What is the Gospel

What is the Gospel?

Jay Wegter, teacher

I. THE GOSPEL IS FIRST OF ALL ABOUT GOD.

A. He is sovereign Creator.

1. He is the designer, fashioner, and sustainer of all creation (Ps 100:3; Acts 17:24-31). The universe is not self-existent or self-explanatory. He called the universe into existence by His spoken Word and He explains it by His written Word, the Scriptures (Ps 33; Is 40).
2. He is revealing His mighty attributes by the creation (Rom 1:18-20). The created universe discloses the knowledge of God day by day (Ps 19:1-6).
3. He is sovereign Ruler and Lord over everything that exists (Is 14:27). He owns everything and He is absolute over all reality (Ps 24:1, 2). Sinners and Satan do not create a separate reality of autonomy by their rebellion, God sees their day of judgment coming (Ps 2).

B. He is infallible Creator.

1. He is light – He is the source of all truth, wisdom, knowledge, and ethics (1 Jn 1:5 Prov 1:7).
2. He is holy, He made the universe in order to demonstrate His holiness. God is unchanging in His moral majesty, purity, and holiness (Is 6:3). He alone sets the standard for right and wrong— every commandment is the manifestation of His holy character (1 Pet 1:16, Rom 3:19-21).

C. He is personal Creator.

1. God is a personal Being – He is self-aware, personal, holy, knowable, omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient (Ps 139 ; Rom 11:36).
2. God is love – He created us in His image (Gen 1:27) in order to have a love relationship with us (1 Jn 3:1; 4:7-10). We were made for communion with Him. He created us for His glory that we might take delight in worshipping, honoring, and reflecting Him (1 Cor 10:31; Is 43:7, 21).
3. God is worthy to be loved. His character is perfect, wonderful, and excellent. We were created to be satisfied in Him and all that He is for us. It is the creature’s duty to live for His glory—that duty flows from our being made in His image (Mt 22:37). We glorify God by trust, and by thanksgiving; we are to love God enough to say thank you and love neighbor enough not to covet.

II. THE GOSPEL IS ABOUT MAN’S SINFUL CONDITION.

A. Mankind rejects God’s wonderful character.

1. God’s laws and blessings are intended to show us and warn us of God’s loving ownership of us (Rom 2:4). But, Scripture says that men will not live for the glory and honor of God (Rom 3:23). It is because of love of sin and self that people are uninterested and are unable to love God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength (Rom 3:9-20).

2. God’s testimony of man’s condition reveals that all are in rebellion against God’s moral government (Rom 8:5-7). This means that none of us have treasured God the way we should. We have sought satisfaction in other things and treated them as more valuable than God (Eph 2:1-3).

B. Mankind is separated from God because of sin.

1. God has born witness to the consequences of sin (Rom 6:23). Sin produces guilt, death, and separation from God (Rom 5:12). Sin results in separation of our souls from God forever (God is the only Source of light, life, goodness, and love).
2. God is just and righteous in shutting us out from the enjoyment of His glory forever (Gal 3:10). Hell is real, it is not a myth. Jesus addressed the subject of hell more than any other speaker in the Bible (Mt 10:28).

C. Man is in bondage to sin and cannot free himself.

1. God’s Word tell us that the human race is dead to the things of God (Col 2:13). Man’s will and choosing are enslaved to sin (Gal 3:22). Man’s thinking is darkened (Eph 4:18). Man is spiritually blind and cannot deliver himself (2 Cor 4:4).
2. God’s Word tells us that sinners do not have the power to reverse their habitual breaking of God’s laws (John 8:34). We are sinners by birth, by practice, and by preference (Rom 3:10-18).
3. God’s Word tells us that man’s soul is eternal (Heb 9:27). Physical death does not destroy the “real you.” Christ solemnly warned that those who refuse God’s purpose and His provision for the salvation of their souls will experience eternal destruction (Mt 25:30; Mk 8:12).

4. God has given us His Word to show us our sin and need of salvation (1 Jn 3:4-6). Unbelief in God’s authority is evident in the fact that humans do not take responsibility for their sin. They run their lives as if God does not matter—willfully blind to what they owe God. They attempt to live lives that are self-made, self-sufficient, and self-fulfilled. Only a correct diagnosis of man’s condition, found in the Scriptures, can point man to the divine cure (Rom 10:1-4; Gal 3:23, 24).

III. THE GOSPEL IS ABOUT JESUS CHRIST THE MERCIFUL REDEEMER (ROM 1:1-7).

A. Christ took on human nature to deliver us from sin and restore us to God (Heb 2:8, 9, 14-18).

1. Jesus Christ is the “God-man.” He is the only Mediator between God and man (1 Tim 2:5), He alone can bring a soul to God for acceptance, favor, forgiveness, and adoption (Eph 1:4).
2. Christ’s obedience to the Father was an obedience to the point of death on a cross (Phil 2:6-8). Christ’s love for sinners is demonstrated by His willingness to die for us while we were yet enemies of God (Rom 5:8-11).

B. Christ is the Sin-bearer and Substitute for sinners (1 Pet 3:18).

1. The good news of the Gospel is that Christ died for sinners like us. He offered Himself as the innocent substitutionary sacrifice for sin on behalf of all those who acknowledge their sin.
2. He took the guilt of sinners upon Himself – On the cross, He bore our guilt and endured God’s judgment against it (Is 53:6; 1 Pet 2:24, 3:18).

C. Christ’s payment for sin means that God can acquit sin, and still be just (Rom 3:24-26).

1. Christ’s offer of Himself in our place at Calvary has fully satisfied the justice of God. Christ’s death obtained eternal redemption (Heb 9:14, 15; 10:14; Jn 17:2).
2. Because of the redemption Christ accomplished, God freely justifies the believing sinner. When God justifies, He declares a person righteous in His sight (2 Cor 5:21; Rom 4:5-8; 24, 25). D. Christ has risen from the dead; the empty tomb is proof that Christ’s sacrifice for sinners was accepted by God on their behalf (Acts 17:31; 1 Cor 15:20).

1. Christ rose bodily from the dead. His resurrection validates the saving power of His death and opens the gates of eternal life and joy (Rom 4:25; 1 Cor 15:12-19.
2. Christ’s resurrection guarantees the resurrection of the believer (Jn 14:2, 3). By the Redeemer’s death and resurrection, the sinner may come home to God, where all deep and lasting satisfaction are found (Acts 3:19, 20 ff.; Titus 3:4-7).

E. Christ has ascended on high, He is Lord of all (Heb 10:12; 12:2).

1. Someday every knee will bow to Christ (Phil 2:9-11). All authority has been given to Christ; He is King of kings and Lord of lords (Mt 28:18; Rev 17:14; 19:16).
2. Christ is the only One who can give saving mercy to the sinner – He is willing to do so, He bids, even commands sinners come (Mt 11:28, 29; Jn 6:37; 7:37).

IV. THE GOSPEL IS ABOUT OUR NECESSARY RESPONSE TO BE UNITED WITH CHRIST. A. The benefits of Christ’s death belong only to those who repent and trust Him (Mk 16:16).

1. The person who savingly believes trusts solely in Christ’s Person and finished work on Calvary. The believing sinner trusts in nothing he can do, only in the Savior (Acts 3:19; 16:31).
2. The person who savingly believes, transfers his trust away from self to Christ alone. Saving faith is reliance upon Christ to be our necessary and sufficient payment for sin (Rom 10:13).

B. Faith and repentance toward God involve casting oneself upon Christ as the only hope for right-standing before God.

1. Christ alone is the One who pays for sin and provides power over sin (Rom 3:21-26). The sinner who believes commits his life to Christ for obedience (Jn 3:36; 10:27).
2. Christ is willing to save even the worst sinner – He came to seek and to save that which was lost. Saving sinners is the mission for which Christ came to earth (Lu 19:10). Your sin is not a barrier to salvation! Christ came to save the ‘sin-sick’ (Mk 2:17).

C. God commands all men everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30).

1. To repent is to agree with God that we have wronged Him and deserve His judgment. Repentance is not only a change of mind about our sin, it is a turning toward God in humble obedience (Ez 18:30-32; Lu 13:5).
2. To repent is to determine to turn from our rebellion in order to serve our Redeemer and Creator with our whole selves. Repentance involves turning from the deceitful promises of sin so as to despise the sin and our sin natures (Mt 10:38, 39; 16:25, 26).

QUESTIONS:

(I.A.) 1.) Read Romans 1:18-20. According to this text of Scripture; why are sinners without excuse for their unbelief and rejection of the knowledge of God?

(I.B.) 2.) Read 1 Peter 1:14-16 and Ephesians 5:1-6. Why is an ‘echo’ of God’s holy character required in the lives of the redeemed? Explain your answer from the Scripture passages above.

(I.C.) 3.) How does the fact that we are created in the image of God affect the life choices of a Christian? (Hint: consider how redemption in Christ restores what we lost when mankind fell into sin.) (II.B.-C.) 4.) Why did Jesus speak so often about hell as the consequence of sin? What do Jesus’ warnings say about God’s character? What does the doctrine of hell say about our natural spiritual condition and ruin? (II.C.) 5.) Is it true that if a person puts his mind and will into action, he would be able to free himself from sin and begin living a moral life in the sight of God? Why or why not?

(II.C.) 6.) Is it possible to receive the gift of salvation if one does not fully agree with what Jesus said about the consequences of sin (eternal death, hell, and separation from God)? Why or why not?

(II.C.) 7.) Why is a correct ‘diagnosis’ of a person’s lost condition crucial to receiving salvation? (III.A.-B.) 8.) Consider Christ’s qualifications to be the perfect ‘go-between’ or Mediator between holy God and sinful man: He is both God and man. He is sinless. His sacrifice was voluntary and all-sufficient; it was motivated by love. He was anointed by His Father to redeem sinners and bring them to God. (III.C.) 9.) Read Romans 3:23-26. How does Christ’s death display the justice and righteousness of God? (III.D.) 10.) What two things are guaranteed by the resurrection of Jesus Christ?

(III.E.)11.) Read Philippians 2:9-11. Will every person someday acknowledge that Jesus is Lord of All? Will unbelievers after death be given another opportunity to accept Christ (IV.C.) 12.) Read Romans 6:5-14. To be saved is to be delivered from the penalty of sin which is hell; but not necessarily delivered from bondage to sin. True or false? Explain your answer.

(IV.C.) 13.) Is true repentance solely a change of mind about sin? Or, is it also a determination to no longer serve sin, but to serve God? Explain your answer.