by Pastor Patrick Cho

Sadly, borrowing the analogy from 1 Corinthians 3:2, the gospel is sometimes dismissed as the milky, elemental doctrine of the Bible. What many people fail to realize is that God’s plan to atone for man’s sin is one of the chief themes of His Word and makes up most of its contents. If you think the gospel is milky, you sort of have to conclude the same about the Bible. In truth, the gospel is the meat of the Bible. There are few meatier themes, and the argument could be made that it is the meatiest.

Understandably, Hebrews 6:1 speaks about elementary doctrine and lists “repentance from dead works and faith toward God” as part of that elementary doctrine. But the author of Hebrews seems to be concerned more with the lack of progression in theological understanding rather than downplaying the content of the gospel. Regardless, there is much more to the doctrine of salvation than “repentance from dead works and faith toward God.” The gospel also encompasses awesome truths like the incomparable holiness of God, the amazing grace of God, the radical depravity of man, the absolute necessity of the atonement, and the undeniable resurrection.

The gospel is a sweet study for those seeking to understand more about Christianity as well as those who already know Christ as Savior. As Sinclair Ferguson once stated, every time you hear the message of the cross, it should be like you want to receive God’s salvation all over again. There is sweetness in the gospel message to the soul.

If one recognizes the righteous character of God, the seriousness of sin, and the necessity of judgment for that sin, he realizes that things look pretty bleak for men. We have offended a holy God by our rebellion and wickedness. We have turned to other things that are not God and have treated them as God. Certainly our idolatry makes us guilty, but we not only elevate other things as gods (i.e. wealth, comfort, pleasure, etc.), we too desire to be God and to have total authority over our lives. Because of our sin, God promises to bring judgment.

And there is nothing we can do about it. No person is able to change their sinful condition because their sin taints and affects everything that they do. There isn’t enough good a person can do to work their way into heaven or to please God. Left alone, man is completely lost, blind, and dead spiritually (Eph. 2:1). While there is a definite need to be made right with God, there is also a complete inability to anything to bring about that reconciliation (Ps. 14:1-3). Clearly, we need a Savior.

This is why Jesus came. When Jesus came and eventually died on the cross, He accomplished for us what we could not accomplish on our own. He stood in our place, dying on the cross and paying our penalty for our sin. In so doing, He made it possible for us to live. He redeemed us, meaning He purchased us at the cost of His precious blood (Col. 1:13-14; 1 Pet. 1:17-19). The Bible tells us that the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23), and Jesus purchased our pardon by paying our debt in full on the cross.

Jesus also brought peace with God by reconciling us to the Father (Rom. 5:1-2). We were in need of this peace, because in our sin we were self-proclaimed enemies of God (Rom. 5:10). Through His death on the cross, peace with God was made possible (Col. 1:21-23). We who were far off were brought near by the cross and now can have access to God and enjoy a sweet relationship with Him.

God’s holiness and justice demand that the price for sin be paid. Some wonder why God couldn’t just snap His fingers and make sin go away. He cannot ignore the reality of sin and man’s guilt. He is a just Judge, and when the crime has been committed, the punishment must be executed. God hates sin and those who sin are His enemies. His wrath is clearly aimed against them. But the glorious truth of the gospel is that when Jesus suffered and died on the cross, taking on the sins of the world, He satisfied the righteous demands of God. Not wanting sinful men to bear the punishment for their sin, Jesus died in their place and took the punishment upon Himself.

So through Christ we are declared righteous. This declaration is not based upon our own merits or inherent goodness (we have none!). It is solely based upon the work of Christ on the cross. As believers, our sin was transferred to Him and His righteousness was credited to us (2 Cor. 5:21). Salvation is completely by grace through faith and not by our deeds (Eph. 2:8-9; Titus 3:5-7). Sinners could be declared righteous because the punishment for sin was paid for by Christ on the cross. As a result, no one can bring a charge against God’s elect because Christ stands as our mediator and intercedes for us (Rom. 8:33-34).

In salvation, those who place their faith in Christ receive new life. Jesus told the Pharisee Nicodemus in John 3:3 that a man must be born again in order to see the kingdom of God. When a person places his faith in Jesus, he receives a new birth. The old things pass away and all things are made new (2 Cor. 5:17). This is why the Apostle Paul could say that he no longer lives, but Christ lives through him (Gal. 2:20). Just as the believer identifies with the death of Jesus and dies to himself, so he also identifies with the resurrection of Jesus and is raised in newness of life (Rom. 6:3-5).

The result of this salvation is that we are no longer considered God’s enemies. In fact, we are brought near even closer than friends. In Christ, we receive adoption as God’s children (1 John 3:1-2; Rom. 8:15-17). Because we are His children, the Bible promises that there is an inheritance that awaits us in heaven. This inheritance ensures that our salvation is secure in Christ. God will see our salvation to the end because He does not fail in His promises.

Jesus accomplished all this when He hung on the cross in the place of sinners. He served as our substitute willingly and in accordance with the will of God so that we could be saved. This gospel is man’s only hope to be made right with God. It is the only way to the Father (John 14:6; Acts 4:12). Those who do not know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior are called to trust in this truth and to place their faith in Jesus. Those who already have experienced the grace of God to save ought to continue to savor these amazing truths. God is gracious to save, and we would be wise to deepen our understanding of the power of the gospel more and more.