HERITAGE BAPTIST CHURCH
WHAT IS THE GOSPEL?
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The Gospel is the good news that God, the Creator of the entire universe and everything in it, offers each of us a personal relationship with Him, through Jesus, for all of eternity.
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God created us to be with Him. In the beginning, God created all things good. We were made in the image of God with dignity, value, and worth. We were also made to live in a harmonious relationship with God, each other, and with the world around us. This is the way the world is supposed to be. (Genesis 1-2)
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Our sins separate us from God. Sin entered the world through our first parents' decision to turn away from God, giving into the temptation to walk their own path and trust in themselves instead of in Him. Since then all of humanity has inherited the same tendency. All sin arises from choosing to abandon trust in God, and instead turn to something else for the sake of our comfort, safety, fulfillment, or sense of relationship. (Genesis 3)
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Sins cannot be removed by good deeds. From the beginning humanity has attempted to remove the stain of sin through good deeds. But no amount of sacrifice, giving to charity, or hard work can remove the debt we owe to God for what we have done. We continually sin by word, thought, and deed. This sinful nature that we have harms us, and the people around us, and it sets us up as enemies of God Himself. As the story of the Old Testament shows us, there is no answer for the problem of sin, other than... (Genesis 4-Malachi)
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Paying the price for sins, Jesus died and rose again. In the person of Jesus Christ, God became a man. He lived the perfect and sinless life that we should have lived, and died the shameful death on the cross -in our place, for our sins!- that we all deserved to die, so that we could be made right with God. He has fully done what no person could do, and has cancelled the record of debt against us, saving us through His sacrificial death on the cross. Then He rose from death after three days and later ascended into heaven, where He has prepared a place for those who trust in Him. (Matthew-Luke)
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Everyone who trusts in Jesus alone will have eternal life. God freely offers the gift of forgiveness and relationship to all those who place their trust in Jesus Christ, and who by doing so reverse the decision of Adam and Eve to trust in themselves rather than in God. By this trust, or faith, we make Jesus the center of our lives and trust in His way over our way (or other ways), and in Him above all other things. When we do this God welcomes us into an eternal relationship with Him which extends into life in heaven after death. (John)
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Life with Jesus starts now and lasts forever. The life that God freely offers to all who trust in Him, through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, is radical and transforming. It does not just give us hope for eternal life in heaven when we die. But right now, in this life, by sending the Holy Spirit to renew us from within, He changes us in areas which we wouldn't have the power to change ourselves. Through His Word, the Bible, He gives us good instructions to live our lives by. And by giving us an eternal hope, we are given a new joy and perspective. He gives us purpose in this life and hope for the next. (Acts-Revelation)
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