Good News In Christ

The word Gospel means good news. The good news is about our Lord Jesus Christ offered to all people everywhere (Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:46-47). God sent his Son to die for our sins, and Christ was raised from the dead according to the Scripture (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Jesus Christ is the good news.

The good news is about the forgiveness of all our sins and life everlasting, through Jesus Christ our Lord. This good news is offered freely to all. It comes as the gift of God. "For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God" (Ephesians 2:8).

The good news is about eternal life for all who believe through the resurrection of Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23; 10:9). Only the death of Jesus Christ at the cross can save us from the condemnation of our sins. The resurrection of Christ proves that Jesus is the Son of God by the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 1:1-4). 

The good news of Jesus Christ is all spiritual blessings for us. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ" (Ephesians 1:3). Every blessing God has for us comes through faith in Jesus Christ our Lord.

How to Know God

Knowing about God is not knowing God. Most people know about God from things they have observed or heard. Our parents may have talked to us about God. We may attend church where a minister teaches about God. However, knowing about God is not knowing God.

Know God by a faith relationship. "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen"(Hebrews 11:1). You cannot come to God any other way. Because God is Spirit, you cannot see Him (John 4:24). Only faith can bring you into a relationship with God. Faith in God is trusting God (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Know God by faith through our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except by me"(John 14:6). We know God by "looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith"(Hebrews 12:2).

Know God as you walk by faith. God becomes your daily companion. You can only walk with God by faith. "For we walk by faith, not by sight"(2 Corinthians 5:7). Faith assures you that God is with you, all the time and everywhere. Faith is the assurance that God hears your prayers. Faith is the evidence of knowing God.

Believers Are Righteous

Believers are righteous through faith in Christ (Romans 3:21-22). Believers are justified and accounted righteous before God. It is never self-righteousness, but the righteousness of God in Christ. Righteousness is God's gift to believers in Christ.

Believers are righteous in Christ alone. The apostle Paul speaks of the righteousness of Christ imputed to believers in 2 Corinthians 5:21. "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." Martin Luther called it the great exchange. Christ takes away our sins and gives us His righteousness.

Believers are righteous by faith alone in Christ. The Christian life can never be based upon our self-righteousness, which is as filthy rags before God (Isaiah 64:6). We give up all hope in self-righteousness and become righteous before God in Christ alone. Only faith in our Lord Jesus Christ can impute perfect righteousness to us before God. Simply stated, we are accounted righteous by faith in Christ.

Believers are accounted righteous by God's grace alone in Christ. Our sins were imputed or accounted to Christ at the cross. His righteousness was imputed or accounted to us by grace alone through faith alone. There is only one way we can receive the righteousness of God. That's by grace through faith in Christ.