What is the True Gospel? Why Bother?
With so many Christian churches today and so many denominations in the Christian world, someone might be tempted to ask think, “The Gospel? Why every church and every denomination believes in the same Gospel. There is only one Gospel, right?” Well, that is what this first of a series of twelve studies on “theological hot potatoes” called “Jesus, the Gospel, and the Church: Why Bother?” is all about. I hope that you will join me for entire series. In case you have forgotten, here is the list of titles for the series:
What is the True Gospel?
Why does the church exist today?
Is obedience necessary in order to be saved?
Christian Standards and Norms and Gospel?
What about Church Tradition?
Are Tattoos, jewelry, and adornment always bad?
Is the church a holy place?
Are pastors more Holy than regular church members?
Is music, dancing, and clapping in the church ok?
What about Vatican Council II and Peter Wagner’s Three Waves of the Holy Spirit?
Is there anything wrong with Joel Olsteen, Rick Warren, and the Mega Church Movement?
Is the Seventh-day Adventist Church the remnant church of Bible prophecy or should be look for another Church?
Two important Principles
At the outset, I want to lay down two important principles that will help us in our study and journey together. The first is time is of essence. Today, most people live in a rapid and fast paced environment, and claim to not have enough time even to read the Bible and pray. I believe in the goodness and honesty of people, and if they only had more time, I really believe more people would study, pray, and seek out a more personal relationship and friendship with God. In fact, because today we “are so busy”, we are confused on many subjects that are plain and clear if we would just “have more time” to study and research them out. These twelve short studies will be quick and to the point. We will not beat around the bush, or try to avoid offending someone or some group of people. Be advised that if you are not open to the Holy Spirit’s leading, and open to the unexpected destination where the Bible, the writings of Ellen G. White, and Common Sense may take us on this journey, you might as well close this email, blog, podcsast, or web browser . This journey is not for the many or the fearful, but for few and the fearless. If that is you, I’m glad you’ve joined me on this journey.
The Second principle is one that was made famous many years ago, and is used in other fields of research and study: “Keep it simple." Forgive the offense, but it’s nothing personal, just a saying that contains an important truth. Simplicity is paramount in grasping the subject matter. I hope that even little children, ages 6-12, will be able to grasp and understand the clear teachings and conclusions that we hope to arrive at. So are you ready? Grab your Bible, your concordance, your favorite drink, and sit in your favorite chair because we are beginning a journey together that may take us to an unexpected destination and to a new way of looking at Jesus, the Gospel, and the Church. Let’s go! Let the journey begin!
The Gospel
The world Gospel comes from the Greek word “euangellion” which means good news or good report. It the Greek word used to describe a messenger who was sent before the arrival of a King or important Civic Leader to let the people now that an important person was coming to town. The Gospel is the good news and good report of what God has done for us in the person of Jesus Christ. If you grab a Bible, you can use any version you use, I recommend the New King James Version or the New International Version for purposes of this study. A paraphrase Bible, like the Message, or New Living Bible, or the Clear Word will not be sufficient. A copy of the Andrews Study Bible might even be better! (cheap plug!). A quick Bible concordance search on the word “gospel” in the New King James Version will yield 101 results. Of those 101 results, the best Bible verse that defines what the Gospel is, is 1 Corinthians 15:1-4.
“Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.”
It’s always dangerous to build your belief or theology on just one text or a few isolated texts. Make sure you look at some of the other texts that mention the world Gospel (Good news, Good report, or message) in the New Testament. However, this one text tells us that the Gospel is able to save us if we “hold fast” to that word which was preached to us. In just a few short verses, four to be exact, the apostle Paul gives us the sum and substance of the Gospel. Here it is, are you ready?
First, it consists of Christ dying for our sins “according to the Scriptures”. His death fulfilled the prophecies regarding the manner of his death, and pointing forward to His death as a sacrifice, substitute, and payment for sin (Isaiah 53; psalm 22).
Second, the Gospel or good news consists of the fact that Christ “was buried and … rose the third day according to the Scriptures.” The Gospel is not something new or something that the New Testament writer invented. The Old Testament point forward to the death of Jesus. Christ burial and resurrection on the third day were in fulfillment on the Old Testament prophecies. Amazing! Stories like the sacrifice of Isaac by His Father Abraham, the Experience of the prophet Jonah in the belly of big fish for three days and three nights, and the Promise of Messiah and Savior in Genesis 3:15 were all fulfilled in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In a simple outline form the Gospel looks like this:
1 Corinthians 15:1-3
The Gospel is: A. Christ died for our sins
B. Christ was buried
C. Christ rose again the third day
D. According the Scriptures.
It is evident that Gospel of Good News consists of what God has done for us. We do not find any human part or role in the Gospel except the act of faith and belief. Paul says ““Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.” Evidently, one needs to have faith and belief in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ for it to be Good News. Atheists, Agnostics, and Skeptics don’t see the story of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus as Good News or Gospel, because they choose not to have faith, belief, and trust in Jesus and the Bible.
What Jesus did for us in dying for our sins, being buried, and rising the third day according to the Scriptures is the Gospel. Nothing more and nothing less. You can try to add to it, and many have done so. You can try to subtract from it, and many have. But when you add or take anything from the simple Gospel taught by Jesus Christ Himself and His Disciples, then you end up with no Gospel. You end up with something that isn’t Good news or a Good Message. If you add anything to the Gospel in the form or human works, obedience, or penitence, then you don’t have any Gospel because you have to earn and work your way to Heaven. If you subtract anything from the Gospel, like Dan Brown in his infamous and infidel work “The Davinci Code” and others like “Holy Blood, Holy Grail” have done by claiming that Jesus was just a regular human being who didn’t on the cross for the sins of humanity, nor was buried, nor resurrected the third day according to the Scriptures, then you end up with no Gospel or Good News. Humanity is still lost in their sins, and there is no hope of eternal life or life after death. The Devil is smart too, because He tries to get people to buy into either one or the other idea. The sad thing is that almost everyone has bought into the Devil’s lies. He says, “Jesus death on the cross for your sins isn’t enough. You have to obey the commandments, do good works, and penitence in order to be saved.” He also says, “Jesus didn’t really die like the Bible says He did. He was just a good man who had a mistake of identity and thought He was the Son of God, when in fact He wasn’t. He didn’t really die, since Judas Iscariot actually was the one who died on the cross. Instead, Jesus married Mary Magdalene has a holy seed that exists today. That is the real truth” the Devil whispers into the ear of the eager and accepting masses today.
When you first become a Christian, a follower of Christ, you need to understand, accept, and believe the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. Today, there are way too many counterfeit Gospels going around as if they are the real thing. Thankfully, the bible helps us in our confusion. A simple way to understand the Gospel is illustrated by two popular ways of presenting the Gospel. The first is called, “the Romans Road”, because it uses Bible texts mainly found in the Book of Romans.
"The Romans Road"
The "Romans Road" begins by reminding us that Humanity is sinful and hopelessly lost without God.
Romans 3:23, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
If matter weren’t bad enough, The "Romans Road" goes on to tell us that the punishment for sin is an eternal death. A death from which there is no return. Not an everlasting death, in the sense that people will be tortured and burned throughout eternity, but a death from which there is no hope of ever coming back to life. The first half of the verse contains this sad assessment of future of unrepentant and sinful humanity.
Romans 6:23a, “For the wages of sin is death."
A wage is what someone earns for working. When your boss is sin, and you work hard at sinning, then your wage or salary is death. However, when you choose to believe God and accept Him as your Master and Lord, then there is a beautiful gift that is given to you instead of the punishment of death.
Romans 6:23b, “but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
When we choose to believe in Jesus Christ as Our Savior and Lord, and choose to follow God instead of the Devil, God gives us eternal life as a gift. In fact, it is a FREE GIFT. It seems God knew there would be confusion on this subject, so in Romans chapter five, He tells us three times that the salvation from sin and eternal life are a free gift.
"But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many." Romans 5:15
"And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification." Romans 5:16
"Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life."Romans 5:18
If it is free, that means you cannot add anything to it or earn it by working. It is free, with no strings attached. Pretty amazing, huh? Next we discover that this free gift is given by grace through faith to everyone who believes. Notice Ephesians 2:8-9
Ephesians 2:8-9“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”
Grace is God’s unmerited favor, which means that He freely chose to give us salvation and eternal life when we could never earn it or deserve it on our own. It’s a gift.
And finally, the Romans Road leads us to 1 John 5:11-13. Here again we are assured of God’s grace, love, and security as we continue to believe, accept, and trust in Jesus completed work of salvation for us on the cross.
1 John 5:11-13“And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.”
It is by believing in Jesus that we receive eternal life. We can have the security and confidence of eternal life right now at this moment, and don’t need to wait for Jesus to come or for our names to come up in the judgment. We are safe in Jesus now, if we have the Son. To have the son, means to have a saving relationship with Jesus as Savior and Lord. I say, “I have a son” or “I have a wife”. What I mean is that I have a relationship with my son, and a relationship with my wife. “He who has the Son has life.” IF you have a faith relationship with Jesus you have eternal life right now.
One Gospel, Not Many
In the Bible, there is only One Gospel. The "Romans Road" is one way to present the Gospel. Let me share with you another way that you probably haven’t seen before. I borrowed it from the Good News Unlimited Ministry, but rest assured, it’s in the Bible.
- The Gospel is completely of Grace
Ephesians 2:8-9“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”
The gospel is completely of grace and not by man’s doing or achievement. Are you starting to feel small and insignificant when it comes to God’s Salvation equation and math? I sure hope so!
- Man is sinful
Romans 3:23, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
- As a result of man’s sin, He deserves to die.
Romans 6:23a, “For the wages of sin is death."
- God is just, therefore he must punish sin.
Exodus 34:7, “Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.”
God justice requires that sin be punished.
- God is love, therefore He want to save man and rescue Him from eternal death.
John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
- Jesus Christ died for ours sins and purchased a place for us in Heaven.
Colossians 2:13-14, “And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.”
Through the death of Jesus Christ, God is able to forgive us of our sins, demonstrate His love, and uphold His Justice.
- Faith is the key to Heaven
Acts 16:31, “So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
Belief in Jesus is the key to Heaven. You can’t be saved by what you do, but only by what Jesus has already done for you. God’s gift of salvation truly is a free gift with no strings attached!
The Gospel, why bother?
As we have seen in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, the "Romans Road", and in the Gospel as Good News, The Gospel is more all about What God has done for us already, and not about what we can do for ourselves in the present or future. With that said, let’s us remember that the Gospel is not contrary to God’s Law or Ten Commandments. The same apostle Paul states that the Gospel and Law are both
Romans 3:31“Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.”
Romans 6:1-2“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?”
You see according the Bible, the purpose of God’s Law or Ten Commandments is to bring us to Jesus Christ for salvation, and once we are saved, it is meant to keep us living in harmony with God and with each other.
Galatians 3:24-25“Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.”
James 2:8, 10-12“If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well … For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty.”
Here James, Jesus’ brother, reminds us that Ten Commandments are a Law of Liberty for those who have been freed from the condemnation and slavery of sin. Their new master and Lord is no longer sin, but Jesus. The Ten Commandments and God’s Laws are the Laws of liberty, and fences for the free. To the child of God who believes in Jesus, the Ten Commandments function as boundaries to help us live in harmony with God and with mankind. Obedience to the Ten Commandments are not a means of salvation, but the fruit of salvation. You don’t have to be good to be saved, but you do have to be saved to be good.
Final Thoughts
We need to remember that the Gospel is truly Good News. It includes not only what Jesus has done for us on Calvary by dying for all of our sins, but also what Jesus wants to do in us by His Holy Spirit. I once saw a poster in a girls dormitory in college that said, “God loves you so much He doesn’t want you to stay the way you are. He wants to make you more like Jesus every day!” The truth of the Gospel is that it includes not only what Jesus has already done for us in providing our full salvation through his substitutionary death, but also what Jesus desire to do in us to prepare us for Heaven. One is called justification, the work of a moment. The other is called sanctification, the work of a lifetime. One is instantaneous, the other is a life-long process. However, both are a gift from God, and a result of His Grace. And no wonder, because no matter how close we walk to Jesus on the earth, when He returns a Second Time, He will have to speed up can complete the work of sanctification in our lives when He takes us to Heaven.
Philippians 1:6:“being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.”
Sanctification, the process of making a person righteous and more life Jesus is also a gift. A free gift. It is God’s work. We only give God the opportunity in our lives and respond in repentance, obedience, and faith, but even those things are gift’s of God. Notice these last two promises.
Acts 5:31“Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.”
Philippians 1:12-13“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.”
There you have it! The Gospel. Never forget it, and as we study some controversial topics and hot topics, remember that your salvation is secure in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. As long as you stay in a faith relationship with Jesus, He promises you eternal life now, and a life forever with Him in Heaven.
Be Blessed!
~ Pastor Sal Garcia
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