The Gospel of God Defined

Many people profess to believing in Jesus as their Lord and Savior, but do not have an actual understanding of the Gospel. There is great concern in “American Christianity” that a large number of individuals have fallen into “easy believism” or a form of “lordship gospel,” misunderstanding the Truth of Scripture. In order to be saved from the wrath of God by the grace of God, you must profess Jesus Christ and trust Him. Just as Noah and Abraham, you must believe God.

Recognize and Ascribe Glory to the One True God
Psalm 99 declares that "The Lord our God is Holy! ... Holy is He!" Isaiah 6 helps us to understand that we are to see the Lord our God as "seated on His throne" and "high and lifted up."

The Gospel of Jesus Christ must begin by understanding that God is Holy, Perfect, Pure and Righteous. And there is an infinite chasm between the Holiness of God and the sinfulness of man. We must have a high view of our Lord and Savior. We must lift our eyes to see the Glory and the Majesty of the King of kings and the Lord of lords.

The Gospel begins with a correct understanding of the Holiness of God. The understanding that “the Lord our God He is God and there is no other.” The Gospel must begin with the fact that all of the universe is dependent upon the God of Creation and the fact that He is dependent on nothing and no one. We must recognize Him in His Holiness. We must see Him as “High and Lifted Up,” understanding that He is way beyond us. It is for each us to submit to Jehovah God as Lord of all. It is for us to recognize that when God preached to Moses, He proclaimed His own name and that was a sufficient sermon.

We must acknowledge His Sovereignty over all of the earth and His supremacy over all of creation. The Lord our God is Sovereign over all time and space and matter. The Lord our God reigns supreme over His creation. He is Holy! Perfect! Pure! Glorious!

The Biblical Gospel necessitates that we have a proper understanding of God’s Holiness. We must know His Holiness and respond to His Holiness. To be a follow of Christ, our response must be like Isaiah. We must recognize God for Who He is and put Him in His rightful place.

Understand the Sinfulness of Sin Within Man
Ephesians 2:1-3 explains that we are born "dead in our trespasses and sins." This sin causes us to be separated from God. The One, True, Holy God cannot have a relationship with us, when we are in sin. And there is nothing that we can do to work our way out of our sinful state.

Romans 3:23 says, "For all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God." Romans 3:10 explains, "There is none righteous, no not one." And Romans 6:23 concludes that "the wages of sin is death." You see, because of our sin, the just and right punishment is that of eternal damnation.

God is Holy, and we are not. God is perfect and demands perfection. He will not let anything enter His presence that is not Holy.  And the law demands perfection. And we cannot be perfect, because we are born sinners. And this is where the problem rests.

This leaves all of mankind with an incredibly dire situation. We must be Holy to know God, and we cannot be Holy on our own. We cannot achieve perfection on our own. It doesn’t matter how many times you go to church. It doesn’t matter how much money you give to charity. It doesn’t matter how many “good things” you do according to man’s standards. There is no amount of works that you can do to achieve a right standing with God. We are totally and completely dependent on Jesus Christ and His righteousness. We cannot achieve a righteousness on our own.

The severity of the situation is that without Christ you are enemies with God. And until you are reconciled to Him, then your eternity is damned for eternity in the Lake of Fire. Until you recognize His Holiness and submit to His supremacy, then you are “following the prince of the power and the air,” “a son of disobedience” — you are “just like the rest of mankind.” (Ephesians 2:1-3)

We are 100% dependent on Jesus Christ and His righteousness. All we have is Christ. There is nothing else in this world that can save us. There is no other religion that can reconcile your dead soul to a Holy God. This dire situation should cause one reaction  in your life. You should say, “Woe is me!” You should say, “I am a man of unclean lips.” You should respond to this fact with a penitent heart.

Repentance is the only response that one can have to be reconciled to God. You must first realize the Holiness of God. Then you must realize the demands of God that in order to have a relationship with Him, in order to spend eternity in Heaven, you must be Holy. And you cannot be Holy on your own. You cannot be perfect on your own. And this should drive you to repentance.

Believe in the Perfect Atonement, the Precious Blood of Christ
Praise God because He sent His One and Only Son to die this death that we deserved (John 3:16). Romans 5:6 explains, "For while we were still weak (meaning, "dead in our trespasses and sins"), at the right time Christ died for the ungodly." It continues to verse 8 to say, "but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Jesus Christ came to this earth, was born of a virgin (so as to not be born dead in His trespasses and sins), lived a perfect life and died the perfect death. His perfect sacrifice for our sins was the definite atonement, which made it possible for our sins to be forgiven. It was Jesus Christ alone that could be the spotless lamb to take away the sins of the world (John 1:29).

“6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:6-8)

This is one of the most precious passages in the entire Bible, and it explains to us that God sent His Son “while we were yet sinners.” Meaning, that we did not do anything to deserve or to earn Jesus Christ. God sent His Son to die for us.

This is the perfect substitutionary death of Jesus Christ. Because of our sin, we deserved to suffer the punishment of eternal damnation. We deserved to experience the wrath of God poured out on us. But Jesus Christ was the perfect atonement for our sins.

On the cross, two things happened that are extremely important for us to understand:

1. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, then all of your sin was imputed (or credited) to Jesus. This is such an important point, because you were born dead in your trespasses and sins with no hope and no ability to have hope. You were born dead in sin. You were born with no ability to be reconciled to God. That is the spiritual state of a human being who does not know Jesus Christ.

“But God who is rich in mercy makes us alive” by His grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. Meaning this, you are born an enemy of God. Without Christ in your life, you are at enmity with God. And the only way to know God is to be perfect, to be Holy. You cannot know God in your sin. And so, in order for you to be made Holy, there must be a sacrifice made. There must be a perfect atonement. Because of your sin, you cannot be your own sacrifice. Even sacrificing yourself would be a sinful act because you are a sinner by nature.

God sent His Son, who was born of a virgin, so that He was not born with a sin nature. And Jesus Christ lived a perfect life. And His perfect life enabled for Him to be the perfect, spotless lamb to be sacrificed for your sin. So, Jesus Christ died the death that you deserved, because the wages of sin is death — the punishment for your sin makes you to deserve death. But “Jesus paid it all.” He bore the wrath of God on the cross.

On the cross there was a legal act of Justification that occurred. All of your sin — if you are a believer in Jesus Christ — was imputed to Jesus on the cross. That means that all of your sin was credited to Jesus while He was on the cross. And God poured out His wrath on all of your sin. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, then God’s wrath was satisfied on the cross of Jesus Christ, when He died for you.

1. The second part is so important for us to understand. At the same time as Jesus taking on all of your sin, there was another imputation. Your sin was forgiven and removed from you, and the righteousness of Jesus Christ was imputed to you. You were covered with the righteousness of Christ. You were made holy, blameless before God. Because Jesus imputed His righteousness to you, you can now have a relationship with a Holy God!

We must understand the whole Gospel! We must understand the Biblical Gospel! This is not just some “say a prayer” and make yourself feel better Gospel. This is not just some religious ceremony of works to somehow get yourself to be a better person. This is not just some feel-good, do-good, emotion-driven religious movement. This is a legal justification to be made right before the Holy God! You are born dead in your trespasses and sins. You have no ability to be made right with God. You have no hope of reconciliation to a Holy God. But God loved you so much that He sent His Son to be the perfect atonement, the sacrifice for your sins.

“Jesus paid it all. All to Him we owe. Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow.” (From the hymn “Jesus Paid It All)

“21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)

Put Your Faith and Trust in Jesus Christ Alone That You Might Be Made Pure
We praise God because Jesus did not stay dead. Three days after He was buried, He rose from the grave, proving that He was truly the King of kings and the Lord of lords. He then ascended to His Father and is seated at the right hand of the Throne of God.

The wrath of God was satisfied with the death of Jesus. On the cross, all of the sins of His children were imputed to Him, and the wrath of God was poured out on that sin. At the same time, the righteousness of Christ was imputed to His children, and we are covered by His righteousness.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes (Romans 1:16). This means that because of the sacrifice and the resurrection of Christ, we can now have a relationship with God. This is available through Faith alone in Christ alone only because of God's Grace alone. It is by God's Grace that we are "made alive in Christ (Ephesians 2:4)" through Faith.

You can repent of your sins and God is faithful and just to forgive you of your sins and will cleanse you from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). You can be made pure -- “as white as snow" (Isaiah 1:18).

If you are reading this now and you have been Reconciled to God, then you must understand that this was a work of God! You were dead, but God made you alive in Christ! For by God’s Grace we are saved through faith!

If you are reading this and you have not been reconciled to God, then you must understand that you can be! God has provided the instrument of faith alone as the means to be saved from His infinite wrath. If you will recognize His Holiness, understanding the infinite chasm between His Holiness and your sinfulness… If you will realize that it is your sin that put Jesus Christ on the cross… If you will submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ… If you will surrender your life to Jesus Christ… If you will repent of your sins… And if you will put your faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior… then you will be saved! (Romans 10:9)