The Gospel

Everything you see on this website relates in some way to The Gospel.

What is The Gospel?

Romans 3:23-24. "..for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith."

For all have sinned: This is the Bible's analysis of the condition of mankind. All of our problems arise from man's sin.

and fall short of the glory of God: Sin looks at God and says "not for me". It swaps out God for serving one's own appetites. Instead of God being our treasure, we fall short of appreciating the beauty and wonder of the ultimate reality, God.

and are justified: Because we have sinned, we are guilty. How can that verdict be overturned and instead how can we be declared righteous? Justified means that we are declared by God to be just (or righteous). We are not made righteous, we are declared righteous. The passive voice "are justified" tells us that this is something that is done to us, not done by us.

by His grace: We did not do anything to earn justification. God does not owe us justification. God grants us justification gratuitously. Grace == the giver is not under any obligation to give.

as a gift: It is FREE. Not something we pay for. Indeed, we cannot pay for it. We simply receive it (by faith).

through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: This declaration of justification is not a statement that does not have as its basis the solid support of the work of Christ Jesus. Jesus redeems (ransoms) us by paying for our sin through the shedding of His blood. Redemption == deliverance that is accomplished at a cost. Justification may be free for us, but it was paid for by Christ.

whom God put forward: This gift is of God's initiation. The gospel is not something that we negotiate with God.

as a propitiation by his blood: The blood of Jesus Christ propitiates (appeases) the wrath of God against sin.

to be received by faith: The good news is this, that you and I may be saved from the wrath of God against sin by trusting in Jesus Christ. The only instrument of salvation is faith (== looking away from oneself and entirely trusting in the sufficiency of Christ)