Being Anchored in The Gospel

This last weekend our Church went on a retreat, and guess what we talked about. Anchors.

Anchors, yaya, those kind of anchors, the big steel things that boats toss over the edge during a storm to keep them grounded where they are. How are those related to the Gospel of Christ? Well just as those anchors were used to ground and steady boats during a storm; so is the Gospel used to be a foundation for our faith, so when the storms of life and trials come like driving rain we will can stay strong in our faith because of the Gospel.

The Bible gives us a clear picture of what the gospel truly is:
"But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it — the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus." - Romans 3:21-26

Whoa, slow down there! Justified? Propitiation? Redemption? What do all these big four-syllable words mean?

Well in simple-mans terms, this is the gospel spelled out easily: Basically God sent his own son, his perfect son down to Earth do live the life we couldn't live in our sin and He then died the death we should have died. Through that god satisfied his wrath for our sin on his own son. Because of that we all are declared not guilty in God's eyes, and all of this was a gift; Not because we deserved it; Not because God thought we had earned it, but because He Loved us enough to do that. And all we have to do is believe that He did that for us, and that it is the only thing that can save us.

"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." - Romans 8:1

That might just be the most wonderful sentence in the entire Bible, because if that sentence was not true, then even though God sent his son for us, that would all be for not, because when Jesus was up on that cross, we canceled the power of sin and condemnation.

So whether you've been a Christian all your life, and are still struggling with some foundational Gospel issues, or have just experienced the love of God for the first time, we all can learn a thing or two from the basics, THE GOSPEL!