What Is The Gospel?
What Is The Gospel?
The gospel is, broadly speaking, the whole of Scripture; more narrowly, the gospel is the good news concerning Christ and the way of salvation.
Our Condition
The Bible teaches that Adam and Eve were created in the Garden of Eden. God’s intention for man was to be in a perfect creation, in an eternal state and in relationship with Him. But when Satan tempted them and they chose to believe his word over God’s, everything changed. The fall of mankind came with the single act of disobedience (eating “the forbidden fruit”), and as a result, sin and death entered the creation story. This act of disobedience created enmity (hostility), and thus separation between God and man. From that point forward, the sins of Adam were imputed to all mankind, and we live in a spiritual condition that one might describe as “righteous incapability” or some call it “total depravity.” This is essentially an acknowledgement that as a result of the fall, the mind, will, emotions and flesh of man has been corrupted by sin.
Verses For Application
Romans 8:7
For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God,
for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.
Isaiah 64:6
We have all become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.
We all fade like a leaf,
and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
1 Corinthians 2:14
The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
Jeremiah 17:9
The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately sick;
who can understand it?
John 3:19
And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.
The Solution
The original sin of Adam was imputed to all mankind and has essentially become the “incurable disease” which carries a 100% mortality rate. Since God is holy, He can have nothing to do with sin, and must always come against it. Only God Himself could render a cure to hopeless mankind. In His mercy, God has provided an antidote for sin and death. In His sovereignty, the triune God chose to do something miraculous and incomprehensible. In His righteousness, God condemns our evil. In His love for us, He chose to become a man in the person of Jesus Christ and sent His only Son to the cross to make payment for the sins of mankind. The pre-incarnate Jesus Christ gave up his position in the heavenly realm, took on the form of a human being, and separated himself from the Father and Holy Spirit. He came to earth and lived a completely sinless life, one that you and I are incapable of living. Jesus Christ was fully God (John 1:1, John 10:30, Hebrews 1:3, Colossians 1:19), and He was also fully man (Philippians 2:6-7, Galatians 4:4, Hebrews 2:17).
Salvation & Creation
The Bible teaches some very important yet difficult things for some people to accept. It clearly teaches that there is one and only one God (Isaiah 44:6, Isaiah 46:9, 1 Timothy 2:5-6). It openly declares that all of humanity is sinful (Romans 3:23) and that the penalty of that sin is death (Romans 6:23). Humanity has simply incurred a debt that it cannot pay. In His mercy, the Sovereign of the universe sent His Son, the sinless lamb of God, to take upon Himself the collective sin of the entire world. As Jesus hung on the Roman cross His final word was tetelestai (it is finished). The punishment due us from a holy and righteous Judge of the cosmos fell upon the head of God the Son and opened a door for all mankind. The gift of salvation is freely offered to everyone without exception. There is no sin that is so great that the death of Christ cannot overcome. In fact, the Bible says that the only unforgivable sin that anyone can commit is to reject God’s offer of forgiveness and new life in Jesus Christ (Matthew 12:32). It is His universe. We are His creation. He alone has rightfully established the spiritual physics that govern it!
Why Christianity Is Unique
A true fingerprint of a unique and holy God, among other false gods…
In all other world religions, one’s salvation it tied to good works. These are considered merit base religions, and I believe it is clear evidence of their human origin. Yet the one that distinctly stands apart from all others is Christianity. The Bible clearly teaches that salvation is an unmerited gift of God.
Ephesians 2:4-5
But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our wrongdoings, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
Ephesians 2:8-10
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
Good works are not done to earn salvation. They are the evidence of a sincere conversion (regeneration) in one who has put their trust and faith in Christ as Lord and Savior. Anything short of this is merely an intellectual ascent to information held to be true in the mind of an unconverted “believer.”
Are you looking to believe in a god that you must work to satisfy? Is there any clarity that you have ever done enough to be saved in the first place? How good is good enough? Yet Jesus Christ preached to the lost that all they need do is come!
Matthew 11:28
“Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is comfortable, and My burden is light.”
John 10:9-11
That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, “WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE PUT TO SHAME.”