The Gospel of God's Grace

What is the gospel?  The gospel is the story of God's grace.  The word gospel means good news, but what is this good news and why do we need to hear it?  If you think about it, good news is only "good" when it is spoken of in light of the bad news. Suppose you hear the news that the medical field has found a cure for pancreatic cancer. (Pancreatic cancer is a major killer: 94% of pancreatic cancer patients will die within five years of diagnosis and only 6% will survive more than five years. 74% of patients die within the first year of diagnosis). Reading about this major achievement in the newspaper or hearing about it on the news channel certainly is news, but this news is not "good" in the respect that it has no effect on your life--unless you have pancreatic cancer!  You see, if the doctor has never told you the bad news--"you have pancreatic cancer," then then news about a cure for pancreatic cancer is just news.  Until you are hit with the reality of the bad news, the good news will have no effect in your life.

The gospel of God's grace IS good news, but it will only be news to you until you understand the bad news.  When I share the gospel with people I seek to communicate five key components of the gospel that I outline in the word grace.  The bible makes clear that we are saved by grace.  It is by God's grace that any of us are saved.  It is by His doing for His glory.  So as I share the gospel, I focus on the GRACE of God and the way I seek to do that is to use the word grace as an acronym--each letter represents a key component in the gospel. 

God is holy

Rebellion of man

Achievement of Christ

Change of heart 

Eternal life  

So let me provide you with an outline for your consideration.  Everything must begin with God and where we must begin is with the holiness of God.

GOD IS HOLY

The Bible tells us that God is HOLY. Holiness is the attribute of God that makes Him completely unique and separate from His creation; Holiness is the pinnacle of all His attributes.  God is absolutely perfect.   Revelation 4:8 says, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come"

And because God is holy he is also JUST, Deuteronomy 32:4 says, ""The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice.  A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.”

And because God is holy and just, the bible says He hates wrongdoing (sin) and therefore must judge all sin justly.  Psalm 5:4-6 says, "For You are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with You.  The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers.  You destroy those who speak lies; the LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man."  And Nahum 1:3 says, "The LORD is slow to anger and great in power; the LORD will not leave the guilty unpunished."   And we read in Habakkuk 1:13, "Your eyes are too pure (holy) to approve evil,  and You can not look on wickedness with favor."

 And what God demands from us is holiness, He demands perfection.  Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:48, "You must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”  And the writer of Hebrews says in Hebrews 12:14, "Without holiness no one will see the Lord.”

The question you must ask yourself at this point is "am I a perfect person?"  I know I am not perfect, in fact, the Bible tells me that I am not--that no one is perfect.  Romans 3:23 says, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory (perfection) of God.”  And we read in Genesis and Psalms about the extent of our depravity.  Genesis 8:21 says, "the intent of man's heart is evil from his youth."  And Psalm 58:3 tells us that "The wicked go astray from the womb, they err from their birth, speaking lies."  So the Bible says “all have sinned,” and in our sin we have rebelled against God.

REBELLION OF MAN

You know, I used to think that I was a pretty good person, but the bible says in Romans 3:10-12  that there is "None 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."  Think about what the bible is saying.  Sin is anything we feel, think, say, or do that does not please God.  How many times a day do we fall short of God’s perfection? Let’s say you only sinned one time a day, if that were true you would be considered a pretty good person, right?  Even if you were this good (which you are not), you still would have sinned 365 times in a year.  And if you lived to the age of 75, you would have over 27,000 violations against God’s Law on record against you.  Now what do you think would happen to you if you stood before a judge with 27,000 offenses against the law? 

Here is the reality.  We do not sin once a day.  We sin multiple times a minute.  We sin knowingly and we sin unknowingly.  Romans 14:23 tells us that "Everything that does not come from faith is sin." An unbeliever (lost person) by definition does not have saving faith, therefore, everything they do is corrupted by sin.  Titus 1:15 says it this way, "to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled."

The Bible says that everyone has sinned; no one is right with God and therefore, the PENALTY of our sin is death, “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).  This means that because of our sin, we are spiritually dead — dead to God, "you are dead in your trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1).  And because of our sin, we are eternal dead — separated from God, “the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord" (2Thessalonians 1:9).   We cannot save our self.  We cannot do enough good things to make up for our sin.  Even if it were possible to only sin once a day, even so, when you stood before a judge with 27,000 violations against the law, it would not matter how many good deeds you have done in life, because you would still be guilty of 27,000 violations and must pay the penalty for your sins.    

So how can we as sinners become righteous (or perfect) in God's sight?  How can God express His love without compromising His holiness?  If God is to be righteous judge He cannot ignore our sin.  He must judge us in our sin--we are guilty and the penalty is eternal.  So how can a holy God judge us for our sin and,  at the same time, set us free from the penalty of our sin?

ACHIEVEMENTS OF CHRIST

What we cannot do, God did for us by sending His Son Jesus.  In Ephesians 2:4-5 Paul tells us of this wonderful act of grace, "But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ -by grace you have be saved."  And Romans 5:8 says, "God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

In Jesus Christ, God provides a SUBSTITUTE.  A substitute is someone who stands in the place of another.  My wife is a teacher.  On days when she is unable to make it to school they call in a substitute teacher.  The substitute stands in the place of my wife.  In a much deeper way, God has provided a substitute for us.  God demands holy perfection; Jesus, as our substitute, came to live a sinless life and to earn for us the perfection of God according to Hebrews 4:15, "Jesus has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.”  God demands payment for sin; Jesus came to die in the place of sinners to satisfy the justice of God according to 1Peter 3:18, "For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God." And 1Peter 2:24, "He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross.”  And Romans 5:10, "For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.”

At the cross, an amazing exchange took place: our sins were credited to Jesus; His righteousness is credited to those who follow him. “He (God) made Him(Jesus)  who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).  Therefore, Jesus alone is Savior and Lord!   By His life, Jesus attained righteousness on sinners’ behalf.   By His death, Jesus paid the penalty that sinners owed.  By His resurrection, Jesus defeated death for all who will follow Him.  This is why Acts 4:12 says, “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."

Does this make sense to you?

The bible calls what God has done for us, in Jesus Christ, a GIFT.  Do you remember how Romans 6:23 said “for the wages of sin is death…”?  It goes on to say “BUT the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  And this is great news because what we deserve is justice; but in Jesus, God gives us grace according to Ephesians 2:8-9, "by grace you have been saved through faith.  And this is not of your own doing; it is a gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” What we deserve is death; but in Jesus, God gives us life according to John 3:16, “for God so loved the world, that He sent His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”

GRACE means unmerited favor.   It means you cannot earn God’s approval.  Grace is not something that can be earned; it is something that is received. God welcomes you not based on what you have done for Him; He welcomes you based completely and only on that Jesus Christ has done for you. “For while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son” (Romans 5:10).  Through His life, death and resurrection, Jesus has finished all the work required by God for the salvation of sinners.  Salvation is by God’s grace, it is a gift that is available to anyone will receive it.  Would you like to receive this free gift?

CHANGE OF HEART

The bible tells us that we receive this gift through faith and repentance.  We must TURN from our sin and self (repentance) and TRUST in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior (Faith).  Jesus commanded the people to repent and believe in the Gospel.  In Mark 1:15 Jesus says, "the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel."  Jesus demands a response.  What will your response be?  Will you repent and believe the gospel?  Will you turn from your sin and self and trust Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior?


Then, by His Grace through faith, confess your sin before God, Romans 10:9 says, "if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”  And by His grace through faith, trust in the promise of God, “For by grace you have been saved through faith.  And this is not of your own doing; it is a gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9). And by His grace through faith, forsake yourself and live for God, Galatians 2:20 says, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.  And the life that I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

ETERNAL LIFE

Jesus says,  “I tell you the truth, he who believes in Me has everlasting life” (John 6:47)