but it is the [undeserved, gracious] gift of God; 9 not as a result of [your] works [nor your attempts to keep the Law], so that no one will [be able to] boast or take credit in any way [for his salvation].

I think something else that dissuades unbelievers from wanting to follow Jesus is when they see Christians judging other people. Christians are a lot of times labeled as being judgmental (which let’s be real is warranted a lot). However this is something as believers that we shouldn’t be. There are two sections of scripture that come to mind as I’m writing this. 

Matthew 7:1-5 NLT

7 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

John 8:1-11 is another example of this, where Jesus said, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”

8 

1 but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

2 At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

11 “No one, sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

I think this is a perfect example that believers in Christ should try and follow. Here’s how I look at these passages when it comes to my own life. I am not without sin. I have issues on the daily that I struggle with and constantly need Jesus’ grace for my shortcomings, which are too many to count. Because of this, I have no right or reason to judge someone else for the things that they are doing in their lives. This doesn’t mean that we have to condone sin or accept it, but what I believe this does mean is that instead of judging others, we as Christians need to examine ourselves. We need to look where we fall short, and realize how much we need the grace of Jesus, just as badly as the person we think are acting “worse” than we are. 

I think ultimately if it were reversed, and I had someone telling me I was going to go to hell because of something that I was doing, that wouldn’t be a motivation for me to want to listen to what they are preaching. I think it would be the exact opposite. I think it would feel more like an attack to me, and at the least leave a bad impression and generalization that would be hard to overcome. Something that I’m trying to work on, is loving and accepting others at the places that they’re at in their life journeys. Just because someone may be struggling with something now, that doesn’t mean that they are not worthy of God’s love and grace, but the exact opposite. And as followers of Jesus, we’re called to be the “light of the world”, and we need to be the hands and feet of Jesus in this world today. 

Matthew 5:14-16 NLT says:

14 “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. 15 No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.”

Throughout this faith journey, I’m just starting to see that I don’t think it’s my job to convict people of their sin, but I’ll leave that to God who can change the hearts and minds of the people He loves (Deuteronomy 30:6 NLT). And while God’s doing that, I’ll do my best to follow Christ’s example in loving our neighbors and people on this earth.

6 “The Lord your God will change your heart and the hearts of all your descendants, so that you will love him with all your heart and soul and so you may live!

So, even if I have lived my whole life up until this point being as far away from God as humanly possible, not believing in Him, thinking it’s all made up or a fairy tale, why would I want to give Jesus a chance?

This comes from my world view, which I believe to be true, with all my heart, to acknowledge that we are all sinners who are in desperate need of a Savior. That we were created by a God who loves us, who knows us by name, and are created in His image (spirit). That He loves us so much that after the fall (sin introduced in the world), He didn’t want us to be eternally separated from Him because of sin. Because I believe our God is just and good, God and sin cannot be put together. A price has to be paid for sin. One of the things our pastor at church says is, “God doesn’t send people to hell, but hell is where we go to pay for our own sin.” This is where the good news comes in. And it’s really good news. I can’t put an emphasis on it enough. The God who created us, who loves us, who did not want to be eternally separated from us because of sin, paid the price for us. He did this through His son Jesus (God in human form). That Jesus came to this earth, born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, and died on the cross for our sins. He shed His blood for us, to pay for our sins. All of them. Every single one. Past, present, and future. What was prophesied in the testament of old long ago (Isaiah 53:5), came true in Jesus.

“But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.” 

Jesus died for our sins, but He did not stay dead. I believe three days later, God raised Him from the dead, and in that moment, sin and death were forever conquered by Him, and through Him. And that’s the good news. We don’t have to pay our own price, but it has already been paid. It has already been finished. It is a free gift that we only have to receive (Romans 6:23 NLT). It literally changes everything.

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

So, after all of that, how do we receive this free gift? The Bible tells us how. And it’s for anyone and everyone who believes. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done in the past, how far along in life you are, or what you’re struggling with now. It doesn’t matter if you’re skeptical or have been skeptical. God can see where you’re at in this moment in time, and forever change you. Lets look at Romans 10:9-13 NIV.

9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. 11 As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” 12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

I love to follow-up those passages with The Message translation, which sums it up perfectly.

That’s it. You’re not “doing” anything; you’re simply calling out to God, trusting him to do it for you. That’s salvation.

For anyone who’s still reading this who hasn’t asked Jesus to be their Lord and Savior, I truly pray these words will hit home with you. Because it is life changing. And it’s so simple. It’s work that Jesus already finished. This impacts your soul eternally. I can’t emphasize it enough. 

If you’re still with me, and you want to call out to Jesus to save you, to change your life forever, you can do that right here, in this moment. You can say this prayer, or a prayer like it. It’s not the words that save you or the prayer itself, but as the scripture above said, you’re simply calling out to God and trusting Him, receiving what He already did for you.

“Jesus, I’m in desperate need of a Savior. I confess that I’m a sinner, and I repent of my sin and I need your forgiveness. I believe that You paid the price for my sin. That you died on the cross to pay my price, and I believe that you rose from the dead three days later. Be Lord of my life. Change my life forever. Thank you for loving me. In Your name I pray, amen.”

If you just prayed and received Him in earnest, with all your heart, your life from this point on is forever changed by the grace of Jesus. It’s that simple.

If you’re not there yet, or if you have even an inkling to want to believe but just don’t think you can, you can pray to God about this. I’ve said prayers like this in the past before, and you will find answers. Just talk to God and say, “God, I want to believe but I feel something is blocking my heart from believing. Please remove these barriers from me. Give me faith to help me believe in You.” Do this continually. Continue to seek Him and ask Him to help you in your unbelief. 

24 The father instantly cried out, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!” Mark 9:24 NLT

13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13 NLT

20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. Revelation 3:20

I’ll close with this. If you asked Jesus to be your Lord and Savior, and believed in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you are now saved and are a child of God. Jesus just transformed your life. 

I also don’t want you to get discouraged with the burdens of living in a fallen world. There will still be struggles, there will still be mistakes with sin, there will still be trials we face in this life. That was one of the things I struggled with for the longest time. I see the transformation now that Jesus has made in my life and it’s amazing, but I still struggle with stuff. And sometimes when those struggles seem to be too much and I start to question if I’m really saved because I keep making the same mistakes, I have to stop and remind myself, it’s nothing that I did that saved me. But it’s all Jesus, and it is His grace that’s carrying me at this point. I have to remind myself of this a lot. That it’s all Jesus. That He took care of all of it for me and I’m just trusting that He did what he said He did. So when you inevitably hit a point in your faith journey of questioning, please try to remember we’re all trusting Jesus, and He is the way, the truth, and the light (John 14:6). 

I love this quote from a book titled, “The Cost of Control,” by Sharon Hodde Miller. I feel like this is the perfect way to end this post.

“The true gospel is not a rigid contract. Your life is not a constant test. And God is not coming to collect. In Christ we have the assurance of God’s unconditional love, of His salvation, of His presence, of His comfort, and of His hope. And there is nothing we can do to undo it. Nothing. Not only does the love of Jesus give us rest in a world of striving, but it also reminds us that we can trust Him.”