What is the Gospel?

Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry coming to you from Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston. No Compromise Radio is a program dedicated to the ongoing proclamation of Jesus Christ, based on the theme in Galatians 2, verse 5, where the Apostle Paul said, "'But we did not yield in subjection to them "'for even an hour, so that the truth of the gospel "'would remain with you.'".

In short, if you like smooth, watered-down words to make you simply feel good, this show isn't for you. By purpose, we are first biblical, but we can also be controversial. Stay tuned for the next 25 minutes as we're called by the divine trumpet to summon the troops for the honor and glory of her King.

Here's our host, Pastor Mike Abendroth.

What Is the Gospel and Why It Matters

Welcome to No Compromise Radio ministry. My name is Mike Abendroth, and I'm your host for the next 24 minutes. Some folks have called in and emailed and asked this question. Could you do a show on the gospel?

What is the gospel? What is the good news about Jesus Christ? Some have asked that they wanted to give this to their friends or family members, a concise 24-minute show on the gospel. Sometimes people just minimize the gospel, and they make it very superficial and full of formulas.

For instance, do you believe you're a sinner? Yes. Do you believe Christ died for sinners? Yes. Will you receive him as your Savior? Yes. Then you're saved. I am? William McDonald is right when he says that's just too superficial.

It doesn't go deep enough. D .A. Carson said, "'Weigh how many presentations of the gospel "'have been eased by portraying Jesus "'as the one who fixes marriages, "'ensures the American dream, "'cancels loneliness, gives us power, "'and generally makes us happy and relevant.

"'If you begin with perceived needs, "'you will always distort the gospel.'". And so I don't wanna do that today. You may be listening today, and you're a Christian. If so, then this will be a helpful reminder on how to preach the gospel.

If you're listening today, and you are not a Christian, maybe your life is great. Maybe you have a wonderful marriage. Maybe you are living the American dream. Maybe you aren't lonely. Maybe you have power and money and friends and influence.

I drove by the street the other day and I drove past a street and it said on a sign, when all else fails, try Jesus. And so maybe things aren't failing for you. But one thing's for sure if you're not a Christian, although you may have a good marriage, you may have a good bank account, you may have a good portfolio, you might have all your money and gold, you still are not forgiven.

And your greatest need is forgiveness, reconciliation with God. You will die one day and stand before God, and then what will happen? All your good marriage, your money, your portfolio will not help you get into heaven.

It won't help you when you die. And so today I'd like to describe to you what the Bible teaches about God, what the Bible teaches about man, what the Bible teaches about salvation, and what the Bible teaches about your responsibility unto this God.

How does someone get saved? How possibly can someone get saved? Is it in the realm of possibility for someone who has sinned as many times as you have with your thoughts and with your words and with your deeds?

What does the Bible say? And so the way I'm going to do this today is I'm going to give you 12 words, the 12 words that summarize the gospel. There's lots of ways to give the gospel. You can see it in different places in the Bible, but here I'm going to give you 12 words, 12 saving words that help people understand who they are and who God is.

God as Creator, Judge, and Savior

Let's start out with who God is first. It's the first category is you need to know if you're a person who's not a Christian, you need to know who God is. Word number one, God is the creator. Genesis chapter one, verse one, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

Only God creates out of nothing. He can shape, He can fashion, and He can create out of nothing. God, because He's a creator, shows His great power, shows His great wisdom. You can just look around the world and think, God must be powerful and He must be wise.

In the beginning time, God created the heavens, space, and the earth, matter, and the spirit of God, force, moved, that's motion. And so God is a creator. No one creates but God. This word is used sparingly and it's only of God.

I am the Lord and there is no other. He who created the heavens, He is God. And this creation was supernatural, it was sudden, and God created everyone and everything, including you. You are a created being.

More specifically, Jesus created you. You can say, I don't believe it, but Jesus created you. For by Him, Colossians 1 says, all things were created. And you are not really an atheist. God created you and you're not an atheist and you're not an agnostic because the Bible says that He has clearly shown you in His creation that He is God.

But you did not honor Him that way. You have not given Him thanks for being a creator and your mind and your heart has become darkened. You can't rationalize things properly. You think you're wise, but you're foolish.

And you've exchanged this great God for some kind of creature and you worship something else instead. And you have a problem. Fool has said in his heart, there's no God. And so what happens is there's this great God who has created everything, including you.

He doesn't need to be served by human hands as though He needed something. But God Himself gives to all life and breath and all things. God is the creator. But more than that, God isn't just a creator.

He didn't just create you, but He will judge you. He is called the judge. If God created you, you should do what He says, but you're not doing what He says because you're wanting to live your own life like you're the creator, like you're the one in charge.

And so God furthermore is not just a creator, but word number two, He is the judge. Why is evolution so popular? Because if you can get rid of the creator, you can get rid of the judge. And so God, of course, contrary to what people want today, He is a judge.

God created every human. He created them in His likeness and image, and you were created by God as well. And now God will judge you for your actions, for your thoughts, for your deeds, what you have done and what you haven't done.

Acts 17 .30 says, therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, 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.

God will judge you through a man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising him from the dead. Whether you're a Jew or a Gentile, a pagan, or you grew up in the church, God not only has created you, but He will judge you.

And He will judge you according to His standards, His requirements, His law. Galatians 3 says, for as many as are the works of the law are under a curse, for it is written, listen to this, curse it is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law to perform them.

You have to be perfect just as God is perfect. And God will judge you based on perfection. And if you've stumbled in one point of the law, you're guilty of the whole law. God is a judge. He is a righteous judge and He will judge the world in righteousness.

There's not going to be some kind of judge that gets kicked off of the court or some kind of smooth talking lawyer to get you out of this or some kind of stacked jury. No, God is a judge and He is appointed as judge both of the living and the dead.

And you will stand one day and give account to Him who is ready to judge you. The Bible says there's only one law giver and one judge. And so what if God is just a creator and a judge? You're undone, you're not going to make it.

But thankfully, let me tell you the third thing about God. Number three, the third saving word is God is also a savior. God is not just a creator and a judge, but He's also a savior. He's called a savior back in the Old Testament.

The Bible says, wondrously show your loving kindness, O savior of those who take refuge at your right hand. If you are created and need to obey the creator yet you have not done that and God is going to judge you, you need to be saved from yourself, from God, from being judged.

There is no savior besides God, God the Father, God the Son and the Spirit. He is the only savior. The Bible says specifically Jesus is the savior for unto you is born this day in the city of David, a savior, which is Christ the Lord.

Jesus comes and He saves people from their sin. He saves people from the wrath of God. He saves them from being judged eternally by this judge. The Bible says in Acts 5, verse 31, him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a prince and a savior, for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.

Jesus is a savior and He is fully man because He can be your representative and He is fully God so He can grant to all those who would believe in Him salvation. There's only one savior. There's only one Lord.

There's only one sin bearer and His name is Jesus. And so you're living underneath this God who created you and will judge you and will save you. The problem is, word number four, five and six, talk about you, a fallen, sinful, rebellious, foolish man or woman.

The Human Condition: Fallen, Sinful, and Foolish

Word number four, let's talk about humans for a little bit. First we've talked about God and now let's talk about humans because you need to realize you need the savior. Right now you might not think you need a savior but you do.

You might realize God is a creator and a judge and a savior but in some distant land. If you're like most Americans, you'll believe that if you're good, you go to heaven. You probably believe you're good anyway.

But the Bible teaches that you are, word number four, fallen. We think of the fall in autumn, in New England, October, but the Bible says, Adam fell and you fell in Adam. Therefore, Romans 5 .12, just as through one man, sin entered into the world and death through sin.

So death spread to all men because all sinned. And so what we have here through one act of sin, men are guilty and they have a charge against them. You sinned in Adam and so you are fallen. You have fallen short of God's glory.

There's an autopsy report on you and you are dead in trespasses and sins. You are destroyed by sin. It is penetrated every part of your being, all the fiber of your mind and your will and your emotions.

Your mind is vain and dark and blind, ignorant. Your heart is saturated with selfishness and your will is chained to your own desires full of sin. And so the Bible says, you're not good, you're fallen.

Furthermore, the Bible says, word number five, that you're sinful, that you're depraved. You've missed God's mark. You have sinned and fallen short of God's glory. You've trespassed God's word and his law.

You've transgressed against his holy nature and you've sinned and you're a sinner by nature, by action. And at the core of you, you have a problem. And the problem is you're a sinner. You're not righteous.

You don't understand God in his mind. You don't seek after God. You have turned aside. You've become unprofitable and you don't do good. Furthermore, you walk according to the course of this world. What the world sells, you do.

And sadly, what you don't know is this is all in accordance to the prince of the power of the air. Satan is the one who is working in you, disobedience. And so you've got a problem. You're blind, you're in slavery to Satan.

You're doing Satan's will. And furthermore, the sixth word is you're foolish. The Bible says, a fool has said in his heart, there's no God. And so what happens to you is you say, I've got to live with sin, but I know there's going to be a judgment day.

So I need to create a God that doesn't really exist so I can sin with pleasure. I can't call it a baby because if I call it a baby in the womb, then it's no good for me to use my sexual freedom and then kill the baby.

So I have to act in a way that's intellectually and morally foolish or stupid. It doesn't mean you can't have a high IQ. It means there's an insanity in your mind that says, I will say there's no God.

There can't be a God because I can't live like this. Well, on earth, you might not be able to live like this, but there's not any atheist in hell. That's for sure. You are sinful, fallen, and foolish.

And you need to be saved from your own self, from your own sin. And you don't understand who God is and appreciate how he creates and how he judges and how he saves. And that right there is indication enough that you need to be rescued and you need to be saved.

Christ's Redemption, Reconciliation, and Resurrection

So I have the seventh word. And the seventh, eighth, and ninth word all talk about what Jesus did. The first three words talk about who God is. The second three words talk about who you are. And then the next three words talk about what Jesus did.

And Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, took upon himself human nature. And he was born of a Virgin Mary and he has been conceived so no sin could taint him and by the Holy Spirit's power. And here we have a great God, Jesus Christ, who has come.

And what did he come to do? Number seven, he came to redeem. The seventh word is a redeemer. Ephesians 1 says, Christians have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace.

There's only redemption found in Christ Jesus. You're a slave to sin. And you're in the slave pit of sin and someone needs to buy you out. Someone needs to redeem you. Someone needs to pay a ransom price to redeem you out of the sin, out of slavery and sin slavery.

And the Bible says that Jesus is the one who did it. Buddha didn't do it. Moses didn't do it. The Pope didn't do it. Mary Baker Eddy didn't do it. Sun Yung Moon didn't do it. Joseph Smith didn't do it.

Education can't do it. Doing good can't do it. You have to have redemption found in Christ Jesus, the God-man. He paid his own ransom. That was his own death on Calvary as a substitute for sinners like you.

There's only one way to have redemption and that is through blood. There had to be bloodshed and the wages of sin is death. Someone has to die in your place. And the Bible says Jesus died in the place of sinners.

The father chose his people and the son went to go rescue them and redeem them and buy them out of the slave pit of sin. And so you need to be emancipated from sin. You're a slave, you're a prisoner and you have that door locked from the inside.

You don't want to get out. And then Satan's locked it from the outside. And the Bible says, cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree. Jesus became cursed. You are cursed and Jesus became cursed in your place.

So there could be a substitution. There could be a reckoning. There could be a ransoming by Jesus alone. And this redemption was costly. It was through his blood because Jesus didn't come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.

There had to be bloodshed, including and up to death because there's no shedding of blood, there's no forgiveness. And so what we have to do is we have to see that God the father and God the son and God the spirit had an eternal plan.

And that plan was to send the son to rescue, to send the son to redeem. The eighth word, number eight, is the word reconciled. You need to be reconciled. The Bible says in Romans 5 .10, for if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

Well, first of all, you were in the slave pit of sin. Second of all, you were God's enemy. God, if you're a Christian, God is angry with you right now. And God hates all those who do evil. And God is at war with you.

You say, well, I'm not mad at God. Well, he's mad at you. He created you and he judged you and you, by your lack of obedience and submission and honor to Christ Jesus, have made yourself at war with God.

And you need to be at peace with God. Oh, you might be able to live with other people mad at you and other people fighting against you, but you can't live with God being mad at you. You need to make peace with God and that peace can only be made with the son's substitutionary death in your place, vicariously in the place of another.

You deserve to die. Jesus dies in the place of sinners like you. And so what we have to remember is that you need to be rescued. You need to be at peace. There's an irreconcilable difference between you and God apart from Christ Jesus.

He's the only one that could reconcile you to him. And when you die, you can't die as an enemy of God because you'll be forever an enemy of God and God will cast you into the lake of fire. You need to die as a friend of God.

Abraham was a friend of God because Christ's perfect work. You can be a friend of God if you'll lay down your arms as an enemy and lay down your weapons and submit. God is offering clemency to you and he holds out his scepter, offering clemency to you if you'll lay down your arms.

If you won't lay down your arms, there'll be eternal hell for you to pay. So the Bible teaches that Jesus came to redeem, he came to reconcile, and this great substitution, Jesus dying in the place of sinners, Jesus bearing the punishment rightly do sinners, Jesus having sin imputed to his account even though he never sinned, Jesus bearing punishment of sinners.

How do we know God accepted that? How do we know God's wrath was spent on Jesus and then removed? How do we know that the redemption and the reconciliation worked? How do we know that it happened and it happened to perfection?

Well, the Bible says for word number nine, he was raised from the dead, he was resurrected. Romans 4 .25, he who was delivered over because of our transgressions and was raised because of our justification.

Christ's resurrection was proof of God's acceptance of Jesus's sacrifice. The sacrifice was accepted, salvation was completed. Jesus said on the cross, it is finished, and God raised him from the dead.

Jesus perfectly died. Jesus was raised from the dead and showed that he had life over sin, Satan, death, and hell. The Bible says concerning his son who was born of a descendant of David, according to the flesh, was declared the son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead.

The Bible says that God is a creator, judge, and savior. The Bible says you are fallen, sinful, and foolish. The Bible says that Jesus is the only one who could redeem, reconcile, and it was proved by his resurrection.

Believe, Repent, and Follow Christ

And now what does God command you to do? Let me give you words 10, 11, and 12. What does God command you to do? God commands you, number one, to believe. You must believe this. You must believe this. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.

You need to trust in this God who loved the world so much he gave his only begotten son, that whoever leaneth his whole weight on him, trusts completely, shall not perish, but have everlasting life. That's the issue, to believe what God has said, to believe what God has said about him being a creator, judge, and savior, you being fallen, sinful, and foolish, that Jesus alone being the savior who redeems and reconcile, that he was raised from the dead.

You need to believe. Number 11, you need to repent. Repent means to change your mind. You used to think you're good, you're not good. And so you need to change your mind and repent. And of course, if you change your mind, it will lead to a change of your life.

Jesus said, I tell you, unless you repent, you'll likewise perish. Acts chapter three, repent, therefore, and return that your sins may be wiped away. So turn away from your sin and then turn unto God.

John the Baptist said, repent for the kingdom of God is at hand. The disciples went out preaching that everywhere men should repent. Peter, after Christ's ascension, preached repentance. And Peter said, repent and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.

And so you need to repent. Or do you think lightly of the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? Even hearing the show today, it's the kindness and goodness of God that he would save, that he would redeem.

He, being so holy, doesn't have to save anyone. But God is loving and kind and generous and gracious. Who would want to spit in the face of such a king and such a Lord and such a God? So believe in this great king.

Repent of your sins. There's salvation for you. There's salvation found in no one else, but there can be salvation for you. Lay down your arms. Turn from the silly notions of self-rule and autonomy and evolution.

And the final word, word 12, is follow. Well, lots of people say they believe in Jesus, but do you believe in him enough to follow him? The Bible says, Jesus said, follow me and I will make you fishers of men.

Follow me and allow the dead to bury their own dead. Follow me, Matthew, and he arose and followed him. He who does not take his cross and follow after me, Jesus said, is not worthy of me. If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.

Won't you follow Jesus today? After all he's done, the only response is worship, sacrifice, adoration, belief, trust, follow. Jesus said to the man, Philip, follow me. Jesus said, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me.

If you're not following Christ, you're not a Christian. I don't care if you're a Methodist, you're a pagan, or you're a Roman Catholic. If you're not following Christ in obedience, you're not a Christian.

You need to trust alone in Christ, looking away from self and saying, I know you're a creator, savior, and judge. I know I'm fallen, sinful, and foolish. I know Jesus redeemed, reconciled, and resurrected, and God grant me belief, repentance, and follow, and you will be saved.

No Compromise Radio with Pastor Mike Abendroth is a production of Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston. Bethlehem Bible Church is a Bible teaching church firmly committed to unleashing the life-transforming power of God's word through verse-by-verse exposition of the sacred text.

Please come and join us. Our service times are Sunday morning at 1015 and in the evening at six. We're right on route 110 in West Boylston. You can check us out online at bbchurch .org or by phone at 508 -835 -3400.

The thoughts and opinions expressed on No Compromise Radio do not necessarily reflect those of WVNE, its staff or management.