Newsgroups: bit.listserv.christia
Date:         Mon, 9 Nov 1992 15:01:26 CST
From:         Jesse Carnes <NOTJIC@LSUVM.BITNET>
Subject: What IS the G O S P E L ???

Dear All on the "net" ;

I believe Tom Brewer sent an excellent post a while back on the Gospel.
This was excellent.
However, for anyone who missed it, the question that is often answered
vaguely or even wrongly is "What IS the Gospel"?  This question is of the
highest priority for any person on the planet, in fact more important than
"What lies ahead" or even "What is out THERE?" and so forth.

This question was so important to the Apostle Paul in his letter to the
church in the province of Galatia that Paul even assigned anyone, even an
angel from Heaven, under Eternal Condemnation of Hell if they, even himself,
should preach a gospel OTHER than the one he had previously given to the
Galatians.

Further, the Apostle John shows in his book of 1 John that the Gospel is the
VERY reason why Christians have mutual fellowship.John shows that the Gospel
is the single-common thread that ties all true believers together.
All Biblical doctrine is important, but not equally important.
Things do have rank in the Scriptures and the Gospel ranks as the doctrine of
highest importance.


What is the Gospel?
Sounds simple, but a clear definition of WHAT it is often is confused with
HOW is it applied to our condition, on a person-by-person basis.
Some people, for example when I was a young Southern Baptist kid, believed
that the Gospel was believing on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Sounds plausible, but in fact believing on Christ is HOW we are to respond
to the Gospel.  Everyone is Commanded by God to RESPOND to the Gospel by
repenting of their sins and believing on the Lord Jesus Christ.
This, God commands all men and women and children to do with regards to the
Gospel.

The Gospel is THIS :


The Gospel is the perfect righteousness that God the Father righteously
demands of all people everywhere, but is perfectly complied with only in
the LIFE, DEATH, and RESURRECTION of Jesus Christ.
Christ in His life, fulfilled POSITIVELY speaking, all of the moral precepts
of God the Father. He further fulfilled, NEGATIVELY speaking, all of the penal
requirements for ALL sins incurred by those for whom He suffered and DIED as
a sin-substitution ... thus satisfying the just wrath of the Father toward all
those persons whose complete list of sins were charged to His account.
In short, for whom He died, He reconciled to the Father all those whose sins
were laid to His account.  His shed blood removed their sins from the Father's
"tally" and His proceeding Resurrection from the dead sealed their condition of
Legal Justification before God the Father.


Although passive in His Resurrection, God raising Christ up bodily by the
Holy Spirit, Christ still was ENABLED to do this for those whose sins were
imputed to Him.

Christ MET the Legal demands of the Father in His life -- that we are commanded
to meet, He met all of the penal demands of what out sins merited before God
the Father -- ALL of His Divine Wrath and separation, and Christ was bodily
raised from the dead so that true Believers could stand as Justified legally
before the Father.  Further, because Jesus was bodily raised from the dead,
we ALSO being united to Christ who become Christians, are also to FOLLOW
Christ in bodily Resurrection -- only through HIS precedent.



This is the Gospel :


By the sin substitution of one Man who was also fully Divine, we can
eternally stand before God the Father as Righteous as HIS SON, because
although inherently righteous Himslef, Jesus also EARNED a righteousness
while on Earth.  Not only is Jesus the Son of God,. but He also EARNED that
title, in His Own right!!

He earned, what we were unable to earn.
By His suffering and death, He REMOVED ALL of our sins from before God the
Father, and has given a COMPLETE ACCCESS to Him with Full Justified and
Righteous standing which can never be Removed, unless Jesus Himself can
be destroyed, and this can never be.

Now, we are called to respond to this Gospel by Calling out to a Sovereign
God who owes NO MAN any salvation, but who ALSO is very Gracious to ALL who
are ABLE to come to Christ with sincerity.
We are called to cry out to God, asking Him to "clothe" us with the
Righteousness EARNED by Christ, but demanded of us by the Father.
We are commanded to cry out, asking for   M E R C Y   from Him who
owes it to none.
We are commanded to Repent of our sins ... to turn to Christ and ask for
His Sovereign Grace to be Applied to our SINS.
We are commanded to believe on Jesus as OUR Sin SUBSTITUTE and as our
RIGHTEOUS standing for us, since we have    N O T H I N G    to commend us
before God, in and of ourselves.

We are commanded to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as our SUBSTITUTE, who
being both Man and God was also Raised for our standing before the Father.


This is what every man and woman is commanded to do.


"Look unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the Earth."





Heartily yours in Jesus Christ ;

Jesse Irwin Carnes
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