August 23, 2026 | www.GospelofJesusChrist.blog | River Wilde
I’m feeling very generous today, and I would like to give all of you who are reading this a Priceless Gift. It is EVERYTHING that you will ever need, and something that you certainly can not put a price on, for it is Priceless!
Let’s suppose that I wrapped this up into a Gift Box, and went to each of your houses, and placed this GIFT upon your kitchen table. There it is… Right there before you.
You choose to leave it on the kitchen table for a day, then a week, then your lifetime, NEVER actually receiving the gift yourself, and not opening it.
Has this AWESOME, PRICELESS gift actually been of value to you? The answer is a solid NO. Other than just recognizing a kind jester from the giver, the gift, as priceless as it is, was of no significant value… Agreed?!?!
You might think that this is an elementary, foolish example, but I’d like you to consider the significance of this, as it comes to the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
Jesus suffered for all of our sins in the Garden of Gethsemane. The pain was so substantial, that He actually sweat blood from His pores. This event might be hard to fully comprehend, because we have trouble understanding the physics involved of one person taking upon another person’s sins.
That next day, the Roman soldiers placed a crown of thorns upon His head, and used a severe whip called a flagrum to flog (whip) Jesus before His crucifixion.
Then, they gave Him the horizontal crossbeam of the cross that they would hang Him on, which weighed around 75 to 125 pounds, and made Him carry it for a distance of about one-third of a mile.
They then drove spikes in His hands, and feet as they “nailed Him to the cross.” He suffered on that cross for a period of about 6 hours until He died. Then, to ensure His death, a soldier pierced His side with a spear.
Three days later, he was “resurrected,” showing the world that He had overcome death. This entire process is known in the Bible as the “Atonement of Jesus Christ.”
Jesus did this for ALL MANKIND, yet because of our free agency, it is not forced upon anyone. It is a GIFT that MUST BE RECEIVED by an individual in order to receive the atonement for all of our sins. Are you making the connection here?
Jesus Atoned for you, and many of you know the story, and have left it right there where He placed it for you, on your kitchen table. Jesus gave you this gift Himself personally, but have you accepted this gift from Him?
In Romans 5:11, the Apostle Paul writes:
“And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.”
So, how does a person accept the gift of the atonement?
They accept it through a Spiritual Rebirth, often referred to as being Born Again.
Jesus actually taught this while He was on the earth. Would you like to see what He taught?
According to the KJV, a person receives the benefit of Christ’s atonement by coming to God through faith in Jesus Christ—Asking to receive His atoning sacrifice into their life through prayer, turning to Christ and trusting what He accomplished through His death and resurrection, rather than trusting personal works, ordinances, or religious achievements.
Let’s look specifically at those scripture teachings:
1. Understand why we need Christ
Romans 3:23 (KJV)
“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”
Sin separates mankind from God, and none of us can make ourselves righteous enough to erase it.
2. Believe what Jesus did for you
Paul summarizes the Gospel:
1 Corinthians 15:3–4 (KJV)
“…Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:”
Christ paid the price that we could not pay ourselves.
3. Receive it through FAITH
This is crucial:
Romans 3:24–25 (KJV)
“Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood…”
(Propitiation means a sacrifice that satisfies the righteous judgment against sin and makes reconciliation with God possible.)
And:
Ephesians 2:8–9 (KJV)
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
You don’t purchase the gift. You don’t earn it. You receive God’s GIFT of grace through faith.
4. Repent and turn toward Christ
Jesus said:
Luke 5:32 (KJV)
“I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
Biblical repentance involves a genuine turning of the heart toward God. It isn’t becoming perfect first and then approaching Christ. We come to Christ as sinners needing His mercy.
5. Believe in your heart and confess Christ
Romans 10:9–10 (KJV)
“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
Notice where the believing occurs:
“in thine heart.”
The thief on the cross beautifully demonstrates this
The thief had no opportunity to perform years of good works or complete religious ordinances. He turned to Christ in faith:
Luke 23:42–43 (KJV)
“And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.
And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.”
That is grace.
So, simply stated, this is how a person becomes “Born Again”:
Recognize that you are a sinner → believe that Jesus Christ died for your sins and rose again → repent and turn to Him → place your faith completely in Christ and His finished work → confess Him as Lord.
And once a person genuinely belongs to Christ, they are IMMEDIATELY Born Again through God’s Power. Scripture says:
Ephesians 1:13 (KJV)
“…after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise.”
The atonement isn’t something another human being has authority to dispense to you. Christ made the sacrifice, God offers salvation as a gift, and the sinner receives it through faith in Jesus Christ.
This is not something a person earns after years of good works; salvation is “by grace…through faith…the gift of God: Not of works” (Ephesians 2:8–9). In simple terms: you hear the Gospel → believe and trust Jesus Christ → receive salvation by grace → are born of the Spirit → become a new creature “in Christ” → are sealed with the Holy Spirit.
The simplicity of this process is actually part of what makes the Gospel so remarkable. Being born again is not merely adopting a religion, joining a church, improving your behavior, or learning Christian doctrine. According to Jesus, it is a spiritual necessity:
John 3:3 (KJV)
“Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
That makes this enormously important. Jesus didn’t tell Nicodemus—already a deeply religious man—that he simply needed more religion. He told him that he needed new spiritual life.
When a person genuinely comes to Christ through faith, Scripture describes something profound occurring:
2 Corinthians 5:17 (KJV)
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
This is important because it changes the person’s relationship with God. The believer has passed from spiritual death to life:
John 5:24 (KJV)
“He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.”
It also means that the believer now belongs to Christ:
Romans 8:9 (KJV)
“Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.”
So, although the Gospel is wonderfully simple, what happens is enormous. A sinner trusts Christ; God forgives, justifies, gives spiritual life, and seals the believer with His Spirit. The person becomes “in Christ.”
Remember this statement…A person becomes “in Christ” while I show you the scripture teaching of the rapture. Let’s look:
1 Thessalonians 4:16–18 — Caught Up to Meet the Lord
16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
Did you catch the requirement to be Raptured? You must be “in Christ,” dead or alive. This is who Jesus is Coming for.
First those in Christ who have died, will be resurrected as they are lifted up into the air to meet Jesus Christ, and then those of us “in Christ” who are living. Our bodies will not be resurrected because we have not died, but they will be “changed” into the same perfect bodies of those being resurrected. Let’s review this teaching in scripture:
1 Corinthians 15:51–52 — Changed in the Twinkling of an Eye
51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
Regardless of if a person believes in the rapture or not, as long as they have been Born Again, God will find them, and rescue them through the Rapture, allowing for their escape from the Seven-year Tribulation period that’s coming.
1 Thessalonians 5:9–11 (KJV)
9 “For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
10 Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.
11 Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.”
I hope that you can all see the importance of being Born Again. If you have NOT yet had this spiritual transformation, DO IT RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!!
Once accomplished, you can KNOW that you will be included in God’s rescue plan of the Rapture.
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