It tells us who He is, what His character is, what His standards are, and what He requires of us, His creatures. I do not propose to discuss this question now; I have done that elsewhere. Paul referred to this as “the word of the truth of the gospel” (Colossians 1:4-5). For the persons to whom the benefits of Christ’s death belong are just those who trust His Person and believe, not upon His saving death simply, but upon Him, the living Savior. For the very idea of sin in the Bible is of an offence against God that disrupts a man’s relationship with God. Dan Rhodes is pastor of the Christian Community Church, 233 N. Sandhill Blvd. And if we taught people to look to an imaginary Christ, we should have no grounds for expecting that they would find a real salvation. It concerns the Gospel of your salvation according to the criptures (S 1 Cor 15:3). The gospel is a message about God. A snapshot in time, a moment of weakness, or a careless word can permanently change our view of someone. “Through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins” (Act 10:43). We do not know enough, we are not eloquent enough. Others say the gospel is that God sent His Son to die for our sins. INSIDE THE ISSUE: “Overcomers,” John Lee; “Rapture! The gospel message is about the greatest gift of all time—God gave us Jesus Christ, his Son, who brings great joy to everyone who receives him. No action we do can be worthy of God’s mercy (Psalm 51:16). What the New Testament calls for is faith in (en) or into (eis) or upon (epi) Christ Himself—the placing of our trust in the living Savior Who died for sins. We can learn again from Paul at this point. Everyone has a bad conscience about some things in his past, matters in which he has fallen short of the standard that he set for himself or that was expected of him by others. What we have to grasp, then, is that the bad conscience of the natural man is not at all the same thing as conviction of sin. All who hear the gospel are summoned by God to repent and believe. The 4 Point Gospel Message 1. It shows us ourselves as God sees us and teaches us to think of ourselves as God thinks of us. Nor can you tell on what terms to approach Him now until you know about the resurrection, ascension, and heavenly session—that Jesus has been raised, and enthroned, and made King, and lives to save to the uttermost all who acknowledge His Lordship. The gospel is a message about God. In our presentation of the gospel, therefore, we need to stress these things, in order to lead sinners to abandon all confidence in themselves and to trust wholly in Christ and the power of His redeeming blood to give them acceptance with God. Watch closely: I’m sending my preacher ahead of you; He’ll make the road smooth for you. Repentance and faith are rendered matters of duty by God’s direct command, and hence impenitence and unbelief are singled out in the New Testament as most grievous sins. “And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message…” Colossians 4:3 Pray for boldness and clarity as you share the gospel. The good news of the Gospel is that Jesus Christ paid the penalty for the sins of the world when he was crucified on the cross. The Gospel describes Jesus’ message as the gospel. Christmas is a holiday that focuses on the Savior of the world. Nor would it be saving faith if a man in that condition called on the Lord Jesus Christ just to soothe him, and cheer him up, and make him feel confident again. The Gospel preached by Christ and the Apostles, had reference to the Kingdom of God. It tells us who He is, what His character is, what His standards are, and what He requires of us, His creatures. Unless we see our shortcomings in the light of the Law and holiness of God, we do not see them as sin at all. Though sin is committed by man, and many sins are against society, sin cannot be defined in terms of either man or society. However, God received him back favorably. And this is all that has to be said. Jesus challenges people to “repent, and believe the gospel.” In between, Jesus proclaims “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is near.” That core announcement — “It’s time, and God is breaking into the world” — … Only when we have learned this can we see what sin is, and only when we see what sin is can we understand the good news of salvation from sin. It is a message made up of four essential ingredients. http://www.crownrights.orgFilmed at the Sermon Index conference, Paul Washer sat down and explained in wonderful detail the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Authentic Biblical Justice, The Works of B. Do you feel that you have failed? 6:23) – not faith and something you do like baptism or faith and speaking in tongues or faith and going to a Oneness church, etc. Gospel message. The real gospel message is that salvation is by grace through faith (Rom. It tells us how we have fallen short of God’s standard, how we have become guilty, filthy, and helpless in sin, and now stand under the wrath of God. It is not enough to resolve to turn from sin, give up evil habits, and try to put Christ’s teaching into practice by being religious and doing all possible good to others. Still today, the Lord calls us to spread his message. How could someone so wicked change and God receive him so willingly? Here’s What to Expect. It is a powerful message, because it is God’s good news. It is a message of faith, love and hope which impacts every aspect of life, death and eternity. The gospel is a bold message, and we are not ashamed of proclaiming it. “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also (i.e., put them all decisively second in his esteem), he cannot be my disciple...whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple” (Luk 14:26, 33). Jesus did make it possible for men and women to be forgiven of their sins, and this is the center of the good news. He accepted Manasseh even before worship was restored. The repentance that Christ requires of His people consists in a settled refusal to set any limit to the claims that He may make on their lives...He had no interest in gathering vast crowds of professed adherents who would melt away as soon as they found out what following Him actually demanded of them. These words are promises to which God will stand as long as time shall last. True salvation is freedom from the requirement of keeping any part of the Law to get or maintain salvation. God loves you and has a plan for you. Equally, repentance is more than just sorrow for the past; repentance is a change of mind and heart, a new life of denying self and serving the Savior as King in self’s place…Two further points need to be made also: (i) The demand is for faith as well as repentance. When asked by His hearers what they should do in order to “work the works of God,” our Lord replied, “This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent” (Joh 6:29). G od created us to be with Him. Gospel originally meant the Christian message, but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out; in this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words and deeds of Jesus of Nazareth, culminating in his trial and death and concluding with various reports of his post-resurrection appearances. In their concern to focus attention on the atoning death of Christ as the sole sufficient ground on which sinners may be accepted with God, they have expounded the summons to saving faith in these terms: “Believe that Christ died for your sins.” The effect of this exposition is to represent the saving work of Christ in the past, dissociated from His Person in the present, as the whole object of our trust. His return may be sudden, but it will not be secret. Paul considered himself to have been called to be an apostle to preach the Gospel of God. We must be on our guard, therefore, against equating a natural bad conscience and sense of wretchedness with spiritual conviction of sin and so omitting in our evangelism to impress upon sinners the basic truth about their condition—namely, that their sin has alienated them from God and exposed them to His condemnation, and hostility, and wrath, so that their first need is for a restored relationship with Him... 3. It is a Divine political dominion to be established on earth, on the ruins of all existing governments, for the purpose of bringing the world into subjection to God that it might be the recipients of the blessing of Almighty God. But this is just the question that has to be raised when we speak about sin. In summary, what is the gospel? These doctrines, to mention no others, are essential to the gospel...In fact, without these doctrines you would have no gospel to preach at all. By promising two returns, the doctrine of “the Rapture” promises people a second chance—another seven years, according to LaHaye, another three and a half years, according to others—but a second chance all the same. “Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely” (Rev 22:17). It tells us that the reason why we sin continually is that we are sinners by nature, and that nothing we do or try to do for ourselves can put us right or bring us back into God’s favor. B. Warfield (eBook Collection), Christianity, Logic, and Aristotle: God is Required, The Vindication of Wrath - Revelation 16:1-7. In this we are not alone. All I want to say here is that even if you think the above assertion is true, your presentation of Christ in evangelism ought not to differ from that of the man who thinks it false. The gospel is a message about sin. Who wants to be known for who they were in their worst moments? We are dedicated to helping you understand the things which constitute the Gospel of Jesus Christ. (ii) But there is a second and complementary point: we must not present the saving work of Christ apart from His Person. What does Scripture say the gospel is? And that finality is why it’s so important to be aware of the errors of the doctrine we’ve been examining. That’s the gospel. The Gospel message is to believe in Christ, and to love others. And in 1 John 3:23 we read: “This is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ...”. The gospel message is a message of hope – “the hope of the gospel” (Colossians 1:23). Why Reading the Bible From Start to Finish is a Life-Changing New Year’s Resolution, The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self And How the Church Can Respond, False History of Creationism Is Full of Beans, God Transcendent And Other Selected Sermons (eBook), Why We Should Pray Like the Puritans (Even if We Don’t Sound Like Them), Hope for a Suffering World: Divine Impassibility, Encouragement for Hard Times from Saints of Old, John B. Calhoun’s Mouse Utopia Experiment and Reflections on the Welfare State, A Christian Case for the Importance of History, What Christians Misunderstand About Discernment, The Development of the Doctrine of Infant Salvation, Heaven: Rejoicing in Future Glory (Series). THE BASIC GOSPEL - SALVATION MESSAGE (Dear friend, please read through this message below very slowly and carefully. This being so, one thing becomes clear straight away: namely, that the question about the extent of the atonement, which is being much agitated in some quarters, has no bearing on the content of the evangelistic message at this particular point. Today, however, when the average person hears the word “gospel,” he thinks of a more modern definition. TGM is edited by Wade Stanley and published by Doug Twaddell, Evangelists of the Church of Christ. The gospel is a message about God. And this also is a necessary step. And what a perfect opportunity! © 2018 Monergism by CPR Foundation. (ii) The demand is for repentance as well as faith...If there is to be repentance, however, there must, again, be a foundation of knowledge...More than once, Christ deliberately called attention to the radical break with the past that repentance involves. 2. psychiatrist...To be convicted of sin means not just to feel that one is an all-round flop, but to realize that one has offended God, and flouted His authority, and defied Him, and gone against Him, and put oneself in the wrong with Him. The gospel is not, “Believe that Christ died for everybody’s sins, and therefore for yours,” any more than it is, “Believe that Christ died only for certain people’s sins, and so perhaps not for yours”...We have no business to ask them to put faith in any view of the extent of the atonement. It is indeed true that the real Christ, the Christ of the Bible, Who [reveals] Himself to us as a Savior from sin and an Advocate with God, does in fact give peace, and joy, and moral strength, and the privilege of His own friendship to those who trust Him. These truths are the foundation of theistic religion; and until they are grasped, the rest of the gospel message will seem neither cogent nor relevant. Since 1960, The Gospel Message has endeavored to preach the truth of Jesus Christ. It is true that it is the living Christ Who saves and that a theory of the atonement, however orthodox, is no substitute. Home Gospel Tracts Holiday Tracts Photos About / Contact The Good News of the Gospel. Why Do I Need to Keep Asking for Forgiveness? “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me...whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it” (Mat 16:24-25). In common honesty, we must not conceal the fact that free forgiveness in one sense will cost everything; or else our evangelizing becomes a sort of confidence trick. Prepare for God’s arrival! 1. Not until we have learned our need to get right with God and our inability to do so by any effort of our own can we come to know the Christ Who saves from sin. 5. But it is not biblical thus to isolate the work from the Worker. John the Baptizer - The good news of Jesus Christ—the Message!—begins here, following to the letter the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. It would, in reality, be a mere conundrum, serving only to mystify...the truth is that you cannot make sense of the historic figure of Jesus until you know about the Incarnation—that this Jesus was in fact God the Son, made man to save sinners according to His Father’s eternal purpose. He knows that people are worriers, back then and even more so today. The gospel has been defined by many people in many ways. This is My Comfort in My Affliction - Psalm 119:50. TGM is edited by Wade Stanley and published by Doug Twaddell, Evangelists of the Church of Christ. Answer: The word gospel means “good news,” which is the message of forgiveness for sin through the atoning work of Jesus Christ. We must know what it means to call God Creator before we can grasp what it means to speak of Him as Redeemer. The gospel starts by teaching us that we, as creatures, are absolutely dependent on God, and that He, as Creator, has an absolute claim on us. Do you want peace of mind? It needs to be said that faith is not a mere optimistic feeling, any more than repentance is a mere regretful or remorseful feeling. We never know what sin really is until we have learned to think of it in terms of God and to measure it, not by human standards, but by the yardstick of His total demand on our lives. However, God’s plan of salvation began shortly after Adam and Eve rebelled against Him, if … If Not, Why Pray? In a word, the evangelistic message is the gospel of Christ and Him crucified, the message of man’s sin and God’s grace, of human guilt and divine forgiveness, of new birth and new life through the gift of the Holy Spirit. But such a message could hardly be called the gospel. And where there is no clear knowledge, and hence no realistic recognition of the real claims that Christ makes, there can be no repentance, and therefore no salvation. “Come unto me...and I will give you rest,” said our Lord (Mat 11:28). God could see the changed heart. The gospel is the news that Jesus Christ, the Righteous One, died for our sins and rose again, eternally triumphant over all his enemies, so that there is now no condemnation for those who believe, but only everlasting joy. It is sometimes said that it is the presentation of Christ’s Person, rather than of doctrines about Him, that draws sinners to His feet. 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