Don’t Get the Gospel Message Backwards | Luke 18:19

My husband, John, and I bought an Ikea desk for my home office. Just like with all Ikea furniture, you have to assemble the pieces together. Without fail we seem to always get a piece of the furniture attached backwards. The front part should be flipped or another screw should have been put in first… 

Did you know that you could get the Gospel message backwards? I’ve known many people who have told me that they weren’t good enough to be a Christian yet. Guess what… that’s the backwards, upside down message of what the Gospel actually is. Luke 18:19 says that only God is good. No matter how hard we try we are not good enough to be sinless or perfect. How do I know? I’ve tried. 

There’s two major facts about Christianity that separates this faith apart from other religions. The first, we believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross and then on the third day rose again, proving that He is God. We believe that He is alive today. Look at today’s religions. Their prophets do not claim to be alive today. Secondly, Christianity is based on what God has done through the sacrifice of his son, Jesus, and not what we, humans, have to do. Christianity is not a checklist, but based on a loving relationship with our Creator God who is alive today. 

Knowing Christ means that you know you aren’t good enough and you need Christ to redeem you. Or another way to say it is, you’re tired of a checklist and you’re ready to let God handle it. That’s called repentance. Being “good enough” comes immediately after repentance because you’ve surrendered your life to Christ. You will be going through a part of sanctification. Meaning, God will continue to work in your life. This all happens AFTER you decide to stop striving to check the boxes, but you’ve decided to trust in a relationship with Jesus Christ. Again, only God is good. He will meet you where you are. 

That’s the Gospel. Don’t get it backwards.