THE GOSPEL: THE POWER OF TRUE CHANGE

1. The Gospel of God (Rom. 1:1). Here is the SOURCE of the good news. It does not originate with man, but with God, who "sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins" (1 Jn. 4:10) and sent His angel to declare "good tidings of great joy...to all people" (Lk. 2:10).

 

2. The Gospel of Christ (Gal. 1:7). Here is the THEME of the good news, already noted. It is the declaration that Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, "came into the world to save sinners" (1 Tim. 1:15), that the Father "laid on Him the iniquity of us all" (Isa. 53:6), and that He is risen again and is at the right hand of God, making intercession for us (Rom.. 8:34).

 

3. The Gospel of the Grace of God (Acts 20:24). Here is the NATURE of the good news. God proclaims that He has an undeserved gift for all mankind, salvation through faith in His beloved Son. "For 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" (Eph. 2:8-9).

 

4. The Gospel of your Salvation (Eph. 1:13). Here is the WORK of the good news. It is the "power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth..." (Rom. 1:16). "God hath chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth, whereunto He called you by our Gospel..." (2 Th. 2:13-14).

 

5. The Gospel of Peace (Eph. 6:15). Here is the EFFECT of the good news–peace! It is peace with God: "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom. 5:1). It is also peace of conscience: "...the blood of Christ (shall) purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God" (Heb. 9:14).

 

6. The Gospel of Glory (1 Tim. 1:11). Here is the final GOAL of the good news, that those who receive it may share in God’s glory, both now and in eternity. "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord" (2 Cor. 3:18). Christ "tasted death for every man...(that He might bring) many sons unto glory" (Heb. 2:9-10). "Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am; that they may behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me: for Thou lovedst Me before the foundation of the world" (Jn. 17:24).

 

The Gospel + faith = salvation!