The Gospel Mind

The gospel message of salvation is central to Christian faith and to the church. Here we will focus on the essential parts that make up the basic gospel of Jesus’s sinless life, his death that atoned for our sins, and his resurrection. We also compare some of the best ways of explaining the gospel to others here.

You can find Episode 5 here to stream or download from KKMS 980 AM. Please refer to the disclaimer at the bottom of the Show Notes page regarding all views expressed by Anthony Bushnell or his guests on the air and in these notes.

Acknowledgements: I would like to give thanks for the work of Jerry Bridges and Tim Keller in the books and articles listed below. They have helped me see how important it is for believers in Christ to practice and remember the gospel message all throughout the Christian life. The works of J.I. Packer, Sinclair Ferguson, and John Stott below have made the different aspects of salvation and the theological terms much more clear and given me greater confidence in the power of Christ’s work of salvation to completely transform our lives.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture citations are taken from the English Standard Version (ESV) (Crossway: 2001).

Outline of Seven Parts of the Gospel Message

We don’t want to make the gospel message sound more complicated than it needs to be, and I encourage you to check out our companion post here for many examples of how some of the wisest preachers and teachers have simply explained the gospel. However, the gospel message also summarizes a whole history of God’s relationship to humanity and some of the most important theological concepts in Scripture. So we unpack the essential elements of the gospel below in the hope that as we understand them more clearly and precisely, we will be able to explain them more simply and accurately. I also hope the Lord will use this post to help you enjoy and rejoice in the gospel more in your daily life as a child of God and follower of Christ.

These notes expand upon what we talked about on the air and give some more detail. The scriptures in this episode are included below under each part of the gospel.

Some Examples – The Gospel Emphasizes Faith and Grace

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’” Romans 1:16-17

“Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.” 1 Corinthians 15:1-2

“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.” 1 Corinthians 15:3-11

“But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.” Acts 20:24

Outline

1) God is Lord.

“Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.” Romans 3:19-20

2) All humans have sinned.

“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.” Romans 3:23-25

3) A holy God must punish sin.

“This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” Romans 3:25-26

4) Christ our Lord suffered and died for our sins, in our place.

“but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” 1 Corinthians 1:23-24

“And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” 1 Corinthians 2:1-2

“’The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart’ (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, 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. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, ‘Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.’ For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’” Romans 10:8-13

“And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:8-11

5) Christ obeyed God perfectly and is purely righteous.

“Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:20-21

“For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.” Romans 8:14-17

“For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” Romans 8:29-35

6) Christ was resurrected to new life and gives life to all who believe.

“Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal.” 2 Timothy 2:8-9

“And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.” 1 Corinthians 15:17-19

7) Those who believe in Christ and trust him for salvation are freely saved from sin and death by God’s grace.

7a) Salvation from the guilt and punishment of sin

“In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.” Colossians 2:11-15

“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” Romans 6:1-4

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

“You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.” Romans 8:1-11

7b) Faith

“It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.” Romans 3:26-31

7c) Repentance: consider yourselves dead to sin and turn away from it

Although we did not have time to discuss this separately on the program, this is a necessary point: the gospel includes both faith in Christ’s payment for our sins and repentance by us from our sins. This is included in what we quoted above from Romans 6 and 8, and Romans 6:6-14 below shows this too, but the other scriptures below emphasize repentance more clearly. Those who would believe in Christ to be saved must “turn away” from their past sins and renounce them (the Greek word for “repentance” includes the meaning “turning away”). Scripture tells us that this is part of the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of those who believe: the Spirit actually makes us able to turn from sin and embrace God in faith.

“We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.” Romans 6:6-14

“Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” Mark 1:14-15

“No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” (Jesus to the crowds) Luke 13:3

“Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’ And Peter said to them, ‘Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.'” Acts 2:37-38 (ESV).

A Postscript: Part of the Good News of the Gospel Is that God Saved You Because He Loves You!

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.” Galatians 2:20-21

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” 1 John 4:7-16

“We love because he first loved us.” 1 John 4:19

Recommended Resources

As I said on the program, the gospel can be incredibly complex. The basic message of salvation can be stated in a couple of sentences, and a person can come to faith in Jesus without understanding all the parts we discussed above and on the radio. However, the better you understand the gospel, the more deeply it can encourage you. And the more you learn the different parts of the message of salvation, the better you can explain them to someone who needs to hear the gospel. If you want to explore and understand more of the gospel message and the different aspects of God’s work in salvation, the books below will serve you well.

Examples of Explaining the Gospel Message

We have posted a number of examples that simply and clearly explain the gospel here, along with books, audio, and articles you can compare and use.

Applying the Gospel in Your Daily Life as a Believer

The Discipline of Grace, Jerry Bridges (NavPress: 1994, 2006). See particularly pages 15-21 in Chapter 1 for how Bridges applies the gospel message to the daily lives of those who already believe. Bridges gives credit to Dr. Jack Miller for the phrase “Preach the gospel to yourself every day.” on page 8 of the Preface.

The Gospel for Real Life, Jerry Bridges (NavPress: 2003). The publisher’s description gives the reason for this book: “The gospel of Jesus Christ is the door to eternal life, but what difference does it make once we’re inside God’s kingdom? Jerry Bridges says the gospel is the very lifeblood of our walk with God. It is the key to our salvation, for sure, but it is also the power for our daily progress in holiness.”

The Prodigal God, Timothy Keller (Penguin Random House: 2010). When Keller announced this book, he said his working title for it while he was writing had been “The Gospel for Believers” (see excerpts of the press release here). Keller uses the parable of the prodigal son to show that God’s astonishing mercy scandalizes many of us, because we often think our obedience and our efforts to keep the commandments have earned us God’s acceptance and the benefits of his love. But this cuts us off from truly enjoying the mercy and love of our Father in Heaven. In this way, we are often like the older brother in the parable, who begrudges his father’s mercy and generosity rather than rejoicing in it. This book is fairly easy to read, but it will likely change the way you see your relationship to God and make you much more thankful for grace.

Understanding the Work of God in Salvation and the Theological Terms

Concise Theology: A Guide to Historic Christian Beliefs, J.I. Packer (Tyndale House: 2001). This is a tremendously useful and helpful book. Packer discusses dozens of theological concepts in only a few pages each, summarizing the most important details and the Scriptures to give a basic explanation of each doctrine or concept. He includes chapters on Salvation, Regeneration, Repentance, Justification, Adoption, Sanctification, and other elements important to understanding the gospel.

In Christ Alone: Living the Gospel-Centered Life, Sinclair Ferguson (Reformation Trust Publishing: 2007). This is a wonderful and reverent look at how the work of Christ in salvation should shape our lives.

The Whole Christ, Sinclair Ferguson (Crossway: 2016). If you are wondering how obeying God’s moral commands fits together with the free gift of salvation, or why we should not be afraid that a gospel of grace means people will just keep on sinning, this book may help.

The Cross of Christ, John R.W. Stott (IVP: 2021, originally published in 1986). This is Stott’s masterpiece. It is a thorough examination of the death of Jesus Christ and the reasons Jesus came to die, as well as what he accomplished on the cross for salvation. This is a more advanced book, but if you want to understand the nature of salvation and Christ’s payment for our sins then this is the book you should read. Stott discusses many different theories and interpretations of the atonement (Christ’s sacrifice for our sins) and shows brilliantly why the historic, orthodox Christian teaching on Christ’s substitution in our place is the most accurate summary of what the Bible teaches.