5 Gospel Verses to Keep in Your Pocket
“The Gospel is that I am so flawed that Jesus had to die for me, yet I am so loved and valued that Jesus was glad to die for me.”
What is the Gospel?
If you’ve spent any time in the church or around Christians, hopefully you’ve heard this word gospel more than once. It is the crux of our faith. Everything we believe in is built upon it. In it we find our greatest purpose, our deepest joy, and our loudest cry. Apart from the gospel, the Christian’s life is folly and pointless. So what is it?
The gospel is the good news. The word gospel in Greek is ευαγγελιον (euangelion) which literally means “good news”. This is what someone would yell after a battle or war has been won, a forerunner to tell the people victory and peace has come. In the same way, we declare the gospel that Jesus Christ has done what no man could do – live perfectly, died sacrificially, and rose triumphantly.
The News: Good and Bad
The bad news is that we are hopelessly broken. Humanity was created perfectly, in unbroken community with God. However, because of our disobedience, we sinned, which separated us from God, the giver of life. The Bible tells us Jesus lived the life we couldn’t live. Every disobedient thought, action, or word spoken by us affirmed our position, yet Jesus never sinned. He was sinless which made him innocent. He was tempted yet never gave in. Jesus died the death on a Cross we deserved. On that terrible hill called Calvary, Jesus was lifted on a criminal’s cross which was rightfully ours. We were guilty of our sins. The punishment was ours to bear but Christ bore it for us. He was the substitutionary sacrifice to atone for our sins. He was buried and resurrected three days later. Jesus literally died and literally resurrected from the grave. Hundreds of eye-witnesses could attest to that fact. This showed God the Father’s approval of His son and secured the salvation for those who would believe and trust in Christ. So anyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.
Memorize These Verses
The reason I enjoy these five verses is because they are bite-sized nuggets of gospel truth; yes, even Titus 3. Each one preaches the gospel. Though you can, and should, spend the rest of your life savoring and studying the reality and implications of the gospel, these are glorious gospel verses to commit to your heart and mind. Memorize them to preach to yourself and others. Lead people to Christ with them, edify other believers with them, encourage and challenge yourself with them.
1. Romans 5:8
“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Gospel Application
While we were in the middle of the mud, God extended love to us. We were sinners, separated and in rebellion against God. Yet Jesus died for us so that we can live in Him. We don’t need to be sinners anymore but a son/daughter in the family of God.
2. Romans 6:23
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Gospel Application
When you do a good job at work, you get paid every week or two – that’s what we earn. In the same way, when we sin, we earn something. The wages we get from our sin is death – that’s what we earn. God has to punish sin because He is a good judge. But He is not without mercy. In fact He offers a free gift. While we deserve eternal death, Jesus died to offer us eternal life. You can’t do anything to earn it, that’s why it’s free. Just receive it and live.
3. 2 Corinthians 5:21
“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
Gospel Application
Jesus did what we couldn’t do. He never sinned, therefore he is innocent and blameless in the sight of God. Jesus is perfectly righteous before the Father. Because of God’s love for us, for our sake, the Father sent the Son to take our sin to the grave. But Jesus didn’t stay there, three days later he left the tomb, triumphant over sin and death. Jesus took our sin and gave us his righteousness. In him alone we are forgiven of our sins.
4. Ephesians 2:4-5
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ — by grace you have been saved.”
Gospel Application
But God… God can step into even the worst situation and turn it around. Like the story of Lazarus, Jesus can step into any tomb and call dead people to life. In fact, that is exactly what God does. We all were dead in our sins, eternally separated from God. That’s the human condition. But God made us alive. This is mercy: not giving us what we deserve, which is death. This is grace: giving us what we don’t deserve, which is life. We are saved because God loved us and made us alive.
5. Titus 3:4-7
“But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”
Gospel Application
Jesus never preached: If your ‘good deeds’ outweigh your ‘bad deeds’ then you’re a good person. And good people will be saved. It is a myth that good people go to heaven and evil people go to hell. There is no such thing as ‘good people’ because Jesus was the only good person, the rest of us have sinned against a holy God. We cannot earn our salvation. But we have hope. God shows us His goodness and kindness by making us new. We were messy and stained but God washed us clean by the blood of Jesus Christ, his sacrifice on the Cross. That’s why we call him our Savior, because he saved us. He saved us from our sins and for himself. Die to yourself and life for Christ.