Although the Bible is a large book and has much information in it, the truth that can save the soul is easy to understand. God does not leave the matter of salvation to guesswork. He wants everyone to live forever with Him in Heaven.
The Gospel, or “good news” of salvation is summed up in I Corinthians 15:1-4. Those verses, which were written by Paul the Apostle, declare:
“Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.”
The Gospel, as given in these verses, concerns three things and they are all about Christ. They are:
- Christ died for our sins.
- Christ was buried for our sins.
- Christ rose again on the third day – according to the Scriptures.
The first thing seen in these verses is Who did these things? It was Christ, the promised One of God. Who is Christ? He is God come in human form (John 1:1,14).
The second thing noticed is what Christ did – He died. He did not die because of His own sin – He had none. Instead, He died for the sins of the whole world – including yours and mine. Isaiah 53:5 says: “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”
Thirdly, the verse reveals that He was buried. He actually died because of our sin. The Bible reveals that the penalty for sin is death (Romans 6:23). To pay for our sins, He had to pay what we owed. He willingly gave His life for you and me. While still with His disciples, Jesus said that He would do this in John 10:11: “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.”
Finally, these verses say that He rose again. The only thing that allowed Him to rise again – when all of our sins were on Him – was that it meant that they were all paid for and God accepted Christ’s sacrifice completely. By His resurrection, we can know that our sins are paid for in full and no more payment is needed on our part.
The Bible declared all of these details many centuries before Christ ever set foot on earth. God’s Word is true. It reveals that if you put your trust in Christ alone – in His death, burial, and resurrection to pay for your sins – that is the only truth you need to know to be saved today.
Why not call on Him in prayer right now and ask Him to forgive and save you because of Christ’s payment for you. Receive God’s pardon at Christ’s expense “and thou shalt be saved.”