Category Archives: The Gospel

What is the Gospel? by Paul Washer

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I realise that these are lengthy videos to watch, God might well be pleased to do such a work in this world that entire nations would be shaken by the power of God. That is because the Gospel doesn’t just contain the power of God, it IS the power of God (Romans 1:16).

Child of God, may I strongly urge you to saturate and immerse yourself in the only Gospel that saves – the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

As I post these videos, my prayer is that God may have full access to each of our hearts. The results I leave in His capable hands.

What is the Gospel? (Part 1)

What is the Gospel? (Part 2)

The Story

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There are many true stories out there, some of which are very worthwhile to read. There’s something different about this one though. It is the most important story you or I could ever hear. Yes, it really is that important.

Just click on “The Story” image below.

– John

As the King’s Herald

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“I stand before you today as the King’s herald with a message of supreme importance. This King I serve is the Creator of all things. He has made you for Himself, violating His laws with reckless abandon. These amount to acts of high treason that defy His right of ownership and His holy character. Being a just and holy King, He must dispense justice to the perpetrators. These acts being as traitorous as they are deserve His wrath in full measure. He has every right to sentence all rebels to eternal punishment while also wiping them off the face of the earth.

Yet, this Great King, moved by love and as a display of vast mercy, has sent His dearly loved Son into the world, to live a righteous life, and at the cross, bear the punishment and guilt of all those who would believe in Him. So to all who would renounce all attempts of self justification and who will take refuge in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, this King announces that He will forgive all your treasonous acts on the basis that His own Son was punished in your place, and instead, He will transfer the righteousness of His Son to your account so that you stand before Him guiltless and righteous in His sight. For He who knew no sin was made to be sin for us, so that in Him we might be made the righteousness of God.

So to all who take refuge in the Son, you need not face the King’s fierce and holy wrath; only trust in, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, the resurrected Savior, now enthroned in the courts of heaven. This is the good news I have been sent to proclaim as His herald.

John Chapter 3, verse 36 says, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”

All rebels of the King hear the word of the Lord. Repent of both your treason and all your vain attempts to please Him. Trust in the Son. Trust in His finished work upon the cross. Come to Him now. Make Him your refuge, and the King extends to you full pardon for all your acts of high treason, and a place with Him at His banqueting table where you will enjoy the King’s favor and bounty always. In His presence there is fullness of joy and at His right hand there are pleasures forevermore.

Yet this free offer of good news will not last forever. Come to Him for now indeed is the day of salvation. Call upon the Name of the Lord and be saved!”

The world says, the gospel says…

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“Most Americans believe that their major problem is something that has happened to them, and that their solution is to be found within. In other words, they believe that they have an alien problem that is to be resolved with an inner solution. What they gospel says, however, is that we have an inner problem that demands an alien solution – a righteousness that is not our own.” – Al Mohler, ‘Preaching with the Culture in View,’ in Preaching the Cross (Crossway 2007), p. 81

That’s very clarifying.

The world says: the problem is outside you, the solution inside you.

The gospel says: the problem is inside you, the solution outside you.

Before you do anything, hear this!

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I am currently teaching through the book of Romans and one of the things that has struck me in going through the first eleven chapters is how little we are asked to do. Apart from one brief exhortation in Romans 6 which tells us to reckon ourselves dead to sin and alive to God, there’s actually no positive command given to us. That is quite shocking! Every man made religion tells us to DO something to achieve spiritual awareness or to climb the mountain and meet “God” at the top. Yet Christianity is not the message of mankind climbing his way to some spiritual summit. The exact opposite is true – we cannot climb our way to God. All of us have sinned and fall short of God’s standard – every single one of us. Yet the good news is that God has not left us in this desperate plight but has actually climbed down the mountain to find us in the valley. That’s the message of the Incarnation – the second Person of the Godhead left His eternal throne in the heavens and became one of us; He lived a sinless life and died an atoning death for sinners and rose again from the dead.

Obviously we are called to believe what we read in the first eleven chapters of the book, and that means understanding the depravity of the human race, our deep and desperate need for a Savior and to place our trust in Him. Yet, I think it is very informative to read the Epistle through and realise that in this most comprehensive declaration of the Gospel anywhere in Scripture (which is what the book of Romans is), God is wanting us to know so many things before we ever start actually doing anything.

No one starts a conversation by using the word “therefore.” Something goes before it. There’s an old saying, “when you see a “therefore” find out what it is there for.” The word “therefore” is a linking word that stands between something preceding it and the logical consequences or ramifications that follow. That’s what we have in Romans 12. God is saying (through His apostle); in light of all that has been said, the logical response should be the following things.

It is only as we grasp the Gospel, understanding the nature of sin and the Divine remedy found in the Gospel; learning too that God is absolutely Sovereign in the matter of grace, and yet this does not eleviate our responsibility in any way at all or of our need to preach the Gospel, and that “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.” (Romans 11:36) – only then are we told in Romans 12: 1 “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind…”

As Justin Taylor once remarked, “So because of the great doctrines of creation, righteousness, depravity, faith, propitiation, justification, union with Christ, sanctification, glorification, election, divine freedom, therefore, by God’s mercy and grace we can receive and respond to the following imperatives:

present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God
Do not be conformed to this world, but
be transformed by the renewal of your mind
he [ought] not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but
think with sober judgment,
let us use our gifts that differ according to the grace given to us
Let love be genuine.
Abhor what is evil;
hold fast to what is good.
Love one another with brotherly affection.
Outdo one another in showing honor.
Do not be slothful in zeal,
be fervent in spirit,
serve the Lord.
Rejoice in hope,
be patient in tribulation,
be constant in prayer.
Contribute to the needs of the saints and
seek to show hospitality.
Bless those who persecute you;
do not curse those who persecute you.
Rejoice with those who rejoice,
weep with those who weep.
Live in harmony with one another.
Do not be haughty, but
associate with the lowly.
Never be wise in your own sight.
Repay no one evil for evil, but
give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all.
live peaceably with all (if possible, so far as it depends on you)
Never avenge yourselves, but
leave it to the wrath of God. . .
if your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink
Do not be overcome by evil, but
overcome evil with good.”

Until we KNOW what God has done for us in Christ, God wants us to do nothing whatsoever. Works (the things we do) play no part in our justification before God (Romans 4:4, 5; Eph 2:8-9). Holiness is a fruit not a root of our salvation, and this is clearly seen in the big picture of how the Gospel is presented to us in the book of Romans.

Romans 4:4 Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. 5 And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness

I Got You Covered!

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Four quotes from Martin Luther:

“Justification by faith alone is the article of the standing or falling Church.”

“This doctrine [justification by faith alone] is the head and the cornerstone. It alone begets, preserves, and defends the church of God; and without it the church of God cannot exist for one hour. For no one who does not hold this article or, to use Paul’s expression, this ‘sound doctrine’ (Titus 2:1) is able to teach aright in the church or successfully to resist any adversary… this is the heel of the Seed that opposes the old serpent and crushes its head. That is why Satan, in turn, cannot but persecute it.”

“Whoever departs from the article of justification does not know God and is an idolater… For when this article has been taken away, nothing remains but error, hypocrisy, godlessness, and idolatry, although it may seem to be the height of truth, worship of God, holiness, etc… If the article of justification is lost, all Christian doctrine is lost at the same time.”

“When the article of justification has fallen, everything has fallen. Therefore it is necessary constantly to inculcate and impress it, as Moses says of his Law (Deut. 6:7); for it cannot be inculcated and urged enough or too much. Indeed, even though we learn it well and hold to it, yet there is no one who apprehends it perfectly or believes it with a full affection and heart. So very trickish is our flesh, fighting as it does against the obedience of the spirit.”

Justification by faith alone is the article upon which the church stands or falls, the main hinge on which religion turns. Yet as important as justification is, many Christians remain confused about it, and others actively blur its features. This is the case not merely with Christians in general but so called evangelical leaders also.

Over the last few months I have had private correspondence with a number of Christian leaders and ministers, both here in the USA and oversees, as I have challenged them to be clear on this issue. Sadly, I have not been successful at all. In many churches and ministries, the Gospel is often assumed but not proclaimed. That is a great scandal as well as a great tragedy. Continue reading →

You have an “A”

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Steve Brown tells a story about a time his daughter Robin found herself in a very difficult English Literature course that she desperately wanted to get out of.

She sat there on her first day and thought, “If I don’t transfer out of this class, “Of course.”

So the next day he took her down to the school and went to the head of the English department, who was a Jewish woman and a great teacher. Steve remembers the event in these words:

She (the head of the English department) looked up and saw me standing there by my daughter and could tell that Robin was about to cry. There were some students standing around and, because the teacher didn’t want Robin to be embarrassed, she dismissed the students saying, “I want to talk to these people alone.” As soon as the students left and the door was closed, Robin began to cry. I said, “I’m here to get my daughter out of that English class. It’s too difficult for her. The problem with my daughter is that she’s too conscientious. So, can you put her into a regular English class?” The teacher said, “Mr. Brown, I understand.” Then she looked at Robin and said, “Can I talk to Robin for a minute?” I said, “Sure.” She said, “Robin, I know how you feel. What if I promised you and A no matter what you did in the class? If I gave you an A before you even started, would you be willing to take the class?” My daughter is not dumb! She started sniffling and said, “Well, I think I could do that.” The teacher said, “I’m going to give you and A in the class. You already have an A, so you can go to class.”

Later the teacher explained to Steve what she had done. She explained how she took away the threat of a bad grade so that Robin could learn English. Robin ended up making straight A‘s on her own in that class.

That’s how God deals with us. Because we are, right now, under the completely sufficient imputed righteousness of Christ, Christians already have an A. The threat of failure, judgment, and condemnation has been removed. We’re in–forever! Nothing we do will make our grade better and nothing we do will make our grade worse. We’ve been set free.

Knowing that God’s love for you and approval of you will never be determined by your performance for Jesus but Jesus’ performance for you will actually make you perform more and better, not less and worse. In other words, grace mobilizes performance; performance does not mobilize grace.

If you don’t believe me, ask Robin!

HT: Tullian Tchividjian

The Divine Exchange

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Surely he has borne our griefs (lit. sicknesses) and carried our sorrows (lit. pains); yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. – Isaiah 53:4-6

My friend, Dr. James White once wrote, “One of the most eloquent testimonies to the error of Dan Brown and the ridiculous and outrageous claims of The Da Vinci Code regarding the “creation” of the deity of Christ by Constantine is found in the sermon on the Passover preached around twenty years before the end of the second century by Melito, bishop of Sardis. I included my translation of this tremendous section in my book, The Forgotten Trinity, and reproduce it here. Remember, this sermon was preached approximately 145 years prior to Nicea, 130 years prior to Constantine’s battle at the Milvian Bridge (where he allegedly saw the sign of the cross in the sky and the phrase, “in this sign, conquer”). As you read these words, rejoice, as I rejoice, at the thought of this ancient believer and the fact that he reveled in the truth about the God-man Jesus Christ just as we do today! Oh that we had more preaching like this in our land today!” Continue reading →

Luther’s Gate to Paradise

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In the last 1,000 years, what came to be known as “The Tower Experience” of Martin Luther might well be the most significant historical event in the Western world for all the ramifications which ensued. Here are Luther’s own words as he describes what happened as he was studying Romans 1:17 (and reading the insights of Augustine on this verse from a fairly obscure article he had written centuries before):

“For in it (the gospel) the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” – Romans 1:17

“I greatly longed to understand Paul’s epistle to the Romans and nothing stood in the way but that one expression “the righteousness of God,” because I took it to mean that righteousness whereby God is just and deals justly in punishing the unjust.

My situation was that, although an impeccable monk, I stood before God as a sinner troubled in conscience, and I had no confidence that my merit would assuage Him. Therefore I did not love a just angry God, but rather hated and murmured against Him. Yet I clung to the dear Paul and had a great yearning to know what he meant.

Night and day I pondered until I saw the connection between the righteousness of God and the statement that “the just shall live by faith.” Then I grasped that the righteousness of God is that righteousness by which through grace and sheer mercy God justifies us through faith. Thereupon I felt myself to be reborn and to have gone through open doors into paradise. The whole of Scripture took on a new meaning, and whereas before “the righteousness of God” had filled me with hate, now it became to me inexpressibly sweet in greater love. This passage of Paul became to me a gate to heaven…”

Justification By Faith Alone (Quote)

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“The doctrine of justification by faith alone does not imply that you are justified before God because you managed to work up enough faith in and by yourself to believe in Christ, which is impossible in the first place. Rather, the doctrine contrasts faith against works, emphasizing that we are justified by God through faith apart from works. This faith is itself not a work — that is, not a work of man, but a work of God in man.

Faith is a gift of God purchased by Christ for all those whom God has chosen for salvation. It is a gift even though it has been purchased by our Mediator because it is God who sovereignly decreed to save us through this Mediator in the first place. It is God who has sovereignly chosen those whom he would save by his grace through Christ, so that all of salvation is a gift of God — it is a sovereign gift of God, unmerited by man, that at the same time fully satisfies divine justice, since it has been merited by Christ. Thus salvation is from the grace of God alone, through the work of Christ alone, and by means of faith alone (that is, in contrast to works).

Therefore, when discussing the doctrine of justification by faith, we must not portray faith as a condition for salvation that God requires from us, as if we could produce faith in and of ourselves prior to regeneration and apart from the Spirit’s power. So, although it is correct to speak of faith as our necessary response to the gospel, this “response” of faith is in fact one of the very things that Christ’s atonement purchased for his elect, and that God bestows upon his chosen ones by his Spirit. In other words, God is the one who produces this response of faith in his elect.

When Scripture says that salvation is by faith and not by works, it is not throwing out works just to make faith a condition that man must fulfill in order to obtain salvation from God, although this is precisely how the doctrine is frequently but mistakenly portrayed, either by explicit statements or by implication. Faith is not a good work or a condition for salvation that God requires from us before he would do anything to save us; instead, God has already decreed and performed all that is necessary to secure the salvation of his chosen ones, and faith in the gospel is precisely one of those things that he has secured for the elect by the work of Christ, and that he sovereignly produces in their minds when he commands them to believe and summons them to himself by the gospel. There is therefore no place for boasting. Salvation comes from God through Christ alone. We cannot even boast about our faith, since it is a sovereign gift of God, merited by Christ for the elect.” – Vincent Cheung