The gospel is good news because while we were enemies of God, God did not treat us the same way we treat our enemies.
God should have wiped us out. He should have done the crane technique on us. He should have punished us, he should have banished us forever, he should have ignored us and made us realize for all eternity what a terrible mistake we have made.
Yet, God loved us and he forgave us. The Bible says that while we were still sinners and enemies of God, Jesus died for us!
Again I say — God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
That’s what love is. Not to treat us as our sins deserve. But rather, to accept and embrace an enemy.
And for those who realize that we are this type of sinner, we repent and receive God’s forgiveness and ask Jesus to take control of our lives.
We call this making Jesus your Savior and your Lord. Jesus saves you from your sins. You admit that you are an enemy of God and you surrender your life to him and enthrone him at the center of your heart. And from that point on, He leads your life. This is the core of the gospel and salvation.
It’s a relationship, not a religion. Remember we talked earlier about how a lot of us have gotten so used to wearing a coat of religion that we have a hard time identifying ourselves as enemies of God.
So how do we know if we are still wearing that coat of religion?