The Gospel of Jesus Christ

1. GOD IS HOLY AND RIGHTEOUS

God is holy. The holiness of God means that he is above, or separated from, the moral corruption of His creation and from all that is profane and sinful. God cannot sin, cannot take pleasure in sin, and cannot have fellowship with sin.

God is righteous. He has revealed His will to all people. There will come a day in which God will judge everyone according to the strictest standards of justice and fairness, rewarding the good that is done and punishing evil.

2. HUMANITY IS MORALLY CORRUPT

The bible teaches that although mankind was created good, all humans have fallen into spiritual death. We are by nature morally corrupt, inclined toward evil, and hostile toward the righteous God. Our inward moral corruption leads us to commit acts against the righteous standard of a holy just and loving God. All of us stand guilty and without excuse before God.

3. THE GREAT DILEMMA

A God who would refuse to judge wickedness would not be loving, good or righteous. If God is good, what will he do with those who are not? If the Judge of all the earth deals with us on the basis of justice, shouldn’t he condemn us all?

This is the great dilemma. How can God be just yet pardon those who should be justly condemned? How can God be holy yet befriend those who are evil? How can God be holy, yet befriend those who are evil?

4. GOD’S ANSWER TO OUR DILEMMA

Since all men are guilty of sin, they deserve God’s wrath. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, offered himself as the sacrifice for His people’s sin. On the cross, Christ took the cup of God’s wrath that we deserve and drank down every drop until it was completely depleted and the justice of God against us was fully satisfied. God placed our sins on Christ’s account and considered them His. Christ was declared guilty before the judgement throne of God and was treated as the guilty party, becoming the object of God’s displeasure and condemnation. Now pardon and justification are available to all through faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

OUR RESPONSE

We must ask now how we are to respond in order to benefit from such a great salvation, or, what we must do to be saved?

We must repent of our sins. Repentance involves a change of mind leading to a recognition that what God says is true and that we have been wrong. it will also be accompanied by a change of the will that produces right actions – especially, a turning away from sin and turning to God for obedience.

We must trust in the person and work of Jesus Christ. This trust, known as ‘faith’, assures us of forgiveness of sin, reconciliation with God, and the hope of eternal life because God has promised these things in the Bible. Saving faith especially consists of trust that Christ is our saviour, our only righteousness with God. We know that if we are to be reconciled to God, it will not be a result of our works for Him but as a result of His great work for us through Jesus Christ.

Have you repented? Have you believed?