What had to happen for us to be included in God’s kingdom was the forgiveness of our sins. The means whereby God was able to do that was the death of His Son -- and His grace consisted in the giving of that gift, thereby making our salvation possible. For more information, visit AreYouaChristian.com

The gospel is “the power of God,” but it is salvation that this power of God is for. Whatever secondary blessings may flow from Christ, His mission was to save us from our sins. We will not understand Jesus Christ until we see that sin is the problem He came to correct. For more information, visit AreYouaChristian.com

In baptism, the physical water itself does not wash away our sins. Our new lives are created “through faith in the powerful working of God” (Colossians 2:12). Baptism is an act of trust, a placing of our faith in the promise of God to save us. For more information, visit AreYouaChristian.com

Mankind never would have sinned if it had not believed the devil’s lie; so the only path out of sin is the path that leads us back to truth. Truth -- and particularly the truth about God -- must be put back in its place. If not, the problem of sin will just get worse and worse. For more information, visit AreYouaChristian.com

John said he wrote about Jesus’ miracles “so that you may believe.” The miracles of Jesus authenticated the truth of what He claimed about Himself. Called “signs” by the gospel writers, they “signified” the truth of Jesus’ identity as “the Christ, the Son of God.” For more information, visit AreYouaChristian.com

May we never underestimate the seriousness of what has to happen to us in Christ. "Crucifixion" not too strong a word for it. It was doubt and distrust that drove us to sin. That must change. Forgiven, we must learn to “live by faith in the Son of God.” For more information, visit AreYouaChristian.com

In the world, obedience is usually based on personal feelings or legal obligation, but in the gospel, it is based on trust in God. Confident that His way is always the best, we obey. No matter how things look to us, we trust His love to bring us home. For more information, visit AreYouaChristian.com

Forgiven of past sins, the Christian can rejoice in the present grace and future hope of the gospel. The relationship we can now have with God is rich and good — it is a foretaste of the perfect relationship we will be able to have with Him in eternity. For more information, visit AreYouaChristian.com

When we obey the gospel and are justified with God, the result is that “we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” This is not the subjective FEELING of peace (although that is a by-product) but the objective status of BEING justified with God. For more information, visit AreYouaChristian.com

The term “Christian” was first used in Antioch in Syria. Here, for the first time, the congregation of disciples was made up of both Jews and Gentiles, and it was clear that the gospel was for all of mankind. God’s people were now ready to be called “Christians.” For more information, visit AreYouaChristian.com