What is the gospel?

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What is the Gospel?

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Feb 19, 2025

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This question is, without a doubt, the most crucial question on this website because it has eternal implications for those who either receive it or reject it.

This is the gospel message.

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, stepped out of heaven and entered the world to “dwell among us” (John 1:14), to “seek and save the lost” (Luke 19:10), and to “save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).

He “came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28).

His perfect life was offered as a sacrifice for sinners who were undeserving (Romans 5:8).

He achieved that by entering the world as a helpless infant, living a life of full obedience under the stringent demands of Moses’ law (Galatians 4:4), while still embodying all the perfections of His Divine holiness.

The scriptures reveal that even though He was subject to normal human vulnerabilities such as hunger, thirst, and weariness (Hebrews 4:15), He triumphed over every temptation common to us all (Hebrews 2:18).

Yet the greatest display of His unconditional love was when He humbled Himself, suffering the most excruciating method of capital punishment ever devised (John 15:13).

However, His death was not the end, as He rose again on the third day proving His authority over life, death, and hell (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).

On the cross, He bore our sins and suffered the punishment that was due to us (Isaiah 53:5). Because He atoned for our sins in full and covered them graciously with His own righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21), we can stand before God fully justified.

This is the gospel message that Jesus’ redemptive work on the cross will save all who put their faith in Him, repenting of their sins and confessing Him as Lord (Romans 10:9-10).

This is the greatest story ever told. This is the story we are called to share with the world providing them with the most gracious invitation into eternal life that states, “Let him who is thirsty come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely” (Revelation 22:17).

My prayer is that God will open your eyes to see, your mind to understand, and your heart to fully embrace the truth of this Gospel message and its Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I pray that you will grow to know the living Savior Himself intimately and receive His gift of eternal life.

The gospel is the greatest story ever told—Jesus Christ died for our sins, rose again, and offers eternal life to all who believe in Him.

How do we deal with the Ravi Zacharias scandal?

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How do we deal with the Ravi Zacharias Scandal?

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Feb 17, 2021

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The Ravi Zacharias scandal is a tragedy for many believers.

Many Christian converts (like me) have listened to hours of Ravi Zacharias videos and lectures.

Some of our blog posts and answers have been influenced by His teaching. Therefore it is essential that we talk about this issue.

This post is mainly to help believers who are hurt by this news and are looking for ways to move forward. This isn’t a stunt to earn more likes or destroy anyone’s reputation but rather is a means to help us process and understand this issue more in-depth.

For those unaware of the issue. Below is the link for the statement from the Board of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries and access to an independent investigation report also available on their website.

https://www.rzim.org/read/rzim-updates/board-statement

Here are 9 thoughts on this subject.

However, these are brief answers; I would highly recommend that you watch some videos from reputed YouTubers on this subject.

Mike Winger:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcWeZS3cnNo

Whaddo You Meme??
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwW6sYI-XGM

Spencer Smith
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krITfMlNzRI&t=0s

David wood
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArlP-NuFCig&t=0s

One: Grieve and empathy for the victims 

Romans 12:15 tells us to weep with those who weep.

We should not ignore the feelings of those victims who were caught in this scandal. 

We should demonstrate our compassion and grace towards them by praying for their healing as a body of Christ. 

The victims also deserve to be publicly vindicated, much as they were accused of being guilty. 

We should also pray and empathize with Ravi’s family, who would have to live with this news for the rest of their lives. 

Two: David also sinned against Bathsheba? 

This incident is not similar to the story of David and Bathsheba. David agonized over his sins and confessed and repented of them (see Psalm 32 and 51); in the end, there was God’s forgiveness and restoration. 

In the case of Ravi, we are uncertain whether he even repented. There is no evidence within the investigation report to suggest that he repented or had any remorse for his actions. Even in past RZIM Board statements, Ravi displayed no notion of Ravi accepting any guilt instead only of denial.

Although, if he did repent, God is indefinitely graceful and merciful to redeem him. 

Three: Let him without sin cast the first stone. 

This use of the above phrase is a wrong abuse of scripture, indicating that you could never talk bad about anyone and not convict anyone about anything. However, scripture demands that we publicly rebuke the leader as public as their ministry is. 

1 Timothy 5:20 (NKJV)

Those who are sinning rebuke in the presence of all, that the rest also may fear.

Four: It is just gossip. 

No. Refer to point 3. We have a biblical mandate to rebuke sin, and it is essential to keep each other accountable. 

Five: Ravi can’t defend himself, so we should ignore this. 

This reasoning is being ignorant of the real issue.

The only reason this scandal has come up is because he isn’t around to cover it up with the massive amount of influence, resources, and bias of faithful followers.

Paul in the book of Timothy highlights that some sins of people are only noticeable after they die.  

1 Timothy 5:24 (NKJV)

Some men’s sins are clearly evident, preceding them to judgment, but those of some men follow later.

Also, suppose we could really apply the reasoning that we cannot speak of the dead. In that case, the gospel writers should not have spoken about Judas because they wrote about him after he had died and couldn’t defend himself. 

Six: All sin is the same:

This is not true and is not consistent with what the Bible teaches. 

Yes, while every sin is an act of rebellion against a holy God and brings death, yet there are still some sins that carry much more severe consequences than others and thus receive severer punishment in this life and the next. 

Seven: Non-believers will use the scandal against us. 

Non-believers have always been talking against the faith even before this incident, and nothing will change. 

We should be firm in our stance that it is Christ who is the focus and not man. The biblical truths and facts are not diminished because of the faults and failings of the messenger. 

True Christianity is a factual religion. Jesus really did die for your sins, and He truly loves you; however, the messenger is optional. We need to focus on Christ and the truth about Him. 

Eight: We should stop idolizing leaders

Our faith should be in Jesus, not people. No one should lose their faith in Jesus, the morally impeccable God-man who went to the cross for us, because anyone else, no matter how gifted, talented, and well-known, fails drastically.

We should note that out of all teachers in human history, only Christ was able to stand blameless and true to the values that He preached.

Nine: How do we place our Trust Pastors and Christian Leaders?

Yes, this is hard to do, but isn’t this part of the fall and consequence of living in a fallen world?

The same Bible that shows flawed people and immoral and prideful spiritual leaders also show people of integrity growing in grace and genuinely serving Jesus. 

True Christianity is a factual religion. Jesus really did die for your sins, and He truly loves you; however, the messenger is optional. We need to focus on Christ and the truth about Him.

SEE SIMILAR QUESTIONS

What is the gospel?

This question is, without a doubt, the most crucial question in this book because it has eternal implications for those who either receive it or reject it.
This is the gospel message.

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How do we deal with the Ravi Zacharias scandal?

Many people are deeply saddened by the news of the ravi zacharias scandal. But how should we deal with this?

Read More

Why did Jesus weep at the death of Lazarus?

Jesus wept. 

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Why did Jesus weep at the death of Lazarus?

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Why did Jesus weep at the death of Lazarus?

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Feb 20, 2025

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John 11:33-36 (NKJV)

33 Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. 

34 And He said, “Where have you laid him?”

They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.”

35 Jesus wept. 

36 Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!”

People often wonder that since Jesus is God and would have known of Lazarus’s outcome (the resurrection), why then would He weep at Lazarus’s death?

Even though this verse is the shortest in the Bible, it is rich with meaning.

Jesus’s humanity on display

Firstly, it emphasizes Jesus’ humanity; He was truly “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Isa. 53:3).

He felt what we would feel, was induced in the same temptations as us, and was allowed to experience first-hand our human emotion. The Hebrews verse portrays this beautifully; 

Hebrews 4:15 (NASB)

For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things just as we are, yet without sin.

Jesus’ anger

As Jesus observed the chaotic scene, He “was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.” Unfortunately, the use of the words “deeply moved” is not an accurate translation (by some bible versions) of the verb embrimaomai, which literally means to snort like a horse. 

Apart from its use in verse 38, it appears only three other times in the New Testament (Matt. 9:30 / Mark 1:43 / Mark 14:5), where it is translated “sternly warned” or “scolding” giving an expression of anger, outrage or indignation. 

Jesus appears to have been angry over the painful reality of sin and death and by the mourners around who were acting pagans who had no hope (1 Thess. 4:13). 

Furthermore, the use of the word “troubled” (Tarasso) further emphasizes the intensity of the Lord’s reaction. A similar term is used elsewhere in the scriptures to describe strong emotion. 

Herod’s reaction to the magi’s arrival (Matt. 2:3), the disciples’ terror when they saw Jesus walking on water (14:26); Zacharias’s fear when he saw the angel in the temple (Luke 1:12); the disciples’ amazement at seeing Jesus after His resurrection (24:38); Jesus’ reaction to His impending death (John 12:27); and His response to Judas’s imminent betrayal (13:21).

Jesus weeping over sin

When Jesus wept at the death of Lazarus, He was moved with compassion. However, He wasn’t weeping because of the end of Lazarus, because the end of Lazarus was going to be the resurrection. 

The Jews correctly identified Jesus’ sorrow as evidence of His love for Lazarus; however, they were wrong to assume that His tears reflected the same hopeless despair they felt.

When the others had wept, the Greek verb used is “klaio” as in verse 33 (commonly used for a loud wailing – like the typical funeral mourners), but the word to describe Jesus’ grief is “dakruo,” a rare word used only here in the New Testament which means to burst into tears silently.

Jesus’ tears were generated both by His love for Lazarus and His grief over the deadly ongoing effects of sin in a fallen world.

This is the empathy, sympathy, tenderness, kindness, and the love of Christ manifested in this verse.

Jesus wept not out of despair but in deep sorrow over sin’s impact on the world, displaying both His compassion and righteous anger against death.

Did Christmas originate from pagan practices

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Did Christmas originate from pagan practices?

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Feb 19, 2025

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Was Jesus really born in December?

Wasn’t the 25th of December a pagan holiday?

If it is true that Christmas is a pagan holiday, then are we worshiping a pagan ritual and not the actual birthday of Jesus Christ?

Is Christmas mentioned in the Bible?

Firstly, there’s no direct biblical commandment to celebrate the birth of Jesus on the 25th of December. There is also nothing in the Bible that would indicate that Jesus was born on the 25th of December. In fact, much of the New Testament narratives would suggest that His birth did not even occur during that time of year. 

Although Christmas is not included in the Bible, the event itself is mentioned – Christmas is God incarnate in the flesh.

John 1:14 (ESV)

And the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

“What we celebrate at Christmas is not so much the birth of a baby, but the incarnation of God Himself.” ~ R.C. Sproul

Was the birth of Christ ever celebrated in the Bible?

Yes, it was. We see the birth of Jesus celebrated in Scripture as follows;

– By John the Baptist while he was in his mother’s womb (Lk 1:44).
– By the Angels and the Shepherds who praised God (Lk 2:9-20) for the gift of Jesus.
– By the wise men who came to worship Jesus and presented Him with gifts (Matt. 2:10-11).

Doesn’t the 25th of December have its roots in pagan worship?

During the time of the Roman Empire, there was a holiday on the 25th of December, which was linked to pagan religion.

However, the Christians at that time were reluctant to participate in the rituals. Therefore, they decided to have their own celebration of something that was of more importance to them – the incarnation of God to Son. This turned into a joyful time as the people celebrated and worshiped their Savior and King.

What about the Christmas Tree used as a decoration?

Regarding the Christmas tree, it is true that it may have been used in pagan practices. However, there is nothing wrong with a tree per se and neither is there anything wrong with using it as a holiday decoration.

A tree used as an object in pagan worship is evil but is acceptable in other contexts. We see some examples of certain practices used in Scripture. The act of circumcision in the Old Testament was given by God as a covenant sign for His people; however, the same practice was common among ancient tribes who used it as part of their pagan rites. It was evil when used as part of pagan traditions, but it was good when used for God’s purposes.

In the New Testament, we see how Paul talked about food sacrificed to idols in 1 Corinthians 8-1 & Romans 14. Paul highlights nothing was wrong with the food (even after its use in pagan worship). Its use in pagan worship was wrong, but its use is good when used by God as a provision for His people. 

1 Corinthians 8:4-6 (ESV)

4. Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.”

5. For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”—

6. yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

Since God created all things and everything is subjected under Him. There is no harm in using things and reclaiming them for His glory and honor.

Regardless of your reasoning behind not celebrating the 25th of December, there is no harm in taking a date, sanctifying it, and making the most of it to the glory of God and His marvelous work of salvation.

"What we celebrate at Christmas is not so much the birth of a baby, but the incarnation of God Himself." — R.C. Sproul

What does the Bible say about alcohol?

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What does the Bible say about alcohol?

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Feb 20, 2025
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A quick answer to this question is that it is “Permissible but Not Necessarily Beneficial.”

The Bible does not explicitly condone the consummation of an alcoholic beverage. In some cases it commends it (e.g., Ps. 104:14–15; Prov. 31:6; Jer. 31:12; 1 Tim. 5:23), and in other cases it strongly condemns drunkenness (Gen. 9:20–27; Deut. 21:20–21; Prov. 20:1; 23:29–35; Rom. 13:13; 1 Cor. 5:11; 6:10; Gal. 5:21; Eph. 5:18; 1 Tim. 3:3, 8; Titus 1:7; 2:3; 1 Peter 4:3).

Let’s consider a few biblical principles that we should keep in mind regarding the use of alcohol;

Drunkenness is forbidden by God, and it does not form part of the Christian living in God’s eyes.

Ephesians 5:18 (NKJV)

And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,

Drinking wine in moderation is permissible

(for example, having a drink with your family over a meal). However, it is also important to note that in biblical times the wine was typically diluted by a ratio of 20 parts water to one part wine (essentially wine-flavored water). Some hosts would make a strong drink consisting of one part water and one part wine; however, the Greeks looked upon such people who drank this unmixed wine as Scythian (barbarians). The wine was also used as a medicinal aid for curing stomach illness.

1 Timothy 5:23 (NKJV)

No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for your stomach’s sake and your frequent infirmities.

But is permissible – beneficial?

We have to ask ourselves that though drinking may be permissible, is it really beneficial? Especially when we know we don’t have any self control to stop it?

1 Corinthians 6:12 (NKJV)

All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.

Not causing others to stumble.

We must be able to do it without causing another person to stumble. If drinking or the actions thereof harm those around us, it may not be something we should be doing.

Romans 14:21 (NKJV)

It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak.

Does it Honor God?

We must ask ourselves, are our actions post-drinking honoring towards God? Is our motive for drinking God honoring?

1 Corinthians 10:31 (NKJV)

Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

If you would like to learn more please use the below link from Pastor Mike Winger who gives a balanced / biblical study on the topic of alcohol.

While alcohol is permissible, the Bible warns against drunkenness and calls believers to exercise wisdom, self-control, and consider how their actions honor God.

What is idol worship?

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What is the Gospel?

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Feb 20, 2025

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Exodus 20:4-6 (NKJV)

4. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth;

5. you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,

6. but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

An idol is a substitute for God – when something or someone becomes more important to us than God.

What are the things in your life that have taken the place of God? What are the things to which we devote our energy, time or for which you make sacrifices? 

When there is a distinction in our adoration / desire for God and something else – you can be certain that you have idolized something.  

John Calvin said our “heart is an idol factory. In a fallen world, people constantly seek things they can worship, even though the Creator is before us in plain view.”

PHYSICAL IDOL

Why is the worship of a physical idol wrong?

Jesus explained the rationale behind the second commandment when he said…

John 4:24 (NKJV)

God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.

Attempting to create a visible representation of the invisible God will always lead to misrepresenting Him. No matter how beautiful the picture we might make, it is no substitute for reality. All they do is arouse God’s jealousy.

Furthermore, people are easily tempted to attribute power to various objects / idols to capture the power and use it. Therefore, it reduces God to something we could manage for our own self-satisfaction.

The essence of idolatry is where we ask the gods (we create) to help us get all we want (for our own personal yet selfish desires); this contrasts with the heart of Christianity, which is to live for God’s glory.

YOU COULD BE AN IDOL

Paul mentions several sinful desires in Colossians, which he links to idolatry. 

Colossians 3:5 (NKJV)

Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

When people engage in either greed or the sexual sins that Paul has mentioned, they follow their desires rather than God’s, in essence worshiping themselves which is idolatry.

MAN AS AN IDOL.

Paul in the book of Romans reminded us of the danger and futility of trying to make God into our own image: 

Romans 1:22-23 (NKJV)

22. Professing to be wise, they became fools,

23. and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.

The first warning in Paul’s list is the “corruptible or mortal man.” You have made a person an idol when you start thinking of someone as your primary source of blessings and contentment. This could be your boss, pastor, leader, spouse, children, etc.

THE LEGITIMATE IMAGE WE CAN WORSHIP.

There is only one legitimate representation of God and therefore only one legitimate means of accessing him. – Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God (Col 1:15). So if you want a representation of God – look at Christ, learn Christ, read Christ and think about Christ.

Colossians 1:15 (NKJV)

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

Conclusion

Not everyone is going to live a 100% idol-free life. But this is more for us to remember how easily we can fall victim to it. We should ask ourselves questions like the following to verify if we have created an idol;

Where Do I Spend My Time? Where Do I Spend My Money? Where Do I Get My Joy? What’s Always on My Mind? 

We are not saying that you should not have a fun-filled life, but question yourself: Is there a difference in your devotion to the idol and towards God? Do you find yourself more drawn closer towards this idol?

Idolatry is anything that takes God's rightful place in our hearts

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