What Is The Gospel?

In the world today under the banner of Christendom we see many so-called Gospels being taught, believed and practiced. Well which one is the true and only Gospel spoken of in Gods Word, the Bible? And is it important to know the difference? 

Just so we have a foundation of truth to begin this short study, here is The Gospel as penned by the Holy Spirit inspired Apostle Paul:

1 Corinthians 15:1-8

"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, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time."

So, the Gospel is defined as being the "death," "burial," and "resurrection," of Christ and that is all that is in the Gospel.

Let us first consider a number of the terms that are used to depict the “no-longer-lost” state. Here are several: saved, forgiven, delivered, cleansed, blotted out, washed, redeemed, life, set free, etc.

Lets reflect upon a number of New Testament texts in which these various expressions are connected with conditions preliminary to the reception of the associated goal. Along the way, we must remind ourselves that we are seeking biblical harmony among these passages — not contradiction. The Bible, being the inspired word of God, is harmonious. No “interpretation” may be placed on one text that forces it to conflict with another on the same theme. Note the following.

Belief + baptism = salvation (Mk. 16:16)

Belief = eternal life (Jn. 3:16)

Repentance + baptism = forgiveness (Acts 2:38)

Receiving the word + baptism = saved (Acts 2:41, 47)

Repentance + turning = sins blotted out (Acts 3:19)

Belief + baptism = rejoicing (Acts 8:37-39; 16:31-34)

Repentance = life (Acts 11:18)

Baptized = washing away of sins (Acts 22:16)

Faith = justification (Rom. 5:1)

Raised from baptism = newness of life (Rom. 6:3-4)

Obedience = righteousness (Rom. 6:16)

Obedience = delivered from sin (Rom 6:17)

Belief + confession = salvation (Rom. 10:9-10)

Washed + sanctified = justified (1 Cor. 6:11)

Baptism = in one body (1 Cor. 12:13)

Baptism = in Christ (Gal. 3:27)

Faith = salvation (Eph. 2:8)

Washing of water + word = cleansing (Eph. 5:26)

Washing + renewing = salvation (Tit. 3:5)

Baptism = salvation and good conscience (1 Pet. 3:21)

If one synthesizes the data in these texts he can come only to one conclusion. The following conditions are inherent to the divine plan of human salvation — belief, repentance, confession of faith, and baptism in water for remission of sins. The result of submitting to these inspired conditions is — salvation, forgiveness, justification, newness of life, and being in Christ, or in the one body a new citizen of His church.

The following is a gospel proclamation of a popular church movement in Southern California.

WHAT IS THE GOSPEL?

WE ARE A CHURCH OF COMMUNITIES LIVING OUT THE GOSPEL TOGETHER.

The Gospel is a story of “good news.” Thousands of years ago, God created this world and everything in it. He created people, men and women like you and me, so that they would know Him and be with Him. But God’s people quickly turned their backs on Him and chose their own way. When they did, a new reality of darkness and distance from God ushered in. However, God set a plan in motion to reclaim this creation that He loved and longed to be with. He sent His Son, Jesus, into the world as a way back to Himself. Through His life, Jesus taught us what God is like. Through His death, He took the judgment for our wrongdoing. Through His resurrection, He opened the door for us to have life with God for all of eternity. And now, through His Holy Spirit, He continues to draw people into His story and make their lives new.

WHY DOES IT NEED TO BE LIVED OUT?

The Gospel is a story that changes lives. For centuries, this story has rescued all kinds of people from lives of brokenness and has brought hope, meaning, and newness. In view of that, this is not just a story to be told. As we continue to encounter the Gospel and find our place in it, we want to live in light of its hope and promises. This means that we see our place in the world through a new lens – as men and women who show the people around us what the Author of the Gospel story is like.

WHY TOGETHER?

The Gospel is a story of togetherness. God did not create us to be alone. He created us for community with Himself and with the rest of His creation. So as we find our place in this story, we don’t have to live it out by ourselves. God has given us one another with the intent that we would do this together. Not only does that benefit us, but as we step into the kind of Church that God wants us to be, we want our love for each other to represent Him to the world in compelling ways.

So here is the question. Do you see the obvious differences between the gospel from Heaven in 1 Corinthians 15 and the gospel of man above? The content and intentions are dramatically opposed to each other for which the latter really is no gospel of Jesus Christ whatsoever.

Conclusion:

What it comes down to is, obedience to Christ is the only way to recognize, hear and obey the gospel correctly. This video presentation represents the true gospel and response to it to salvation.

Blessings:

Sin And The Cross

Many people think of God only as a God of love, always on hand to help when things go wrong and bound in the end to forgive everybody's sins and receive them into heaven forever. This idea is fatally misleading. The Bible certainly tells us that ‘God is love' (1 John 1:8), but also that he is ‘majestic in holiness' (Exodus 15:11) and that ‘the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men' (Romans 1:18).

Some thoughts on Sin and what the Cross of Christ tells us.

The cross of Christ tells us that sin is a Curse,

When used as an ornament around the neck, a cross says little about the ugliness of sin. But when we look at sin through the cross of Christ, we see sin as God does: ugly, deforming, condemning, separating man from his Creator. Sin is so terrible that it made God send His only begotten Son to the cross to pay for its cost. Las Vegas does not present a true picture of sin. In the nightclubs and on TV, sin is glamorous, gaudy, fun, enticing, exhilarating. But sin causes death and separation from God (Rom. 6:23, Isa. 59:1-2). Jesus became a curse for us, hanging on the cross (Gal. 3:13), and I should see this when I see the cross.

The cross of Christ tells us that Reconciliation was made,

So long as man was in sin, he could not be right with God, but, was in fact an enemy. With our best intentions and greatest works, we could not bring about this healing of enmity to reconciliation. Since atonement was made by Jesus sacrifice on the cross, it was possible for God to invite man back into a saved relationship. Paul said that this was the great work of the apostles, "appointed by God to be ambassadors, entreating on behalf of God, be ye reconciled unto God" (2 Cor. 5:18-20). Note that atonement precedes reconciliation and that God had to initiate them both due to our sinful condition. I should see this when I see the cross.

The cross of Christ tells us that Substitution was made,

"The soul that sins shall die" (Ezek. 18:4). I sinned, therefore I ought to die. But thanks be to God that His grace permitted it to be different. As the story of Abraham and Isaac and the substitute ram for sacrifice foreshadowed it, the cross declares it plainly. Jesus Christ was sent by God to be a substitute for me. He took my punishment and death. "By his stripes we are healed" (Isa. 53:5). I should see this when I see the cross.

The cross of Christ shows us the painful payment of Justice served,

Propitiation is a two-part act that involves appeasing the wrath of an offended person and being reconciled to him. It is not an everyday word, but it is vitally important that we understand it. ‘Propitiation' means appeasing an offended person (God) by paying the penalty (Jesus sacrifice) he demands for the offence (our sin). Here is a simple example.

A young lady appears in court for a traffic ticket. The judge must ask her – “Guilty or Not Guilty?” She responds, “Guilty your honor.”

After court the judge walks over to the cashier’s window, pulls out his billfold and pays the young lady’s fine with no questions asked. He then turns to the young lady and says, “Your debt is paid free and clear my estranged and beloved daughter.”

The lesson is, the judge (God) by His law and justice had to pronounce his daughters (Gods children) guilt plea, and it was painful. But he paid the debt (on the cross) of her infraction for breaking the legal code without question. The judge has removed (cleansed) her debt (sin) from the ensuing charge (judgment) of guilt.

‘In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins' (1 John 4:10).

The cross of Christ tells us that fellowship with God is possible,

Now that atonement has been made and reconciliation is possible, I can be forgiven. While atonement was made for the sins of the world, not all men will be saved. Not all will obey the call of the gospel through the apostles, to be reconciled to God by the cross. To some, the word of the cross is "foolishness;" to others, it is a "stumbling block" (1 Cor. 1). But if we reject the cross and the word of the cross, we reject reconciliation. If we reject reconciliation, we reject the peace with God that forgiveness brings. If we accept the cross, we may enter into a relationship with God reminiscent of that between Adam and Eve and God in the garden before sin intruded. Fellowship in a mutual sharing in heavenly matters is found only in Christ. I should see this when I see the cross.

The cross of Christ tells us that I must become dead to the world and alive to God,

"If then ye have been risen with Christ. . . " (Col. 3: 1) presupposes that we have died with Christ. "For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God" (Col. 3:3). But how does one become dead to sin? "How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we were buried with him through baptism into death: that just as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of his death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of his resurrection: knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin" (Rom. 6:2-6). Yes, we must crucify the old man of sin. We must walk in newness of life after having been buried in Christ (Rom. 6:4). How is all this done? The bible says it is done when we are baptized “into Christ” (not prayed into) for remission of sins (Acts 2:38, 22:16, Col. 2:11-12, Gal 3:27). I should see this when I see the cross.

There is a cross for us to bear,

It is not a silver or gold ornament with no real meaning but that of vanity and false humiliation. The cross that Jesus bore was that of "obedience unto death, yea, the death of the cross" (Phil. 2:8). All the ornamental jewelry and superstitious architecture in the world will not bring us any closer to the service of God unless we in fact understand the cost of bearing one’s own cross.

Sacrificial Service,

Christ stated on more than one occasion, "And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it" (Matthew 10:38-39, 16:24-25; Mark 8:34-35, Luke 9:23-24, 14:27).

Are you wearing your cross, or are you bearing it?

DON'T JUDGE ME!!!

Proverbs 12:1, “Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but whoever hates correction is stupid.” Yep, many versions of the Bible use the word “stupid.” KJV uses “brutish” from which the word stupid comes from.

To paraphrase – If you love learning, you love discipline that goes with it.

Let’s admit we Christians have habits of saying certain things out loud or in our heads. I believe these words and phrases act like roadblocks to our growth, transformation and maturity in Christ. After all, the goal of a Christian is to be transformed into the likeness of Christ through His Holy Word. To be different people than we are now - tomorrow. We want sin to be a lesser part of our lives than it was yesterday. We want to love God more tomorrow than we do today right? So, during our journey and transformation there are roadblocks we set up that we need to take down. One of these roadblocks is – We have to stop using bible words in the wrong way. One particular phrase we often hear used is “Don’t judge me.”

The poster could read in today’s culture even among Christians – “If you want to be happy, get rid of all the negativity in your life” Matthew 7:1 right? Who wants negativity in their life? I will tell you who - People who want to grow… Did you get that? But even Christians forget or don’t understand this verse. Jesus is teaching not to over judge by our standards, and not to judge their fellow Jews by tradition and the law as the Pharisee’s did out of hypocrisy. They judged with wrong judgments.

What Jesus says in John 7:24, “Don’t judge by appearances, but judge with right judgement.” In other words, there is a time to judge and a time not to judge. There is a way to judge and a way not to judge. But this post isn’t about the theological understanding of judging, it’s about the judging by someone of me or you. Its personal.

As the Proverb says, whoever ignores instruction despises himself. - If our goal is maturity, growth, intelligence and spirituality, then we must listen to correction and criticism. Do we have an attitude of seeking correction and criticism? Why would we do that? Because we love knowledge and pursuing God! The question is, by who do we seek knowledge and spiritual criticism? Someone who has lived life and is wise among the brethren who has the stripes of life to be able to constructively help counsel us in the way of the Lord.`

The people of Jesus day judged Him for all kinds of things didn’t they? Jesus response was not – “Don’t judge Me.” His response was “Judge with righteous judgement” John 7:24

If a brother or sister in Christ rightly judges us, we put up a roadblock to keep out all the negativity in our lives, and we will keep it out. But, we will keep ourselves from growing, we will limit ourselves from being transformed in His image. The question is, “Is this judgement I am receiving right?” Not do I like them or not or its mom and dad, I have heard a lifetime of advice from them. Do I like the tone of voice they took rightly judging me? I’m just going to discount their righteous advice, I’m my own person now. Those aren’t the questions we ought to ask. The questions we need to ask are, “Is their judgement right, is it biblical, is it sound, healthy and wise? If so then listen to them and grow driving through this Don’t Judge Me roadblock ridding it from our vocabulary.

James 1:19-20, “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.”

Amen.

Is the Holy Spirit With You In Prayer?

Around A.D. 57, Apostle Paul speaking by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to the church audience in Rome gives the Christian a brief yet very powerful ray of light on the free assistance given when they pray.

Romans 8:26-27, “In like manner the Spirit also helps our infirmity. For we know not how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And He who searches the hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”

Do we really have the help of the Holy Spirit in our prayers, and is God actually hearing us? This short presentation will help the Christian understand how the Spirit helps and represents them in their prayers.

HERE are more Holy Spirit Faq’s for further study.

Jesus Says, Can You Hear Me Now?

Do you remember those cell phone ad's that would say,

"Can you hear me now, can you hear me now?"

When Jesus talked to His disciples He talked about His death a lot making them greatly distressed (Matt 17:22-23). And as this podcast by Mark Roberts relates, He found Himself saying to them, "Can you hear Me now?" The question is, do we hear Him now, are we missing the cross?

updated 4/12/16

Are We The Only Humans?

Those who believe life evolved on the earth usually see it as virtual ‘fact’ that life has evolved on countless other planets. Discovering life on other planets would in turn be seen as confirming their evolutionary belief. But even many Christians think, ‘God must have created life elsewhere, otherwise this enormous universe would be an awful waste of space.’ This seems to be the major underlying reason why people think that there must be other life 'out there'. However, our thinking should be based on what God said He did (the Bible), and not what we think He would, should or might have done. If you struggle with this question you are not alone. I venture to say 99 out of 100 people if asked this question will say yes. There are other humans/aliens ‘out there.’ May I suggest to the believer and non-believer alike, the earth and we humans are actually very unique, and the only humans that exist. Let’s read Psalm 8:3-9 written by King David through Gods inspiration.

3 When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained,

4 What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him?

5 For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor.

6 You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet,

7 All sheep and oxen— Even the beasts of the field,

8 The birds of the air, And the fish of the sea That pass through the paths of the seas.

9 O Lord, our Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth!

Man’s uniqueness in the Universe is implied in Psalm 8. When David reflected upon the splendor of the heavens, he wondered: ‘What is man that Jehovah has so benevolently blessed him with all this marvelous creation?’ He appears to suggest that man stands alone in the Universe in this regard. The great scholar George Rawlinson once noted that the thought that he who made the heavens should have such regard for humanity “is well nigh overwhelming.” Thus, rather than suggesting that man is but an insignificant speck in the Universe, this passage reveals that the Lord has bestowed a signal honor upon him who is created in his very image (Gen. 1:26).

Next, God appointed man to have dominion over the creation. Humanity, because of sin, has failed to perfectly achieve that task. Ultimately, however, the epitome of manhood, the Lord Jesus, will demonstrate his supremacy over the entire creation. This appears to be why the writer of Hebrews gives the 8th Psalm a messianic application (cf. Heb. 2:6-8). We do not believe, as some allege, that the author took the original reference out of context and gave it a meaning alien to its intended design. Rather, the Holy Spirit, who inspired both writers, saw a partial application to man, and then an ultimate fulfillment in the Son of man.

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