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What Is The Gospel? According to the bible everyone in the human race has sinned! What does this mean? Well SIN is lawbreaking. So the bible says that we are all lawbreakers. Both by our thoughts and our deeds. And because we have been lawbreakers from the first man, Adam, we all die. The bible also tells us that this lifetime of 100 years or so that we have, is not all that's possible. Eternity is available, but God will not grant it to lawbreakers! So how can we get from this normal human state where we will die, to the state where we will live forever? God says that someone has to pay the penalty for our sinning. The thing is, if ALL have sinned who can pay the penalty? We're all due to die. Someone who has committed NO sins is required and they have to volunteer to die, agreeing that their death can be used to cover your sins and mine. If they were sinless and their life was worth more than all humanity then by dying for us, ALL humanity can be saved! Fortunately; (a), Jesus Christ, who lived a sinless life, volunteered to die for humanity, and (b), being God himself his life is worth more than all humanity. This offering on the part of our Lord Jesus Christ led to the need for the Gospel message. People use the term Gospel all the time in Church, but are they clear in their minds what that term really means? Are they sure what the Gospel really is about, or are they just taking a guess at what seems reasonable? Gospel is an old English word which comes from 'good spell' and spell means tidings or news, so 'good tidings' or 'good news'. And the 'good news' being referred to in the bible is very specific. So what is it? Is the good news a call for us to change our ways and be better people so God will let us live on? Is it some good advice for us to keep? Is it a call to give up bad habits we may have and to develop good ones? Is that the Gospel? Notice what Paul says... 1Co 15:1-4 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you--unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, From this we can see a few things... The Gospel is not good advice to be kept! It's not a better government. It's not good laws to guide you to live a better life! In fact the law was given to show people the need for the Gospel, as we'll see in a separate article! No, the Gospel is good news to be believed. You can do or have all those things (better laws, good advice, etc) and not believe the Gospel, and so you will never be saved! No, the 'Good News' is the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Good News is that what you required in order to be able to live eternally has been provided by Jesus Christ. Let's look at some of the different ways the Gospel is referred to in the bible. The Gospel (There is
only one!) is 'The Gospel of God'. John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” God gave his son as a ransom for us, a voluntary sacrifice, so that we believing and trusting in him to be the replacement for us in death, should not perish but go on to everlasting life. The Gospel is called
'The Gospel of His Son'. 1 Cor. 1:23,24 "We preach Christ crucified... the power of God, and the wisdom of God" . Paul preached about what Christ had done for us as his primary message, because without believing and accepting this sacrifice we have no hope! The
Gospel is also called 'The Gospel of Jesus Christ'. Act 2:32-33 “This Jesus, God raised up. And every one of us here is a witness to it. Then, raised to the heights at the right hand of God and receiving the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father, he poured out the Spirit he had just received. That is what you see and hear.” He preached Jesus! Jesus has died for our sins, and further he has been raised back up to eternal life. He is the proof of what God will do for us. He has also poured out his Spirit on us to empower us to live lives in keeping with our new eternal hope!
The Gospel is "The
Gospel Of The Grace Of God". Tit 2:11-13“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, educating us to deny impiety and worldly desires and to live soberly, righteously, and piously in the present age”
Christ died for us and rose from the dead. That's the simple message of the Gospel. Without his death as an atonement for our sins we would have no hope. There's nothing we can add to that sacrifice that will improve our standing before God. Jesus Christ is all. 1Co 15:1-4 (Message bible) “Friends, let me go over the Message with you one final time--this Message that I proclaimed and that you made your own; this Message on which you took your stand and by which your life has been saved. (I'm assuming, now, that your belief was the real thing and not a passing fancy, that you're in this for good and holding fast.) The first thing I did was place before you what was placed so emphatically before me: that the Messiah died for our sins, exactly as Scripture tells it; that he was buried; that he was raised from death on the third day, again exactly as Scripture says;” Paul tells us quite simply and clearly, this is the Gospel; - That Jesus died for our sins, exactly as scripture said he would; That he was buried; and that he rose again on the third day, exactly like the scripture said. Simple, straightforward. Can anyone have difficulty in understanding it? Unfortunately, yes! Mark 16:15,16 And he said to them, "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. Not all will accept it. To some it's too simple. They want a part for themselves perhaps. They feel that they have to do something tangible! Surely God expects something of them in recompense for giving them eternal life? But if you have to do something tangible for it, is it a gift? If YOU have to do something tangible to be saved, 'who's your savior'? No, the Gospel is very simple and it's all about Jesus. But even so some just don't see it! Paul says in (2 Cor. 4:3), 2 cor 4:3 "If our Gospel is hid, it is hidden to those that are lost". But Jesus came to
save the
lost. He said - Only to that extent do you have to do anything to gain eternal life. You have to believe. Having believed and accepted Jesus Christ as your savior, you'll then embark on a new life. A lifetime of listening to Jesus and following him. But that is your natural follow-up to having already received salvation and eternal life. For more on
salvation Click Here.
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