What is the Gospel?

Most people already know that the word gospel means "good news." But not everyone agrees on what the good news is!

The good news of the gospel is that Christ's obedience has secured eternal justification for sinners who will believe in him. That's a mouthful, but every bit of that statement means something!

The Obedience of Christ

The Bible says of Christ, "And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." (Philippians 2:8) We learn from the scriptures that God took on a body and became a man in order to perfectly fulfill his law.

Christ was completely obedient to his heavenly Father! In fact, Jesus said, "And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him." (John 8:29) Christ was obedient to the will of his heavenly Father from the beginning of his life up to (and including) his death of the cross.

Christ was totally obedient to his Father's laws so he could die the death of sinners and suffer the wrath of God that rightfully belonged to them. If you recognize that you are a sinner, then this is very good news indeed!

The Disobedience of Sinners

The Bible teaches us that every person is born dead in trespasses and sins. Every person enters into this life as a sinner and it is evidenced by the fact that we sin. We choose to lie, covet, and lust. We choose anger for selfish reasons and prefer our own good over the glory of God and the good of others.

Our sins reveal that we are sinners.

God is rightfully angry with sinners. God loves and gives life, so it makes sense for him to be angry when people choose things that end in death. He is justly angry when we are selfish and self-serving. None of us do the will of God naturally and so we are naturally deserving of God's vengeance.

Some folks think God is harsh to punish sinners for their sin, but we should consider two things:

1. God is holy and cannot allow sin into his presence. If God allowed sinners with their sin into his holy presence, then heaven would become just like earth with all of the death and suffering that sin brought along with it. A good God would never allow sin to contaminate his eternity.

2. Everything God demands from us (sinless perfection) he provided in his Son, Jesus Christ.

The Sacrifice of Christ

There's a gospel chorus that says,

He paid a debt he did not owe;

I owed a debt I could not pay;

I needed someone to wash my sins away.

And now I sing a brand new song: Amazing Grace the whole day long!

Christ Jesus paid a debt that I could never pay!

The grace of God is that he put the needs of others (even his enemies) above his own comfort. God's law allowed for a perfect spotless sacrifice to take the place of sinners and suffer the punishment they deserved. No person ever matched God's holy standard except for God himself, so the God of love and justice took on a body and lived a perfect life - so he could die our death on the cross.

Repent and Believe the Gospel

God now calls every man to repent and believe the gospel. Repentance is turning to God from your wrong ideas about sin, yourself, God, and eternity. To be saved, God demands that we believe HE did for us the things we could never do for ourselves and trust him ALONE to save us. God gives us salvation from our sins and from his wrath.

It's possible to hear the gospel, understand it, and reject it or do nothing with it. But eternity with God is only available through the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross.

Salvation is a gift from God. It is completely supplied by him. The only thing we provide for our salvation is the sin that made it necessary. God the Father made the plan, God the Son worked the plan in the power of God the Holy Spirit.

Do you believe that Christ died and rose again for you? If you do, call out to him to save you from your sins. Romans 10:9-10 says, "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."

What must we do to be saved? Believe on the Son of God. Trust that his perfect work on the cross was enough to satisfy the anger of God towards sinners. And, believing, call upon his name for salvation and he will save you.

When trust in the Lord, the death of Christ is applied to us. And, beyond that, his new life (eternal life) is also applied to us! God gives his Holy Spirit to every believer to comfort, guide, convict, and teach us. God himself comes to dwell in us and walk in us. He will empower us to have victory over sin as we learn to walk by faith.

If you are not a Christian, but sense God calling you to believe in him, why don't you go to a place alone, and lift up your voice in prayer? Confess your guilt and sin to him and ask him to forgive you. He will hear you and wash away your sins and you will find eternal happiness and wholeness in Jesus!

If you have trusted Christ because of this blog post, please write me an email at info@myebc.life so that I may rejoice with you.

Your Servant in Christ,

Matthias Knopp

#faith #salvation #grace