The object of faith is not the Gospel … The object of faith is Jesus.
Being at peace with God is not automatic because you, by nature, are separated from God. The Bible says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). You and I are both sinners … Every person alive is a sinner. And sin, our sin, separates us from God. Sincerity, morality, good works and religion are some of the ways man has tried to close the separation between himself and God. Only God’s love can close that gap of separation between God and you. He paid the penalty for the sins of the world. The Bible says, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed (1 Peter 2:24).
But the good news is that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as John the Baptist said, is, “The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). Another John … John the Apostle reiterated this in 1 John 2:2 where we read this:
“And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.”
Because of this, despite the fact that we are sinners, we are not blocked from God and from His kingdom because of our sins. He has removed the sin barrier so that now we are all savable. All we need to do to have everlasting life, life with God that can never be lost, is to believe in Jesus Christ. As Jesus said in John 3:16:
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
Jesus very plainly says that whoever believes in Him will not perish but has everlasting life. Because of the cross and the resurrection of Jesus, all who simply believe in Him have everlasting life and will one day be raised from the dead to live physically forever in perfect, glorified bodies. I can be absolutely sure that I have everlasting life because I know it has nothing to do with how good or bad I am and everything to do with Jesus’ faithfulness to His promise. You cross the bridge into God’s family when you believe in Jesus Christ.
