Why should it be thought incredible by you that God raises the dead?
Acts 26:8

We are also reminded by Paul’s testimony before Agrippa II that the death and resurrection of Christ are essential components of any gospel presentation. Without the resurrection, Paul argued (1 Corinthians 15:14-19) that our preaching is vain, our faith is in vain, and we are dead in our sins. And of course without a death, there is no resurrection, so the two go hand in hand.

Though one need not understand every theological nuance of Jesus’ death and resurrection in order to be saved, the basic reality of Christ’s death and resurrection is essential for salvation. Consider Romans 10:9-10.

…if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

By this we can see that faith in Christ necessarily includes believing that Jesus died and rose to save His people from our sins. Sadly, all too often this essential detail is neglected in favor of a false gospel that merely invites people “accept Jesus into our hearts so we can be happier and have better, more purposeful lives.”

I bring this up not merely to remind us to include the death and resurrection of Christ for the forgiveness of our sins in our testimonies, but also to challenge us all to examine our own faith in Christ. Are you believing in a Jesus who merely takes away our troubles, or the one and only Jesus who takes away our sins? The answer to that question matters!