The Gospel for Muslims

As-salamu alaykum. The gospel of Jesus is good news. That is what gospel means in the Greek, the original language of the New Testament. It is the good news because Jesus has fulfilled the requirements of keeping the law so that through Jesus we can receive the complete forgiveness of our sins.

The Gospel as Good News Through Christ’s Fulfilled Law

By Jesus keeping the law of God the Father, He did this perfectly, and by Him dying and rising from the dead as proof that His good life was acceptable to God, Jesus has made it possible for people to receive the free and complete gift of salvation by faith.

Our Father Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. It was his faith in God that made Abraham righteous before Him. Not keeping the law, not keeping the commandments, he could not do it perfectly.

The law of God is perfect because God is perfect. The law is a reflection of the character of God. It is wrong to lie because lying is against God's character. It is wrong to steal because stealing is against God's character.

That is why the law tells us what is wrong and also what is right. The law is based on God's holy essence and His holy character. This is why God's law is not arbitrary, it is perfect, it is pure, and it is good.

It is there for a reason. Though the law is good and perfect, no man can keep it. Jesus taught us that to even look on a woman with lust in your heart is to commit adultery with her. That is Matthew 5, 27 -28.

The law of God is not simply to govern actions. It is for our hearts and our attitudes. Purity of heart is what God wants from us. Purity of heart down to the deepest part of our being is what God desires.

Why? Because God's heart is the purest and most holy of all. And since the law was spoken by Him and came from Him, the law is perfect and holy. That is, the level of perfection that you must have when you try to keep the law is perfection itself.

You must be perfect because God is perfect. And without sin, you have to be perfect without sin in order to stand before an infinite and holy God. However, we are not able to keep the law. We sin. We fail.

The law says, do not lie, but shows us where we do lie. It occurs in our very hearts. It says, do not commit adultery, but it shows us where we commit adultery, in our hearts. The law of God is perfect, but we are not.

The law of God is holy, but we are not. God is perfect and holy, and we are not able to keep the law of God perfectly because we are finite, because we are limited, and because we sin. So we have to ask, how can anyone ever hope to please God through keeping the law?

How can anyone ever hope to please Him and attain heaven by simply being good or trying to be good enough? It is not ourselves that we must please, but a holy and pure God. The good news is that you do not have to try and keep the law of God in order to please Him and thereby go to heaven.

You do not have to try and raise yourself to the level of God's perfection by trying to keep His holy and perfect commandments. You can't do it. If you thought you could, then your heart is full of pride and sin.

You would be thinking you are as perfect and as good as God's holy character. You cannot keep God's law perfectly. It is just impossible. But what is impossible with us is possible with Jesus. He kept all the law perfectly and He never sinned.

Christ’s Perfect Obedience, Death, and Resurrection

1 Peter 2 .22 says so. Jesus said, Greater love has no man than this, that he lay his life down for his friend. John 15 .13. Jesus is the one who laid his life down for his friends. Jesus is the one who performed the greatest act of love.

He died for our sins after keeping the law perfectly. He paid the penalty of those who break the law, which is death. He took our place on the cross and died. Remember, sin brings damnation. But Jesus took our sins and He took our death upon Himself.

In other words, He took our place. And in doing this, He also bore our sins in His body on the cross. As it says in 1 Peter 2 .24, I know you Muslims don't believe that Jesus died on the cross, but this is what the eyewitnesses said happened.

This great act of love that Jesus did is unsurpassed in all of the entire world. It is unsurpassed in Islam because in the Koran, the greatest act of love, dying for another, is not performed by God. But in the Bible, it is.

Jesus is God in flesh. He is the second person of the world. He died on the cross and rose from the dead. Therefore, the promise of God is that all who trust in Jesus will, like Abraham, our ancient father, be made righteous before God by faith.

Genesis 15 .6 says so. In the Koran, however, in Surah 23, verses 101 -103, it says,. Then when the trumpet is blown, there will be no more relationship between them that day, nor will one ask after another.

Then those whose balance of good deeds is heavy, they will attain salvation. But those whose balance is light will be those who have lost their souls in hell, will they abide? Are you tired of trying to keep all the laws in Islam as you strive to do more good deeds than bad deeds in the hope that on the Day of Judgment your good deeds will outweigh your bad ones?

You see, because you earn, in large part, your salvation by your works, you cannot know whether or not you will be saved. If you are tired of trying to be perfect, if you are tired of trying to obtain paradise through your efforts, and you realize that you are not good enough, then you need Jesus.

Salvation by Faith Rather Than Works

Jesus said, If any of you are heavy laden, come to me, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11 .28. Think about it. Jesus forgave sins, Luke 5 .20 and 7 .48 -49. He walked on water, Matthew 14 .25. He rose from the dead, Matthew 28 .6.

Have you done more than Jesus in keeping the law or performing miracles? Has even Muhammad done these things? No, he hasn't. The good news is that you, like Abraham, can be made righteous by faith. Do you want the righteousness that is by faith?

Or do you want to earn paradise through your own efforts and your own sincerity, your own deeds? Can you earn it? Do you have the confidence to think that you can, that you are being good enough? How has it worked for you so far?

Are you good enough to earn your place with your God? Have you been doing enough good to be forgiven? Now, Jesus said that he gives eternal life, John 10 .27 -28. That he is the one who has received all authority in heaven and earth from God the Father, Matthew 28 .18.

He said he is the way, the truth, and the life, John 14 .6. He said he will be the one who raises people from the dead on the last day, John 6 .40. He is the one who sends the Holy Spirit who bears witness of him, of himself, of Jesus, John 15 .26.

You have to come to Jesus. He is pointing to himself. He doesn't point to Muhammad. He points to himself as the way, the truth, and the life. He is the one who kept the law. He is the one who is able to do it perfectly.

Nobody else has. Now, do you want to try and please God through keeping the law of Allah? Or by receiving salvation through the grace of Jesus? Again, Jesus said that the greatest act of love is to die for another.

Is it the greatest act of love to ask you to earn heaven through your good deeds that perhaps, if Allah wills, you might be saved? In which is the greatest act of love shown to us? In the requirements of Allah or in the death of Christ on our behalf?

If you want the eternal life that Jesus can give you, then trust what he did on the cross and do not rely on your own works to please an almighty and infinitely holy God. Trust Jesus and trust him by faith.

It is not Muhammad who forgives sins. Jesus does that. It is not Muhammad who died and rose from the dead. Jesus did that. It is not Muhammad who said, come to me and I will give you rest. Jesus said that.

And Jesus also said, believe in God, believe also in me. Like Abraham, be righteous in God's eyes by faith. The faith that ultimately is found in the person and the work of Jesus.