What is the Gospel?

The Bible tells us that God is the creator of everything in existence. It also informs us that God is absolutely holy and that his eyes are, "too pure to look on evil" (Habakkuk 1:13). He is perfect in righteousness and justice. God is also all powerful, all knowing, and is everywhere all the time. We see God's holy standards in the 10 commandments and the rest of the Law he gave, which teach us that God demands perfect holiness in thought, word, and deed.

The Bible also teaches us that God created us in His image and for His glory, and that he gave us authority over his creation (Genesis 1:27-28). Yet the Bible also teaches us that the first man and woman, Adam and Eve, rebelled against God and chose to believe the lie that he is not good (Genesis 3). Our first parents perfectly represented us in their sin and brought death, sadness, and hardship into God's perfect world. Ever since then, every human being has been born with a tendency to sin and everyone of us rebel against God like our first parents did. The apostle Paul explains our condition in this way: "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one" (Romans 3:10-12).

Romans 3:23 tells us, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." God demands perfection in thought, word, and deed, yet we cannot attain such perfection because of our sin. This is where the good news of the gospel comes in. God has accomplished the perfect righteousness he demanded of his people. From eternity past, God the Father, Son, and Spirit had a plan to save sinners. This plan was put into effect when God sent his Son Jesus into the world to be born of a virgin. Jesus of Nazareth lived a totally sinless and holy life unto God his Father. Jesus then was falsely accused, beaten, crucified, killed, and buried in a tomb. Yet his death was the means by which God would save sinners. On the cross, Christ paid the penalty for sinners, suffering as their substitute. After three days, Jesus rose bodily from the dead to confirm that he alone has power to save. After a period of forty days, Jesus ascended into heaven where he awaits the time when he will return to judge the world.

The gospel is not just a news story that informs us of something. It is also a message that leaves us with a very serious responsibility. How we respond to the gospel message is how we are responding to God. Paul says in Acts 17:31, "He has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” So then what is the appropriate response to the gospel? It is to repent of your sins and place your trust solely in Christ. To repent doesn't mean to clean up your life. Repentance is a change of mind that results in a change of lifestyle. It is a reversal from loving sin and hating God's will to loving God's will and hating your sin. We must also place our total trust in Jesus alone for our salvation. The Bible tells us, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved" (Acts 16:31). We must believe that Jesus lived in our place, died in our place, and rose again to give us eternal life. If you will turn from your sins and place your faith in Christ alone for your salvation, God promises to grant you everlasting life and guide you in all your ways in this life.

If you answered the above question with something like, "Be a good person" or  "love God and others", you are revealing that your trust is not in Jesus, but in yourself. Friend, no matter how hard you try to be good, you will never been righteous enough to merit eternal life in God's presence. If we could be right with God through our morality, there would have been no need for Jesus to live and die in our place, then rise again. God is holy and we are not, therefore God did what we could never do through the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. We must turn from our man-made attempts to earn grace and trust in Jesus Christ alone for our salvation. 

This gospel demands a response. So, how have you responded to this glorious news?