Forgiveness

In an earlier post, I said the term “Gospel” refers to good news. So what exactly is that good news?

In the smallest, tweetable nutshell, the good news of Christianity is we can be forgiven because of Jesus. 

More could be said about this statement…

We could talk about why we need forgiveness in the first place (sin and the holiness of God).

We could discuss how Jesus won that forgiveness for us (on the cross).

We could talk about how we access that forgiveness (repent and believe).

We could consider how we display our new status (baptism).

We could examine the aftereffects of such forgiveness (reconciliation with God and eternity in heaven with Him).

But the core message, the good news we proclaim, is we can be forgiven because of Jesus.

This message is altogether wonderful and insulting, and that’s why some people love it and some people hate it. But more on that another day…