What is the Gospel?

Dear Friends and Members of IBC,

This Sunday we will have our first baptism service of the year. Will you join me in praying for all of our baptismal candidates as God prepares their hearts for this important step of obedience? As part of their preparation, I always ask every candidate the following question: ‘what is the gospel’? Just think for a moment. How might you answer this? An important step for every follower of Jesus is to have a firm and clear understanding of the gospel.

Our faith needs to rest on solid ground. We must accept in our hearts that we are saved only by grace, that we can’t do anything to earn salvation. You see, the default position of our hearts is to revert to works-based righteousness, to enter the hamster wheel of having to do more and more to build up some kind of credit with God. For us to truly find our rest, and to be genuinely used by God for His purposes, we must joyfully proclaim the gospel-centred truth of Romans 5:8: “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

And so, as well as sharing this good news to others and to non-believers, we must also regularly preach this gospel of grace to ourselves. We must learn to meditate on the truth in Hebrews 10:14 that Jesus has offered a one-time, never to be repeated, sacrifice for our sins. We have been made perfect forever.

In recent times, several different resources have been developed to help Christians to understand and share the gospel. These include the Romans Road to Salvation (Romans 3:23, 6:23, 6:23b, 10:9), and the ‘Bridge to Life’ diagram. Using Jesus’ well-known words in John 3:16, I would like to briefly lay out the gospel message for us here, and encourage us to consider the deeper truths of the message that we may have heard many times. Like the angels in heaven, let us also never get tired of looking into the gospel (1 Peter 1:12).  

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:16 (emphasis mine)

[Loved]

You have been created by a loving God. He made you to have a relationship with Him. His love for you surpasses knowledge. It is wider, higher, longer and deeper than you can possibly imagine. He has a purpose for your life.

[Gave]

Starting with Adam and Eve, humans have sinfully tried to live without God, thus causing separation from Him. Everyone has done wrong. But God loves you so much that He gave his one and only Son to die in your place. Jesus died on the cross so we don’t have to suffer the consequences of our sins, which is an eternity in Hell without Him.

[Believe]

Believe in your heart that Jesus is the son of God, that He died for your sins and that God raised him from the dead. Accept that you can’t save yourself and simply receive this unearned, unmerited gift of grace. When we repent for our sins and accept Jesus’ one-time sacrifice, we are forgiven.

[Eternal Life]

God has prepared a place in heaven for you. The gift of eternal life awaits those who put their trust in Jesus. Commit to following Him as the Lord of your life.

Here are two book recommendations which accurately describe the gospel and encourage practices to help us preach the gospel to ourselves:

Milton Vincent, A Gospel Primer for Christians
Jerry Bridges, The Discipline of Grace.

God bless you
James