Either Christ totally settled our “sin issue,” or we’re all in big trouble.

In the business world, fledgling entrepreneurs are taught to have a 30-second “elevator pitch” prepared in case they run across a rich investor who asks, “What is your product idea all about?”

Suppose you found yourself in a similar, high-stakes situation with someone who asks, “What is Christianity all about?”

You have 30 seconds, now go!

As you nervously ponder how to boil the Bible down to its absolute core message, your mind races across thousands of passages. Which one “hits the nail on the head?” Is it even possible?

Well, relax believer, the Apostle Paul has already come to your rescue. Here it is, from 1 Corinthians 15:1-4:

“Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved … For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures …”

Thus, we have arrived at the core, the heart, the gospel “by which also you are saved.” This is the “no-frills” gospel of salvation — Christ’s death, burial and resurrection for you.

That’s it, no mention of going to church, baptism, prayer or religious devotion (although those things are good, just not as a means of salvation).

It is hearing, believing and relying upon Christ’s atonement on your behalf.

Do you believe that Christ’s death paid “the bill” for your sins personally? And that He truly died, was securely buried, and returned from the dead three days later? And that He is alive today, enthroned in Heaven?

Blueprint for Salvation

The Apostle Paul laid out clearly how the people who made up the Ephesian Church came to faith in Christ and were saved. Ephesians 1:13-14 serves as a blueprint for us all:

“In Him (Christ), you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation — having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.”

It’s the same for us today. Our job is to listen to the gospel and believe what it says. God’s “job” is to “seal us in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,” making us His own possession, His heirs.

The all-sufficiency of Christ’s death on the cross.

Do you believe that God was completely satisfied with Christ’s sacrifice on the cross? That something final and complete has been done by Christ on mankind’s behalf, YOUR behalf, regarding sin?

And that you cannot add to or subtract from the value of His sacrifice by your good works or religious devotion?

The cross of Christ was central to God’s ultimate solution to the cosmic predicament created by Adam and Eve’s rebellion.

Although God would never alter the stringent demands of His own righteousness, He was, as the omnipotent master of the universe, able to perfectly satisfy the demands of that righteousness Himself.

Picture this: There you stand in front of the cosmic court of law, having been charged, tried and convicted of crimes against heaven and against your fellow man.

The judge somberly places a black handkerchief on his head and pronounces that, for these crimes, you are to be taken to a place of execution and put to death. 

But then, something unheard of occurs. The judge stands up, takes off his robe, and walks around to the front of his own desk and stands next to you.

He casts a loving eye in your direction and addresses the court. “Your Honor,” (now speaking to his freshly vacated chair), “I would like to substitute myself for this man (you) and I want to be executed in his place.”

He signs the necessary papers, making himself the legally guilty party, as you are fully pardoned and free to go.

The process is perfectly legal, just and final. Instead of reaching for you, the bailiffs now seize the judge and take him to the gallows.

He dies. You live.

As explained in 1 Peter 3:18:

“That’s what Christ did definitively: suffered because of others’ sins, the Righteous One for the unrighteous ones. He went through it all — was put to death and then made alive — to bring us to God.”

How About You?

With his righteousness fully satisfied through the substitutionary death of Christ, God is free to lavish His grace on the worst of sinners, and no one can raise an objection.

The question is … are YOU satisfied with His work of redemption on your behalf? Are you willing to come to Him as a common sinner and be saved?

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Click here for a fascinating AI-generated video overview of this essay.