What is the Gospel?
There is more to being a Christian than just identifying yourself with a certain religion or moral code. Being a Christian means you align yourself with what the Bible says about God, mankind, and salvation. The Biblical declaration of who God is and what He has done to save mankind is what is known as the Gospel, or Good News.
What is the Gospel?
These are a few of the truths that the Bible reveals about this Gospel.
God is the Sovereign Creator
The Bible begins by stating, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). He created light, water, land, fish, birds, plants, and animals all with a breath of His power. With mankind God saw fit to form Adam from the dust of the ground and breathe life into him. It is therefore, God who owns and rules everything. That means that it is God who has ultimate authority over our lives and He deserves obedience and worship from us.
God is Holy
God is holy (Psalm 96:9)! God’s holiness means He is perfect and separate from every other created thing. God can and will never do any evil thing; He’ll never even be tempted to do any wrong (James 1:13). Our Creator has called us to to be holy as well (1 Peter 1:16).
Mankind
According to the Bible, mankind sinned against God and broke our relationship with Him. Every man, woman, and child is guilty of sin and therefore is not holy as God has commanded us to be (Romans 3:23). We are unable to restore our broken fellowship with the Lord (Romans 3:10-12).
Sin Must be Punished
God's holiness and justice demand that all sin be punished by death (Ezekiel 18:4; Romans 6:23). That's why simply changing our patterns of behavior can't solve our sin problem or eliminate its consequences.
Jesus is our Savior
Even though God's justice demands death for sin, His love has provided a Savior who paid the penalty and died for sinners (1 Peter 3:18). Christ's death satisfied the demands of God's justice, and Christ's perfect life satisfied the demands of God's holiness (2 Corinthians 5:21), thereby enabling Him to forgive and save those who place their faith in Him (Romans 3:26).
True Faith
True faith is always accompanied by repentance from sin. Repentance is agreeing with God that you are sinful, confessing your sins to Him, and making a conscious choice to turn from sin (Luke 13:3; 1 Thessalonians 1:9), pursue Christ (Matthew 11: 28-30; John 17:3), and obey Him (1 John 2:3). It isn't enough to believe certain facts about Christ. Even Satan and his demons believe in the true God (James 2:19), but they don't love and obey Him. True saving faith always responds in obedience (Ephesians 2:10).
