The Word of God is clear in its teaching on the Gospel and salvation. After all, the greatest goal of a Christian, the number goal of the believer, is none other than to go to heaven with Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
However, there is something missing in the western Church at times regarding the Gospel and it is this: that we too must die with Christ when He died. The Gospel is not Jesus Christ died for my sins, but if we die with Him, we will also live with Him. This is clear in Romans, 1 Corinthians, and all throughout the Pauline Epistles. Paul himself states that he dies daily. Dies to what? Dies to himself that Jesus Christ may live through him. Without the dying of self, the old man, there is no new man and there is no power in the Gospel. To be a powerful believer, one who is overflowing with gratitude at the fact that Jesus Christ died and rose again for our salvation, is to bear real fruit which is what God is seeking for in His born again children.
It was precisely when Jesus Christ rose again from the dead that we were saved. The Word of God states that if Jesus did not rise again from the dead, then we are still dead in our sins. In other words, when Jesus rose again from the dead, we were justified and saved. Just as the high priest entered the most Holy Place three times on the Day of Atonement, so Jesus Christ died for 3 days and rose again that He might prove to us that we are forgiven. The high priest came out the third time alive if the sins of the nation was atoned for that year. In the same way, when Jesus rose again from the grave He came out to prove to us that we are truly forgiven, and those who are truly forgiven live a lifestyle of holiness and walk the narrow road of obedience in love for Jesus.
His Words abide in us and we abide in Him when we believe the full Gospel, that not only Jesus died for our sins, but we to died when Jesus died, and if we died and suffed with Him, we will also resurrect and reign with Him. Please do not be deceived! He who is born of God does not sin, and if he does, he repents and becomes sanctified. Salvation lies not only in Jesus dying, but also in our dying as well. Lets spread and teach this Biblical Gospel of a relationship with Jesus, that He is worth dying, and living and giving all our lives for! God bless your evening. Shalom!
brother steve kang 