THE GOOD NEWS OF THE GOSPEL

 

 

The Good News must begin with the bad, our human condition and what we deserved (Romans 6:23). Paul recites many verses from the Old Testament to demonstrate that we are opposed to God:

 

·       “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” “Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. (Romans 3:10–20)

 

The Law is a mirror showing us what we are about and what we deserve. It was intended to humble us and show us our need for the Savior.

 

However, we will not come to the Savior on our own. According to Jesus, our heart must be changed (regeneration) before we can come to Him We have become so hardened by sin that we scoff at the things of God:

·       The natural person [without the Spirit] does not accept the things of the Spirit of  God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. (1 Corinthians 2:14)

 

Since we cannot come to God, He must come to us:

 

·       You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.

 

·       And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.” (John 6:65)

 

Consequently, salvation is granted as a gift from God. Therefore, He must receive all the credit:

·       For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:8–10)

Faith is a necessary gift from God through which He regenerates our heart and mind so that we can perceive the ugliness of sin and the answer in Jesus Christ. Besides, we are His workmanship and cannot even take credit for even our accomplishments, even though we participate in this work:

·       …work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. (Philippians 2:12–13)

 

·       But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. (1 Corinthians 15:10)

 

While we play a vital role, our obedience will only come by the grace of God. All good things come from God:

 

·       Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. (James 1:17)

 

Likewise, repentance is a gift from God and is also necessary for salvation. It is wrongly claimed that only faith is necessary because repentance is a deed for which we can boast. Instead, the Bible claims that it isn’t an act of obedience but part of God’s gift:

 

·       For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. (2 Corinthians 7:10)

 

·       And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will. (2 Timothy 2:24–26)

 

It isn’t given as a gift apart from faith. Instead, it is part of faith—the opposite side of the same coin. Consequently, the two cannot be separated. A faith without repentance isn’t a true faith.

 

While faith (a change of heart resulting from regeneration) produces obedience, the same is true of repentance. Paul explained his preaching to King Agrippa:

·       …they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance. (Acts 26:20)

 

Paul distinguished repentance (a change of heart regarding sin) from the obedience that arises from it.

Since salvation is a gift, it will not be revoked. Once a child of God, always a child of God:

 

·       “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.” (John 10:27–29; Romans 8:38-39)

 

Consequently, we will never reject Him. Those who do never really knew and adored Him:

 

·       They went out from us [from the church], but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. (1 John 2:19)

 

What had only been a partial redemption and forgiveness (through animal sacrifice), had been a foreshadowing that has now blossomed in Jesus. He is the ultimate Temple, Priest, and sacrificial Offering to which the Mosaic types and practice had pointed, and in which they were fulfilled. He is the Good News, the sufficient payment for our sins to bring us peace with God, the Good News. Yet we too await our final installment (1 John 3:1-2):

 

·       And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. (Romans 8:23)

 

What then is the Gospel? It is a story of a previously hidden surpassing Love (Ephesians 3:19-20), the glory of God:

·       And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. (John 12:23–24)

 

Jesus’ moment of glory wasn’t when He created the world or even His everlasting Kingdom. Instead, it was when He proved His Love on the Cross by dying for our sins.