On the Nature of the Gospel
John 3:3
Jesus answered him [Nicodemus], "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God."
1 Corinthians 15:1-5
Now I [Paul] 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, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
John 14:6-7
Jesus said to him [Thomas], "I am the way, and the truth, and the life No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him."
Ephesians 2:4-9
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved--and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not of your own doing; it is a gift from God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
From the previous post, looking at the Scriptures, we know the following
If any man deserved to go to Hell and experience the wrath of almighty God, it is I.
But as I stated previously... there is good news... there is the GOSPEL (which translated means "Good News")!
This gospel won't mean you'll have your best life now... it won't mean you'll have a better marriage... it won't mean you will have perfect relationships with others... it won't mean you will feel your life will be driven by a new purpose or that your troubles will be mended and healed.
Then... what?
The Gospel is this: 2,000 years ago YHWH (God) became a man: Jesus Christ, born of a virgin named Mary. Jesus was not merely in human form, nor was he a man who ascended to godhood. He is not, as Mormonism teaches, "the only begotten Son in the flesh," making him a created being, the spirit brother of Satan, who was born of Elohim, who himself used to be a man, who ascended to godhood. This is nonsense, as it is unbiblical. The Gospel of John opens with these words:
Later, also in the Gospel of John, Jesus tells the Jews after they ask him how he has seen Abraham, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am" (John 8:58) This "I AM" title is a title that God uses for himself (Exodus 3:13-14). In responding to the Jewish people's questions, Jesus proclaimed, "My Father, who has given them [the elect] to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them [the elect] out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one" (John 10:29-30). And how did the Jews respond to Jesus' claim that he was God? not A god, but ONE with the Father? Repeatedly, they attempted to stone him.
I go into this in detail not to beat the point into the ground... but to make clear that I am not speaking of the Mormon concept of "Jesus." Or the Jehovah's Witnesses' concept of "Jesus." I am dealing with the BIBLICAL Jesus-- the Christ. Does it matter what the nature of Jesus is? ABSOLUTELY! You cannot point to a chair, and say "THAT'S JESUS!!" You would be wrong (and blasphemous) to do so. WHO Jesus is matters. I am not, as a Mormon friend of mine claims, "splitting hairs," when I proclaim that WHO Jesus is actually matters. He is the 2nd person in the Trinity. If you worship another Jesus... you have the wrong god, and you do not know the Father either (1 John & 2 John). [For more on Christ's deity and the doctrine of the Trinity, visit here, here or here.]
This Jesus who came to "dwell among us" (John 1:14) is "the God-man." 100% God, 100% man. He came to Earth to "save his people from their sins" (Mt 1:21). He proclaimed, boldly, that if you want to get to Heaven, there is no other way but by him. Jesus Christ is THE way (not A way), the TRUTH (not one truth among many), and THE LIFE (without him, there is no eternal life). NO ONE comes to the Father, but through Him. Here is how that was accomplished: the cross.
Again, we are all lawbreakers. And the worse news is that "it it is appointed for a man to die once, and after that comes judgment" (Hebrews 9:27). If you die in your sins, you will be judged by those sins. Time cannot wash away a crime. Those sins are still your burden to bear. And if you die in your sins, you WILL spend an eternity in Hell. This is not me trying to use a scare tactic, this is Scriptural. There is a real place called Hell, and it is where lawbreakers go. "But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, the sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death" (Revelation 21:8). All this talk about Hell being temporary... dies. All this talk about Hell ONLY being "separation from God?" Well... yes, but it isn't JUST separation from God. You are separated from Him... and also you are paying for your sins for eternity in Hell.
But again, there is GOOD NEWS! Christ displays his love in dying and becoming the atonement for the sin of sinners. I have been saved by grace through faith in what Christ has done for me... He took my place, dying for my sins. He suffered the wrath of God so I would not have to. This is AMAZING LOVE if there ever was! He died as the atonement for sin... to make things right between God and man. Furthermore, Jesus rose from the grave on the third day, proving his conquering of Death and sin. His resurrection is the evidence of this victory over the sin --yours and mine--that put him in the position to die.
This is the good news... Christ died for sin, was buried, and resurrected from the grave. He paid the price of ALL who would respond in faith. What does it mean to respond? To REPENT of your sin... not to just ask God to forgive you... but to forsake and turn from your sin, and to place your trust in Christ Jesus for your salvation. He offers forgiveness of sins. He offers an escape of the wrath that is to come. Run to him! Run to him out of thanksgiving for all he has done--purchasing EVERYTHING that is necessary for your salvation.
I urge any and all of you... REPENT AND BELIEVE THE GOSPEL! (Mark 1:15) Do not carry the burden of your sin any longer... turn from your sin and fling yourself upon the mercy of Christ and Him crucified. Scripture says that all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved (Romans 10:10). I beg of you... repent and trust in His work to atone for sin. I may seem judgmental in all this that I have written. Is it judgmental for someone to urge a blind man to halt before he falls off of the cliff he is headed for? Surely not. God is no liar... His word is truth... Repent and have faith in Christ's atoning work. When God grants you the gift of faith and gives you saving grace... this is ALL of God.... it is not a result of your works. You cannot bribe God with your good works. They cannot save you. If they could, Christ died for no reason (Galatians 2:21). In fact your "good works" that you trust to save you?... In God's eyes, they are filthy rags (Isaiah 64:4-9)... or more accurately, USED BLOODY TAMPONS. God offers you salvation from sin and His wrath... and you hand him old tampons.
Do not trust in your goodness or your works to save you. Repent of your sinful ways and fling yourself upon the mercy of Christ, the atonement bought by his crucifixion. THIS IS the Gospel... the Good News of Christianity.
As I bring this to a close, the lyrics of a new hymn "In Christ Alone" are powerful in their description of the gospel message.
"In Christ Alone"
In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand
In Christ alone, who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save
‘Til on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live
There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again
And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ
No guilt of life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life’s first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
‘til He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand
[[To go into the details of the cross and act of crucifixion and atonement would take up more time and space than many would care to read. For more on that in GREAT detail please check out Driscoll's sermon on the Atonment and / or his series on the cross.]]
Jesus answered him [Nicodemus], "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God."
1 Corinthians 15:1-5
Now I [Paul] 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, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
John 14:6-7
Jesus said to him [Thomas], "I am the way, and the truth, and the life No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him."
Ephesians 2:4-9
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved--and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not of your own doing; it is a gift from God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
From the previous post, looking at the Scriptures, we know the following
- God gave his law to man: to love. To love God and to love our neighbor.
- We break God's law daily. We should love God and love others... but we DON'T! If we really loved as we are COMMANDED to love, we would not sin.
- Because of our wretched nature, it is utterly impossible to keep God's law. Spiritual disciplines do not help. Helping the poor won't help. Good works do not erase bad deeds.
- Basically... left to our own works to save us... we're screwed.
If any man deserved to go to Hell and experience the wrath of almighty God, it is I.
But as I stated previously... there is good news... there is the GOSPEL (which translated means "Good News")!
This gospel won't mean you'll have your best life now... it won't mean you'll have a better marriage... it won't mean you will have perfect relationships with others... it won't mean you will feel your life will be driven by a new purpose or that your troubles will be mended and healed.
Then... what?
The Gospel is this: 2,000 years ago YHWH (God) became a man: Jesus Christ, born of a virgin named Mary. Jesus was not merely in human form, nor was he a man who ascended to godhood. He is not, as Mormonism teaches, "the only begotten Son in the flesh," making him a created being, the spirit brother of Satan, who was born of Elohim, who himself used to be a man, who ascended to godhood. This is nonsense, as it is unbiblical. The Gospel of John opens with these words:
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made though him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it... And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:1-5, 14).
Later, also in the Gospel of John, Jesus tells the Jews after they ask him how he has seen Abraham, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am" (John 8:58) This "I AM" title is a title that God uses for himself (Exodus 3:13-14). In responding to the Jewish people's questions, Jesus proclaimed, "My Father, who has given them [the elect] to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them [the elect] out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one" (John 10:29-30). And how did the Jews respond to Jesus' claim that he was God? not A god, but ONE with the Father? Repeatedly, they attempted to stone him.
I go into this in detail not to beat the point into the ground... but to make clear that I am not speaking of the Mormon concept of "Jesus." Or the Jehovah's Witnesses' concept of "Jesus." I am dealing with the BIBLICAL Jesus-- the Christ. Does it matter what the nature of Jesus is? ABSOLUTELY! You cannot point to a chair, and say "THAT'S JESUS!!" You would be wrong (and blasphemous) to do so. WHO Jesus is matters. I am not, as a Mormon friend of mine claims, "splitting hairs," when I proclaim that WHO Jesus is actually matters. He is the 2nd person in the Trinity. If you worship another Jesus... you have the wrong god, and you do not know the Father either (1 John & 2 John). [For more on Christ's deity and the doctrine of the Trinity, visit here, here or here.]
This Jesus who came to "dwell among us" (John 1:14) is "the God-man." 100% God, 100% man. He came to Earth to "save his people from their sins" (Mt 1:21). He proclaimed, boldly, that if you want to get to Heaven, there is no other way but by him. Jesus Christ is THE way (not A way), the TRUTH (not one truth among many), and THE LIFE (without him, there is no eternal life). NO ONE comes to the Father, but through Him. Here is how that was accomplished: the cross.
Again, we are all lawbreakers. And the worse news is that "it it is appointed for a man to die once, and after that comes judgment" (Hebrews 9:27). If you die in your sins, you will be judged by those sins. Time cannot wash away a crime. Those sins are still your burden to bear. And if you die in your sins, you WILL spend an eternity in Hell. This is not me trying to use a scare tactic, this is Scriptural. There is a real place called Hell, and it is where lawbreakers go. "But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, the sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death" (Revelation 21:8). All this talk about Hell being temporary... dies. All this talk about Hell ONLY being "separation from God?" Well... yes, but it isn't JUST separation from God. You are separated from Him... and also you are paying for your sins for eternity in Hell.
But again, there is GOOD NEWS! Christ displays his love in dying and becoming the atonement for the sin of sinners. I have been saved by grace through faith in what Christ has done for me... He took my place, dying for my sins. He suffered the wrath of God so I would not have to. This is AMAZING LOVE if there ever was! He died as the atonement for sin... to make things right between God and man. Furthermore, Jesus rose from the grave on the third day, proving his conquering of Death and sin. His resurrection is the evidence of this victory over the sin --yours and mine--that put him in the position to die.
This is the good news... Christ died for sin, was buried, and resurrected from the grave. He paid the price of ALL who would respond in faith. What does it mean to respond? To REPENT of your sin... not to just ask God to forgive you... but to forsake and turn from your sin, and to place your trust in Christ Jesus for your salvation. He offers forgiveness of sins. He offers an escape of the wrath that is to come. Run to him! Run to him out of thanksgiving for all he has done--purchasing EVERYTHING that is necessary for your salvation.
I urge any and all of you... REPENT AND BELIEVE THE GOSPEL! (Mark 1:15) Do not carry the burden of your sin any longer... turn from your sin and fling yourself upon the mercy of Christ and Him crucified. Scripture says that all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved (Romans 10:10). I beg of you... repent and trust in His work to atone for sin. I may seem judgmental in all this that I have written. Is it judgmental for someone to urge a blind man to halt before he falls off of the cliff he is headed for? Surely not. God is no liar... His word is truth... Repent and have faith in Christ's atoning work. When God grants you the gift of faith and gives you saving grace... this is ALL of God.... it is not a result of your works. You cannot bribe God with your good works. They cannot save you. If they could, Christ died for no reason (Galatians 2:21). In fact your "good works" that you trust to save you?... In God's eyes, they are filthy rags (Isaiah 64:4-9)... or more accurately, USED BLOODY TAMPONS. God offers you salvation from sin and His wrath... and you hand him old tampons.
Do not trust in your goodness or your works to save you. Repent of your sinful ways and fling yourself upon the mercy of Christ, the atonement bought by his crucifixion. THIS IS the Gospel... the Good News of Christianity.
As I bring this to a close, the lyrics of a new hymn "In Christ Alone" are powerful in their description of the gospel message.
"In Christ Alone"
In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand
In Christ alone, who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save
‘Til on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live
There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again
And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ
No guilt of life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life’s first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
‘til He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand
[[To go into the details of the cross and act of crucifixion and atonement would take up more time and space than many would care to read. For more on that in GREAT detail please check out Driscoll's sermon on the Atonment and / or his series on the cross.]]
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