The Gospel

The gospel is not a set of “good rules” to follow in order to be right with God– we could never do enough good as sinners. The gospel is also not “good advice” about how to be the best version of ourselves or simply make our lives easier–we need a real solution for the real problem of our sin before a holy God. The gospel is “good news” of what Jesus Christ has done for us that we could never do for ourselves.

It is the joyous declaration that God is redeeming the world through Christ and that he calls everyone everywhere to repent from sin and trust Jesus Christ for salvation.

Each of us has sinned against God, breaking his law and rebelling against his rule, and the penalty for our sin is death and hell.

But because of His love, God sent his Son Jesus to live, for his people’s sake, the perfect, obedient life God requires and to die on the cross in our place for our sin. On the third day, Christ rose bodily from the grave and now reigns in heaven, offering forgiveness, righteousness, resurrection, and eternal blessedness in God’s presence to everyone who repents of sin and trusts solely in Him for salvation. Ligon Duncan’s outline is a helpful summary of the gospel of Jesus Christ:

1. God, our Maker.

God created us and made us for himself. Therefore, he deserves our wholehearted worship, that all of humanity would love him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.

2. Sin, our failure.

Though our hearts are restless unless they find their rest in Him, we have rebelled against God, failing to give to God the worship he deserves. The penalty for our sin is death and hell by the right judgment of our holy, just God.

3. Christ, our Savior.

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, sent his Son, Jesus, to live, for his people’s sake, the perfect, obedient life God requires and to die on the cross in our place for our sin. On the third day, Jesus Christ, our Savior, rose bodily from the grave and now reigns in heaven, offering forgiveness, righteousness, resurrection, and eternal blessedness in God’s presence.

4. Faith, our answer.

We receive all that Christ offers when faith is our answer. Whoever repents of sin, believes in Jesus Christ alone as Lord and Savior, and follows him forever will surely be saved, to enter into eternal life to be with God forever.

5. New life, our pleasure.

Until the day the Lord calls us to our eternal home or that day when he returns, we live a new life, no longer in the ways we used to live pursuing to satisfy ourselves with the things of this world, but we find the fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore that God gives us in Christ as we die to self and live to Him.