What is the Gospel?

Ask 10 people to describe God and you will get 10 different answers. If you really want to know God, you need to know what He says about Himself. We can know God because we know where to find information about Him, the Bible:

II Timothy 3:16-17 states:

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

II Peter 1:21

For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

The Bible was written by men, but these were men who wrote down the very words of God through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, if the words of the Bible are the very words of God, it makes sense for one who would like to know about God to consult the Bible. In the Bible we learn four essential truths about God.

God is The Creator

God is Holy

God is Perfectly Righteous

God is Perfectly Loving

God is The Creator

Genesis 1:1

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

God created every galaxy, star, planet, continent, and living creature. In fact, he created you. To clarify this statement further, let's use an analogy. Let's say you have created something: a painting, a garment, a piece of furniture, a house. It's something very special and personal to you, something you have put hours and hours of thought and creativity into. Then, when you have finished this project, a friend of yours comes to see it and unbidden, adds his or her own touch to it, completely changing the way it looks. Your friend has messed with what was yours! Your property has been damaged. In the same way, since God made you, you are His handiwork, His property. The following fact about God begins to explain what God expects of His property.

God is Holy

Isaiah 6:3 states,

Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of His glory.

To be holy means to be set apart from all that is sinful, profane, dirty, and unclean. Every thought, characteristic, and action of God is perfect.

Therefore, what does this perfect God demand of His creation?

Leviticus 19:2

Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.

God's creatures must match their creator's character in every aspect of life. To demand anything less, would make God less than holy. As God's creation, does your life match up with God's holy character? You can test yourself against the Ten Commandments, which are found in Exodus 20. The very first commandment says you should always put God first in every aspect of your life. Have you ever acted selfishly (Philippians 2:3)? Therefore, the following attribute of God relates to you.

God is Perfectly Righteous

Deuteronomy 32:4 states:

He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.

God always does the right thing as his righteousness is perfect. He rewards good and punishes evil. This would be good news if we were all good, but the Bible says differently.

Romans 3:23

...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God...

At some point in your life, you have failed to comply with the laws of God. According to the Bible if you have ever been angry, in God's eyes you have committed murder (Matthew 5:21-26); this is the sixth commandment (Exodus 20:13). If you have ever lusted, you have committed adultery (Matthew 5:27-30); this is the seventh commandment (Exodus 20:14). Sin is the failure to uphold God's holy and righteous standards and results in guilt before God and divine punishment as we see in the following verses.

Nahum 1:3

The Lord is slow to anger and great in power. And He does not by any means acquit the guilty.

Galatians 5:19-21

Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are these: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lustfulness, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, fightings, jealousies, angers, rivalries, divisions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and things like these; of which I forewarn you, even as I did forewarn you, that they who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

Romans 6:23

For the wages of sin is death...

By death, the Bible means eternal death in Hell where all who have sinned will pay the penalty of their sin forever (Revelation 20:14-15).

Let's say that a judge tried 100 murderers, found all of them guilty beyond a shadow of a doubt, and then sent 99 of them to prison but let one go free; would he be perfectly righteous? Of course not! He would be generally righteous, but not perfectly.

Similarly, God would not be perfect unless he punished all sin. Therefore, everyone deserves to be punished for their sin, even you. That is the bad news.

The good news is that ...

God is Perfectly Loving

Knowing our plight, God the Father lovingly sent His Son, Jesus Christ (who is also God (John 1:1 and John 10:30)), to the world to save you from the consequences of your sin, and allow you the privilege of spending eternity with Him in heaven.

Romans 5:8

But God commends His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.

Jesus Christ came to earth, and lived the perfect life we should have lived. Furthermore, He suffered the punishment for our sin by being crucified on the cross and enduring the wrath of God, which we deserved. We know that the punishment Christ received satisfied God's justice, for God raised Christ from the dead to validate it and give us hope (I Corinthians 15:3-7). Nothing defines love better than God providing a way for you to be saved even when He knew you would love your sin instead of the One who created you and gave you life.

There is a story of two best friends who grew up together. One grew up to become a banker and the other became a lawyer and eventually a judge. The banker was caught red handed for embezzling millions of dollars. When he was sent to trial, it just so happened that his best friend was presiding over the case. Onlookers marveled wondering if the Judge would act justly and give him what he deserved or if the judge would play the role of a friend and let the banker off the hook. The trial came and went and the judge found his best friend guilty and sentenced him to pay the harshest fine one could possibly pay. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, the judge was just. Then the judge adjourned the court, took off his robe and told his friend, "I have sold everything that I have and I am going to pay this fine for you."

Similarly, even though our crimes against God justly incur His abundant wrath, He sent His precious Son to pay the penalty in our place. He went through hell itself . . . for you.

Therefore, you can escape the consequences of your sin by trusting in Jesus' death on the cross in your place. This is wholly the work of God, not a result of anything which you do.

Ephesians 2:8-9

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast.

Subsequently, you can either pay for your own sin, or have Christ pay for your sin. There is no other way.

John 14:6, Jesus said,

I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Now that you know the truth about God, you have a choice in your response.

Your Response to Truth

It's not enough to know all of these facts about God. For Him to know you on the day of judgment (Matthew 7:21-23), you must repent and believe.

Isaiah 55:7

Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and He will have mercy on him, and to our God, for He will freely pardon.

To repent means to turn away from sin. You must renounce your sinful ways and seek the Lord and His ways instead. It is done out of a heart remorseful over sin. To believe is to place your faith and trust in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins.

Romans 10:9

That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

When you have been saved, the result is that you become a new creation (II Corinthians 5:17) because God has given you a new heart with new desires (Ezekiel 36:25-27). You begin to love God and hate sin. You may still sin, but someone who truly knows God will hate sin because Christ suffered so much, literally going through hell under the weight of your sin so you could be free from it. This new life will be reflected in a changed life characterized by increasing obedience to Christ (John 14:15, Acts 26:20, Romans 6:6, Ephesians 4:17-24).

If you have never repented and placed your faith in Christ, you are in sin and under God's wrath because God commands all men to repent.

Acts 17:30

In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.

If you are genuinely sorrowful over your sin and want to be forgiven, you can express it through prayer. Ultimately, words don't save you as God looks at your heart. But if you believe that you are ready to repent and believe what Christ did for you, speak to God, confess your sins to Him, and ask Him for forgiveness. If you have been saved, He will tell you! Then continue to read your Bible daily and do what it says.

If there is something you are wrestling with and you need a deeper understanding of anything that has been mentioned, please contact us and we will be happy to spend time going over these things with you.