So much of life teaches us to begin with ourselves. What must I do to be accepted? What must I do to be forgiven? What must I do to make myself right with God?
The gospel begins somewhere else. It begins with what God has done for us through Jesus Christ.
The Son of God took on flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). He lived in this world and faced temptation, yet He remained without sin (Hebrews 4:15). He fulfilled the Law we had broken (Matthew 5:17), bore our sins in His own body on the tree (1 Peter 2:24), and took the punishment our sin deserved.
As Jesus hung on the cross, He said, “It is finished!” (John 19:30, NKJV). The work required for our redemption had been completed. Nothing was left for us to add, and nothing we could ever do would improve upon what Christ had already accomplished.
The cross was not the end. On the third day, Jesus rose from the dead, just as the Scriptures had said (1 Corinthians 15:3–4). He is alive, He intercedes for His people before the Father (Hebrews 7:25), and one day He will return and receive His own to Himself (John 14:3).
Salvation is not something we earn by being good enough or working hard enough. It is given by grace and received through faith, “not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9, NKJV).
We do not make our way to God by our own effort. God came to us in Jesus Christ and did for us what we could never do for ourselves.
Truth to Carry
Our hope rests in what Christ has already done for us, not in what we can do for Him.
Foundations in Scripture 