THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST

Christians across traditions affirm the gospel, which means “good news.” At its heart is the biblical proclamation that Jesus Christ is the promised Jewish Messiah, through whom God brings salvation, reconciliation, and life. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

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Scripture begins with God’s good creation and traces humanity’s sin and death back to Adam. All people have subsequently sinned and disobeyed God. This is called “sin” and is fundamentally the failure to love God and neighbor. Romans 5:12, 17, 18 says, “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man [Adam], and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned… For if, because of one man’s [Adam’s] trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.”

God sent Jesus, whom Paul calls the “last Adam” (1 Corinthians 15:45), to bring humanity back to God and to show us the Way, the Truth, and the Life by embodying that way himself (John 14:6).

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Without God’s saving work through Jesus, humanity would remain subject to sin and death and alienated from God. Jesus overcame sin, learned obedience through suffering, was made perfect, and willingly gave his life to bring humanity back to God. Through his death and resurrection, God defeated the power of death.

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While people still die now, anyone who puts their faith in Jesus will experience eternal life and live eternally with God. Romans 10:9-10 says, “…if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”

God promises eternal life for all who put their faith in Jesus, who died on a cross and was raised from the dead on the third day. God promises that all who put their faith in Jesus, while they may physically die, will rise again like Jesus and live forever with God in the restored creation—the new heaven and new earth—where death, mourning, pain, and ultimately all that corrupts God’s creation are gone.

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This is described in the last two chapters of the Bible, Revelation 21-22. What is more, whoever puts their faith in Jesus and what he did for humanity on the cross, believing that God raised him from the dead and that Jesus is the Son of God, becomes a child of God. Galatians 3:26 says, “for in Christ Jesus you are children of God, through faith.”

Christians are saved from death and judgment by Jesus and are given eternal life with God, fully forgiven by God and given the opportunity to have an intimate relationship with God. Upon becoming Christians, believers receive the gift of God’s Holy Spirit, who works within them to transform them into Christ’s image (2 Corinthians 3:18; Romans 8:29).

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Christianity is not just about being saved from death but about becoming a new person, one who loves God and those around them (2 Corinthians 5:17). Christ died to create a new humanity, one characterized by love of God and others, not sin and rebellion against God.

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The promises of the gospel include becoming “participants in the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4) and being fully conformed to Christ’s image (Romans 8:29). This process of becoming like Christ is called sanctification. In Philippians 1:6 Paul says, “…being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

Christians can find great comfort in this promise: God will complete the work He has begun in us, ultimately sanctifying us and conforming us fully to Christ’s image.

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Throughout this website, I also explain why I believe Scripture ultimately promises that God’s saving work through Christ will succeed for all humanity. Faith in Christ is not a way of escaping a world God abandons; it is participation now in the salvation and restoration God ultimately intends for His creation.