What is the Gospel? (And Why You Need It) | Season 04, Episode 01 | Simple Truth Podcast

I'm going to tell you the most important message in the entire Bible. Are you ready? It's the gospel of the kingdom of God. You may be saying, "Big deal. I already know what the gospel is. It's Jesus." But that is not the gospel. You may be saying, "The gospel is Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John." But again, that's not the gospel. I'll tell you now, many Christians think they understand the gospel, but they honestly don't. and they struggle in their walk with God because of it. The gospel is the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It's defined in 1 Corinthians chapter 15. It is why Jesus came. And it is literally the central message across the entire Bible. Believing in the gospel, it's God's power to save you, to transform you, and to bring you into a real relationship with him. And in this episode, we're going to clearly define what the gospel actually is straight from scripture. You'll see that it's not just a message. It's God's mission to heal you, to free you, and to restore you. If you misunderstand the gospel, you misunderstand the most important truth in the entire Bible. But if you understand the gospel correctly, it will change everything. So, let's get into it in this episode of The Simple Truth. Welcome to the Simple Truth Podcast, where we open the Bible to uncover simple, biblical, and essential truths that can transform your life. And now, here's your host, Ted Ross. Hi, my name is Ted Ross, and this is the Simple Truth Podcast, your home for biblical truth clearly taught and freely given. Welcome to season 4, episode 1. We're going to discuss what is the gospel and why you need it. Let's get into it. Why does this episode matter? Well, it matters a lot, folks. God's gospel, aka the good news. It is his power to save and to restore your life. That's a big statement to start off with. And as you stay with this episode, you'll see exactly why I said it. But many people, unfortunately, they don't truly understand what the gospel even is. Some think it's just information. Some people think they already know it, and they don't. Without understanding the gospel, you miss the very power of God that saves you. You heard me right. In fact, the gospel is the foundation of your relationship with God. It's even why the father would even have a relationship with you and me. So, it's worth understanding. Am I right? In this episode, you'll clearly see in the Bible what the gospel is and why you and I desperately need it. Again, if you misunderstand the gospel, you misunderstand literally the most important message in the entire Bible. So, stick with this episode and see why I say that. Which brings us to our first simple truth of the episode. Jesus's central message is the gospel of the kingdom. Let's go to Mark chapter 1 verse 14 and 15. Remember all Bible verses are taken from the New King James Version of the Bible. So feel free to follow along. And in Mark 1:14, we're going to see that Jesus after he was baptized by John and he came out of the wilderness in the power of the spirit. His very first message of his ministry, the very first message was the good news of the gospel of the kingdom of God. Mark 1 verse14 says this quote. Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God. John, that's John the Baptist. He's the prophet sent by God to prepare the way for Jesus. He preached and he had a baptism of repentance and he called on everyone to repent and to prepare for the coming of the Messiah, also known as the Christ. And it says that John was imprisoned. He was put into prison for criticizing King Herod for his adultery. And this signified the end of John's ministry and the beginning of Jesus's ministry. And he came into Galilee. Jesus came into Galilee. This is a region in northern Israel and it's considered ordinary and unimpressive. Right? Let's take a look at a map of Galilee and see why it is significant. And it was significant. Before we even talk about what Jesus preached, the significance of Jesus starting his ministry in Galilee is several. First of all, it shows that the gospel is for all people. You'll notice for those who are watching this on YouTube that here we see a map of Israel in the time of the New Testament. On the very northern tip, we see the region of Galilee. Just below that is Samaria and just below that is Judea where Jerusalem is. You can imagine Israel. So much was centered around Jerusalem and yet on the northern tip we see the region of Galilee. So there is Jesus in Galilee opening up his ministry and preaching the gospel of the kingdom. So first of all it shows that the gospel is for all people. Jesus began his ministry among farmers, fishermen, everyday people. Thank God. Secondly, the gospel is clearly for all nations. Galilee was diverse. It was filled with both Jews and non-Jews, also known as Gentiles. Third, the gospel is for the humble. Galilee is not an impressive region. It was ordinary. It was unimpressive. And yet, God chose Galilee first. Thank God. Fourth, it fulfilled prophecy. In Isaiah chapter 9:es 1 and two it says quote in Galilee of the Gentiles the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. This is the book of Isaiah some 700 years written before the time of Christ. And that light that great light mentioned in the book of Isaiah chapter 9. It was Jesus and it was his gospel. That's the great light that the people of Galilee saw. So let's continue in Mark 1:14. So what was Jesus's message? His very first message to humanity. It was the gospel of the kingdom. So Mark 1:14, remember we said now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee. Preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God. What does it mean to preach? We say this all the time in church. It means to proclaim publicly, to declare. Okay? So he was preaching the gospel. The gospel literally means the good news or the good message. So Jesus came proclaiming publicly and declaring to the folks in Galilee the good news and the good message of the kingdom. Now the kingdom means God's rule, his reign, his authority. Interesting. So he was preaching a good message. He was declaring this good news of God's authority. Interesting. Jesus was preaching the good news of God's rule, the kingdom of God. In other words, Jesus was openly declaring. He was preaching the lifechanging power of living under God's authority, also known as God's kingdom. Let me say that again. Jesus was openly declaring, that's preaching, the lifechanging power of living under God's authority, aka God's kingdom. So, what did Jesus say when he preached this good news? Well, let's look at Mark 1 verse1 15. And here we're going to see that Jesus preached that God's kingdom it has come and you and I must repent and believe the gospel. Mark 1 verse1 15 quote and saying the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel. End quote. Jesus said the time. That's God's appointed time. God's appointed moment. It is fulfilled. It means it's complete. It has arrived. The time has arrived, Jesus said. And the kingdom of God is at hand. That means that God's rule, God's reign, God's authority, it is here and it is accessible. And so, how is it accessible? Well, first you repent. That means to think differently, to change your mind, to have another mind, to change your mind from those things that you were doing and to have God's mind. That's what it means to repent and to believe. That means to trust, to have confidence in and to rely on. To trust, have confidence and rely on what? The gospel. Again, there's that word, that good news, that good message. So Jesus said, you need to think differently. You need to change your mind. You need to stop living the way you were living. And you to put your trust in and your confidence in the good news and the good message of God's kingdom. The gospel of the kingdom is literally why Jesus came. And let's see him tell it. Amen. Luke 4:es 16-18. In Luke 4:16, we're going to see that Jesus didn't come with a new message. He literally revealed the good news of the gospel which was already written in the Old Testament that preceded him hundreds of years before. Quote, "So he came to Nazareth." This is Jesus where he had been brought up. Remember, he was born in Bethlehem, but he was raised in Nazareth as his custom was. Interesting. He went into the synagogue. This is Jesus on the Sabbath day. And stood up to read. Okay. He came into Nazareth. This is Jesus's hometown. This is where Jesus was raised. And as his custom was, the habit or his regular practice, Jesus went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and he stood up to read. The synagogue would be like their church. It was a place for prayer, for worship, for teaching. So, as his normal habit, as his normal practice was as he was growing up in Nazareth, he went into the synagogue and he read. And for them, reading was reading aloud publicly. Okay, let's see what Jesus is about to read. Luke 4:E1 17. And here we're going to see that God ordained Jesus to be handed the book of Isaiah at the exact moment so that he could deliver a gospel message from the Old Testament. Luke 4:17, quote, "And he, Jesus, was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when he Jesus had opened the book, he found the place where it was written. Interesting. We are going to see here a message about who Jesus is and why he came. Interesting. Luke 4 verse 18. And here we're going to see that through Isaiah 61, Jesus declares first of all that he is the anointed one. He's the Messiah that the Jewish people were waiting for. And he was sent by God to bring the gospel to those who need it most, and that is you and me. Amen. Luke 4:18, quote, "The spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed. Amen. Jesus is given the book of Isaiah at that exact moment. He could have been given any book. He was given the book of Isaiah. And he went to that chapter to Isaiah chapter 61. And he read this and he read this message found in the book of Isaiah written 700 years prior to the time of Christ. And he read it and he was going to tell the people there this that I have just read is about the Lord Jesus Christ. And it says in here the spirit of the Lord is upon me. It was upon Jesus. He came out of the wilderness filled with spirit and power. It says because he has anointed me. To be anointed is to be appointed. It's to be empowered for a divine mission. The father anointed, he appointed the Lord Jesus and empowered him for a divine mission. And what was that mission? To preach the gospel to the poor. To proclaim the good news to the poor. The poor would be those who have nothing. To those who are spiritually needy, those who depend on God. Amen. It says, "He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed." The gospel of the kingdom, it's more than just a message. It's actually God's mission to heal, to set free, and to restore all people through Jesus Christ. Wow. Okay. Let's take a moment. This is something super deep here. Okay. So the gospel, it was Jesus's first and central message to the world, but it wasn't new, was it? We saw that it was foretold about 700 years prior in the book of Isaiah. And it said that it was going to be the message that the anointed one, the Messiah, would proclaim first of all. And secondly, the gospel was a mission of healing, of freedom, and of restoration that the Messiah would perform. Wow. Okay. So what exactly is the message? What exactly is the good news of the gospel? We know that it means good news or good message. But what is it? Okay, the Bible actually defines what the good news of the gospel is and why you and I need it. Which brings us to our second simple truth of the episode. The gospel is the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Amen. Let's go to 1 Corinthians 15:es 1-4. In 1 Corinthians 15:1, we're going to see that Jesus's death, his burial, and his resurrection, it actually is the foundation of your and my salvation and our relationship with God. You can see now, folks, why when we say it is literally the most important message of the Bible, we could see why. Even with just the limited number of scriptures that we've already looked at, 1 Corinthians 15:1, quote, "Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you." This is Paul writing, "Which also you have received and in which you stand." Interesting. It says, "Moreover, brethren, brothers and sisters in Christ," Paul is saying, "I declare." To declare is to make known. It's to reveal clearly. So Paul says, "I'm about to make known or reveal clearly to you the gospel, the good news, the good message, right? Which I preached to you, which Paul preached to you, which Paul proclaimed or announced to them previously because he had already been to the church of Corinth. And he already proclaimed that gospel to them. And he was now in 1 Corinthians chapter 15. He was making it clear. He was making it plain what that gospel is that he preached to them." It says which you the Corinthian church also received. It means that the Corinthian church accepted that gospel took a hold of that gospel. They made it their own. That's what that word received means and in which you the Corinthian church or you and I stand. That's to be firmly established to be fixed to be unshaken powerful. So Paul says, "I'm about to declare, make known to you, to be clear to you, this good message that he preached to them, that they accepted and in which they stand in." Paul's about to define the gospel, which you and I must receive and stand in. 1 Corinthians 15:2. But first, before Paul defines it, because that's actually defined in verses three and four, which we're about to get to, folks. Don't mean to tease you, but Paul teased us. That's why it's written this way. But first, Paul stresses the importance of the gospel as the message that saves us if you hold firmly onto it and you don't abandon it. Okay? 1 Corinthians 15:2, quote, "By which," that's the gospel, "lso you are saved if you hold fast that word which I preach to you, unless you have believed in vain." That's powerful. It says, "By which by the gospel you are saved." Saved is a word we use all the time in churches. People say, "Hey, are you saved?" They're saved. Is that person saved? It's a term that's commonly thrown about in many churches. So, what does it mean to be saved? Well, the word saved means to be rescued from danger, to be set at safety. It means to be made sound. Okay, that's a powerful word. There's a lot in the word saved in salvation. And it says by which by the gospel you are saved. You were rescued from danger. You were set at safety. You were made sound. If you hold fast, if you hold firmly, if you retain, if you keep secure, you know, I'm reminded of American football where a football player takes the football and if they're running with it, they tuck it in there. They hold firmly onto the football. They retain the football. They keep it securely in there. For those of you who watch American football, it says if you hold fast that word, the word is the message. It's the teaching. And in this context, that's the gospel. If you hold fast the word which I preach to you, he said the whole context of 1 Corinthians 15:es 1-4, that word is the gospel. It's the good news of God. It says, unless you believed, unless you trusted in or relied on it in vain, to be to do it in vain means to do it without purpose, to do it without result. So let's make it clear. Paul said in here that the gospel, it's the message that saves you if you hold firmly onto it and you don't abandon it. Now Paul will define what the gospel or the good news is in verses 3 and 4. So 1 Corinthians 15:3. This is going to be the first part of the gospel. It's going to explain that Jesus died for our sins which are our shortcomings. Okay. 1 Corinthians 15:3. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received. Paul said that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. Paul says I delivered I handed over to you. I entrusted you with first of all that which I also received. I being Paul. So Paul said that he preached the good news, the good message to them that Paul first of all accepted himself. He took hold of it. He made it his own m many years prior to preaching it to the Corinthian church. You can't preach something that you haven't already received yourself. And he says that and now he's about to define it. That Christ died. That means to suffer death, folks. That word died is quite clear. That Christ died. He died a death on the cross. A brutal, a humiliating and embarrassing death. It would be embarrassing if it weren't for the fact he rose on the third day. Amen. And it says he died for our sins. What is sin? It's missing the mark. It's falling short of God's standard. Right? There are so much that's wrapped into what that meaning is. But it's missing the mark. It's falling short. It's doing your own thing. It's choosing wrong instead of right. Okay? And it says according to the scriptures. Jesus's death, it was planned. It was foretold, right? It wasn't some form of accident. Jesus's death wasn't an accident, and it was necessary to rescue you and I from our sin, from our shortcomings, from falling short, for missing the mark, for repeatedly doing the wrong thing. Okay? And let's be clear, Jesus's death, it was necessary to rescue you and me from our sins. Every selfish act we've done, every person we've hurt, every evil word, every lie you've told, every wrong desire that you have had, every time you chose wrong over right, Jesus Christ died for that. He died to rescue you from the consequences of that. Thank God. 1 Corinthians 15:4. And here we're going to see the second and the third part of the gospel. And that is that Jesus was buried in a tomb and on the third day he was resurrected from the dead. 1 Corinthians 15:4 quote and that he Jesus was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures. To say he was buried means he was placed in a tomb and he rose again. He was raised up. He was awakened. He rose from death on the third day. He was crucified on a Friday. He was raised again on a Sunday. The way that Jewish time is calculated, even part of a day is a whole day. And so, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, that's the third day, folks. In fact, in John 2:1 19, Jesus himself prophesied this where he said, quote, "Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up." And later in that John chapter 2, it says the temple he was describing was his body. Amen. Thank God. This, like I said before, this wasn't an accident. This wasn't some kind of terrible mistake. This is why Jesus Christ came. He came to die for you and me to die for our shortcomings so we wouldn't pay the price for our shortcomings. Thank God. Jesus's resurrection, it's more than just an Easter Sunday service. It proves that Jesus's sacrifice for our sins was accepted by God and that Jesus has power over death. In the book of Revelations even says that he holds the keys to sin and death. Hallelujah. Thank God. So we see here in 1 Corinthians verses 1-4 that the gospel, the good news of Christ is Christ's death, Christ's burial, and Christ's resurrection. Okay, that is the good news. That's the message Jesus preached. That's the message the disciples preached. Okay, so let's see Jesus himself explain the gospel. We're going to take a look at Luke 24:es 44- 47. And in Luke 24:44, we're going to see that Jesus revealed that his death, burial, and resurrection was God's plan all along, written throughout the scriptures. Luke 24 verse 44. Then he, that's Jesus, said to them, "These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms concerning me." Praise God. These are the words, right? The suffering, the death, and the resurrection, the gospel of Jesus Christ that he's about to describe in verse 46 later on. So he says these are the words he spoke to them while he was still with them and that all things must be fulfilled to be fulfilled to be completed to be accomplished to be brought to reality. Jesus said, "All things must be fulfilled which were written about him about the death, burial, and resurrection." And they were written where? In the Old Testament, in the law of Moses, the pentetuk, right? The prophets and the psalms. This is what we would call today the Old Testament. Okay? The death, burial, and resurrection, aka the gospel of Jesus Christ. It was foretold in the scriptures. Jesus quoted them and Jesus spent his time here telling them that everything had to be fulfilled before he completed his ministry. In fact, biblical scholars have found over 300 different prophecies in the Old Testament regarding Jesus Christ, the Messiah. Luke 24:45, it says in here that Jesus taught the disciples the Old Testament scriptures about him. So Luke 24:45, quote, "And he opened their understanding that they might comprehend the scriptures." This would be the Old Testament scriptures. That word opened, it says that Jesus unlocked, he revealed, right, their understanding, their mind, their perception, their understanding of what the Old Testament was saying that they might comprehend. That word is to put together. That they might put together the scriptures. Hallelujah. the sacred writings of the Old Testament. Jesus opened up their understanding. He unlocked their minds so that they could put together and comprehend and understand what the Old Testament was saying. Do you catch this, folks? Jesus was revealing and giving them understanding. He was unlocking their minds to see his death, burial, and resurrection throughout the Old Testament. So most importantly, Jesus made sure the disciples fully understand the gospel message. They fully understood it. Why? So they would be powerful witnesses to the world and to us of the most important message in the Bible. So before Jesus ascended, this was after Jesus was resurrected in Luke 24. But before Jesus ascended to the right hand of the father, he spent time with the disciples to make it super plain to unlock to reveal the death, burial, and resurrection across the entire Old Testament so that they would be witnesses to the world. Praise God. Luke 24:46. And here we're going to see that what he was unlocking or revealing to them was that it was necessary for Jesus to die to pay our debts to pay for your and my hatred, our selfishness, our disobedience, our stubbornness, our addictions, our pride. You list the sin. There's long lists of sins out there, folks. There's a lot of ways you and I can fall short and that we can disobey God and we could displease God. And yet Jesus died to pay that debt. Luke 24:46 says, quote, "Then he," that's Jesus, said to them, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ, that is the Messiah, to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day." Praise God. Jesus said it was necessary. That word is it had to happen. It was required. It was essential that the Christ, that's the anointed one, right? The appointed one of God, the one who is had an appointed mission, the Messiah, that the Christ had to suffer, to endure pain, to be afflicted. Thank you, Jesus. He took pain on himself. He was afflicted. And he didn't take that pain and affliction because he deserved it. He took the pain, the affliction because we deserved it. And he was paying that price. That price for our affliction, our pain. Those stripes that we did not have to take, he took them for us. Thank you, Lord Jesus. So, it was necessary. It was essential that the Christ had to suffer, had to endure pain, had to be afflicted, and then it says in verse 46, "And to rise from the dead the third day." In other words, the gospel paid the price for all of the evil things that we loved and we did even though God commanded us not to. Okay. Why is this the most important message of the Bible? It's the most important message because the death, the burial, and the resurrection, which was foretold throughout the Old Testament, it was so important that after Jesus was resurrected, before he ascended, he sat the disciples down and made sure they thoroughly understand. He revealed and unlocked their perception, their understanding of this message. The gospel paid the price for every evil thing that you and I loved and did, even though God told us not to. Thank you, Father. Thank you, Lord Jesus. and that you and I, we can be saved, rescued from danger, and have a relationship with God because he did that. Luke 24:47. And here we're going to see because Jesus suffered and rose again, the gospel message to the world is clear. It's the message Jesus preached in Mark 1. Repent, believe the gospel, and receive forgiveness through Jesus Christ. Luke 24:47 quote and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name to all nations beginning at Jerusalem. Okay. So Jesus said that repentance remember what we saw before in Mark 1 verse 14 and 15. Repentance is to think differently. It's to change your mind. Before we knew Christ, we had a one mind. We were chasing after our passions. We were doing what we thought was right. Right. we were following our own code. Uh maybe at times we thought we were a good person or maybe we knew we were a bad person. It didn't matter. We weren't great and we were falling short. And Jesus said repent. And that preaching repentance, that is thinking differently, changing your mind. It's having God's mind. And remission of sins, that is the forgiveness, the release, the removal of guilt for you're falling short your sins. You're missing the mark. are falling short of God's standard that it should be preached. It should be publicly proclaimed. It should be declared in his name. That's for his cause. That's by his authority to all nations. That's all peoples, all ethnic groups, all races, all religions, and all backgrounds. It's everybody beginning at Jerusalem. Wow. So Jesus opened the disciples minds to see that throughout the Old Testament through Moses, through prophets, through psalms that the Christ had to suffer and that he had to be killed and that on the third day he was going to rise again. And for that reason, repentance, the changing of your mind, and the remission of sins, your forgiveness should be preached, should be declared across the world by his authority and in his cause to every nation starting at Jerusalem. Folks, the gospel is the most important message in the Bible and it is how God saves you. Which brings us to our next simple truth. You and I need the gospel. It is God's power to save you. Do you understand? You need the gospel. It is God's power to save you. Okay, let's take a look at Romans 1 16 and 17. In Romans 1:16, we're going to see that the gospel is the power or the ability of God to rescue, restore, and quote unquote save you. Romans 1:16, quote, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek." Okay. Paul says, "I'm not ashamed." That word ashamed means to be embarrassed by or afraid to stand for. Paul was not embarrassed by the gospel of Christ, right? The gospel. We've been seeing this word repeatedly, the good news, the good message. And we know now what that message is, right? I am not ashamed of the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The message that was taught throughout the Old Testament and the message that is necessary to restore my relationship with God. Okay? He says, "I'm not ashamed of this gospel of Christ." Why? Quote, for it is the power. That word power, it means ability for strength. The Greek word is dunamis. Okay? It is the power of God. It's God's ability. It's his force. It's strength to salvation, right? Salvation is that word saved in a different form. And so, it's to make Christians whole to make them healthy, to set them at safety. It's to deliver Christians from everything that holds them back, including that sin that so easily entangles us. Thank you, Lord. It is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, who trusts, who has confidence in, who relies on, who clings onto that gospel. For the Jew first and also for the Greek, it means it's for everybody. So look no further, everybody. If you've been looking, stop looking now. The gospel is the one. It is the only source of God's ability to fix us. Do you understand? It's God's ability to fix us. Believing it is literally what makes you right with God. Do you understand? Believing the death, bound, and resurrection and what it does in your life and what it does for you and to you is literally what makes you right with God. That's why it is the central and most critical and most important message in the entire Bible. That's why the Old Testament was filled with references to it. over 300 references to Jesus Christ the Messiah and the work he had to do through his death, burial, and resurrection. Okay, so let's take a look at Romans 1:1 17. And here we're going to see that believe in the gospel is how a person becomes right with God. Okay, Romans 1:1 17. For in it, that is the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, the just shall live by faith. Okay? So, for in the gospel that was being described in Romans 1:16, remember Paul said, "I'm not ashamed of this gospel." Okay? Then in verse 17, he says, "For in it, in the gospel, the righteousness, that means being right with God." That means having a right standing or a right position with God. So in the gospel, the righteousness of God, being right with him is revealed. Okay? It's uncovered. It's made known. It's brought to light. So how are you right with God? If someone looks at you and how are you saved? How are you right with God? Will come through believing the gospel. Because that's literally how God's righteousness, how being right with God, it's uncovered. It's made known. It's brought to light. And it's done so from faith to faith. Faith is a confident trust in God. It's belief. It's a reliance upon God. As it is written, the just shall live by faith. What does it mean to go from faith to faith? Well, that means that you're have trust, belief, and reliance on God from start to finish. That means you start in faith and you continue in faith and you end in faith. Remember what we saw in 1 Corinthians 15. He said, "Unless you have believed in vain, you need to start in faith, you need to continue in faith, which means you start trusting God and you continue. You and I will slip. You and I will fall. God will forgive us and we'll get right back into the race." We need to keep racing, folks. And so, we will do this from faith to faith. As it is written, the just, what does it mean to be just? That means to be a righteous person, one who God declares right. It says the just and this is quoting the book of Habachok. It says that the just shall live by faith. To live is to be sustained, guided or empowered. Right? By faith. So the just, the person that God declares right, they live. They're sustained. They're guided. They're empowered by a confident trust of belief and a reliance upon God. By trusting and in living out the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus in your life, you are made right with God through your faith. And I understand for many of us, we'll say, "But I don't feel right." What do feelings have to do with it? Or you might say, "But I'm not doing everything right." What does that have to do with it? Jesus is not ashamed to call you a brother and a sister. Jesus died for you. The scripture says in Romans that while you were in sin, Christ died for you. You weren't even looking for him and Jesus died for you. He died in your place. He was buried in a tomb and hell and death could not hold him. So on the third day, he rose again. And when he rose, all power was given to him in heaven and in earth. Your sins are forgiven through belief in his gospel. And once again, and I don't want to sound like a broken record, that is why the gospel, the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most important message in the Bible. Let's take a look at Romans 10:9. And here we're going to see, in fact, the gospel, it's really at the heart of becoming born again. Romans 10:9, quote, "That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved." This is a very famous scripture often quoted when someone's wants to be a Christian. When someone wants to commit their life to Christ, this scripture is often read to them. And if you are not a Christian, you can be you can commit your life to Christ right now. Okay? And we're going to follow along with this scripture. Romans 10:9. It says that if you confess, that's to openly declare, to agree, to acknowledge publicly to open to say it out of your mouth. If you confess with your mouth, that thing right here, there's nothing deep about it. It's the mouth that you used to speak. If you confess with your mouth, the Lord Jesus, that means you say, Jesus, you are my master. You are my ruler. You're the one in charge in my life. That means you're going to have plenty of desires. Remember we talked about where Jesus preached to repent and to believe. Why do you need to repent? Because you come to the table doing all sorts of foolish things. I did. You did. Everyone else does. We have all sorts of terrible things that we did in our lives. People that we've hurt, desires that we have, all sorts of pride and conceit. We think we're clever. We do all sorts of things. We have all sorts of issues. And he says, "Change your mind. Have another mind. Repent and come to me and believe and confess him as Lord. Say, "Jesus, you're my master now. You're in charge." I used to think I was in charge, but now I'm putting Jesus in charge. Amen. So, confess with your mouth that Jesus is your Lord. Put him in charge, folks. And then secondly, believe in your heart. To believe, we've seen this word several times already in this episode. That means to trust, to have confidence in, to rely on, to rely on. Believe is not acknowledge. Believe is to rely on it. It's to live your life on it. Okay? Rely on in your heart, inside of you, deep inside that God has raised Jesus from the dead. To be raised from the dead is to be raised up, awakened, right? Jesus was risen from the dead. And you will be saved. Okay? saved, rescued from danger, set at safety, made sound. Okay, so let's be very clear here, folks. Let's be very clear for you to be born again. It says here, confess with your mouth that Jesus is your Lord. Put him in charge and believe, trust in, and rely on deep inside of you in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead. And that is the gospel. And if you do that, you'll be saved. You'll be rescued from danger. You'll be set at safety. And you will start a process in which God will make you sound. Praise God. Believe the gospel and confess Jesus as Lord. This is how you're saved. This is how you have a relationship with God. And this is how you become a Christian. So, let's take a moment. We discussed this and I think you can come to your own conclusions. But this is why you and I need the gospel of the kingdom of God because all people are spiritually poor. They fall short and they're miserable without God's healing, without God's freedom, and without God's restoration. Remember what Jesus read out of the book of Isaiah? The spirit of the Lord was upon him and then it listed all the wonderful things. That was the mission of the Messiah to bless us all, to heal us, to free us, to restore us. Thank you, Lord Jesus. God knew this. He knew that that we were poor. We knew that. He knew that we made terrible decisions and that we would continue to fall short and we would be people most miserable without him. So, we sent his son, Jesus Christ. And he didn't send him just to tell us, hey, just so you know, you're poor and you keep falling short and you're miserable. He gave us power. He gave us that power by sending his son to die for us, to pay the price for us, and to take the punishments for our sins, for all those shortcomings. So instead of just lecturing us on our poverty and lecturing us on our sin and how miserable he were, he did something for us. He died for us. And when he died for us, he paid that price and he took that punishment. It was a gross and disgusting punishment. And Jesus on the cross, which we're going to look at in an episode later in this season. We're going to talk about Jesus on the cross. And we're going to take a look at just how despicable it all was. And he didn't deserve it, but he took it. He took it for you and me. Receive that gift. It's a gift. You didn't earn it. I didn't earn it. Receive it. Receive it and make the most out of it. Thank you, Lord. And he did it. and to prove the price was fully paid to prove that Jesus indeed. There's plenty of people in the world who died, but there's not a lot of people who rose again from the dead. Okay? To prove that the price was fully paid and that Jesus holds the keys over sin and over death. He was resurrected from the dead and he is alive today. And you know how I know he's alive today? Because I have seen him move in my life. I've seen him move in other people's lives and it wasn't easy. It took some time to convince me. I used to think that what I just said, the gospel, the good news, the good message, the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, I used to think it was a ridiculous religious fable, I was so wrong. In fact, that's just one of the many things I had to repent of is that I used to have to I had to change my mind. I used to believe that the death, bone, and resurrection was a religious fable. And I had to change my mind to believe that it was the truth. It was reality and that it is the power of God to save my life. Thank you, Lord Jesus. The wonderful truth is that God wants a close relationship with you so that you can live a successful life free of anxiety, free of fear, free of loneliness. These things come through falling short. They come through those shortcomings and Jesus Christ literally died for you and he was risen from the dead so you could have a close relationship with God and be free of those things. That's why the gospel of the kingdom of God that Jesus Christ died for our sins, was buried and rose again on the third day. It is the most important message in the entire Bible. So repenting, having another mind, and believing, trusting, and relying on, having confidence in the gospel will bring on the power of God to repair you, transform your behavior, and bring you into the relationship with God that deep inside you so desperately want. Thank you, Lord Jesus. So, the gospel, it's the good news. It's the good message said Jesus died, was buried, and rose again the third day. Jesus preached it. We saw that in the scriptures. The disciples preached it. You and I are told to preach it. You actually see that in Mark 16:15. And the entire Old Testament foretold it over 300 times. Starting in Genesis. You could find the gospel. Yes. Back in the book of Genesis over 1,500 years before the time of Christ. We saw in Isaiah, you'll see it across many of the books, all throughout the Psalms. You name it, right? You see the gospel all throughout the Old Testament. So, what does this mean for you and for me? Turn away from your sin. Run back to God. Repent. Trust in God. Believe in the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It will change your life. It's just that simple. Because the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the literally the message of the entire Bible, it is the power or the ability of God to rescue you from danger, to make you sound, to set you at safety, and to convert you. Thank God. Let's switch gears. So, we know now the gospel is the deathb resurrection of Jesus Christ. But the Bible says even more about the gospel than we've covered. We've only touched a glimpse of what the gospel means in our life and it includes what it will do in your life and what will happen if you believe the gospel. And that is why season 4 is the gospel of the kingdom of God. So don't miss our next episode, episode two, where we'll show you what the power of the gospel can actually do in your life. Thank you for listening to this episode of the Simple Truth Podcast. Today we saw clearly that the gospel is the death, the burial and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And that is the very power of God to save you and me. And this is not just information. It is the message that rescues us from sin, restores our lives, and brings us into a real relationship with God. So don't just hear the gospel, believe the gospel. Turn away from your sin. Turn back to God. and let the power of the gospel transform your life. And if you already believe the gospel, I challenge you to share it with someone else who's having trouble in their life. In fact, feel free to share this episode with them if you'd like because the gospel of the kingdom is for everyone. And let us know in the comments if you shared the good news with anyone else. Tell us how it went and let us know if you have any prayer requests for them. We'll be sure to pray for them individually. If this episode helped you, please be sure to like and subscribe. And hey, check us out on Instagram at simpler.mpodcast. Next episode, we will get into what the power of the gospel can do in your life. And we'll show you how believing the gospel actually changes your life in real and practical ways. It's been a pleasure talking about the Bible with you. I pray God bless you, God keep you, and help you fully trust in the power of the gospel. Until next time, thank you for listening to the Simple Truth podcast. For additional episodes, visit us at www.simpletruth.org.