‘For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for every one who believes, for the Jew first, and also for the Greek’ (Romans 1:16)
Whether proclaimed in French, Creole, Spanish, or English, there is but one gospel message that God is pleased to bless to the saving of souls. Paul calls it ‘the gospel of Christ’. It means literally, ‘the good news of Christ’.
It is not just about Christ, as if faith is merely believing certain facts concerning him. Rather, it is of him, that is, bound up in his person and his work.
Here are six indisputable fundamentals of the gospel of Christ. These reveal the very wisdom of God the Father in the salvation of sinners. They summarise the doctrine that every faithful gospel preacher believes and proclaims. They describe the substance of the faith revealed in Scripture and, by God’s grace, to the heart of every true believer.
Honouring Christ
Firstly, God the Father saves sinners because, from all eternity, he purposed to honour his Son as Saviour and Redeemer and give him a people to save (Psalm 2:6-8; John 10:27-30).
Secondly, the sinners he saves are poor, wretched, unworthy and condemned from the womb. Because of Adam’s fall, they are spiritually dead and incapable of either willing or producing any good work.
For this reason they need Christ’s sovereign work of salvation for them and in them, raising them from spiritual death to spiritual life and causing them to walk in his ways (Ephesians 2:1-10).
Thirdly, they are saved because God chose them in eternity. This election is as eternal as God himself. It is based entirely on the infinite wisdom, grace, and will of the Father and not on anything foreseen concerning them (Ephesians 1:3-12).
Redeemed by Christ
Fourthly, election being unto salvation, and not constituting salvation itself, Christ was sent to this earth by the Father to redeem his people. He came to obey perfectly God’s law and to die a sacrificial death, by which he satisfied all God’s righteous demands on behalf of his people. God the Father, being pleased with the atoning work of his Son, saves sinners on his account.
Fifthly, at God’s predetermined time, by his Spirit and through the gospel, he draws to Christ every sinner that Christ has redeemed (Galatians 1:15-16).
Sixthly, those who are in Christ shall most certainly persevere and be preserved, in the faith and by the Spirit of God, until the end (Jude 24-25). Then they will behold and share his glory for all eternity (John 17:22-24).
Is this the gospel that you know, believe and confess? If you are one of Christ’s own, it is; and it is truly good news to you!
