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Before anything else this platform tries to be — connections, color, creativity — there is one thing infinitely more important: the gospel of Jesus Christ. Everything good that Kaleidicloud hopes to be is downstream of this.
The Gospel, Explained
Article by The Gospel Coalition
The following article — “The Gospel, Explained” — is published by The Gospel Coalition. It walks through the central message of the Christian faith: who God is, what has gone wrong, what Jesus has done, and how we respond.
Out of respect for the original author and publisher, we don't reproduce the full text here. Please read it in full at the source:
Article © The Gospel Coalition. Click above to read it on their site.
If you want to be saved.
If the Lord is stirring your heart right now — a pull, a conviction, a longing to know Him — please do not ignore it. It is the most important moment of your life.
This begins with God, not with you.
Saving belief is a gift. God pricks the heart and grants you to actually believe the good news by the power of the Holy Spirit. You do not manufacture this. Even the ability to say "Jesus is Lord" and mean it comes from Him.
- "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him." — John 6:44
- "The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul." — Acts 16:14
- "No one can say 'Jesus is Lord' except in the Holy Spirit." — 1 Cor 12:3
- "By grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God." — Eph 2:8–9
Believe the cross was historical — and personal. Jesus really lived, really died, really rose. But it is not just history: He died for you. Your sin, your name, your rescue were in view when He bore the wrath you had earned.
- "God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." — Rom 5:8
- "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree." — 1 Pet 2:24
Believe you are a sinner in need of mercy. Every human being has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Sin is not a small problem — it earns death, and it separates us from a holy God. You cannot fix this on your own. That is exactly why Jesus came.
- "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." — Rom 3:23
- "The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." — Rom 6:23
- "Your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God." — Isa 59:2
God made you for relationship. From the beginning He wanted to know you and be known by you. Sin broke that relationship. Jesus is how He restored it — reconciling us to Himself and giving us the ministry of reconciliation.
- "God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself… For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." — 2 Cor 5:19–21
Take the gift — repent and believe. Repentance means turning away from sin and turning to God for a real, eternal relationship with Him. Confess Jesus as Lord. Trust that God raised Him from the dead. This is how a person is saved.
- "Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out." — Acts 3:19
- "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." — Rom 10:9
Be baptized. Part of believing is obeying the Word. Baptism is not what saves you — Jesus does — but it is the outward picture of what has happened inside you: you are buried with Christ into His death, burial, and resurrection, and raised into a new identity as a child of God. Your old self and sins are washed away and buried with Him.
- "We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life." — Rom 6:3–4
- "In Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ." — Gal 3:26–27
- "…having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God." — Col 2:12
- Pray and open the Bible. Ask the Lord — honestly and simply — to lead you. Start in the Gospel of John. Ask Him to lead you to a faithful local church in your area.
- Reach out to someone who can help you grow. cordschnakenberg@gmail.com — Cord Schnakenberg is a leader of Kaleidicloud who cares about discipleship and wants to be available; he may pray and talk with you himself, or connect you with another leader who can walk with you. Reaching out to Cord (or anyone else) is not required for salvation — Jesus alone saves. But if it isn't him, please reach out to someone in your life you believe can help: a mature Christian, a pastor, or a solid local church.
Finding a faithful church
Look for a church that takes Jesus and the Bible seriously, that loves God and loves people seriously, that preaches the gospel of grace through faith in Christ alone, and that holds Scripture as the final authority.
No church on earth is perfect — every church is made of people, and people aren't perfect. Don't expect perfection. Do expect faithfulness to Scripture, humility, and love.
Stay away from false churches and cults
Some groups call themselves Christian but teach a different gospel, deny who Jesus truly is, or twist Scripture in ways that cause real spiritual harm. Others carry the name but bear no fruit of the Spirit — no love, no truth, no repentance. A few examples — not an exhaustive list:
- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons).
- Jehovah's Witnesses.
- A church that does not visibly love God and love people. The greatest fruit is love (1 Cor 13; John 13:35). Christians are called to walk in love as a standard — love toward God and toward all people, inside the church and outside it, including those in need in the community. "Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law" (Rom 13:8–10). Not a perfect love — but a true, evident love. If a church is cold, cruel, cliquish, indifferent to the suffering around it, or harsh toward outsiders, that is a warning sign.
- A church that tolerates — or takes pride in — unrepentant sin. Churches flying the rainbow / LGBT pride flag or otherwise affirming what Scripture clearly calls sin fall here — but this warning is broader. Watch for: unrepentant lying from the pulpit, giving heterosexual sins a pass, embracing cover-up culture (especially around sexual abuse), an unrepentant history of issuing false prophecy, or idolatry (idolizing Trump, or a pastor, or a "prophet"). Avoid churches that display a strong tolerance for sin that God calls people to repent of — a healthy church calls sin sin, and calls sinners (all of us) to Christ.
- A church that platforms or promotes false prophets, false teachers, or heresy. Who a church hosts, quotes, and promotes tells you what it believes. Beware of platforming teaching that plainly contradicts God's Word, even under the label of "unity" or "outreach" (2 Pet 2; 2 Tim 4:3–4; Gal 1:6–9).
- A church where money is the focal point. It is not wrong for churches to remind members of the biblical duty to financially support their church and mission work — Scripture teaches generous, joyful giving, and pastors may rightly challenge stinginess and preach on money. It is wrong when money becomes the main focus, when the pitch never stops, or when ministers get rich off collections from the people they're supposed to shepherd (including from book sales). Don't run from churches that talk about money; do run from churches that seem greedy (1 Tim 6:5–10; 1 Pet 5:2; Titus 1:7).
- Any church that adds to, subtracts from, or doesn't take the Bible seriously as the inspired Word of God.
There are many other examples. If something feels off — if Christ is demoted, if Scripture is sidelined, if leaders are exalted over Jesus, if love is missing, if sin is celebrated, if money is the point — keep looking. The right church is worth the search.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” — John 3:16
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