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The Gospel

Being a follower of Jesus Christ is not simply about going to a church building on a sunday, following a lukewarm church, listening to lukewarm teachings that makes you feel good and going through the motions/works someone else tells you to do. There are alot of churches which are all about "me", about how to prosper in this world, about doing works, about going through specific motions, deeds and traditions on a sunday Christian to-do list. There are many churches that carry the name of a church and make people identify as Christians but have little (or nothing) to do with actually being a follower of Christ.

Going to church, being baptised, tithing, donating and many other works can all be part of a Christians life. They can all be an enrichment to your Christian life and walk with Christ. But doing all those things itself does not make someone a Christian, which can be dangerous as (God only knows how many) people just go through the motions as a sunday Christian without even being saved themselves. So what does make someone a Christian? What makes someone a follower of Christ who is saved from judgement of sin by God? Short answer: believing in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, believing in Him and His finished work on the cross.

God is not looking for perfect people. God is not looking for people who are all about their own self righteousness, their own deeds and their own works. God is looking for people who have an open heart and are willing to listen to, grow and walk with Him by faith, God looks for a heart that seeks Him. He is looking for people who can understand and acknowledge that they have sinned (and sin) against Him (English: Sin = "Chata" in hebrew, meaning: to miss the target/ to come short (to God's standard, to God's Holiness), a failure to love God & humans created in His image. 

Being a follower of Christ means you, as a sinner, have accepted His Gospel (greek: "Euangelion", meaning: good news). It means you accept and believe in Christ and His finished work on the cross which He completed for you. Believing that Jesus Christ lived a sinless life and died the perfect death on your behalf, and in your place. Just as Christ gives you His righteousness to your accounts, so too did He take upon Himself your unrighteousness upon His. Because of this, if you believe and trust in it, you are legally pronounced spotless, sinless, and perfect, moving from death of the judgment to life in Christ. You are no longer condemned, but are pronounced innocent, not guilty, and justified. Not because of anything you did, or can do on sunday, or any other day of the week throughout your life, but all thanks to the finished work of Christ on the cross.

After accepting and believing in Him and His works, you will develop and have a personal relationship with the Lord as He guides you and convicts your heart step by step going through life. A follower of Christ will experience a continuous tug of war in his/her life, mind and heart, with many victories and losses, that will continue on and on as long as you keep leaning into the Lord, allowing Him to reveal more and more things for you to overcome, so you will grow closer to Him and develop your personal relationship with Him. 

Leaning into the Lord means for example reading and studying the Bible yourself, by praying over all things (good and bad things) and laying it all at Christ's feet (share with/give it all to Him) and have faith in Him (faith in the Lords works, not your own). By following Christ's example and not following your own flesh and the lusts of the flesh or this world. Having fellowship with fellow believers and going to church can also help you in your walk with Christ (finding good churches can be difficult in many places on earth so online fellowship can be a blessing). These are examples of leaning in that will develop your walk and relationship with Him but this is NOT what saves. Believing in Christ and His finished work which He did for you is the starting point and is what saves you. 

As religions and people say: "do works to prosper" or "do works get saved".
Christ said: "it is finished", that whosoever believes in him will not perish, but have everlasting life. It is as simple as it is written, we all have sinned, but Christ finished the work on the cross for each one of us to acknowledge, accept and believe in. None of us is saved by our own works but we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.

The "Trinity"

Compare God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit, often called the Trinity) to an apple: in an apple there is the seed, the flesh and the skin, all three are unique and distinctive but all three are part of the same one apple, the flesh of an apple is not the skin, and the skin is not the flesh, but both are the same apple, just as Christ is not the Father, and the Father is not Christ, as Christ was able to be present on the earth while the Father was in His Kingdom, yet they are one true living God. Not three seperate Gods, in a way you could call it three aspects or three manifestations of one. KJV Genesis 1:26-27 "26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." Note that God says in >>our<< image, after >>our<< likeness.
This does not mean that there are multiple Gods since God is speaking in singular form ("And God said...", it's not: and the Gods said). God, being one, is manifesting himself in multiple aspects, and God in full, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, were all there before and from the beginning, a singular God (in three) being eternal.

Being created in His image does also NOT mean that we are gods or little gods and it does not imply that we physically look like God. It simply means that like God we have a soul, body and spirit (like the Father, Son and Holy Spirit), and you are you, you are not three persons, there are not three apples, there are not three Gods. KJV John 10:26-30 "26 But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:  28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.  29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.  30 I and my Father are one." Note how Christ is not saying that He is the Father, but is saying that He and the Father are one. And like we ALL are created in the image of God, you are one person with three distinctive aspects, just like there is one living God, One God in three aspects or in God His case three manifestations, whom are one. What people tend to stumble over is that God manifests Himself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit with an apparent hierarchy between them. Thinking that atleast the Father and Son are two seperate people or Gods.

And we are not exactly the same as God, and our body, soul and spirit is not exactly the same as God or His manifestations, but it's an image of, a likeness of, a representation of a singular God who manifests Himself in three, but again, is one. This is also why any sin against a fellow human being is a sin against God since we all are created in His image and all are a creation of God. So we must try to refrain from sinning and do need to care for each other and for the rest of Gods creation. And God does not need us to help, but he wants us to help and be involved, to share with us, to delegate to us the dominion over his creation. As the Father delegated to the Son, to Christ, so likewise will Christ delegate to Christians. God wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth, that is Christ. And that those that do accept and believe in the Gospel of Christ may obtain the inheritance and become kings and priests in the Kingdom to come.

Note: being a 'king' and/or 'priest' is not for males only. Same for men being part of the 'bride' not meaning that men will be standing in wedding dresses. These things are imagery, a likeness off, a representation of ideas. For example being a 'king' represents ruling with/under Christ. Revelation shows 'priests' as people who offer up prayers, who interecede for others, who praise and worship God in front of His throne. This is not about being male or female. This is imagery or identification of roles that all believers can obtain (or lose out on/give up on) through inheritance by being faithful to God. Also rewards/inheritance (by faithfulness in your walk/life with Christ) is different from salvation (acceptance by faith) which is a free gift from God. Same imagery/likeness goes with for example marriage. The day of marriage is not the be-all or end-all. It's a starting point, the sealing, of a lifelong faithful walk together with your spouse. Same with a Christian walk. Salvation, being born-again, is the starting point, the sealing, of a lifelong faithful walk (in all aspects of your life) together with Christ.

The Gospel Explained

1

Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God. He is not a creation of God, but is God made flesh that dwelt among us. If Christ was not who He was, then what He did made no difference. (John 1:1-14)

2

Jesus Christ did not just die, but rose from the dead three days later. It is through the Resurrection that we have proof of the Father's acceptance of Christ's work. Without the Resurrection, we are of all men most miserable (I Cor 15)

3

We are condemned sinners legally (Romans 5) because of who we are in Adam, being dead in sin, (Ephesians 2:3) morally and because of what we are in our nature, and habitually (1 John 3:4) in what we do because of our behaviour.

4

Jesus Christ is perfect, holy, and sinless. He is perfect in his relation to the Father, morally in His nature, and was habitually perfect leading a spotless and sinless life. (Heb 9:14; 1 Pet 1:19; Luke 1:35)

5

Jesus Christ lived out this perfect and sinless life on our behalf to give to our account. This is called “imputed righteousness,” and it is purely Jesus’ and none of our own. In fact, it is in place of our own. Because of this, we are recognised as pure, holy, spotless and sanctified. Not because we actually are, but because Jesus Christ actually was, and we are accounted so because of Him. (Romans 3-4)

6

Jesus Christ died the perfect death on your behalf, and in your place. Just as Christ gives you His righteousness to your accounts, so too did He take upon Himself your unrighteousness upon His. Because of this, if you believe and trust in it, you are legally pronounced spotless, sinless, and perfect, moving from death of the judgment to life in Christ. You are no longer condemned, but are pronounced innocent, not guilty, and justified. (Zech 3:1-5; Isaiah 53:6)

7

When you accept and believe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ by faith, you are given something called the Holy Spirit in which the Lord indwells within you, allowing you to experience what it means to be “born again.” Because of this “born again” experience, you will reflect the life and love of Jesus Christ as He lives Himself out in you. (Galatians 3:1-7)

8

This does not mean you will be sinless in your life however. But you will reflect Jesus’ perfect life as you wrestle against your own imperfect one. This is a tug of war, with many victories and losses, that will continue on and on, allowing God to reveal more and more things for you to repent and overcome, so you will grow closer to the Lord, have an increasingly better relationship with Him and become more spiritually mature until death or Jesus Christ's second coming and then changes your nature from corrupt to incorrupt. Then and only then will you experience sinless perfection. (Galatians 5:17; Romans 7)

The Gospel Simplified

God sent His Son Jesus Christ to save you from all your sins.
John 3:16 KJV - "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

Christ died on the cross for your sins, was buried and on the third day He rose from the dead
1 Corinthians 15:1-4 KJV - "Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;  2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. 3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:".

What it means? It means your debt has been paid! What debt? The wages of sin, which is death.
Romans 6:23 KJV - "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord".

Believe in Christ and what He did for you and you are saved. It's simple:
Ephesians 2:8-9 KJV - "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:  9 Not of works, lest any man should boast".

To be a good person means nothing. Why? Because we aren‘t saved by works, but by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

Praying

Praying itself does not save, it's the acceptance and faith/belief in Christ and His finished work that saves. Below is an example of what you could say and ask Him as a first time prayer. Praying does not have to be out loud, it can be private, it can be public, it can be quiet, it can be mumbled, and yes it can also be out loud. When you truly believe in Christ let the Holy Spirit inside you guide you in your prayers everyday, share your happiness with Him, humble yourself and praise Him for all He did for you (small, great, ''bad'' and good things), ask Him for help for whatever you need Him to help you with but do pray for His will to be done. Prayers can be very short or you can pray for a long time pouring your heart all out to Him. Do as His spirits leads and guides you to.

It does not have to be 1 prayer a day, or 3 prayers a day, and it does not have to be at a specific time, pray throughout all the day and especially when you feel the Holy Spirit calling you to do so. You have (maybe just now) a personal relationship with Christ, so feel free to communicate and express yourself to Him, anything you feel, experience or emotion you have, lay it at His feet. Some treat praying as if it's a specific moment in the day to make some requests to God and they follow a rigid prayer they pray everyday the same thing over and over again. Having a standard prayer is not bad itself but (as a non-native english speaker) I can't explain it better than it's not about simply repeating words or about speaking out the words itself, but it's about substance, it needs meaning behind it. It's not about 'repeat these words after me and then you are saved'. Also for example if I simply thank someone because I am supposed to say 'thank you' it means little or nothing, but when I truly want to thank someone from my heart, saying 'thank you', now has substance to it. So praying is talking to God and it's not just about repeating the same words over and over, day after day, but it needs substance, it needs meaning.

Having a standard day to day prayer itself is not wrong as long as it's not just about speaking out the words being on a ToDo list for the day. It's ok to have a set moment in the day for prayer with a prayer that follows some set points but remember that you are talking to God and have a relationship with Him, you are not following a ToDo or checklist, you have a personal relationship with God. So do it with your heart and mind in it. Truly express yourself to Him, Thank Him, Praise Him, Ask Him, and let Gods will be done. 

Example First Time Prayer
Dear Lord Jesus Christ, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior. In the name of Jesus Christ I pray. Amen.

To Conclude

Believing in Christ and His Gospel is what saves you, not baptism, not working good deeds, not being the most charitable person, not your own self-righteousness, not how many times you attended church, not how many times you have prayed, not how many times you went to a priest, not how few things need to be 'purged', not about how good or 'holier than thou' someone may seem to be, It's not about us, it's ALL about Christ and HIS >>finished<< work on the Cross FOR US. And that is what you need to accept and believe in.

"Investing" in your relationship with God by leaning into Him is good and being faithful to God throughout your life will be rewarded at the BEMA seat (more on this in the material section), and it will improve you spiritually in a way to you will be more Christ-like with the fruits of the spirit: Galatians 5:22-23 "22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law." But all these things are not what saves someone. Believing in Christ and HIS finished work for us is what saves. Good works is what comes after you are "born-again", it is God working in and through you doing the good works which He lays before you to walk into as long as you keep leaning into Him and stay faithful in your walk with God. But again, that is not what saves, that is the result of being saved.

Some people may add the word 'repentance' to (keep) being saved. Repentance itself is not wrong, in fact it's right, we all must repent of our sins and turn to Christ. And throughout your life there will be sins and other things to repent on to God. But some imply that if you repent or confess (often bundled together) long or often enough that you will be saved, implying that you would have the power to save yourself by repenting and/or confessing and would have the power to unsave yourself by sinning. Meaning that as a Christian you are only saved as long as you repent or confess of every single sin you commit, so when you commit sin today you would have been 'unsaved' until you repented or confessed that sin. Which is wrong because as a believer in Christ you are sealed in Christ, you are accounted holy thanks and through Christ.

Of course this does not mean that you shouldn't repent and confess sins to God after becoming a believer, because you should, and it is a good thing to do as it is part of leaning into God and is part of the sanctification/grow work that the Holy Spirit is working out in you, for example showing you things to overcome and change in your life. So I am NOT saying that you shouldn't confess/ repent of sins after you are already saved, but the point is you do not have the power to repent/ confess your sins (the debt) away yourself, you cannot save and unsave yourself as some imply, neither can you pay or pray it away saying some exact words/sentences, same for evangelizing in the sense of: "say these words/prayer after me and you are saved", is wrong and dangerous. 

Repentance comes from the greek word: "Metanoia". It means a change in way of life, a change of heart or change of mind. It's a spiritual transformation/ change. In the case of coming to Christ, it means you accept and understand now that your sin seperates you from God, that as an unbeliever you had a spiritual debt and death penalty, that there was a gap between you and God. But when you become a follower of Christ, turning from unbelief to believing, turning from sin to being accounted worthy through Christ by Christ's finished work on the cross is what saves you.

A follower of Christ does not have a license to sin, you must actively fight temptations and your sinful nature, but sadly you will sin. We all must try and fight but none of us is without sin, but eventhough we are not without sin, it does not mean we shouldn't try and fight it. You try, you fight and you will go into this tug of war and you keep getting back up and run the race again after falling and failing. If you fall a thousand times then you get back up a thousand times, but you have to keep running the race and this is the tug of war that will continue on and on. But with Gods help you can overcome and have more victories the longer and better you lean into God. So repenting of sins and confessing your sins to God and asking God for help with sins in your life, praying, worshipping, praising, thanking, reading yourself, studying, are all good things to do. But in Christ you can have confidence that by accepting/ repenting/ understanding/ turning from unbelief to believing in Christ and HIS finished work for you, you are saved and sealed, and that is the good news, that is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Do you believe and trust in the blood of Christ? God's finished work on the cross? in God's mercy? in God's Grace? in God's forgiveness? that is what saves and makes you a follower of Christ. 

The other pages contain links to different teachers/ preachers/ watchers/ dissecting/ about a variety of bible subjects, information on the last days that may be close, believers being caught up to God and what happens in those "end times" (different positions and theories exist on these last days/ end times/ caught up subjects). You can use it all for your own walk with Christ, for your own studies, encouragement and getting together with fellow believers (in this case online).

God bless you all, and to all my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ: one day it will all be over and we will be together in His kingdom, together with all our brothers and sisters from all over the world, together with our Saviour, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Last Updated: 5-8-2022

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