The Seven Essentials of the Gospel

This article was originally written for a Russian audience. Please contact me if you would like a copy with the footnotes.

Introduction

A question that Christians have debated for centuries is, “What does someone have to believe in order to be a Christian?” Is it enough simply to believe in Jesus, or is there something more? This is a question for which there have been incorrect answers, so we must understand that the Gospel is at stake. For example, a politically correct gospel says we should remove all offensive words such as “sin,” “hell”, or “judgment.” A minimalistic gospel reduces the amount of Gospel content because it is believed that we become legalistic if we ask people to believe in too much. The inclusive gospel says Jesus will save any sincere religious person. One prominent pastor was recently asked about his view on the eternal destinies of Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Mormons, and even atheists. He said, “You know, I'm very careful about saying who would and wouldn't go to heaven . . . . I don't know if I believe they're wrong . . . . only God will judge a person's heart. I spent a lot of time in India with my father. I don't know all about their religion. But I know they love God . . . . I've seen their sincerity . . . . Only god can look at somebody's heart, and so -- I don't know.”1 In this one interview this pastor said, “I don’t know” forty-four times. With sadness in my heart, I tell you that this man is the pastor of the largest evangelical church in America.

A question of such eternal consequences demands that we provide a certain, biblical, and theological answer. The latest findings from psychology, sociology, or the business world do not inform us on the content of the Gospel or how it is to be presented. As John MacArthur and Jesse Johnson write, “The key to biblical evangelism is not strategy or technique. It is not primarily about style, methodology, or programs and pragmatics. The first and preeminent concern in all our evangelism efforts must be the Gospel.”2 Furthermore, the success of of biblical evangelism “is not measured by immediate numerical results. It does not have to be retooled or completely redesigned if at first glance it does not seem to be working. It stays focused on the cross and the message of redemption, undiluted by pragmatic or worldly interests. It is never obsessed with questions like how people might react, what we can do to make our message sound more appealing, or how we might frame the gospel differently so as to minimize the offense of the cross. It is concerned instead with truth, clarity, biblical accuracy, and (above all) Christ.”3 Christians too often think that they will attract unbelievers by appealing to their fleshly desires, but Scripture nowhere warrants evangelism being centered on the very things that the unbelieving world finds most appealing. Many pastors think, “If this is what the unbeliever wants, with his or her felt needs, then that is exactly what I will offer them from God.” These are dangerous methods that result in our churches being filled with professors but not possessors of the Truth.

Worldly methods do not inform us concerning the content of the Gospel, the Bible does. So with the Bible as our authority, we must establish that using the Bible itself is vital to evangelism.4 But, why do people believe? Is it through convincing rational arguments? No, as Romans 10:17 says, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” The Spirit works in conjunction with the Scriptures to make spiritually dead people live. How? Hebrews 4:12-13 tells us: “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.” The Bible is not a dead manuscript - it is living; it does not contain neutral words on a page - it is active; it is not like any other book - it is sharper than any two-edged sword; it is not ineffective - it can pierce to the deepest parts of a person’s conscience; it is not simply piercing - but it judges the deepest thoughts of the heart; it does not just affect some people - but it is universally effective in judging the heart; it is not partial in exposing the unbeliever - but completely strips the unbeliever spiritually naked before God.

Just think of how debilitating this weapon is! With the authority of the Bible as your presupposition, why would you ever try to share the Gospel without quoting Scripture? Why would you ever be embarrassed of this weapon, or why would you exchange it for some new method? This is also the most loving thing you can do: to use the God-ordained tool for the salvation of the lost.

But what if someone doesn’t believe in the Scripture?5 Don’t we need to prove the Bible’s ultimate authority before sharing the Gospel? If so, you would in essence be saying that we need a higher authority than the Bible to prove it’s authority, so we can then say that the Bible is the highest authority. Do you see how that is inconsistent? Hebrews 4:12-13 remains true, even if it is not believed.6

I love the story of the creation scientist, John Whitcomb on this issue of evangelism and those who doubt the trustworthiness of the Bible.7 When he was a student at Princeton University he and a church leader went to a student’s dorm room to share the Gospel. The student said he did not believe the Bible because things like the impossibility of Jonah being swallowed by the whale. Whitcomb said that he was ready to run to the library to prove that this was scientifically possible. The church leader, however, had a different goal in mind. The leader told the man that Jonah was a valid question, but if the student didn’t mind, he would like to explained the basic idea of Christianity first. The student reluctantly agreed, and after hearing the Gospel, believed. What happened to Jonah?! You see, the unbeliever does not have an intellectual problem, but a heart problem. It is not that they don’t have enough scientific evidence to believe, but that they are dead in sins and need spiritual rebirth. This miracle only happens by hearing the Word of God. Testimonies or way of life are important in witnessing, but not converting. Even miracles are important, but they are not converting. Do you remember the story of Lazarus and the rich man? When the rich man requested for someone to rise from the dead to preach to his brothers, what did Abraham say? “If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead” (Luke 16:31). People will try to do anything to distract your attention from speaking the Word of God to them. If you fall into their trap, and reduce evangelism to rational arguments, the cycle of objections and proofs will never end. Once you prove one thing to them, then they will come up with another argument - all to sidetrack you from using your most powerful weapon. It is much like a fire starter who runs around starting fires. Once you put out one fire, he starts another, and your job never ends. All of this distracts from your goal of using God’s ordained tool for evangelism: the Word of God.8 Your job is simply to release the Word of God and to explain it. It is God’s job to save. This is of great practical benefit as well, because you don’t need to get depressed if someone doesn’t believe, because conversion is God’s job. We plant, and water, but God gives the increase (1 Corinthians 3:6).

Having established the evangelist’s matchless weapon, we now come to our seven essential elements of the Gospel. This list is organized by how a Gospel presentation should logically be presented. Obviously not all evangelistic encounters allow for a step-by-step presentation such as this, but this method should help the reader to think through the Gospel for ease of use, or to give to an unbeliever.

1. The Existence of God
Hebrews 11:6 “without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is.”

Let me be clear that by this first point I am not saying that we must prove the existence of God to someone before explaining the Gospel. The existence of God is clearly understood by everyone, in all places, in all times. God does not believe in atheists. How can I say that? Notice Romans 1:18-23, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.” This is one of the most vital texts in apologetics and evangelism, so it is important that we notice several key points so that you can walk through this text with an unbeliever. Notice verse 18. What do unbelievers do with the truth of God’s self-revelation? They suppress the truth in unrighteousness. How does that happen? Notice verse 19. What is known about God is evident within them. What does that mean? We see the answer in Romans 2:14-15: the law of God is written on the heart (“For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them….”).

What else does the unbeliever know about God? Notice Romans 1:20. Here we see that God’s attributes are on display because of what He has made. This is natural revelation. But how clearly is this seen? Unfortunately the Russian Synodal version does not correctly represent the original Greek. Following the section on God’s nature in verse 20, the original text says that these things are, “clearly seen” (/kaqora◊tai), and then the Russian correctly continues, “being understood through what has been made.”9 It is important to notice the intellectual elements here. The knowledge of God’s existence is evident in them, God made it evident to them, it is clearly seen, and it is understood. So what is the conclusion in verse 20? Unbelievers are without excuse! Make no mistake about it, all people have been created with what theologians call the sensus divinitatis (“sense of divinity”). This testimony is also verified in the Old Testament in Psalm 19:1-6, “The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through all the earth, and their utterances to the end of the world. In them He has placed a tent for the sun, which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber; it rejoices as a strong man to run his course. Its rising is from one end of the heavens, and its circuit to the other end of them; and there is nothing hidden from its heat.”

So what does the unbeliever do with this knowledge? Romans 1:21-23 states, “For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.” So even though they know God, they suppress the truth of God, and then do what? They exchange the truth of God for a lie by worshipping other things. This is the origin of all world religions.

Taking into account the wealth of information the unbeliever knows about God, we can now better understand why the Psalmist says that “the fool says in his heart that there is no God” (Ps 14:1)? It is not because he has intellectual deficiencies and simply cannot understand. There are many brilliant atheists that have made wonderful contributions to society. Yet, they are fools because they deny what they know to be true. They deny the obvious, therefore they are called “fools.”

Romans 1 and Psalm 19 also have application for those who have never heard the Gospel. Theologian R.C. Sproul was once asked if all “innocent natives” will go to heaven. To the surprise of his audience, his response was that they surely will. But after a pause, he said there is one problem . . . there are no innocent natives! They will still suffer eternal punishment because they are without excuse before God. Is that fair of God, though? Listen, none of us want God to give us what we deserve. The question is not why God condemns some, but why does God not condemn all of us?! But this is our charge - we are to go to the ends of the earth so that these unreached people will be saved. Notice Romans 10:14-15, “How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, ‘HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GOOD NEWS OF GOOD THINGS!’”

But what if the unbeliever says he doesn’t believe in God? Are we to view them as victims that are trying to do their best, trying to be objective, but simply don’t have enough information? Nothing could be further from the truth. Don’t ever believe the lost when they say that they are being objective with the facts. The Bible never describes them in such terms. Quite the opposite, actually. The Bible identifies the unbeliever as hating the Light (Jn 3:20), as an enemy of God (Rom 5:10), and as alienated and hostile in mind (Col 1:21). Their minds and consciences are defiled (Titus 1:15), they are by nature children of wrath (Eph 2:3), their minds are futile (Eph 4:17), they suppress the truth, and so on. So again, what if they say they don’t believe in God? Well, who do you believe? - an enemy of God that is actively suppressing the truth, or God’s Word? I have had many atheists use this argument with me and I always walk them through Romans 1 and Psalm 19 where their biography is written. This is the famous “point of contact” - it is bringing the penetrating Word of God to bear on the unbeliever’s consciousness of the Creator and his own createdness. As John Frame writes, “We direct our apologetic witness not to his empiricist epistemology or whatever, but to his memory of God’s revelation and to the epistemology implicit in that revelation.”10

So where do we start the evangelistic encounter? We begin theocentrically. God is, He is the Creator, righteous, just, omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, loving, merciful, and thrice holy. You are His creature, you are accountable to him.

One author has written, “it is certain that man never achieves a clear knowledge of himself unless he has first looked upon God’s face, and then descends from contemplating Him to scrutinize himself.11 So now we turn from the nature of God, to the nature of mankind for our second essential element of the Gospel.

2. The Reality of Sin and Judgment
1 John 1:8 “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.”

In my introduction you will remember that I spoke of the politically correct pastors who never wanted to talk about sin. They say that they only want to focus on the good news. Well, good in comparison to what? There must be bad news if we are to understand the nature of the good. This is a vital aspect of the Gospel that we cannot sugar-coat. If you have cancer, do you want your doctor to tell you everything is fine so that your feelings aren’t hurt, or do you want the truth so you can be cured? The most loving thing to do is to tell people the truth so that they can find a cure. As doctors of the soul, unless we tell people they are sinful, separated from God, and bound for eternal hell, our patients will not find a remedy. We need to tell them that sin is devastating, horrific, and will be punished by God. The importance of this for us as evangelists is seen in Ezekiel 33:8 “When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you will surely die,’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require from your hand.” We have a responsibility to tell them the truth, in all of its offensiveness.12

Romans 3:23 is a common proof text for the universal sinfulness of mankind: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” At this point I would like state a word of caution. Don’t think that just because you read a verse to someone that they automatically understand it. In the past I have read this verse to unbelievers and asked them what it means. Some of them shook their head in bewilderment. They don’t always understand. Most people don’t grow up in a Christian environment and so they don’t know our religious jargon.

Do you remember the story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch? As he was reading Isaiah 53, Philip asked him if he understood what he was reading. The eunuch's response was, “How can I understand it unless someone teaches me” (Acts 8:31). Consequently, be sure to ask a lot of questions when you go through a Gospel presentation to make sure there is understanding.

This is a major problem in our churches today - when someone comes to church as a new believer, many pastors are more apt to ask them if they smoke and drink rather than enquire into their understanding of the Gospel. Evangelist, we are not in the business of whitewashing tombs, but of getting to the heart of the matter: a Gospel that is understood and believed with all the heart. Then, the good works will follow. The alternative is a false understanding, which comes with false conversion, which includes false assurance, which leads to eternal damnation.

Returning now to Romans 3:23, we should unapologetically explain the story of Adam and Eve and how sin entered the world. Romans 5:12 explains the ramifications of this one act: “just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned.” Someone might object, “But surely not everyone is thoroughly sinful, right? I may have done some bad things, but ultimately I’m a good person!” This should bring to mind James 2:10, “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.”

Our sin penetrates to all of our being, and it is comprehensive. This is what theologians call total depravity. The meaning of this phrase is not that we are as bad as we could be, but that our entire being is affected by sin. This is quite contrary to what our culture tells us about the nature of people isn’t it? Often in literature and films we are told that everyone is good at heart. The biblical evidence is to the contrary. Notice Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?” Unbelievers are not neutral, but suppress the truth because they hate the Light (Jn 3:20), they are enemies of God (Rom 5:10), hostile in mind (Col 1:21), by nature children of wrath (Eph 2:3), and dead in sin (Eph 2:1).13

The ramifications of total depravity are severe. Paul tells us in Romans 6:23, “the wages of sin is death.” This involves not only physical death, but spiritual death (the second death). Revelation 21:8 describes this end: “for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” The reason for this is because our thrice holy God is perfect righteousness, and His justice demands punishment.

Once you have established these things, the appropriate response by the unbeliever is, “what can I do to be saved?” The answer is that you can’t do anything to be saved. That question implies that sin is forgiven through human effort. It is like how Jesus responded to the question by the disciples about how a rich man could ever enter heaven. Remember His answer, “The things that are impossible with people are possible with God” (Luke 18:27). Our third essential element of the Gospel shows how God makes salvation possible. It is here that we see the holiness of God, and the love of God come together: at the cross of Christ.

3. Forgiveness Through Substitutionary Atonement
Hebrews 9:22 “without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”

As I have already mentioned, a common mistake by evangelists is to assume that unbelievers understand biblical terms and concepts. “What does ‘Jesus died for you’ mean? I will go to heaven if I believe in a 2000 year old execution? How does that work?!” Don’t assume they understand, and never agree to let them pray some prayer of salvation unless you are sure they understand. You may even have a personal temptation to let them pray “the sinners prayer” so that you can tell your friends that you led someone to the Lord, but you will be giving them false assurance. They must understand and believe with all their heart.

So how does God forgive sin? In the Old Testament, one of the first pictures we have of Christ’s future work is in Egypt at Passover (Exodus 12). A lamb is slain and its blood is spread around the door. Now notice what the Lord says in Exodus 12:13, “when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you . . . .” It is here that we see the importance of a blood sacrifice in averting divine punishment.

After the Israelites left Egypt, God gave them the Law where details were given concerning atonement. Notice Leviticus 1:1-5, “Then the LORD called to Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When any man of you brings an offering to the LORD, you shall bring your offering of animals from the herd or the flock. If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer it, a male without defect; he shall offer it at the doorway of the tent of meeting, that he may be accepted before the LORD. He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, that it may be accepted for him to make atonement on his behalf. He shall slay the young bull before the LORD; and Aaron’s sons the priests shall offer up the blood and sprinkle the blood around on the altar that is at the doorway of the tent of meeting.’”

What are the characteristics of this sacrifice? (1) Verse 3: the animal must be without blemish; (2) verse 4: the person bringing the sacrifice must lay his hands on the head of the offering. Why? This is the picture of imputation, or the symbolic transfer of one’s sin to another; and (3) verse 5: death involving blood. Why is blood needed? God gives us the answer in Lev. 17:11, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement.” This verse should be underlined in your Bibles because of its crucial importance in understanding the nature of blood sacrifice. Life is required for life, and life is represented by the blood. The New Testament also clearly states this in passages such as Hebrews 9:22: “without shedding of blood there is no remission of sins.”

But there is a significant problem here. The problem is that animal sacrifice only covered sin; it did not remove it. Hebrews 10:4 says, “For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” Therefore, sacrifices had to be done daily in order to please the Lord (Num. 28:3). Hebrews 10:11 mentions this frustration: “Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins” (emphasis mine).

If sacrifices could not take away sin, then what was the purpose? The answer is that they were a type, a shadow, or a picture of the sacrifice which was to come. Colossians 2:16-17 explains that these ceremonies were “a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ” (cf. Hebrews 10:1-4). We may now see the continuity between the imperfect Old Testament sacrificial system and the perfect New Testament sacrifice of Christ. But how does Jesus fit the mold of the perfect sacrifice?

(1) He was called the Lamb of God. John the Baptist “saw Jesus coming to him and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world’” (John 1:29)! There is no doubt what would have come into the mind of John’s Jewish audience when he named the “Lamb” in conjunction with taking away sin. The image would have immediately triggered thoughts of sacrifice. But notice that John did not say that Christ would simply cover the sin of the world, but take them away (cf. Heb. 10:5-7; Rev. 5; 7:17; 17:14).

(2) He was without blemish. John writes, “You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin.” (1 Jn. 3:5; cf. 2 Cor. 5:21; 1 Pet. 1:19)

(3) His sacrifice is connected with the Passover. Paul writes, “For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed” (1 Cor 5:7).

(4) God placed sin on Him through imputation. Paul writes, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21; cf. Is. 53:6).

(5) He shed His blood to remove all sin. John writes, “ the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 Jn. 1:7; cf. Heb. 9:24-28; 10:10-12).

This systematic approach takes the unbeliever through biblical history, showing the united message of the Bible concerning the necessity for Jesus’ death. Jesus’ murder was not something that took Jesus by surprise, but as Luke says in Acts 2:23, Jesus was “delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God.” Substitutionary atonement was predetermined by God, foreshadowed in the Old Testament, and perfectly fulfilled in Christ. This also shows why the Gospel is exclusive - salvation only being found in Christ. There is only one way sin can be forgiven, and that is through the substitutionary atonement of Christ. Jesus said, “no one can come to the father except through me” (John 14:6). This is why Peter preached, “there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12). For this essential of the Gospel we must agree with Charles H. Spurgeon (1834–1892), “There will be no uncertain sound from us as to the atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ.”14

4. The Person of Christ
1 John 4:2-3 “By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist”

We must not be naive to think that someone is a Christian simply by saying they believe in Jesus. Which Jesus? Do you believe in the Jesus of the Jehovah’s Witness, of the Mormons, of Islam, of Hinduism, of the Armenian Church, or of the United Pentecostals? Even in Paul’s day there were many Jesuses running around. In fact, in 2 Corinthians 11:4 he warns them of anyone who “comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached . . . [resulting in] a different gospel.” So you see, if you don’t have the right Jesus, you don’t have the Gospel.

In the early church this was the primary reason why councils and creeds were formed: to guard from heresy by defining the nature of the Trinity. There were the Arians that believed Jesus was created (we see this today in the Jehovah’s Witnesses). Then there were the Sabellians who believed that Jesus and the Father and the Spirit were all the same person (these are the United Pentecostals today). The Gnostics believed that Jesus could not have been truly human, which were discussed in New Testament books like 1 John. The list goes on.

Understanding the importance of explaining the nature of Jesus, what should the evangelist say next? I begin with most famous verse in the Bible is John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, so that whosoever believes in Him, should not perish but have everlasting life.” We believe that the Father sent the Son, who was conceived in the virgin Mary by the Spirit.15 Jesus was fully man and fully God.16 He could not have been the holy, unblemished sacrifice if He were not God, and He could not have been our perfect representative if He were not human. Since all false religions have a wrong view of the nature of Jesus, it is absolutely essential that every evangelists should be able to defend these points from Scripture.

5. The Resurrection of Christ
1 Corinthians 15:17 “if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.”

This point does not demand much explanation. Romans 10:9 is very clear, “if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Unfortunately, this doctrine has also been sidelined as non-essential, even by some leading Christian ministers. One prominent scholar said this about a friend who is a liberal critic, “Marcus Borg really does not believe Jesus Christ was bodily raised from the dead. But I know Marcus well: he loves Jesus and believes in him passionately. The philosophical and cultural world he has lived in has made it very, very difficult for him to believe in the bodily resurrection. I actually think that’s a major problem and it affects most of whatever else he does, and I think that it means he has all sorts of flaws as a teacher, but I don’t want to say he isn’t a Christian.”17 The Apostle Paul makes it very clear that the resurrection of Christ is an essential of the Gospel that must be believed in order to be saved. Paul writes, “if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain" (1 Cor. 15:14). God showed His satisfaction in Christ’s sacrifice by raising Christ from the dead. Make no mistake about it, a Gospel without the resurrection is a false Gospel.

6. Justification by Faith Alone
Romans 3:28 “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.”

Our next essential element to the Gospel involves how salvation is extended to unbelievers. This is what distinguishes true Christianity from all other world religions. A common perception is that you will go to heaven if your good works outweigh your bad. Many people believe that God has a grand, cosmic scale upon which He weighs your good and bad works. If the good outweigh the bad, then you may enter heaven. This is not good news because people live in constant fear that they have not done enough to earn, or keep their salvation.

The reason people think like this is because they have not understood the previous points that we have established about the Gospel. First, no one is truly good in and of themselves. We are depraved wretches whose every motive is infected with sin. Since nothing is truly good unless it is motivated by the glory of God, that means that what unbelievers consider as “good works” are actually “dead works” (Heb 6:1; 9:14). As John Calvin (1509–1564)writes, “For even though the life of man be replete with all the virtues, if it is not directed to the worship of God, it can indeed be praised by the world; but in heaven it will be sheer abomination, since the chief part of righteousness is to render to God his right and honor, of which he is impiously defrauded when we do not intend to subject ourselves to His control.”18 Furthermore, Jonathan Edwards states, “Nothing is of the nature of true virtue in which God is not the first and the last.”19 Consequently, we would be fools to think that our filthy rags could please a holy and righteous God as being “good” or “virtuous.”

Secondly, believing that works contributes to salvation involves a fundamental misunderstanding about how sin is forgiven. As we have established, all sin is forgiven through blood sacrifice. Jesus Christ, being the sinless Son of God, perfectly fulfills the requirements of the Passover lamb not only to cover, but to remove all sin.

Third, works salvation involves a fundamental misunderstanding of how salvation is applied. The Old and New Testament evidences that righteousness is imputed, and not earned. “Imputation” is a legal term for a judge transferring the possessions of one person to another person’s account. This is exactly what happens at salvation: God imputes His righteousness to all those who believe. It is not an inherent righteousness in ourselves, but a foreign righteousness, accredited to our account as a gift through faith. Faith does not make you righteous, it is a pronouncement of righteousness. God counts Jesus’ righteousness as if it were yours. We don’t have inherent righteousness, and we don’t gradually become saints.

This is a major difference we have with the Catholic and Orthodox Church. The discovery of this doctrine was the breakthrough for the German reformer, Martin Luther (1483–1546). As a monk, he hated God because he thought that God expected him to live up to His holy standard, and he couldn’t! No matter how much he tried, or how much he confessed, he was unable. So he hated God. Luther thought, “God created me like this, He knows I can’t meet His standard, and in the end He will judge me for it!”20 But then through the study of Scripture, Luther realized that God imputed his righteousness to the believer by faith alone. It was not Luther’s righteousness, but God’s. Although believers are still sinful, being sanctified into the image of Christ, our position before God is as Christ Himself. Ours is an imputed righteousness, not an inherent one. This is what theologians call positional righteousness.

Romans 4:1-3 is a classic text on justification by faith alone: “if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? ‘ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.’” You see in verse 3 that God’s righteousness was credited, or imputed to Abraham through faith. Now notice verse 5, “But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness.” Galatians is also very clear on this when Paul writes, “a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, 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” (2:16).

Where is human boasting to be found in the doctrine of justification by faith alone? As Paul asked in Romans 3:27, “Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith.” All boasting is gone, we rely on God alone. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1:29, “No flesh will glory in His presence.” We must tell people to come to God bankrupt, falling before the cross, believing in Jesus’ perfect sacrifice on the cross as the only means of salvation. Jesus’ sacrifice is 100% sufficient to remove all sin, and He will not share that glory with another. Justification is for God’s glory, not for our own. That is the difference between a theocentric (“God-centered”) Gospel and an anthropocentric (“man-centered”) Gospel. We don’t appeal to people to believe the Gospel because it will improve their life, make them happy, make their children moral, make them wealthy, or because God loves them and has a wonderful plan for their lives. These are anthropocentric reasons that appeal to the flesh of unbelievers.21 Salvation cannot be about man until it first becomes about God. Ultimately, we appeal to them to believe in order to glorify God, because that is why they were created (Isa 43:7, 21).

The most excellent truth to take from the doctrine of justification by faith alone is that it magnifies, exalts, and glorifies God as the justifier of the ungodly. We steal God’s glory if we attempt to add one ounce of personal merit for justification. This is why in Galatians 1 Paul says that just adding one work, circumcision, to faith is “anathema.” That is the strongest Greek word that Paul could have used to describe damnation. It is damnable doctrine because adding one work denies the full sufficiency of the substitutionary atonement of Christ. By adding one work, you in essence put yourself back under the burden of the Law. This is why Paul writes, “to every man who receives circumcision, that he is under obligation to keep the whole Law” (Gal 5:3). You can insert baptism, the Lord’s Supper or anything else people think they must do to be saved with the same result: anathema! While these things are very important matters of obedience, they do not contribute to our justification. No, righteousness is “imputed” to us by faith alone, to the glory of our Triune God.

At this point someone might say, “Well, if you believe in justification by faith alone, then you can live however you want.” Not so. Jesus said, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word” (John 14:23). Paul preached that people should repent, turn to God, performing works appropriate to repentance (Acts 26:20). John says, “If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth” (1 John 1:6). James also says, “faith without works is dead” (2:17). Although positional righteousness is imputed through faith alone, we also have what is called practical righteousness, which is the process of sanctification by which we become conformed into the image of Christ (Romans 8:29). This is the natural outgrowth of justification that necessarily characterizes all believers. Let us remember the famous words of Paul in Ephesians 2:8-10 where he combines the two concepts of justification by faith alone with 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. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” Titus also says, “Christ gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people zealous for good works” (2:14). Brothers and sisters, we are justified, sanctified, and glorified by faith alone; and by the power of the indwelling of the Spirit, we are born again for a life of fruit bearing.

The doctrine of justification by faith alone is revolutionary, reforming, and reviving. This is the doctrine that birthed the European Reformation under Martin Luther. In fact, Luther said, “This doctrine [justification by faith alone] is the head and cornerstone. It alone begets, nourishes, builds, preserves, and defends the church of God; and without it the church of God cannot exist for one hour…”22 Also, this text of Romans 4:5 was preached 300 years ago by America’s greatest pastor/theologian, Jonathan Edwards (1703–1758). This text was mightily used by the Spirit of God so that the initial phase of the First Great Awakening (1734–5, 1740–1742) was realized. Do you want revival to come to your churches? Then preach this doctrine! Doctrine is not dull and boring, it is enlivening and reviving. I believe that God can do the same today as He did then, if we will be faithful to boldly preach this good new to our friends and family, trusting that the Lord would be pleased to glorify Himself by bringing revival to the great country of Russia.

7. The Command: Repent and Believe
Mark 1:15 “repent and believe in the Gospel”

No Gospel presentation is complete without this charge to the unbeliever. They need to know that God is not just suggesting or asking them to believe. No, God is commanding them to repent and believe, and the consequences are eternal. Listen carefully: sin will be punished, so will you bear the punishment for your sins in eternal hell, or will Christ have been your substitute? Acts 17:30-31 is important to use at the conclusion of evangelistic encounters: “God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.” We see here the proof of the Gospel (the Father raised the Son), the command of the Gospel (to repent, or turn from sin), and the warning of the Gospel (there will be a day of judgment).

I find it helpful at this point to also add the glorious promises of Romans 10:9-13 that emphasizes belief of the heart that gets past the simple mental assent: “If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, ‘WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.’ For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for ‘WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.’”

Conclusion

The Gospel is a message that we are charged to take very seriously. Having firm biblical presuppositions concerning the depravity of man and the authority of the Word of God to regenerate (through the work of the Holy Spirit), we are to boldly preach the truth. We are not to minimize the Gospel to make it palatable for unbelievers, or to remove its offense. As one author put it, “When a half truth is presented as the whole truth, it becomes an untruth.”23 For example, if we only talk about the love of God, without His holy justice, we give people a wrong perception of God. We are to preach the whole council of God. We are not to be cowards that only seek the applause of men, but are to be men of God that seek the approval of God by “[contending] earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints” (Jude 1:3).

This is not just a message that should be preached from the pulpit, but should be careful taught in discipleship and small groups.24 Since the Gospel is rich in theology, it is incumbent upon leaders of the church to sufficiently train the body. Our churches should be filled with evangelists that are fully equipped to share the Good News of Christ to anyone they may meet. This does not involve memorizing a prepackaged, multi-point Gospel presentation, but teaching people how to freely think through the elements of the Gospel with those whom they have a relationship.25 The more one progresses in knowledge of God this way, the more one becomes passionate about loving and obeying the Lord’s command to evangelize. As one author writes, “Deep theology is the best fuel of devotion; it readily catches fire, and once kindled it burns long.”26 In this sense we see that the more we are doctrinally precise about the Gospel, the more true believers are zealous for evangelism, and united in spirit. The more ignorant we are about these things, the more divided we become, and the more the church is at risk of succumbing to false teaching.

Dear reader, may it never be said of us that we responded to such eternal questions by saying, “I don’t know.” God wants strong men and women of God that will clearly proclaim, “Thus sayeth the Lord!” We will proclaim the Word of God faithfully, no matter the cost. Even if it means that, like Paul, at the end of our lives we say that everyone abandoned us, we will faithfully preach (2 Tim 1:15). Sometimes there will not be fruit, just as God warned Isaiah (Isaiah 6) and Ezekiel (Ezekiel 2–3). God told them to preach, and foretold that the people would not listen, but yet, they preached. At other times, God added multitudes to the church even amidst the severity of God’s discipline against Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5). We preach in season, and out of season, trusting God for the salvation of souls. As John MacArthur has often said, “You take care of the depth of your ministry, and God will take care of the breadth of your ministry.” If we faithful equip the saints to do the work of the ministry, and the church is faithful to share the Good News of Christ, it God’s work to save souls according to His will. It is we that plant and water, but God who gives the increase. Be faithful to your calling to clearly explain the Gospel from the Word of God, and trust God with the rest. To God be the glory. Amen.