What is the gospel?

What have we done?

We have broken the law. This is not just any law, but God's law. God's law is the greatest of all laws because He is the creator of all that exists. He is the eternal, unchanging standard of truth, and forever upholds what is right. Therefore, anyone opposing this law in thought, word, or deed, is guilty. God must and will hold everyone accountable to His law because He is perfectly just. When we break earthly laws we are rebelling against authority. When we break God's law we are rebelling agaisnt Him. We all love justice, but God is perfectly just. Since God is just then He exacts a correct penalty for any offence. If we commit injustice towards God, we are committing an eternal offence, and our offences carry eternal consequences.

God judges us according to our offences and carries out their consequences. In fact, according to the Bible, this is done immediately when we die. Why does God judge us? God judges us because He is Holy. He is other, unique, pure, perfect, and good. We declare war on Him if we are lawless. This lawlessness is called sin. God does not tolerate sin when we die. Some falsely believe that God loves everyone without exception, even if we sin. If God loved everyone without exception, then He would also love sin and not love righteousness and justice. But since God is pure, righteous, and good, then He must hate sin and therefore condemn those who commit sin.

On what basis does God judge our sinfulness? God's standard of judgment is Himself. God's perfect nature is revealed in tablature form through means of the Ten Commandments. The problem we actually face is trying to live up to God's perfect nature. We all fall utterly short of matching it. We fall short not just due to our outward acts, but foremost, because of our inward sinful state. In fact, the reason we commit outward acts of sin is because we are first inwardly sinful. Our nature is to love self above all else. We seek to rebel against God and everything He stands for. Therefore, we wish to love self above all else, de-throne the one true God, and reign in His place.

God's perfect nature (standard) is easier explained than done. Once again, His standard is summed up in the Ten Commandments. In summary, they say that we are to not worship anything or anyone but God Himself (because only He is worthy of worship), we are not to idolize anything (because all things are worthless, only God is worthy). Also, we are not to hate, murder, wrongfully lust, fornicate, steal, lie, and desire what is not rightfully ours.

God's commandments are more than mere commands for the sake of giving orders. His commands actually reveal what is loving, pure, right, and good. If everyone one in the world perfectly lived according to God's commands then we would not need lawyers, courthouses, jails, prisons, police, military, locks, security systems, etc.

So since God's commands reveal what is truly good and right, I will go over them again. Keep in mind that this is what God requires of us. Please honestly asses yourself in light of these. You won't be surprised if you completely fail. Go through the list and ask yourself if you've ever broken the command in thought, word, or deed.

God's Ten Commandments are as follows:
Do not worship anything besides God alone. Do not make an idol out of anything. Do not use God's name in vein, this is blasphemy. The Sabbath - take rest to honor God. Honor your parent's authority (considering they're not telling you to sin). Do not murder (and do not hate). Do not commit adultery (includes fornication, sexual relations outside God's holy covenant of marriage, and lusting after someone besides your one spouse). Do no steal. Do not lie. Do not covet (wrongfully desire for what is not yours).

This is what God completely requires of us. You may still think you are good because you have only broken one or two. But God still requires perfection. James 2:10 "whoever has fallen at one point is guilty of breaking them all". In other words, God does not judge on a curve. One sin is enough to separate us from God forever because He is holy and just. The just penalty for our sin is death. Romans 6:23 "the wages of sin is death." If God judges us according to this standard we will be in big trouble as soon as we die. Thus, the trouble we are in is severe. We are up against a holy, just, and powerful God. Therefore, God's punishment will be upon us, and rightfully so. Romans 2:8 "But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger."

John 3:16

You may say, "Wait a minute. John 3:16 tells me that God loves the whole world! Why would a loving God be so mean?!" It is true that God has loved the whole world. He allows the sun to shine on all of our faces and experience many of life's pleasures. But this is not the context of John 3:16. It actually says that "whosoever believes will not perish…" This is referring to our response to the gospel, which I am laying out now. So we can deduce from this passage that those who do not accept the gospel message will perish.

What can we do?

The real truth is we can do nothing. Yes, that's right... we can do nothing at all. But first hear me out. What I have previously explained is only part of the gospel. Now I am presenting the fullness of it, which is great news for all who hear (or read)! This is the pinnacle of what I am saying. Here is the gospel message. There is an advocate, a redeemer... a Savior. His name is Jesus Christ and only He can perfectly uphold God's righteous and good law.

Jesus Christ, who was fully God, came to earth and lived a perfect life. He did what we could never do. During His life He met all the requirements of God's good commands. Christ had the joy of living according to the commands; yet while we strive to meet them, we utterly fail.

Christ also died because He was punished for sin's eternal penalty. He also raised Himself from the dead, which defeats our guilt, our judgment, our punishment, sin's power, and eventually sin's presence. Christ rose from the dead so that we might too rise out of death's grip and receive the eternal life made possible by Him.

What MUST we do?

We must believe! Christ's righteousness is credited to those who believe. We cannot merit salvation, but Christ can merit it for us. When we die, God, who is the perfect judge, will either see us in our sins or see us washed clean with Christ's accomplishments. If we believe then we can know for sure that Christ's life has replaced our sinful life. This is actually what it means to be given new life, or be born a second time. Our first birth is directly into sin, but our second birth is from God's Spirit and grants us Christ's life.

So the gospel invites all who will believe to come to Christ. Come to Him and see that He is good. Do not tarry another minute. You do not now how much time you have left, and it is relatively short regardless. You are freely welcomed into His Kingdom only because of what Jesus has done on your behalf. You will know you have truly come if you repent and believe. God's promise is that all who believe in His work and acknowledge Him as Lord will demonstrate it by repenting (which is recognizing and turning from sin), and believing (believing that Christ delivers you from sin's power and penalty). You will know you have accepted this message when you declare Jesus Christ to be Lord, or ruler and commander, of your life and not yourself. You will know you are saved if you cling to your only hope which is Jesus Christ. I am not ashamed to say it again… you must cling to Jesus Christ, for He is your one and only hope!

Through believing, God allows you to partake of the eternal life, which is really knowing Him. It begins now in this life. This is knowing truth, beauty, purpose, and love as it abounds in relationship with God and fellow believers. You can now live for God, not out of fear of punishment, but now freedom because of His grace and love.

Now you know the true gospel. You are aware of the one and only message that can give you hope. You should make it your greatest concern to find out where you stand in light of it. Please don't reject the free offer of salvation given in Christ. There is eternal life only by Him. Please receive Christ and respond today by believing and repenting.