The Good News of The Gospel

Who can forgive sins but God? The good news of the Bible is that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has come to forgive us of our sins. The greatest gift ever is now available to you and me. There is someone though, that doesn’t want you to have it.

“And again He (Jesus) entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house. Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And He preached the word to them. Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.” And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, “Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” But immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, “Why do you reason about these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise, take up your bed and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralytic, “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!” (Mark 2:1-12)

What an amazing miracle! Jesus saw their faith and, frankly, said something that anyone could say; “Your sins are forgiven.” In fact, he even asks those present a rhetorical question; “Which is easier to say…” No one sees or hears the sins being forgiven. No one sees them floating away. Forgiveness of sins happens in the spirit realm. But to heal a man of his infirmaries, now you have to “Put up or shut up!” Many people were present when this happened. But it is clear why Jesus was healing him- “…that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins.” It was God, the Father, who gave Him this power and authority. And once Jesus was resurrected, He proclaimed, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19, 20) 

While this is one of the first miracles Jesus performed there were many that he did. “And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.” (John 20:30, 31) The life Jesus lived, the words that He spoke, the miracles He performed all point to one thing; Jesus, the Son of God, was chosen and anointed by God to take our sin and punishment so that we might be forgiven of our sins and live free. His Life was proof that He had the power to forgive sins. And it was His death, burial, and resurrection that is proof that EVERYTHING He said is true! THAT is GOOD NEWS!!

“Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: 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,” (1Corinthians 15:1-4)

But there is an enemy who hates God, and hates you if you even think about God and His offer of forgiveness to you. His name is Satan. He will do whatever he can to distract you from the Truth, to deceive you with ANYTHING to keep you from God. Paul, the apostle, warned the christians in Galatia about this; “I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.” (Galatians 1:6-9)

If you are a seeker of Truth, and I pray you are, then you will need to be on your guard because “your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith.” (1Peter 5:8, 9) You will need to “be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15)

One more thing in closing. Jesus gave His life for you. He is now asking you to give your life to Him. He’s not asking you to give an hour on Sunday. It is YOUR WHOLE LIFE. It is an amazing offer. Consider, “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.” (Matthew 16:25-27) Many who lived with Him while He walked the earth got His message of love, hope and forgiveness and, as a result, gave their lives to Him. I will leave you with the example of a woman who gave her life and a jar of perfume that was worth almost a years wages to prepare Jesus for His burial. “And being in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, as He sat at the table, a woman came having an alabaster flask of very costly oil of spikenard. Then she broke the flask and poured it on His head. But there were some who were indignant among themselves, and said, “Why was this fragrant oil wasted? For it might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they criticized her sharply. But Jesus said, “Let her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a good work for Me. For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good; but Me you do not have always. She has done what she could. She has come beforehand to anoint My body for burial. Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.” (Mark 14:3-9)

If you would like more information on the Gospel, or you are interested in knowing what it means to obey the gospel, I would encourage you to visit my substack at theapollosproject.substack.com