THE GOSPEL

The Gospel, the Good News! This is the center of our focus at River of Life!

“Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you – unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,… The Apostle Paul, 1 Corinthians 15:1-4

The Gospel is the Good News that Jesus Christ died on the cross, willingly bearing the wrath of God in payment for our sins, and that He was buried and then raised from the dead on the third day. This was the fulfillment of God’s eternal plan to buy back fallen mankind to Himself through His Son and to fully restore us to His original plan. This was told to us in advance in the Old Testament of the Bible, attested to in the Gospels and the book of Acts, and explained by the letters of the Bible’s New Testament writers.

By faith in Christ and His work for us on the cross, we can be born again spiritually to have freedom from both the penalty and power of sin in our lives, the hope of physical resurrection from the dead and the ultimate pleasure of eternal life – eternal living – with God through Jesus by the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.

By the grace of God, His empowering presence in our lives by the Holy Spirit, we are restored to God’s intention for us – to enjoy life in fellowship with Him and to partner with Him in His work in the world. Eternal life does not just speak of being with God in Heaven, but eternal living with Him the moment you place your faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

“But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.” The Apostle Paul, 1 Corinthians 15:10

The apostle Paul was a trophy of God’s grace – one day a persecutor of the church, the next day, captivated with the reality of the risen Christ and commissioned to take the good news of Jesus Christ around the world. Paul’s life was radically changed by an encounter with Jesus, and yours can be as well. The grace of God didn’t give Paul an excuse to be lazy, but to the contrary, compelled him to make full use of the freedom given to us in Christ to live his life to the full in partnership with the risen Christ.

Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) God has provided an offering for our sin through Jesus that no one else could offer. Eternal life and eternal living is found only through the One Who paid for our sins on the cross, Jesus Christ.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” John 3:16

“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,…” John 1:12

Believe in Jesus Christ, receive Him as Lord in your life today and be born again to eternal life, to eternal living! Being born again is just the beginning – purpose in your heart to say “Yes!” to God, unpack the beautiful and bountiful life of God in Christ and fulfill your destiny in Him!