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1.2. Assurance Regarding the Gospel

Introduction

Since all believers are responsible to share their faith with others, every Christian needs a clear understanding of the plan of salvation. This is especially true for new babes in Christ.

The following short presentation of the gospel is designed to reinforce the key issues and provide a tool for presenting the gospel to others as new Christians begin their walk down the road of life as Christians.

God’s Plan of Salvation

1 John 5:11-12 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. The one who has the Son has this eternal life; the one who does not have the Son of God does not have this eternal life.

While 1 John 5:11-12 is written to Christians to give them assurance of their salvation based on the testimony of God’s Word, this passage also highlights the key issue in salvation.

God’s Declaration to Man: “And the witness is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.” (verse 11).

The Important Issue: “He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.” (verse 12).

This passage teaches:

  • · God has given us eternal life and this life is in His Son, Jesus Christ.
  • · The way to possess eternal life is to possess God’s Son.

Two important questions must be asked and answered:

  • · Why is possession of God’s Son necessary to have eternal life?
  • · How can a person possess or have the Son of God?

The Problem of
Man’s Separation From God

According to Romans 5:8, God demonstrated His love for us through the death of His Son. Why did Christ have to die for us? Because Scripture declares all men to be sinful. We are all sinners. To “sin” means to miss the mark. The Bible declares we have all sinned and fall short of the glory (the perfect holiness) of God. In other words, our sin separates us from God who is perfect holiness (righteousness and justice) and God must therefore judge sinful man.

Romans 5:8 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.

Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Habakkuk 1:13a You are too just to tolerate evil; you are unable to condone wrongdoing.

Isaiah 59:2 But your sinful acts have alienated you from your God; your sins have caused him to reject you and not listen to your prayers.

The Problem of the
Futility of Man’s Works

Scripture also teaches that no amount of human goodness, human works, human morality, or religious activity can gain acceptance with God or get anyone into heaven. The moral man, the religious man, and the immoral and non-religious are all in the same boat. They all fall short of the glory of God (God’s perfect righteousness). After discussing the immoral man, the moral man, and the religious man in Romans 1:18-3:8, the apostle Paul declares that both Jews and Greeks are under sin, that “there is none righteous, not even one” (Rom. 3:9-10), and that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23).

Added to this are the declarations of the following verses of Scripture:

Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; 6 it is not from works, so that no one can boast.

Titus 3:5-7 He saved us not by works of righteousness that we have done but on the basis of his mercy, through the washing of the new birth and the renewing of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us in full measure through Jesus Christ our Savior. 7 And so, since we have been justified by his grace, we become heirs with the confident expectation of eternal life.

Romans 4:1-5 What then shall we say that Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh, has discovered regarding this matter? 2 For if Abraham was declared righteous by the works of the law, he has something to boast about—but not before God. 3 For what does the scripture say? “ Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” 4 Now to the one who works, his pay is not credited due to grace but due to obligation. 5 But to the one who does not work, but believes in the one who declares the ungodly righteous, his faith is credited as righteousness.

No amount of human goodness is as good as God. God is infinite or perfect righteousness. Because of this, Habakkuk 1:13 tells us He cannot have fellowship with anyone who does not have perfect righteousness. In order to be accepted by God, we must be as good as God is. Before God, we all stand naked, helpless, and hopeless in ourselves. No amount of good living will get us to heaven or give us eternal life. What then is the solution?

God’s Solution for Man’s Problem

God is not only perfect holiness (whose holy character we can never attain to on our own or by our works of righteousness) but He is also perfect love and full of grace and mercy. Because of His love and grace, He has not left us without hope and a solution.

Romans 5:8 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.

This is the Good News of the Bible—the message of the gospel. It’s the message of the gift of God’s own Son who became man (the God-man), lived a sinless life, died on the cross for our sin, and was raised from the grave proving both the fact He is God’s Son and the value of His death for us as our substitute.

Romans 1:4 who was appointed the Son-of-God-in-power according to the Holy Spirit by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 4:25 He was given over because of our transgressions and was raised for the sake of our justification.

2 Corinthians 5:21 God made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we would become the righteousness of God.

1 Peter 3:18 Because Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, to bring you to God, by being put to death in the flesh but by being made alive in the spirit.

The All-Important Question

How then do we receive God’s Son that we may cross the gulf and have the eternal life God has promised us? What becomes the issue for us today?

John 1:12 But to all who have received him—those who believe in his name—he has given the right to become God’s children

John 3:16-18 For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved through him. 18 The one who believes in him is not condemned. The one who does not believe has been condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.

Because of what Jesus Christ accomplished for us on the cross, the Bible states “He that has the Son has life.” We can receive the Son, Jesus Christ, as our Savior by personal faith, by trusting in the person of Christ and His death for our sins.

This means we must each come to God the same way—as a sinner who recognizes his sinfulness, repudiates any form of human works for salvation, and relies totally on Christ alone by faith alone for our salvation.

If you would like to receive and trust Christ as your personal Savior, you may want to express your faith in Christ by a simple prayer such as this:

Dear God, I know I’m a sinner and that nothing I do can gain heaven or eternal life. I believe Jesus Christ died for me and rose from the grave. Right now I receive Him as my personal Savior by trusting in Him alone as my only way to heaven. Thank you for giving me eternal life through faith in your Son. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

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