14Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel."

I could spend, quite literally, days going through these 2 simple verses, going into the ins and outs of why John was arrested and why Jesus came to Galilee and what Jesus had been up to prior to this event, but the simple fact is that these 2 simple verses are, perhaps, the most important verses in the entirety of scripture.

John's in jail, and we know what the outcome will be.  The point is that his job is done.  His job as the messenger, the one who makes the way for the man about to come, is complete now that Christ has come onto the scene.  His work is at an end, and it's time for people to see the man whose sandals John wasn't even fit to untie as the lowliest servant in a household.  

And Christ has come...  and His first statement, the very first thing He says as a part of His earthly ministry is a mirror of John's use of Baptism for repentance and forgiveness of sins.

First, Jesus announces: The time is fulfilled.  Jewish prophecies had foretold the coming of the Messiah since the Fall of Man, and Jesus begins His ministry by making it clear that the prophecies - these predictions and promises that God had made to the Jews, and the rest of the world, had been fulfilled.   All this stuff you've been waiting for since the Father promised that Eve's son would crush the head of the serpent?  It's here.

Now...   the formula is simple: repent and believe the Gospel.  

This is such a simple formula, but there's so much in there that we easily pass over...   

The first step is simple: repent.  Strong's concordance has an intesting definition for this that I think give us a great picture of what we're really to do.  Repent isn't merely saying "sorry" - it's a total reversal of mind.  Strong's calls it "to amend with abhorrance for one's past sins".  In other words: we come to a realization of the cost that Sin has had in our life, and we make the decision to surrender that Sin to the Cross.  Again - when the Bible talks about sin, I don't really think it means only "bad behavior".  Sin is that infection that has covered our entire existence from within and without, that makes us completely incapable of pleasing God.

In other words: when the Bible tells us that it's impossible to please God without faith, it's not because He's big and we're little.  it's because He's Holy and we're...   well, I like that word "abhorrent" that Strong's uses.  The Bible tells us that our best behavior, our righteousness, our most wonderful act we can put on for God is like a pile of nasty, disgusting rags only fit to be tossed in the incinerator.  

And it's from this that we repent.  We recognize our pitiful nature and our complete inability to do anything about it, and if that were the end of the story, it'd be a depressing, painful tale of woe.  

But it's not.  Believe the Gospel.  Believe the Good News.  Believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.  Believe that He is the Messiah, sent to earth to save us from our Sin.