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The Gospel
*being a good person or personally defining your salvation cannot meet the requirements of the Holy God

  • You are a sinner at the deepest possible level (Romans 3:23).
  • You can’t fix this by merit or discipline (Ephesians 2:8-10).
  • You need a Savior. It’s Jesus, the one-and-only (John 14:6). He lived without sin so His sacrifice on the cross counts (Hebrews 4:14-15). He was both God and man so He provided the requirements of God, the Father, to atone for sin and the means of salvation for us through His death and victorious resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:1-11).
  • Trust Him by faith: confess your sin, trust Christ saves you (Matthew 16:24-26).

Once you’ve trusted Christ as your Savior from sin, you’re eternally saved (John 5:24; Romans 8:31-39).

This is salvation, but its out-workings continue (Philippians 1:3-6). Like all great things, salvation motivates life change so we begin living for Christ which takes a lot of sacrifice, personal discipline, and humility to grow submitting to God’s counsel (John 12:24-26). Belief in Christ is merely the beginning of a life made worthwhile by serving God and nourishing our souls with the Word of God, prayer, and fellowship with other believers (Hebrews 10:24-25). This is sanctification as we become more like Christ (John 14:23-24).

In the Old Testament, God dwelled in the Tabernacle or the Temple. In the New Testament and now, God, the Holy Spirit, indwells believers and therefore the Church (a people, not a building) (1 Corinthians 3:16). Believers in Christ are now the Father's building and therefore His representation to the world (1 Peter 2:4-5). The Holy Spirit works to sanctify us while empowering us to share this salvation with those around us (John 15:26-27).

Notice the Gospel doesn’t have an end in your life (or your death!). Once you’re saved, the Gospel remains your means of salvation and grows within you as you become more like Christ and represent this Gospel to the world (1 Peter 2:9-10).

7 Essentials of Christian belief
*major on these majors and minor on the minors (the Church has hurt itself and split itself by majoring on the minors)
 1. The Trinity.
2. The full deity and humanity of Christ.
3. The spiritual lostness of the human race.
4. The substitutionary atonement and bodily resurrection of Christ.
5. Salvation by faith alone in Christ alone.
6. The physical return of Christ.
7. The authority and inerrancy of Scripture.