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The Gospel for Hindus

by | Mar 4, 2011 | Hinduism, World Religions

The Gospel means good news. According to the Bible, there is one God who has revealed Himself in the person of Jesus Christ. Because God loves humans, He has revealed Jesus as the Savior for all people (1 Tim. 4:10).

Christianity is the religion based on the teachings of the historical person Jesus Christ and His followers. According to the Bible, there is one God who has revealed Himself in the person of Jesus. Jesus claimed to be divine. Jesus came, not to teach us how to become one with Brahman. He came to save humans from the consequence of their sins which was death.

God

According to Christianity, there is one God who has revealed Himself in the person of Jesus Christ. The One God eternally exists as three distinct persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Jesus Christ

God the Son, the second person in the Godhead, became the man Jesus Christ. He lived a perfect life, died for the sins of the world, rose from the grave, and remains both God and man, enthroned in heaven. Since Jesus is God, whatever He said is true. Jesus taught that there was only one way to heaven. He said:

“I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me,” (John 14:6).

Jesus is not just one option among many paths to God. He is the only way of salvation. It is only through trusting Christ as one’s Savior that a person can receive forgiveness for their sins (Eph. 1:13).

Sin: The need for the gospel

To sin means to break God’s perfect moral law. God’s law reflects His character. The bad news is that as humans, we have all sinned by rebelling against God’s standard of righteousness as revealed by His law. In God’s eyes, if we have told one lie, we are a liar. If we have stolen one thing, we are a thief. If we have looked with lust at a person, we are an adulterer. The Bible says:

“There is none righteous, not even one,” (Rom. 3:10-11).

In fact, if we were able to keep all of God’s commandments, but broke just one of them, it would still be as if we had broken all of them. James 2:10 says:

For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.”

Because of our sinful rebellion against God, we are separated from God and deserve His eternal righteous judgment which is His wrath in hell (Rev. 20:15). All humans deserve an eternal hell for their willful rebellion against Him. We are not able to pay for our sins.

The gospel and the courtroom analogy

Imagine that you are guilty of a major felony and are standing before a judge in a court of law. The judge tells you, “You have committed a serious crime which cost the government 500,000 dollars in damage.” You reply, “Judge, I know that I committed that crime, but I can’t pay for it. I do not have the money.” The judge will reply, “I am sorry, but your fine has to be paid. If you cannot pay, you are going to have to go to prison.” As you stand there, you begin to sweat and are extremely nervous.

However, someone abruptly comes into the courtroom, walks up to the judge, and pulls out a checkbook. The person then writes a check to the judge for 500,000. The judge looks at you. He says, “This man has paid your fine. Here is the check.” The judge then extends the check to you. What do you have to do to make the check yours? You must simply receive it. This is the same thing with the gospel. We are all sinners. We stand before the only one, true, holy God. Our sin is so great that we cannot pay for it, but there is one who is willing and able to pay the debt of all who receive His gift in faith.

The good news: What is the gospel?

While humans are sinful and deserve hell, God the Father sent Jesus the Son to die for human sins. The Bible says:

“God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us,” (Romans 5:8).

Jesus Christ, the one true God, did not die for “good people.” (As we have seen, there are no truly good people.) He died for sinners. He died for guilty people like you and me. Since He is God, His death on the cross for our sins had infinite value and was able to pay for all of our past, present, and future sins.

But the good news is not only that Jesus died to serve our sentence and pay our debt. The news gets even better as we learn that He did not stay dead. On the third day, He returned to life, never to die again. He triumphed over the consequence of our sin, which is death. As a result of His resurrection, He proved that His death on the cross was sufficient to pay for our sins before God the Father. The miracle of the resurrection also demonstrates that He can save us and assure us of eternal life in heaven.

Our response to the gospel

Do you have any certainty that you will reach moksha? Are you going to be in the endless cycle of reincarnations/transmigrations forever? Are your meditations and rituals actually going to help you escape suffering and death or attain eternal peace?

Jesus Christ came to give us hope. He said:

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

He also said:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life,” (John 5:24).

Jesus Christ offers you salvation from God’s judgment by faith. It is not by your works, but by faith that you can possess everlasting life (Eph. 2:8-9; Rom. 4:5; 5:1). You can have this salvation immediately and with certainty due to the completed work of Jesus.

Since Jesus paid for our sins, we must receive His free gift of salvation by faith. We must place our trust in Jesus Christ alone for our salvation before God. Our good works cannot save us. We live our lives doing good out of gratitude to God and love for our neighbor, not out of a desire to earn something that cannot be earned and that God has already freely given. Ironically, in freeing us from the motives of self-attainment, God’s gift of salvation in Jesus Christ frees us to do what is truly good without any ulterior motive of selfish intention. Our hope doesn’t rest in our works being good enough, but rather in our trust that Christ was good enough.

You can know for sure you are going to heaven!

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