Why Do You Believe the Gospel?

Why do I believe the gospel of Jesus Christ?  It is because I want to believe it. Growing up, my parents both believed the gospel, so along with their influence and the other common folks of my childhood, the good news about Jesus became my belief as well.  But when I became a man and had to think for myself, I examined what I was taught to see if it was so, and in the process began hearing the other side of the issue.  I listened to other points of view on how we ought to live here on earth.  Many writers were read who explained different ways to serve God.  With so many different ways to be righteous, how was I to know if the gospel was the truth?

The Bible says that there are not many wise men who find the Lord.  To those who have higher intellects and seemingly are able to prove everything scientifically, the news about someone dying for them is just plain foolishness.  But their wisdom should not intimidate us, because no matter how smart a person is, there is still so much that they do not know or can explain by wisdom.  Compared to the infinite wisdom of God, none of us are even in preschool yet.

I listened to and read the writings of many skillful writers who explain other “gospels” which will show us the way to live.  I still believe the gospel because I have never heard any better explanation of life and its problems that the glorious gift of God’s Son to mankind!  No one else offers me a better explanation of the Universe than God in His Word.  No one else has a remedy for my big problem–sin.  They just tell me to be good, which does nothing at all to help my spiritual disease.  There is no other way of living that is better than the gospel way, and whatever good other religions offer, they borrow it from God’s own Word.  Besides, the best people I have ever known are those who live by the gospel.  True, there are many who do not live up to their calling in Christ, but those who provide other believes are almost always critical, unhappy people I don’t ever want to be like.

It always comes down to this question for those who would criticize faith in Jesus: “Do you have a better way?”  They don’t; they believe, like me, what they want to believe.  Why would a person want to believe something other than the good news of Jesus giving Himself for us, overcoming our enemy, death, and giving us eternal life?  Friends, what do you want to believe?  If you don’t believe the gospel already, I hope you will give it another try.  Read it or talk to someone who is a member of the Lord’s church.  See if it is indeed what you want to believe.