Lissara Presbyterian Church

Great is Your faithfulness, O God my Father

Lissara Presbyterian Church, what we believe - A five minute Gospel

Lissara Presbyterian Church is a Christ centred church that clearly acknowledges the Word of God as presented in The Bible as supreme authority and presents the following passage as a précis of the Gospel message.

It is acknowledged that every such synopsis will be flawed by its simplicity but every effort has been made to provide an honest and straightforward message.

Everyone has sinned by committing crimes against God’s laws

Romans 3:23 explains, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”

One Saviour, three nails, Four-given It is very important to understand that we have personally sinned, and that we deserve to stand guilty before God on Judgment Day and be cast into eternal torment in hell. It’s not enough to intellectually acknowledge that “all have sinned,” but instead we need to come to true repentance for personally sinning against God.

If you are not ready to acknowledge that you are a sinner, then you are not ready for the Good News about Christ. After all, Christ’s atoning sacrifice for our sins will not appear to be “good news” if you are not at the point where you can acknowledge you have sinned in the first place!

Now, “sin” means “to miss the mark.” All of us fall short of the perfect standard set by God because we disobey His will. We are not just sinners because of our actions towards others; we are sinners because we do not surrender to God’s will. All sin is evil and offensive to God. When we sin we are rejecting God and following our own personal desires and ambitions instead of following His perfect will.

No matter how good we try to be, we have all inherited a sinful nature from Adam and Eve. Sin is not simply a matter of doing bad things; sin is a part of our very nature. Adam and Eve chose to disobey God, and they became corrupted and “fallen” by allowing sin to take hold in their lives. This corrupt and fallen state of being was passed on to their children, their children’s children, etc., and it has been passed down to us. We are all “tainted goods.” This is why Jesus had to be conceived by the Holy Spirit instead of by a mortal man, so that the tainted blood which has been passed down since Adam would not corrupt Jesus with original sin.

The penalty for sin is death

Romans 6:23 explains, “For the wages of sin is death,”

If you do some work, you receive the wages that you have earned. Since we have all sinned, the Bible says that we have all earned death. All of us are mortal and face the prospect of physical death, but those who die without Jesus will be cast into eternal spiritual death, which is separation from God and conscious, continuous agony in the “lake of fire.” It is within our imagination to understand pain; it is probably just within our imagination to contemplate continual agony: but can we really understand eternal agony? This position is also put into stark perspective when we remember that our greatest distress will not be our agony but our eternal separation from God!

Christ died for our sins

Romans 5:8 explains, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

At this point you have heard the Bad News but there is Good News. However, not everyone is ready for the Good News. If you can’t or won’t acknowledge that you are a sinner who deserves to stand guilty before God on Judgment Day, then the Good News will be nothing but “foolishness” to you (see 1 Corinthians 1:18).

“If you were dying of a terminal disease and someone took all of the diseased cells from your body and put them into their body, what would happen? They would die and you would live. They would die in your place. Jesus died in our place so that we can have eternal life.”

Here’s another illustration: The daughter of a Magistrate received a speeding ticket and appeared before her father. She was guilty, so he had to uphold the law and fine her. But then he took off his robe, stepped down from the bench, and paid her penalty for her because he loved her. Since God is righteous, He has to punish sin. Jesus has paid the penalty for us because He loves us, but we must make the decision to turn to Jesus and accept His sacrifice in our place.

Christ rose from the dead

Romans 10:9 explains, “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

According to this passage, the two things we need to do in order to be saved are confess and believe. Here is how the apostle Paul described the Gospel message: -

“Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.”

Paul said that this is the Gospel message by which we are saved:

Christ died for our sins.
He was buried (demonstrating that He actually died).
He was raised on the third day (demonstrating that He is the Son of God - see John 2:18-21).
He appeared to hundreds of eyewitnesses, many of whom were still alive. In other words, if anyone doubted Paul’s word, these hundreds of eyewitnesses could easily be questioned for first-hand testimony about Jesus’ resurrection!

We are saved through faith in Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross

Ephesians 2:8-9 explains, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith --and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- not by works, so that no one can boast.”

There are three things in this passage which are critical: -

1. “Grace” means “unmerited or undeserved favour.” There is nothing we can do and nothing we can offer God that can make us deserving of salvation. It is not by being a good person, it is not by being active in the church, it is not by being baptized, it is not by any works, it is the undeserved gift of God. If you would like to study the Scriptural reasons why baptism is not required for salvation, and why salvation is by faith alone.
“Saved” means “rescued from the penalty of sin.” The eternal death penalty that we have earned (because of our sins) has already been paid for us by Jesus’ death on the cross.
“Faith” means “trust.” When we place our trust in Christ and His finished work on the cross for our salvation, God gives us eternal life as a free gift. We demonstrate our trust in Christ by obeying Him.

This short passage is intended to provide a synopsis of our beliefs and if you would like further information or would like someone to speak to you personally please click here.

Page maintained by: - Minister
The Presbyterian Church in Ireland - Internet Guidelines
Lissara Presbyterian Church - Privacy Statement
Updated: - Wednesday 13 February 2008

Return to Home Page

Office Address:

Rev. Ian Abraham

The Manse, 17 Downpatrick Road

Crossgar, DOWNPATRICK

Co. Down

BT30 9EE