The Gospel. The salvation.

The gospel: salvation 

The Gospel of Jesus Christ (1 Cor 15:1-4), the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, is also called Good News or Good Tidings. It is the plan that God has designed to save sinful humans from eternal separation from Him. 

What is the Gospel? The Bad News

In order to fully understand how good this news really is, we must first understand the bad news.

We are all sinners. The Bible presents a clear and consistent message that all people have sinned. Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory for God.” Sin means that we have missed the mark (the perfect standard) that God has set for us.

As a result of the fall in the Garden of Eden, every part of us has been corrupted by sin—our minds, emotions, flesh. We don’t seek after God.

The penalty for sin is death. Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” What is a wage? It is the “money that is paid or received for work or services.” In other words, it is what you deserve, what you earn. Romans 6:23 says that death is the wage for our sin. It is what we earn. We deserve to die and live separated from God forever.

What is the Gospel? The Good News

Since there is no way we can earn our way back to God, the Bible says He came to us! This is the good news—the Gospel.

Christ died for you. Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ [Jesus] died for us.” The Bible says that even though we deserve the death penalty for our sin, Jesus took the penalty. He died in our place. Three days later, Jesus rose from death, proving that sin had been conquered.

You can be saved through faith in Christ. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”

We can depend on Jesus to forgive us and give eternal life, rather than eternal death.

What is salvation?

In English Versions of the Bible the words "salvation" "save," are not technical theological terms, but denote simply "deliverance," in almost any sense the latter word can have. In systematic theology, however, "salvation" denotes the whole process by which man is delivered from all that would prevent his attaining to the highest good that God has prepared for him. Or, by a transferred sense, "salvation" denotes the actual enjoyment of that good.

Salvation is deliverance from danger or suffering. To save is to deliver or protect. The word carries the idea of victory, health, or preservation. Sometimes, the Bible uses the words saved or salvation to refer to temporal, physical deliverance, such as Paul’s deliverance from prison (Philippians 1:19).

Salvation is deliverance from danger or suffering. To save is to deliver or protect. The word carries the idea of victory, health, or preservation. Sometimes, the Bible uses the words saved or salvation to refer to temporal, physical deliverance, such as Paul’s deliverance from prison (Philippians 1:19). More often, the word “salvation” concerns an eternal, spiritual deliverance. When Paul told the Philippian jailer what he must do to be saved, he was referring to the jailer’s eternal destiny (Acts 16:30-31). Jesus equated being saved with entering the kingdom of God (Matthew 19:24-25).

1.1. What are we saved from? In the Christian doctrine of salvation, we are saved from “wrath,” that is, from God’s judgment of sin (Romans 5:9; 1 Thessalonians 5:9). Our sin has separated us from God, and the consequence of sin is death (Romans 6:23). Biblical salvation refers to our 

deliverance from the consequence of sin and therefore involves the removal of sin.

1.2. Who does the saving? Only God can remove sin and deliver us from sin’s penalty (2 Timothy 1:9; Titus 3:5).

1.3. How does God save? In the Christian doctrine of salvation, God has rescued us through Christ (John 3:17). Specifically, it was Jesus’ death on the cross and subsequent resurrection that achieved our salvation (Romans 5:10; Ephesians 1:7). Scripture is clear that salvation is the gracious, undeserved gift of God (Ephesians 2:5, 8) and is only available through faith in Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12).

1.4. How do we receive salvation? We are saved by faith. First, we must hear the gospel—the good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection (Ephesians 1:13). Then, we must believe—fully trust the Lord Jesus (Romans 1:16). This involves repentance, a changing of mind about sin and Christ (Acts 3:19), and calling on the name of the Lord (Romans 10:9-10, 13).

A definition of the Christian doctrine of salvation would be “The deliverance, by the grace of God, from eternal punishment for sin which is granted to those who accept by faith God’s conditions of repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus.” Salvation is available in Jesus alone (John 14:6; Acts 4:12) and is dependent on God alone for provision, assurance, and security.