• The Gospel
1) The Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus
Romans 1:16 & 17,
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.
17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”
1 Corinthians 15:1 - 4,
1 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.
Romans 1:6 says that the gospel of Christ is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes. In
1 Corinthians 15:1 & 2, the apostle Paul is re-affirming the gospel he preached, and saying, "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".
It says that we stand in the gospel, and are saved by it, but added "if" we hold fast to the words which are preached, if we keep a hold of God's word, and says, "unless you believed in vain". So there is a such thing as believing in vain. We can believe and be saved, but lose our salvation by not standing and keeping a hold of God's word. So there's no such thing as "Once Saved, Always Saved" or "Unconditional Eternal Security".
But what is the gospel? The word "gospel" itself means "good news" or "glad tidings". But what is the good news?
1 Corinthians 15:3 & 4 says that it's the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That's the good news, that's the gospel. But why is it good news?
Romans 5:12 says, "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned".
This verse is talking about sin that was passed on by satan into the human race through Adam. The nature of sin was passed on to us through Adam, who had sinned and fell from God, and lost the godly nature he had being made in the likeness of God, and took on a nature of sin. With Adam, man was originally created in the "image" and "likeness" of God. The "image" is the physical body, the physical expression or reflection of God. And the "likeness" is God's nature, which is holy. But when Adam disobeyed God's word by eating the fruit God told him not to, he sinned, and fell from God, and he lost the divine nature that God had given him, and took on the nature of sin, and was cursed, along with Eve who gave him the fruit, and the serpent, which is satan, who deceived her, and all of the earth and nature. Adam was a doorway that sin entered into the world through and affected the human race and the world, and was cursed becasuse of it. And the effects of it even show up physically in humans, animals, and all of nature in various ways.
Romans 5:18 says, "Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life".
So the bad news is that because of sin, all of mankind is under the wrath and judgement of God. But the good news is "God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (
Rom 5:8), because "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (
John 3:16).
So God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, as a sacrifice for us, to save us from our sins, and reconcile us all together unto Himself and bring us into fellowship with Him. So, "by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life". But this is given by faith in Jesus, because "whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life".
But there is a common misconception about believing and being saved among many professing believers. Because in the scriptures, we also see that we must repent, be baptized, and receive the Holy Spirit.
2) The Death, Burial, and Resurrection of The Believer With Jesus
Romans 6:3 - 6,
3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: 6 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".
Romans 8:11,
"But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you".
There's a lot that can be said from theses scriptures. But they speak of the believer being crucified and dying with Christ through repentance, being buried and planted together with Christ through baptism, and resurrected and raised with Christ by the infilling of the Holy Spirit.
So the gospel is actually a two-fold message. It's the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. And it's the death, burial, and resurrection of the believer with Christ, through repentance, baptism, and the gift of the Holy Spirit. That is how we follow and obey the gospel, that is how we apply the gospel to our life, that is how we are saved by the gospel.
Repentance = Death
Baptism = Burial
Holy Spirit = Resurrection
• Washed, Sanctified, Justified
1 Corinthians 6:11,
And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
We are Justified by the blood and death of Jesus Christ on the cross. This is applied to our life by turning to God in repentance by faith in Jesus. We are washed by water in baptism. And we are sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
Repentance = Justifiesd
Baptism = Washed
Holy Spirit = Sanctified
• You Must Be Born Again
John 3:1 - 5,
1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: 2 the same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.
3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?
5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
In
John 3:3, Jesus says that we must be born again to see the kingdom of God. Then a few verses down, in verse 5, He says how we are born again. He says we must be born of water and of the Spirit to enter into the kingdom of God.
We are born of water by baptism in water in the name of Jesus Christ, and we are born of the Spirit by receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit. We must believe in Jesus and repent before we can be baptized or receive the Holy Spirit. But notice here that Jesus didn't mention believing or repentance. So even if we believe and repent, we're still not born again yet until we've also been baptized and receive the Holy Ghost. So we must repent, be baptized, and receive the Holy Spirit all three together to be born again and enter into the kingdom of God.
• Blood, Water, and Spirit
1 John 5:8 - 11,
8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one. 9 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his
Son. 10 He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his
Son. 11 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
1 John 5:8 says that there are three that bear witness on earth, "the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one." The blood, water, and Spirit are applied to our life through repentance, baptism, and receiving the Holy Spirit.
And a few verses down, in
1 John 5:10 & 11, it says, "He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son. And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son."
So when we repent, are baptized, and filled with the Holy Spirit, then the blood, water, and Spirit are applied to our life, and these three bear witness together in us that we have believed in the Son, Jesus, and because we believed, God has given us eternal life.
Repentance = blood
Baptism = water
Holy Ghost = Spirit
(Continued in part 4)
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