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What is the Gospel?

Life’s Problem, God’s Solution

The gospel answers four questions we all ask:

1. Where’d everything come from? (Who am I?)
2. What’s life’s purpose? (Why am I here?)
3. What’s wrong with the world? (What’s wrong with me?)
4. What’ll fix what’s wrong? (How can I be fixed?)

Life’s problem is that we’ve cut ourselves off from God (life’s source) and are suffering the results. Your life has three fatal problems:

• You have a snake-like, evil, and rebellious heart! [Jer 17:9; Ps 58:3-4]
• You have a vile, blood-soaked, dung-caked, filthy record of disobedience! [Isa 64:6; Php 3:8]
• You have a poisonous, selfish, and destructive life! [Rom 3:10-12; Jam 3:8]

Want proof? Death is the proof; it is your payment for rebelling against God. [Ezk 18:4; Rom 6:23a; Gal 6:7-8]

One Future Trial

When you die, you will face a trial before God your creator. [Heb 9:27; Rom 2:5-8; 1:18-20]

• The evidence is your life: your thoughts, desires, words, and actions. [Jer 17:10; 2Co 5:10]
• The standard is God’s law. [Ex 20:1-17; Rom 2:14-15; 3:19-20]

Do you think you’re a good person? [Mk 10:17-18; Ps 86:5] 
How many times have you …?

• Lied? [Lv 19:11; Ps 101:7]
• Taken something that doesn’t belong to you? [Lv 19:11; Jer 6:13]
• Lost your temper? [Lv 19:17-18; Mt 5: 21-22]
• Looked with lust? [Lv 18:20; Mt 5:27-28]
• Used God’s name carelessly? [Lv 19:12; Mk 3:29]

No judging here! You’re like the rest of us: a lying, thieving, murderous, adulterous, blasphemer at heart. That’s only half of God’s 10 Commandments!

One Devastating Verdict

Based on God’s law and your life, you will receive the same judgment as the rest of mankind [Rom 3:10; Ecc 7:29]:

• God will declare you guilty. [1Jn 1:8; Rom 3:12, 23]
• God will sentence you to hell. [Rv 21:8; 1Co 6:9-10]

One Stunning Intervention

God is just; he will not allow any rebellion to go unpunished. [Gn 18:25; Job 8:3]

• God is also love; he can satisfy justice and save us from judgment. [Jn 3:16; Rom 5:8]
• God sent his Son Jesus Christ to intervene in your trial. [Gal 4:4-5; 1Jn 4:9-10]

Jesus’ intervention provides three significant legal results:

• His innocence in death provides satisfaction for rebellion against God. [Col 1:21-22; 1Pt 3:18]
• His perfect obedience in life restores rightness with God. [Rom 5:19; 2Co 5:21]
• His resurrection confers new life from God.
  [Rom 6:5-6; 2Co 5:17]

Another way to look at this: Jesus’ intervention fixes the three fatal problems with your life. Through Jesus, God:

• Removes your dead heart and makes you alive to himself. [Ezk 36:26; Rom 6:6,11]
• Cleanses and removes your vile, filthy record of disobedience, and declares you right with him, forever. [Ezk 36:25; 2Co 5:21]
• Gets rid of your selfish, destructive, poisonous life and gives you a new pure life that grows in holiness. [Ezk 36:27; Heb 10:10]

One Fateful Plea

If your trial were being held right now, there are only three possible responses to God’s guilty verdict:

• Deny it and revile him. [Ps 74:10-11; Gal 6:7-8]
• Agree but live as a hypocrite. [Mt 23:27-28; Ecc 12:14]
• Own it, asking for mercy and grace through Jesus. [Ac 4:12; Rom 10:13]

To  be freed from the guilty verdict, you must repent of your sins and put your faith in Jesus. [Ac 20:21; Isa 55:6-7]

• Repentance is agreement with God’s judgment and punishment of your sin. [Lk 18:13; 2Co 7:9-10]
• Faith is trusting in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, alone, to make you right with God. [Gal 2:16; Php 3:9-11]

One Amazing Counselor

God knows you will not on your own choose to trust in Jesus. [Jer 6:10; Eph 4:17-18]

• You are self-deceived and cannot make the right choice. [Jer 17:9; Jn 3:12]
• Left to yourself, you would never come to Jesus. [Jn 6:44, 65; Rom 8:7-8]

God gives the Holy Spirit as a defense attorney to those he saves. [Jn 14:16-17; Rom 15:13]

• The Holy Spirit convicts them of their sin and guilt and convinces them of salvation in Jesus. [Jn 16:8-11]
• The Holy Spirit does his work through the gospel proclaimed by those already saved. [Rom 10:13-17]

One Critical Response

Right now, is the Holy Spirit telling you to repent of your sins and put your trust in Jesus?

If not, will you:

• Think about these things, read a small section of the Bible, and
• Get together with me soon for further conversation?

If yes, might I:

• Help you to express your repentance to God, faith in Jesus, and
• Invite to join me at church where the Holy Spirit will continue to work these things into your life?

For more information, or to discuss anything brought up in this tract, contact us at: info1stmgm@gmail.com. Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. This explanation is based on witnessing tools from Evangelist Ray Comfort at Living Waters © and Evangelist Al Baker at Reformed Evangelical Fellowship.

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