In the message on Sunday, I quickly rattled off the gospel
bullet points that we can use for both sharing the gospel and meditating on the
gospel. A number of people asked
me for them after church, so I thought I would post them here.
I want to clarify that these bullet points are not the
gospel itself. If I were to just
say these eight statements to someone, I would not consider that I have shared
the gospel with them. These are
just simple statements, easy to remember, that remind me of the theological points I
want to cover when I share the gospel.
They are “bare bones,” that is, crucial details are missing, like the
facts that Jesus was the Son of God, He rose from the dead, and that only those
who repent and trust in Him are saved.
As I share the gospel, I need to make sure I give the whole thing.
So here they are:
1.
God
is holy. (Isaiah 6:3, Psalm 99:9)
God is morally perfect, completely separated from sin, and devoted to
His own glory. His holiness and
devotion to His own glory are demonstrated in Leviticus 10.
2.
Man
is sinful. (Rom 3:10-18, 23) All men have willfully
violated the law of God and sinned against Him.
3.
God
is wrathful. (John 3:36, Rom 3:23, Eph 2:1-3) God’s wrath, while experienced in various ways in this life,
culminates in eternal separation from God in a literal hell (Matt 3:12, 7:13,8:12, 10:28, 13:38-42; 2 Thess 1:9).
4.
Man
is doomed. (Rom 3:10-20) Man is unable to justify himself before God by
doing good works. In himself, he
is hopeless to avoid the wrath of God.
5.
God
is gracious. (Exo 34:6; Eph 2:4-7) God is merciful and gracious, slow to
anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. Because of His great love, He moved to
save sinners from His own righteous wrath.
6.
Christ
was given. (John 3:16; 2 Cor5:21; 1 John 4:10) God loved us in such a way that He gave His Son to live the
righteous life we should have lived and to die the death that we should have
died. Christ was given as the substitutionary sacrifice for our sins so that we
might be forgiven and reconciled to God.
7.
Christ
was sufficient. (Acts 2:24-36; 1 Cor 15:12-23; 1 Pet 1:3-5) Jesus Christ
was raised from the dead three days later proving that His sacrifice was
sufficient to satisfy the wrath of God and secure the future resurrection of
all the redeemed.
8.
Man
is redeemed. (Matt 3:2; John 3:16; Acts 2:38-39; 3:19-21; 17:30-31; Rom3:23-25; Eph 2:8) All those who repent of their sin and trust in Christ alone
to save them will be forgiven of their sin, given eternal life, and reconciled
to God.
Posted by Greg Birdwell
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