What is the Gospel?
The Gospel is good news, the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16)—that Jesus Christ died for all the sins of His people according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Peter (Cephas) and then to the Twelve Apostles (1 Corinthians 15). We are all born fallen, wretched sinners and lawbreakers that are guilty in Adam before a just and thrice holy God, for "God is a righteous judge, and a God who has indignation [wrath] every day.... The boastful shall not stand before Your eyes; You hate all workers of iniquity" (Psalm 7:11, 5:5 LSB).
As it is written, “There is none righteous, not even one; There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God; All have turned aside, together they have become worthless; There is none who does good, There is not even one.” “Their throat is an open tomb, With their tongues they keep deceiving,” “The poison of asps is under their lips”; “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness”; “Their feet are swift to shed blood, Destruction and misery are in their paths, And the path 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 in the Law, so that every mouth may be shut and all the world may become accountable to God; because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin. Romans 3:10–20
We deserve the eternal wrath of God as punishment for our sins:
But do you presume this, O man—who passes judgment on those who practice such things and does the same—that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will repay to each according to his works: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and anger. There will be affliction and turmoil for every soul of man who works out evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, but glory and honor and peace to everyone who works good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God. Romans 2:3–11
Sin is not being or doing what God requires, or doing what God forbids (Romans 1-5) in His holy Law, summarized in the Ten Commandments, and in the Two Great Commandments to love God and our neighbor (Matthew 22:37-40). "Everyone who does sin also does lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness" (1 John 3:4). But God the Father loves His people so much that He sent His only begotten Son, the second Person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ, to become a Man, to live a perfectly righteous, holy life, and to die on the Cross, to fully satisfy God’s wrath and punishment for all their sins (John 3)—once for all time (Hebrews 10:10-18). This is why “Yahweh was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief” (Isaiah 53:10)—His only begotten Son. “As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities.”
Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our peace fell upon Him, And by His wounds we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But Yahweh has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him. Isaiah 53:4–6
We can be saved by repenting and believing this Gospel:
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that all the believing ones will in Him have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, so that those who believe in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. John 3:14–18
To repent means to have a change of mind, a change of conviction, from false idols, false religion, false gospels, false ideas about God, man, and salvation, to the true saving gospel. To believe means to understand and agree that Jesus lived and died for sinners like you (John 5:24), by His grace, by his undeserved favor alone (Ephesians 2:5-9, 2 Corinthians 5:18), through faith alone (Ephesians 2:8-9), in Christ alone (Romans 3:21-31, 2 Corinthians 5:27-21). God alone deserves and gets all the glory, credit, and praise in our salvation (Isaiah 42:8, Romans 3:27, 1 Corinthians 6:20, Romans 11:36, 1 Chronicles 16:29). And all of this is grounded on the ultimate authority of holy Scripture alone (Matthew 5:1-6, Mark 7:5-10, Psalm 138:2, John 5:39, 10:35).
The Gospel in Catechism[1]
22. What is a covenant? An agreement between two or more persons, with divine consequences.
23. What covenant did God make with Adam? The Covenant of Works.
24. What was Adam bound to do by the Covenant of Works? To obey God perfectly.
25. What did God promise in the Covenant of Works? To reward Adam with life if he obeyed Him.
26. What did God threaten in the Covenant of Works? To punish Adam with death if he disobeyed.
27. Did Adam keep the Covenant of Works? No; he sinned against God.
33. What befell our first parents when they had sinned? Instead of being holy and happy, they became sinful and miserable.
34. Did Adam act for himself alone in the Covenant of Works? No; he represented all his posterity, all mankind.
35. What effect had the sin of Adam on all mankind? All mankind are born in a state of sin and misery.
36. What is that sinful nature which we inherit from Adam called? Original sin.
37. What does every sin deserve? The wrath and curse of God.
38. Can anyone go to heaven with this sinful nature? No; our hearts must be changed before we can be fit for heaven.
42. Why can none be saved through the Covenant of Works which God made with Adam? Because all have broken it under Adam’s covenantal headship, and are condemned by it.
43. With whom did God the Father make the New Covenant of Grace? With Christ, His eternal Son, and the Holy Spirit.
44. Whom did Christ represent in the Covenant of Grace? His elect people.
45. What did Christ undertake in the Covenant of Grace? To keep the whole law for His people, and to suffer the punishment due to their sins.
46. Did our Lord Jesus Christ ever commit the least sin? No; He was holy, harmless, and undefiled.
47. How could the Son of God suffer? Christ, the Son of God, became man that He might obey and suffer in our nature.
48. What is meant by the atonement? Christ's satisfying divine justice, by His sufferings and death, in the place of sinners.
49. What did God the Father undertake in the Covenant of Grace? To justify and sanctify those for whom Christ should die.
50. What is justification? It is God's forgiving sinners, and treating them as if they had never sinned.
The 1695 Baptist Catechism, Q. 36. What is justification?
Justification is an act of God's free grace, where He pardons (forgives) all our sins, and accepts us as righteous (legally perfect) in His sight, only for the righteousness (perfect obedience) of Christ imputed (given) to us, and received by faith alone.
Catechism for Young Children: A Baptist Revision, Q. 51. What is sanctification? It is God's making sinners holy in heart and conduct.
56. What is it to repent? To repent is a change of mind or conviction, resulting in sorrow, hatred, and forsaking of sin, because it is displeasing to God.
57. What is it to believe or have faith in Christ? To trust in Christ alone for salvation by understanding and agreeing with His gospel.
58. Can you repent and believe in Christ by your own power? No—I can do nothing good without the help of God's Holy Spirit.
Adapted from The 1695 Baptist Catechism, Q. 91. What is saving faith in Jesus Christ?
Saving faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace, to understand and agree with the gospel, where we receive and rest upon Him alone for salvation, as He is offered to us in the gospel.
The Baptist Larger Catechism, Q. 65. What is justifying faith?
Justifying faith is an act of the free grace of God1 wrought in the hearts of sinners by the Spirit2 and the Word of God.3 By this faith, sinners are convinced of their sinfulness and miserable condition and of their inability in themselves (and all other creatures) to recover out of their lost condition,4 and by this faith, they give full assent (agreement) to the truth of the gospel promise.5 They receive and rest on Christ and His righteousness for pardon of sin,6 as held forth in the gospel, and for being accepted and accounted as righteous in the sight of God for salvation.7 — [1] Hebrews 10:39 [2] 2 Corinthians 4:13; Ephesians 1:17-19; 1 Corinthians 12:3; 1 Peter 1:2 [3] Romans 10:14-17; 1 Corinthians 1:21 [4] Acts 2:37; Acts 16:30; John 16:8-9; Romans 6:6; Ephesians 2:1; Acts 4:12 [5] Ephesians 1:13; Hebrews 11:13 [6] John 1:12; Acts 16:31; Acts 10:43; Zechariah 3:8-9 [7] Philippians 3:9; Acts 15:11
66. How does faith justify a sinner in the sight of God?
Faith justifies a sinner in the sight of God only as an instrument by which the sinner receives Christ and applies Christ’s righteousness,1 not because of any other grace that accompanies faith or because of any good works that result from faith.2 Nor is it the case that the grace of faith or any action springing from it is imputed to the sinner for His justification.3 — [1] John 1:12; Philippians 3:9; Galatians 2:16 [2] Galatians 3:11; Romans 3:28 [3] Romans 4:5; Romans 10:10
The Five Solas of the Protestant Reformation
The Five Solas are a chain of doctrines which summarize the biblical gospel—that all of salvation belongs to God alone (2 Cor 5:18, Ps 3:8, Rev 19:1, Gal 1). Each sola, each alone, focuses on a particular doctrine and contrast against legalism and Romanism:
- (1) God’s Grace alone (sola gratia) saves depraved sinners, nothing else does or can, especially not our own works (Eph 2:5-9, 2 Cor 5:18).
- (2) God’s grace gives us the gifts of repentance and faith, and this faith alone (sola fide) justifies, contrary to faith plus anything else, especially works, “for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Eph. 2:8-9).
- (3) Christ’s perfect life and propitiatory death alone (solus Christus), and nothing else that we do or anyone else does (e.g., indulgences, etc.), is sufficient to fully forgive and legally justify sinners as righteous in God’s tribunal (Rom 3:21-31, 2 Cor 5:27-21), and which we receive through faith alone in this gospel, by His grace alone.
- (4) Because God’s grace alone saves us, through faith alone, in Christ alone, God alone therefore gets all the glory (soli Deo gloria), no one else does (Isa 42:8, Rom 3:27, 1 Cor 6:20, Rom 11:36, 1 Chron 16:29).
- Isaiah 42:8: “I am Yahweh, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another [any other], Nor My praise to graven images.”
- (5) The ultimate, final, infallible authority by which we know and believe the truth, that we can be saved by God’s grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone—is Scripture alone (sola Scriptura)—no other man, no pope, and no nullifying traditions of men (Matt 5:1-6, Mark 7:5-10, Ps 138:2, John 5:39, 10:35).
Salvation, in other words, is entirely by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, to the glory of God alone, based on the ultimate authority of Scripture alone—all of which is God’s gift to us.
What Must I Do to Be Saved?
“How then can mortal man be right with God? Or how can he be pure who is born of woman?" (Job 25:4). How can you obtain peace with God and receive eternal life? When the Philippian jailer in the book of Acts "called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas, and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your house.”" (Acts 16:29-31). The Orthodox Catechism thus answers Question 59, How are you right before God?
Only by faith in Christ Jesus. Although my conscience accuse me that I have grievously trespassed against all the commandments of God, and have not kept one of them, and further am as yet prone to all evil, yet nevertheless, if I embrace these benefits of Christ with a true confidence and persuasion of mind, the full and perfect satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ, without any merit of mine, of the mere mercy of God is imputed and given to me, and that so, as if neither I had committed any sin, neither any corruption did stick to me, yes as if I myself had perfectly accomplished that obedience which Christ accomplished for me. Rom. 3:9; Rom. 7:23; John 3:18; Rom. 3:22; 1 John 2:1; Rom. 3:24; Eph. 2:8-9; 1 John 2:2; Titus 3:5; Rom. 4:4-5; 2 Cor. 5:19; 2 Cor. 5:21
It is faith alone, to understand and agree with this biblical gospel, “without any merit of mine,” without contributing any good works because we have none to offer God, that saves sinners. It is the heart of the Gospel, as the apostle Paul explains:
But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas [Peter] before everyone, “If you, being a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews? “We are Jews by nature and not sinners from among the Gentiles; nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified. (Gal. 2:14-16)
If faith is something man must “do,” however, does that make it a work? Does the act of faith contribute to his justification? The Biblical answer is, No. After Jesus fed the five thousand by multiplying bread and fish, the people sought Him again, but Jesus tells them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, set His seal” (John 6:26-27). Even though Jesus explains that He Himself is the one who gives believers "the food which endures to eternal life" as a gift, they apparently misunderstand Him because they then ask, "What should we do, so that we may work the works of God?" (v. 28) And Jesus answers, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent” (v. 29). Christ gave an ad hominem reply in order to contrast faith and works and to refute their false works mentality, not to merge or conflate faith and works. Later on Jesus also reveals “the will of My Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life; and I Myself will raise him up on the last day” (v. 40).
So then, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, in His gospel, in His perfect righteous life and wrath-satisfying death, which is accounted to you fully when you understand and agree this to be true, apart from any good works at all. “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life" (John 5:24).
Find a Faithful Church
If God has granted you salvation through faith alone in His Son, or you would like to know more, we encourage you to find a faithful biblical church, where you can also start receiving God's means of grace, including baptism. The Baptist Larger Catechism explains:
Q160: What is the visible church?
A: The visible church is the organised gathering of professing believers, in all ages and places, in which the gospel [and Word of God] is truly preached[1], the ordinances of baptism and Lord’s Supper are rightly administered,[2] and church discipline is rightly practiced.[3] — [1] John 8:31, 47; Acts 2:42; 1 Timothy 3:15; Galatians 1:8-9; Ephesians 4:11-12; 2 Thessalonians 2:15; 2 Timothy 4:1-4 [2] Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 11:23-30 [3] Matthew 18:15-18; 1 Corinthians 5:1-5, 13
Q161: What are the special privileges of the visible church?
A: The visible church has the privilege of being under God’s special care and government[1] and of being protected and preserved throughout the ages, in spite of the opposition of all her enemies.[2] The visible church also provides fellowship for God’s people, functions as the ordinary means by which people are saved,[3] and extends God’s grace through Christ to all her members in the ministry of the gospel, testifying that whosoever believes in him will be saved[4] and excluding no one from fellowship who desires to come to Christ.[5] — [1] Isaiah 4:5-6; Isaiah 49:14-16; 1 Timothy 4:10; 1 Corinthians 12:28; Ephesians 4:11-12; Acts 13:1-2 [2] Psalm 115; Isaiah 31:4-5; Zechariah 12:2-4, 8-9; Matthew 16:18 [3] Acts 2:39-42 [4] Psalm 147:19-20; Romans 9:4; Ephesians 4:11-12; Mark 16:15-16; Acts 16:31; Revelation 22:17 [5] John 6:37
You can also Contact Us for more information. We hope and pray that our great God and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, will bless you with the joy, comfort, and assurance of His grace and mercy:
An Orthodox Catechism, Q. 1. What is your only comfort in life and in death?
That I am not my own, (a) but belong—body and soul, in life and in death (b) to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ.(c) He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood,(d) and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil.(e) He also watches over me in such a way (f) that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven;(g) in fact, all things must work together for my salvation.(h) Because I belong to him by faith alone, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life (i) and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.(j) — (a) 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (b) Romans 14:7-9 (c) 1 Corinthians 3:23, Titus 2:14 (d) 1 Peter 1:18-19, 1 John 1:7-9, 1 John 2:2 (e) John 8:34-36, Hebrews 2:14-15, 1 John 3:1-11 (f) John 6:39-40, John 10:27-30, 2 Thessalonians 3:3, 1 Peter 1:5 (g) Matthew 10:29, Luke 21:16-18 (h) Romans 8:28 (i) Romans 8:15-16, 2 Corinthians 1:21-22, 2 Corinthians 5:5, Ephesians 1:13-14 (j) Romans 8:1-17
[1] Adapted from a Catechism for Young Children: A Baptist Revision.