The Good News of the Grace of God

That’s the bad news. It is not pleasant to confront it, but it is necessary to understand the realities of sin and judgment in order to be able to understand and appreciate the good news. We cannot begin to appreciate how wonderful the good news is without first seeing that we are utterly without hope unless God somehow intervenes on our behalf. The amazing good news is simply that God has loved us, and has sent his only Son into the world to die in our place for our sins, that through faith in him we might be forgiven and have eternal life.9

It is no exaggeration to say that Christ’s death and resurrection are the most important events in history. It is only on the basis of this atoning work that men and women by the millions have received forgiveness, reconciliation with God, and abundant, eternal life both in this world and the next. Salvation comes only by grace through faith. It is a gift to be received, and not an end which can be achieved. The righteousness we could not gain through our own efforts comes to us through Christ:

But now a righteousness from God, apart from the law, has been made known, to which the Law and Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe."10

The great Christian writer Henry Scougal explains God’s plan of redeeming us through the incarnation and atonement in this way: "I remember one of the poets had an ingenious way to express the passion with which he found himself overcome after a long resistance; that the God of love had shot all his golden arrows at him, but could never pierce his heart, till at last he put himself in the bow, and darted himself straight into his breast. I think this in some way approximates God’s method of dealing with men: he had long contended with a stubborn world, and thrown down many a blessing upon them, and when all his other gifts could not prevail, he at last made a gift of himself, to testify to his affection and engage theirs." 11