What is the Gospel?

Four Main Points of the Gospel

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1. God

You must start with the reality that God is the Creator and that He is righteous and just (Psalm 11:7, "For the LORD is righteous; He loves righteous deeds.") God is eternal and has always existed as One God in Three Persons. All three persons are co-eternal and worthy of our worship. The main point is to know that God as Creator creates the rules, and He requires perfect righteousness in order for His people to dwell with Him. Why? Because He is perfectly righteous. And God made all things perfect and good in the beginning, including humanity. You must also know that God is just, which means He punishes all wickedness and evildoers (Psalm 5:4-6, "For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you. The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers. You destroy those who speak lies; the LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.") You must also know that every human must stand before the judgment seat of Christ and give an account of his or her sin (2 Corinthians 5:10-11, "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.")

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2. Man

God created Adam and Eve in His image and gave man dominion over creation. He gave them great freedom in the garden to eat the fruit of any tree, except one. "You shall not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil" (Genesis 2:17). Yet Eve was deceived by the serpent, and Adam rebelled against God and they ate the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. They sinned. They rebelled. They broke God's command. And they deserved death. So now everyone dies because of sin, as Romans 3:23 says, "For all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God." The point here is that man is utterly sinful and wicked to the core, especially in light of God's perfect standard of righteousness. Here's the bad news: every unrepentant sinner will experience God's eternal wrath. Since, wrath is stored up for sinners, what can man do to earn salvation? Nothing! This makes the bad news even worse.

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3. Christ

This is where you get to the good news: God did everything to win the salvation of His people. He is abounding in grace and mercy! God the Son came to earth in the flesh, was born of a virgin, and was named Jesus. Being born of a virgin means that He didn't have an earthly father and therefore He didn't inherit Adam's sin. Jesus perfectly obeyed God's law when no man or woman or child was able to. Christ fulfilled God's standard of perfect righteousness, but sin also had to be dealt with. "Without the shedding of blood, there can be no forgiveness of sins" (Hebrews 9:22). So, Christ, according to God's eternal plan, willingly laid down His life as a ransom for His people's sins. Christ was the perfect sacrifice for sins and He appeased God's wrath on the cross. He died so that all who would believe in Him might have everlasting life! And Jesus was buried, but on the third day He rose from the dead! He vindicated Himself as Lord and Christ, hallelujah!

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4. Your Response

Now this step is extremely important, because this gospel message includes a response to Christ and His gospel. The Bible calls all sinners to repent and believe in Christ. Christ did the work, and now He saves sinners by His grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone (Ephesians 2:8-9, "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.") I'd encourage you to read Ephesians 1:1-2:10 right now to get a fuller picture of who Christ is and what He has done. Since sinners can't justify themselves by their efforts, the gospel demands a response. Christ Himself calls everyone everywhere to repent, that is to turn from your sins, and turn to Christ by faith. Any message that doesn't mention repentance is a diluted gospel message. Mark 1:14-15 says, "...Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, 'The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.'" So, to be saved from God's wrath for all eternity, you must believe that Jesus is the perfect God-Man (fully God AND fully man) who died as your substitute on the cross. You must also believe that you are completely corrupted to the core and that you can't save yourself or add to your salvation in any way. So, if you are reading this right now, and I call you to repent of all your sins, and trust in Christ, so that you may dwell with Christ for all eternity in a world without sin. Repent and believe!