The Gospel

1. God 

The God who created the heavens and the earth made humanity to worship and fellowship with Him.  

The fact that the God of the Bible created everything is very important. The Bible constantly exalts God as the true God because He is the Creator, in contrast to false gods, who did not create but were created by man (Gen. 1:1; Is. 44:9-28; Jer. 10:10; Jn. 17:3; 1 Thess. 1:9; 1 Jn. 5:20).

Because God is the Creator, he has ‘rights’ to everything that exists (Ps. 24:1, 50:10-12). Just as a child owes respect and honor to his parents simply because they are his parents, in the same way, God’s creations owe him respect and worship because He gave them life. 

However, God did not create people to simply submit to Him and nothing else. God is a personal God who created humans not only to worship and serve Him, but also to have fellowship with Him.

2. Man

Man has rebelled against God and become a slave to sin; as a result, he stands under God's holy wrath and judgment. 

 One of the key issues in understanding salvation is answering the question “what am I saved from?” Oftentimes believers simply answer “I am saved from Hell.” This is certainly true, but it is not the whole truth. Mankind needs to be rescued from two primary things: Enslavement to sin and God’s wrath and eternal judgment

A.  Enslavement to Sin: 

When Adam rebelled against God, he opened the world to sin, which in turn resulted in death (Rom 5:12-13). Since Adam, the Bible teaches that all mankind is enslaved to sin and unable to obey God (Rom 8:1-13, Eph 2:1-3). Because of our natural disposition to sin, every man and woman chooses freely to sin against the Lord and each other (Rom 3:9-18). 

We don’t have to look far to see the sinful disposition of mankind. I can see it at work even with my own 3-year-old child.

Similarly, I don’t know of a single country in world history that has been left untouched by corruption, theft, murder, racism, or any other form of crime. Why? It’s not just that people do sinful actions; it is in our very nature to sin, even though we are capable of doing wonderfully good things too.

Jonathan Edwards described God’s wrath as water held back by a dam. As your sins against God continue to increase, so the waters continue to rise. And the flood of God’s wrath is being held back by God himself, until a day when they are held back no more, and no one may stand against it.

If we stop here, then everything up to this point is bad news. In fact, it’s the worst news we could ever hear. The God of the universe is against us in our sin and rebellion, and we have nowhere to hide…except for the refuge he provides.

3. Christ

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died on the cross and was raised from the dead and now stands as the Lord who is able to save those who repent and condemn those who rebel. 

The Gospel and salvation (and the story of the Bible itself) find their high point in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because of God’s mercy and grace, He promised to make a way for humanity to be reconciled to Him (Rom. 5:10; 2 Cor. 5:18-19; Eph. 2:16; Col. 1:20-22). Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promises.

4. Response

We must respond to the Gospel by turning from our sin (repent) and believing in Jesus as Lord and Savior to receive forgiveness of sins. 

In this time before Jesus returns and judges the earth, God graciously offers salvation to those who will repent from their sin and believe in Jesus (Rom. 3:22; Acts 2:22-38, 17:30). To repent means to turn from one’s sin and rebellion to the Lord Jesus Christ in faith for forgiveness and salvation (Matt 3:2, 4:17, Lk 13:3, Acts 2:38, 3:19, 11:21, 14:15, 20:21, 26:18, 26:20; 1 Thess. 1:9; Jams 5:20, Rev 9:20). God does not desire or accept mere outward service, show, or religious ritual; instead He commands whole-hearted devotion and a life that denies themselves and follows after Christ (Matt. 16:24-28; Lk. 9:23-27).

This type of devotion to Christ is driven by faith. The author of Hebrews describes faith as “being sure of what we hope for, being convinced of what we do not see” (Heb. 11:1). It would be helpful here to mention that faith should never be confused with mere knowledge or agreement to some idea. Biblical faith implies trust and commitment to the person and work of Christ.

When we repent of our sin and believe in Christ, God forgives our sins (Acts 13:38; Eph. 1:7; 1 Jn. 1:9). This means He cancels the debt of our sin against Himself and gives us His Holy Spirit to renew and transform our lives. This salvation is a gift of grace which we could never earn or deserve (Acts 15:11; Rom. 4:5, 11:5–6; Gal. 2–3; Eph. 2:1–10). This same grace empowers Christians to live a life that pleases God and gives us assurance that we are His (Acts 4:33, 6:8; 13:43; Rom. 3:24, 5:15, 12:16, 15:15; 1 Cor. 15:10; 2 Cor. 9:8, 12:9).