The Gospel of Christ

Imagine, just for a moment, someone asks you: "What is this gospel you keep talking about?"

What would you say?

Allow me to help answer this question by looking up some passages from Paul's writings. These bits of scripture teach us about certain vital elements of the gospel:

The Person of Christ

Romans 1:1-4

"This letter is from Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, chosen by God to be an apostle and sent out to preach His Good News. God promised this Good News long ago through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures. The Good News is about His Son. In His earthly life, He was born into King David's family line, and He was shown to be the Son of God when He was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is Jesus Christ our Lord.*"

2 Corinthians 4:4

"Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don't believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don't understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God."

2 Timothy 2:8

"Always remember that Jesus Christ, a descendant of King David, was raised from the dead. This is the Good News I preach."

The Work of Christ

Romans 2:15-16

"They demonstrate that God's law is written in their hearts, for their own conscience and thoughts either accuse them or tell them they are doing right. And this is the message I proclaim—that the day is coming when God, through Christ Jesus, will judge everyone's secret life."

1 Corinthians 15:1-5

"Let me now remind you, dear brothers and sisters, of the Good News I preached to you before. You welcomed it then, and you still stand firm in it. It is this Good News that saves you if you continue to believe the message I told you—unless, of course, you believed something that was never true in the first place. I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and He was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve."

Our Response to Christ

Romans 1:16-17

"For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile. This Good News tells us how God makes us right in His sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, 'It is through faith that a righteous person has life'."

Galatians 2:16

"Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law."

Ephesians 2:8-9

"God saved you by His grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it."

This is the beautiful truth upon which Christianity stands, our Gospel of Jesus Christ. Keep this handy in case anyone asks!

*Take time this week and underline key phrases that apply to each section. In the section “The Person of Christ”, I underlined He is Jesus Christ our Lord.

Love to all in Christ,

Pastor Mike

(602) 510-5563