Gospel

It is has been our pleasure to share with you a small portion of who we are as brothers both by birth and in our union with Christ. What we delight in even more, however, is the opportunity to share the Gospel. There is not enough room on this web site (nor on the horizons of this planet) to tell you of the infinite joy the Lord Jesus has brought us. There is a reason for that.  It is because He is the Holy God of this universe. Indeed, He is the Messiah, the Son of God, the Word incarnate, and His glory far surpasses anything of this finite world. That is why we are so thrilled to share about Him, even through a blog page like this. It is our prayer that this page would be used by God to clearly portray the greatness of Christ Jesus, our Lord, and all that God is for us in Him.

Jesus Christ

Our love for God and union with Christ comes to us through the greatest act of love which was demonstrated at the cross of Jesus Christ. This can be observed when the Scriptures say, “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person–though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die–but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:6-8 ). This is the only reason we can truly love each other, the broader community of believers, and the people God places in our lives. “We love because He [Jesus Christ] first loved us” (1 John 4:19).

As we can observe, both of these scriptures tell us something else, don’t they? Rom. 5:6-8 tells us that we are ungodly and calls us sinners, and 1 John 4:19 implies that we needed to be loved. Why? The reason the Scriptures say these things is because it is true, and both writers, inspired by God (1 Tim. 3:16), are trying to get a point across, namely, we need to be saved.

The present condition is that we are ungodly and sinners. How? Well, the Scriptures also reveal that God is holy (Ex. 15:11; Rev. 15:4) and righteous (Ps. 7:9; 48:10). Thus, according to His own absolute goodness, God establishes right from wrong in this universe. And, to uphold this righteousness in the universe, He must deal rightly with anyone who rejects Him and lives contrary to what His holiness demands. In other words, He must (and has the right to) judge sin, and that means judging those who sin. The Scriptures say that He promises to do so, eternally (Matt. 25:31; Luke 3:17), in a real place called Hell (Matt. 5:22; 10:28)—a place of fire (Mark 9:43), worms (Mark 9:48 ), weeping, and gnashing of teeth (Matt. 22:13). Apart from Christ, we are ungodly and we are both sinners, and we both need to be loved, else we—with all of our sin—will be punished by God in that place, forever. However, there is only one, single, solitary reason why that is not going to happen. We believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and treasure all that God is for us in Him.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ

God sent His Son, Jesus, to planet earth to save sinners. The Scriptures tell us that Christ, being obedient to the Father (Phil 2:8), came to earth (John 7:28), dwelt among mankind (John 1:14), lived a sinless life (Heb. 4:15), was nailed to the cross at the hands of godless men (Acts 2:23), died on that cross (Luke 23:46), was buried (Matt. 27:57-60), then raised triumphantly from the dead (1 Cor. 15:3-5), and was seated at the right hand of the throne of God in heaven (Heb. 12:2). He then sent the Holy Spirit to testify of Himself (John 16:14) and convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8), so that all who would repent and believe in Jesus would be eternally forgiven of their sin (John 11:25-6; Rom. 10:9-10), receive the Spirit as a pledge of their inheritance (Eph. 1:13-14), have peace with God (Rom 5:1-2), and thus enabled to enjoy the beauty of Christ forever. That is love. That God would undertake to kill His only Son (Is. 53:10; Acts 4:28 ) so that the ungodly, like us, would be able to spend an eternity enjoying Him forever is love. Another passage of Scripture summarizes this salvation like so: 

“Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus, in order that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (Eph 2:1-7). 

It is from this Spring of God’s gracious redemption that we draw when living joyfully, loving others, and even contributing to something like this blog. We do not desire any glory or fame or name on this web site. We only desire God to be magnified in His Son through us. We only desire for you to share in standing in awe of our God, our Savior, our Lord, our Master, our Bridegroom, our everything. His name is Jesus Christ, the risen Lord. He is coming again to gather his covenant believers to Himself and bring judgment to all who spurned His name and His saving cross. Our prayer is for your trust to be in Him, that we might together share in His glory.

Soli Deo Gloria (“To God alone be the glory”)

 

An Outline of the Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ as Revealed in the Apostolic Preaching of the Cross

This is a basic outline of the Gospel that is preached in the Scriptures. I (Bret) have chosen these five headings based upon the preaching of the apostles in the book of Acts and the other New Testament epistles. I used this outline to teach the young men that I disciple on Thursday nights, so that they would have a better understanding of the gospel and an easy way of remembering its essentials for evangelism purposes. I myself have memorized the outline, and it is a great aid in witnessing to others and preaching to myself. I hope it will be the same for others.

1. God the Father reveals Himself in God the Son.

• Jesus Christ was sent by the God the Father. (Mt 10:40; Mk 9:37; Lk 9:48; Jn 3:16; 4:34; 5:24, 30; 6:38-39; 7:33; 9:4; 12:44-45; 13:20; 14:7; 15:24; 16:5; 1Jn 4:9; Gal 4:4)
• Jesus Christ is fully God. (Ps 2:7; Is 7:14; 9:6; Mt 1:23; 11:23; 12:8; 22:41-46 [cf. Ps 110:1]; 26:63-64; Mk 3:10-11; Lk 5:24; Jn 1:1-3, 14, 18; 3:16; 3:31; 10:30; 12:39-41, 45; 14:7; 17:5, 10; Acts 20:28; Rom 9:5; Col 1:16-17; 2Tim 4:1; Tit 2:13; Heb 1:1-4; Rev 1:12-18, 17:14; 22:13)
• Jesus Christ is fully man. (Mt 1:1-16, 18, 23; 13:55; Mk 1:9; 15:20-24; Lk 2:42-43; 3:23-38; 24:39; Jn 1:14; Rom 1:3; 8:3; Gal 3:16; Phil 2:7; 1Tim 2:5; 3:16; Heb 2:9, 14; 1Jn 4:2; 2Jn 1:7)
• Jesus Christ is Messiah and Savior. (Deut 18:15; 2Sam 7:12-14; Is 7:14; 9:6; Jer 23:5-6; Dan 7:13-14 [cf. Gen 1:26-27; Ps 8:4-8; Ezek 1:26-28]; Ps 2:7; Mt 1:1-16; 3:3 [cf. Is 40:3]; 20:28; 27:11; Mk 8:29; Lk 2:11, 27-35; 3:23-28; 4:41; Jn 1:41, 45-49; 3:16; Acts 13:23; Rom 5:1; 1Cor 1:30; 2Cor 5:18-21; Gal 1:4; 1Pet 1:3; 2Pet 1:11)
• Jesus Christ is the Light of the World. (Lk 2:32; Jn 1:7-9; 3:19-21; 8:12; 9:5; 11:9-10; 12:35, 46; 2Cor 4:6; 1Pet 2:9; 1Jn 1:5, 7)

2. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was crucified.

• Jesus Christ’s death was determined by God the Father. (Is 53:10; Mt 16:21-23; 17:12, 22-23; 20:18-19, 28; 26:2; Mk 8:31-33; 14:21; Lk 9:22-27; 18:31; 22:42; Jn 4:34; 5:30; 6:38; 8:28; 10:18; 17:4; Acts 2:23; 4:28; 2Tim 1:9; 1Pet 1:19-20) 
• Jesus Christ was killed by sinful human beings. (Is 53:3; Mt 26:45; Mk 10:33, 14:41; Acts 2:23, 36; 4:10, 27-28; 1Cor 1:23; 2:2; Eph 2:16; Phil 2:8; Heb 12:2-3)
• Jesus Christ’s death brought glory to His Father. (Mt 3:17; 17:5; Mk 1:11; Lk 3:22; Jn 12:28; 13:31-32; 17:1 [cf. 17:24]; Rom 3:25-26; Eph 5:2; Col 1:19; 2Pet 1:17)
• Jesus Christ’s death brought salvation for sinners:
• …in that his death was a penal substitutionary atonement. (Mt 20:28; Mk 10:45; Acts 20:28; Rom 3:25-26; 5:6, 8; 8:32; 14:45; 1Cor 11:24; Gal 2:20; 3:13; Eph 5:2; 1Thess 5:10; 1Tim 2:6; Tit 2:14; 1Jn 3:16)
• …in that his death brought forgiveness of sins. (Is 53:5, 6; Mt 26:28; Lk 1:77; 24:47; Acts 2:38; 5:31; 10:43; 13:38f; 26:18; Col 1:14; Eph 1:7; Heb 9:22)
• …in that his death ensured faith and salvation for sinners. (Jer 31:31-33; Ezek 36:26-27; Mt 26:28; Jn 1:12-13; 3:3-8; 6:35-40; 8:42; 10:27; 15:16; 17:6; 18:37; Rom 5:9; 1Cor 4:7; Acts 13:48; Eph 2:8-10; 6:23; Phil 1:29; 1Tim 1:15; 1Pet 1:9; 1Jn 5:1-2; Rev 5:9-10)

3. God the Father raised Jesus from the dead.

• God raised Jesus Christ from the dead in power. (Mt 28:1-20; Mk 16:1-8; Lk 24:1-53; Jn 20:1-29; Rom 1:2-6; 1Cor 15:4)
• God in Jesus Christ’s resurrection showed His power over death. (Acts 2:23f; Rom 5:12-19; 6:1-11; 1Cor 15:20-28; 2Cor 1:9; Phil 3:10-11; 2Tim 1:10)
• Jesus Christ lives forevermore as the God-man. (Mt 28:9; Lk 24:15-18, 28-29, 39; Jn 20:20, 27; 21:12-13; Acts 1:9-11; cf. Rev 22:1-2)
• Jesus Christ guaranteed and sealed salvation for His people when God raised Him from the dead. (Ps 16:9-10; 17:15; 49:15; Is 26:19; Dan 12:2-3; Hos 13:14; Mt 24:31; 27:52-53; Jn 5:21, 25-29; 6:39-40, 44, 54; Acts 2:26; 4:2; 17:18; 23:6; Rom 4:25; 6:4, 11; 1Cor 6:14; 15:3-58; 2Cor 4:14; Eph 2:5-6; Phil 3:11; 1Thess 4:14; Rev 20:4)
• Jesus Christ makes priestly intercession for us at God’s right hand. (Heb 7:25; Rom 8:34)

4. Jesus Christ sent God the Holy Spirit.

• The Spirit is God, sent by the Father and Son to be with us as the Helper. (Jn 14:16-17, 25-31; 15:26-27; 16:7)
• The Spirit gives spiritual life, empowers believers, and reveals truth. (Lk 12:12; Jn 3:5-8; 6:63; 14:26; 16:13; Acts 1:8; 4:8, 31; 6:5-10; 10:44-47; 13:9-11; 20:22-23; Rom 8:14; 15:19; 1Cor 2:4, 12; 12:11; Gal 5:18; Eph 6:17; 1Thess 1:5; Tit 3:5; 1Pet 1:12)
• The Spirit convicts people of sin and righteousness and judgment. (Jn 16:8-11; Acts 7:51)
• The Spirit regenerates hearts so that they trust the gospel for salvation. (Jn 3:1-8; 8:42; 10:27; 15:16; 17:6; 18:37; Acts 13:48; Tit 3:5; 1Jn 5:1-2; Eph 2:1-10) 
• Jesus Christ is now building His church by the work of the Spirit. (Acts 1:8; 2:4; 4:31; 10:44-45; 13:2; 20:28; Rom 2:29; 8:14, 27; 15:13; 1Cor 12:1-11; 2Cor 3:8; 13:14; Gal 3:14; Eph 2:18, 22; 4:3; 2Thess 2:13; 1Pet 1:2; Rev 22:17)

5. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is coming again.

• Jesus Christ is coming again to consummate the age and establish His kingdom on earth. (Ps 22:27-31; 72:8-14; 110:1-6; Is 2:2-5; 9:1-7; 11:1-10; 65:17; Jer 31:34; Dan 7:13-14, 18-22; Zech 14:5-17; Mic 4:1-4; Hab 2:14; Mt 24:1-51; 25:31; 26:64; Mk 8:38; Acts 1:11; 3:20-21; Rom 8:19-21; 1Cor 11:26; 15:24; 1Tim 6:14-15; 2Tim 4:1; 2Pet 3:13; Rev 2:26-27; 16:15; 21:1-2; 22:12; 22:20) 
• Jesus Christ is coming again to gather His elect. (Mt 24:31; Mk 13:27; Jn 14:3; 1Cor 1:7-8; 15:23; Phil 3:20-21; Col 3:4; 1Thess 1:10; 2:19; 3:13; 4:13-18; 2Thess 1:7; 2:1-3; 2Tim 4:8; Heb 9:28; 1Pet 5:4)
• Jesus Christ is coming again to judge the world in righteousness. (Ps 96:13; Is 22:22; Mt 10:15; 11:22; 16:27-28; 25:31-46; Mk 13:1-37; 14:62; Lk 12:40; 19:12-27; 21:5-36; Acts 17:30-31; 1Cor 4:5; Phil 2:10-11; 1Thess 5:2-3; 2Thess 2:8; 2Tim 4:8; Heb 6:2; 1Pet 3:22; 2Pet 3:8-14; Jd 6, 14-15; Rev 19:11-16; 20:4-6, 11-15)