What is the Gospel?

Scripture

We believe that the Bible is the inspired, infallible, inerrant and preserved word of God.

“The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou preserve them from this generation forever.” Psalms 12:6,7

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:” 2 Timothy 3:16

​​

​

Creation

The Bible proclaims that there is One true God who eternally exists in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He is the creator and sustainer of all things. He is all-knowing, all-powerful, all-present, infinite, unchangeable, full of all goodness, truth and justice.

“Hear O Israel the LORD our God is one LORD:” Deuteronomy 6:5

“But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things and we in him.” 1 Corinthians 8:6

“God, who at several times and in divers manners spoke in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Has in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he has appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.” Hebrews 1:1-3

“Go all of you therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” Matthew 28:19

​​​

​

Sin and the Fall

After five days God created the earth and all creatures on the earth, then God created man on the sixth day. God made man in his own image (Genesis 1:26), with God's law written in his heart (Rom 2:15) giving him dominion over the animals and placing him in a paradise called the Garden of Eden. The man and the woman (Adam and Eve) were to take care of the garden. (Genesis 2:15)
The LORD gave man a command not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
 

“And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it: for in the day that you eat thereof you shall surely die.”(Genesis 2:16,17)

Adam and Eve were to obey the command of God, so long as they obeyed they would live but if they transgressed God's law they would suffer the punishment of death. Through the deception of Satan disguised as a Serpent, Adam and Eve took and ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Genesis 3:1-7

3:1 Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God
had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, has God said, You shall not eat of every
tree of the garden?
3:2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
3:3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, You shall
not eat of it, neither shall all of you touch it, lest all of you die.
3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, You shall not surely die:
3:5 For God does know that in the day you eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened,
and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to
the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did
eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

3:7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and
they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

Because of this one act of disobedience to the command of God our first parents as well as those who would be born from them, fell from the state of innocence into a state of sin.

“Wherefore, as by one man (Adam) sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:” Romans 5:12

“For as by one man's(Adam) disobedience many were made sinners...” Romans 5:19

As a result all of us are born into this world with a sinful nature and from that sinful nature proceeds all our transgressions of the law of God. The whole of mankind is polluted with sin and therefore under the just wrath and condemnation of the all Holy God.

“Art not thou from everlasting, O LORD my God, mine Holy one?....Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on iniquity:” Habakkuk 1:12,13

“Behold, I was formed in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.” Psalms 51:5

"3:9 What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;
3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
3:11 There is none that understands, there is none that seeks after God.
3:12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become useless; there is none
that does good, no, not one.
3:13 Their throat is an open tomb; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:
3:14 Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:
3:15 Their feet are swift to shed blood:
3:16 Destruction and misery are in their ways:
3:17 And the way of peace have they not known:
3:18 There is no fear of God before their eyes. Romans" 3:9-18

“Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup.” Psalms 11:6

​

“And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.” Isaiah 13:11

The question above was How can I be saved? Perhaps you were wondering what you needed to be saved from. The Bible makes it
abundantly clear that all men are in need of saving from the wrath of God because of our sin and rebellion against him. Many people today do not accept this truth, most people will tell you that they are a good person and that a good and loving God would never send anyone to a place called hell. The problem is that we do not understand the holiness of God and the depths of our sin. God is good and loving and because he is Holy he loves that which is good according to his standard of goodness, therefore God is just for punishing his sinful creatures. He is the judge of all the earth, and we will stand before him one day to give an account.

​

​

God's plan of Salvation

After Adam and Eve sinned by eating the fruit of the tree of good and evil, God gave forth the promise of a Savior who would come to redeem sinners.

Genesis 3:14,15
3: 14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because you have done this, you are cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon your belly shall you go, and dust shall you eat all the days of your life:
3:15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; it shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.

This is the promise of One whom God would send who would be born of a woman. There would be enmity(hostility) between this seed born of the woman and Satan. This seed of the woman would crush Satan's head although his heel would be wounded.
The New Testament confirms this seed of the woman to be the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who would destroy the works of the Devil.

 

“Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he(Jesus) also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.” Hebrews 2:14-16

​

​​

Jesus Christ - The Savior of Sinners

“But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.” Galatians 4:4,5

In this passage, we are taught that the eternal Son of God took flesh and blood upon himself and was born through a woman. Christ was born without sin being conceived in the virgin Mary's womb by the power of the Holy Spirit (Lk 1:35). The angels also proclaimed to Mary that her Son would “Save his people from their sins” Matthew 1:21.

The Lord Jesus Christ was also born under the Law. He was born a Jew, the Jews were God’s Old Testament people which he formed into a nation that was to serve him by obeying his Law. No man can keep the Law of God perfectly. The Law was given to man for the knowledge of his sin (Romans 3:19,20). How is it that Jesus Christ can save sinful men and women?

Answer: He kept the whole of God’s Law perfectly while living as a man under it.

“And he that sent me is with me: the Father has not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.” John 8:29

“I have glorified you on the earth: I have finished the work which you gave me to do. And now, O Father, glorify me with your own self with the glory which I had with you before the world was.” John 17:4,5

“For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes.” Romans 10:4

He suffered the just penalty for guilty sinners by his death on the
cross.

“Who (Jesus) his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes all of you were healed. For all of you were as sheep going astray ; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.” 1 Peter 2:24,25

“For Christ also has once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:” 1 Peter 3:18

“But God commends his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.” Romans 5:8,9

​

“Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many” Matthew 20:28

Christ remained in the grave for three days and then the Father raised him from the dead, thus signifying that He has accepted the perfect sacrifice of his Son on the behalf of sinners (1 Corinthians 15: 12-17). Christ now sits at the right hand of the throne of the Father. (Colossians 3:1).

​

​

Justification by Faith Alone

What does it matter to you and me that Christ was the sinless Son of God who took on human flesh and obeyed all of the Law and then offered himself as a sin sacrifice to the Father, taking upon himself all the sins of his people? This my friends is the Good News! The scripture proclaims that whoever believes these truths as they are revealed in Scripture will be saved. Man cannot save himself through his own “good works” for the simple fact that he isn’t good according to God's standard of goodness (Romans 3:10, Isaiah 64:6). Christ has fulfilled the Law for the believer. It is by the grace of God through faith in Christ that we can receive eternal life.

“By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” Ephesians 2:8,9

“But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Spirit; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life” Titus 3:4-7

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16

Jesus said, “Truly Truly, I say unto you, He that hears my word, and believes on him that sent me, has everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” John 5:24

“He that believes on the Son has everlasting life: and he that believes not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abides on him.” John 3:36

“That if you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved.

10:10 For with the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
10:11 For the scripture says, Whosoever believes on him shall not be ashamed.

10:12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is
rich unto all that call upon him.” Romans 10:9-12

​

When a sinner believes in the Lord Jesus Christ God forgives him of all his sin and imputes (credits) to his account the righteousness of Christ (Romans 3:26). This is totally outside of the sinner and not because of any moral goodness of the sinner but from the grace of God towards him and received freely through the instrument of faith. The believing sinner now stands before God as righteous, forgiven his guilt and declared righteous as if he had kept the Law perfectly. This declaration over the believer can never be revoked and heaven is guaranteed because of God's grace.

For whom He (God) did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. Romans 8:29,30

“Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.” Romans 3:28

​

​

Conclusion

Our only hope for eternal life is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ said “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes unto the Father, but by me” John 14:6.

 

Christ excludes all other false religions and false gods as being “paths to heaven.” Our “good works” cannot please or merit the favor of God simply because they are never done with a perfect heart of love towards him. Therefore man can only be saved from his sin through faith in Christ alone.

“And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved, and your house.” Acts 16:30,31