IT'S THE "GOSPEL TRUTH"!

"The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God." (Mark 1:1) What is "the gospel"? The answer to this simple question has ultimate meaning for the Lives of Everyone! Many people look for answers to the meaning, perplexity, problems, and uncertainties of life they face in this world. They search for answers in religion, politics, philosophy, education, experimentation, wholesome and unwholesome relationships, even government. The TRUE answer is in none of these places; but it is in the MESSAGE that came over 2,000 years ago in THE PERSON OF JESUS CHRIST!

Jesus the Christ was born a baby through the Virgin Mary, conceived by the Holy Spirit, in the lowly town of Bethlehem. The real hope of every person is all in this one God-Man; Jesus alone can redeem lost mankind from sin and make them new. Only Jesus can forgive sins and give peace with God! This is the very foundation of the gospel of Jesus Christ! It is indeed the meaning of the gospel, which is Good News! It is Jesus' gospel; He alone is its source, meaning and application! The Good News belongs to Him, but He enables us to receive it and to personally experience the results of it!

The gospel of Jesus Christ is the message of salvation, that Jesus died on a Roman Cross in order that all who believe and put their trust in Him alone are saved! ". . .if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified (pronounced innocent), and with the mouth one confesses and is saved." (Romans 10:9-10) "For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." (Romans 10:13) Some definitions are in order here.

1) "believes" - This is much more than mere head knowledge, or mental assent! Rather, it means to accept, trust or regard as being true, right, to conclude or to be totally convinced. To truly believe in the gospel will cause a heart transformation! "And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from you and give you a heart of flesh." (Ezekiel 36:26)

2) "confess" - This word means to admit, acknowledge, concede or agree. It means to agree with God that one is a sinner and is in need of personal salvation, and concede to His will and His way!

3) "saved" - To be saved means to be delivered or rescued from the presence of sin in our life and its consequences! It means to be set free from eternal separation from God, and to receive the FREE GIFT of eternal life with God in heaven, through placing faith and trust in Jesus' sacrificial death on the Cross and in His Resurrection from the dead. To be saved means that God in Christ forgives our sin, removes our guilt and accepts our repentance (turning away completely from sin and to God).

4) "justified" - it is a legal term, meaning to be pronounced innocent as though we had never sinned. Justification only happens by receiving Jesus as our personal Savior and Lord. Justification is God's declaration of a sinner to be righteous, not because of their own merits, but through God's love, grace and mercy, and personal faith. Thus, it is granting us unconditional forgiveness and a right standing before God! "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one can boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9)

W.E. Vine says, "In the New Testament the gospel denotes the good tidings of the Kingdom of God and of salvation through Christ, to be received by faith on the basis of His expiatory (sacrificial) death, His resurrection and ascension. The gospel presents these basic facts - the death, burial and resurrection of Christ - and the fact that He alone accomplishes salvation for sinners (I Corinthians 15:1-5)."

This, of course, is the theme of ALL Scripture, and it will be the theme of worship, exaltation and praise in heaven throughout eternity! The word "gospel" which means "good news" occurs 89 times in the New Testament. Here are just a few references.

1) "The gospel of God" - Romans 1:1; Mark 1:14

2) "The gospel of Christ" - Romans 1:16

3) "The gospel of the glory of Christ" - II Corinthians 4:4

4) "The gospel of your salvation" - Ephesians 1:13

5) "The gospel of peace" - Ephesians 6:15

6) "The everlasting gospel" - Revelation 14:6

7) "The gospel of the kingdom" - Matthew 9:35

8) "The gospel of the grace of God" - Acts 20:24

In Romans 2:16, the Apostle Paul actually speaks of the gospel as "my gospel". Paul was not ashamed of the gospel or of his personal identification with it. "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. . .to the Jew and to the Gentile." (Romans 1:16) As a result of believing it himself, Paul had been saved and his life had been transformed. He was therefore able to say, "I glory in the cross of Christ." (Galatians 6:14) He was "proud" to believe it as a man (Acts 27:25), to confess it as a Christian (Romans 10:9-10), to contend for it as a good soldier (Philippians 1:27) and to suffer and die for it as a martyr (II Timothy 4:6-8) There were many things that Paul could boast about (See Philippians 3:4-7), but he said, "Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ." (Philippians 3:8) As Paul, we too, can be absolutely sure of our relationship with God. He said, ". . .I am not ashamed, because I know the one in whom my faith is set and I am convinced that He is able to protect what has been entrusted to me until that day." (II Timothy 1:12)

As noted above, Paul said in Romans 1:16, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. . . ." In this verse, we find five glorious facts about the gospel of Jesus Christ - THE GOSPEL TRUTH!

1) THE SOURCE OF THE GOSPEL! What is the origin - the beginning - of the gospel? It comes from God Himself. (Romans 1:1 - "the gospel of God") The literal translation from the Greek language is, "the gospel out of God." It originated in the heart of God, even before "the foundation of the world" was created (Ephesians 1:4) So here we learn at once the difference between the gospel of God and the religion of man. Man's religion always begins with man. God's gospel always begins with God! The source determines the character! The gospel is God-like, noble, holy, pure, and great; it is for our good to receive it! It is reliable, up-to-date, relevant, personal and always trustworthy! For you see, anything that God says never needs revising! He said everything He meant to say in the Bible and He means everything He has said! The gospel is NOT a religion; it is a revelation from God Himself! It is His complete and authoritative Word to man!

2) THE SUBJECTS OF THE GOSPEL! What is the gospel about? It is good news about Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 1:3-4) It is God's declaration concerning the PERSON and WORK of Christ. In these verses we have the statement concerning our Lord's real humanity (verse 3), His diety (verse 4), and His Name. "Concerning His Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by His resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord. . . ." This proclamation declares Him to be our Savior, Sanctifier and Soverign. (I Corinthians 15:1-4) The good news is God sent Christ Jesus, His only Son, into our world to die upon the Cross for our sins and the penalty due us. Having done this out of love for us, God then raised Him from the dead, and He is now a living Savior exalted at God's right hand. "Consequently, He is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them."

(Hebrews 7:25-26) The gospel message is the declaration then of the glorious PERSON of CHRIST, of His FINISHED WORK and of His PRESENT SAVING POWER, to save sinful mankind! This is THE GOSPEL TRUTH!

3) THE SUFFICIENCY OF THE GOSPEL! Why is the gospel of Jesus Christ so very sufficient? "It is the saving power of God for everyone who has faith" in Jesus. (New English Bible Translation - Romans 1:16) The gospel is the one and only instrument of God's power that brings salvation to all who have put their faith in Jesus. It is God's manifest power to save sinners. Mankind's first and most important need is personal salvation from sin. We humans with eternal souls need to be reconciled to God (II Corinthians 5:20), to be forgiven of sin (Colossians 2:13), to be justified (Romans 5:1), and to receive eternal life in heaven. (Titus 3:7) The gospel is fully sufficient because it is not simply good advice or a strong recommendation about something man has to do in order to be saved; rather it is the good news that God has done, in and through His Son, ALL THAT IS NECESSARY for our salvation! The gospel is the power of God to transform a sinner into a saint. It is God's power to deliver us from "the wrath of God that is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of man, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth." (Romans 1:18) There is no human spiritual need that the gospel cannot meet and there is no sinner too sinful for the gospel to reach!

4. THE SCOPE OF THE GOSPEL! The Gospel is for EVERYONE, including both Jews and Gentiles. (Romans 1:16) God sent His Son into the world to make it possible for all mankind, everywhere to be saved. There is no social barrier to hinder anyone from accepting the gospel; there is no age barrier; there is no moral, national, political or religious barrier! The gospel invitation is to ALL PEOPLE EVERYWHERE! ALL may come! (Revelation 22:17)

5) THE SIMPLICITY OF THE GOSPEL! It is simply a matter of our believing, confessing, repenting, and accepting! That's It! The gospel is the good news from God to man. He does not force us; but He did provide ALL we need for salvation and He leaves the choice of acceptance or refusal entirely up to us.

ALL of the above is "THE GOSPEL TRUTH"! There's a southern gospel song sung by the Gold City Quartet called "The Gospel Truth". It fits well here. Here are some of its lyrics:

Verse: "I was a tax collector, Matthew is my name, Despised by many, but one day I heard the Savior say,

Matthew, come and follow, so I left it all behind, Becoming His disciple, forever changed inside.

Verse: Dr. Luke is who I am, some say that I am wise, I checked the facts and found them true, then boldly

testified about the life of Jesus from beginning to the end, and then in Acts I told about the way

the church began.

Verse: I am John and I was just a simple fisherman, When Jesus called me from my boat, I followed His

command. How could I know that one day in a vision I'd behold The Glory that's awaiting me in my

eternal home?

Chorus: And that's the gospel, it's the gospel truth, I tell you cause I've been there; I'm living proof. The Man who walked on water and calmed the raging sea, He saved me and I know that He'll save you. Take it

from me, now that's the gospel truth."

So take it from me, THIS IS THE GOSPEL TRUTH!