Welcome to the For the Gospel Podcast, where we provide sound doctrine for everyday people. I'm your host, Kosti Hinn, and I want to welcome our listeners on Apple, Spotify, and those of you enjoying this on our YouTube video podcast format. Also, want to greet all of those who are listening around the world since for the gospel is now actively downloaded in over 140 countries. We're so thankful that the Lord has allowed us to provide sound doctrine for everyday people everywhere. And that is certainly our goal. This episode marks the beginning of a new series titled The Gospel. And I'm starting out by answering the question in this first episode: what is the gospel? Now, a lot of Christians think they know the gospel or they view the gospel as some kind of starting line that you take off from, but you never really return to it. And that could not be further from the truth. You know, recently I was spending time with two different groups of men, one here in the Phoenix area, and then another up at a mountain retreat, and just spending some time thinking about the gospel. And we did this really fun exercise where without any type of research or primer, we just put a timer on. And for five minutes, men wrote out the gospel in one of those particular settings. The other, we did a hey, go home this week, impromptu, write out the gospel, bring it back next week and read it in front of an entire group of men. Well, both of these exercises revealed something. And it was fascinating and it was exciting. Not as much embarrassing because we're a couple of groups of men that know each other and wanted to dig in and do a little bit of what I would call sparring or uh, you know, boxing with headgear on, so to speak. No one's gonna get hurt. You're just gonna see kind of what's there. Well, we found our gospel presentations to be somewhat anemic or lacking. Uh, some of us missed a key point like the resurrection. Other guys said, Man, this was kind of like a Sunday school answer, but I missed a lot. Others said, yeah, I sort of fumbled around the gospel, but didn't really get to it. Uh, other guys were bothered that they didn't mention sin. And it was really incredible to think that we as men who have been around the church, I'd say a decent amount, some for years and years, don't often know the gospel as well as we think. Why is that? Well, number one, we hear the gospel all the time. We go to church, we hear it. Hopefully, if you're in a good church with a faithful pastor, you're hearing the true gospel, but there's a difference between hearing and then retaining and then articulating. And so to really know something, it means that you are able to deliver it. And so it couldn't be further from the truth that, you know, we in the American church or we who attend churches regularly, you know, we already know the gospel. We move on from that. It's just the starting line and we're good. We're onto the deeper things. I think a lot of Christians think they know the gospel and cannot articulate it. They don't know it. And when push comes to shove, when they want to share it with someone, they give some sort of shallow end of the pool, if not not even in a pool, kind of presentation of like God loves you and just, you know, have faith and and believe and you know, kind of uh, and you'll go to heaven. But if we take what scripture says, then we're gonna take the gospel to heart. We've got to take what the Bible says and know the gospel and deliver the gospel and live the gospel. That's really what the Bible lays out for us. We never graduate from the gospel. Uh Paul the Apostle never did in the book of Romans over and over and over again. He's talking about the gospel, that he's not ashamed of it, that it's the power of God unto salvation. And then in that passage, Romans 1:16, where he says that, if he says it's the power of God unto salvation, then how important should it then be for us as believers? In Mark chapter chapter 16, verse 15, Jesus tells his disciples to go to the world and preach the gospel. So there's clearly not just like a I hear the gospel or I say I believe the gospel, but if you are a disciple of Jesus Christ, and I know so many of you are, that's why you're listening, well, then there's this active proclamation that needs to be coming out from our lives. That's the Great Commission. And then there's all the other letters that Paul writes and Peter and John and just look at the New Testament across the board, constantly pointing back to the gospel again and again, and they were writing to Christians. Can you just think about that for a second? They were writing to Christians and they kept mentioning the gospel. What did they remind them of when they needed hope? The gospel. What did they remind them of when uh they were in sin? The gospel, the gospel, the gospel, the gospel. And so the truth is we got to go back to the gospel message time and time again because the Bible goes back to the gospel time and time again. And then to make this subject all the more necessary and all the more vital, there are distorted gospels that are like almost gospels. They're really not gospels at all. Then we got plenty of half-truths, people who will believe in things because they sound good, feel good, and they promise what looks good, but we want the truth. And I want you to be equipped with the truth. And so let me frame up this first episode: What is the gospel? with four simple words. This is not only going to give you a clear gospel message, but also help you have categories for when you share the gospel, which will be one of the episodes that we get to in the weeks ahead. Number one, God. In the beginning, there was God. He is eternal, infinite, powerful, and he's perfect. And the Bible teaches that in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, and in doing so, he creates humanity on the sixth day. And God created humanity, that's man and woman, in his own image. And nothing else was as special or as close to him or as like him as mankind. We are said to be made in his image. Nothing else was said to be made in God's image. We were made to enjoy God, to fellowship with God, to worship God, to represent God on the earth. He gave us a job to do. Adam is to name the animals, they're to be fruitful and multiply. Him and Eve, they're given the Garden of Eden, they're expected to obey God and then enjoy the blessings of freedom and their purpose in a perfect world. Adam and Eve enjoyed perfect unity with God and with each other, and everything was said to be, as God said again and again, it's good. It's good, it is good. Which leads to the second word, man. We have God, then we have man. In Genesis chapter three, the serpent enters the scene and he approaches Eve and he tempts her into sin. He lies to her. He says that God didn't really mean what he said, and that if she eats from the tree that God had said not to, that instead of dying, oh, oh, they would become like God, just like God. And so she, being lured in and fooled by his lies, eats of the fruit and then gives it to Adam, who does the same. In that moment, man sinned. And in doing so, Adam and Eve brought into the world something that had never been known or experienced before. Sin, being the exact opposite of God's holy and perfect and good nature and plan, had now entered the world and corrupted everything. Sin is, by definition, missing the mark. It's treason against God. God sets the mark, God sets the standard, God is the creator, sin misses his bullseye completely. It was sin to disobey God. And God hates sin. Why? Because it separates him from his precious creation. God is holy. And he's not going to fellowship with sin and be close to sin and just wink at sin. No. And so now sin had separated man from God. The friendship and closeness that humanity could enjoy with God was now broken. And the perfect, righteous, and holy creator could not tolerate or be in the presence of those whom he created. God created and blessed, sin cursed and destroyed. God created for joy and peace, sin brings pain and division. And because man sinned, everything changed. Death entered the world. Life was no longer perfect. There would be enmity between man and the animals and the earth and with God. Everything was divided, everything was broken, everything was now fallen. God, who takes sin so seriously, banished Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, where they had enjoyed all the benefits of a sinless, perfect world. Now, they would still be able to communicate with God, but it would never be the same. Death, violence, pain, sickness, along with spiritual and physical wars, everything that we see today in our broken, fallen world, all of that would now become a reality. Sin had stained the human race. So we as people, again and again, are now born into sin, as cute as little babies are. The Bible teaches that when they enter the world, they are stained with original sin. The Bible teaches that because of Adam and Eve, all Romans 3.23 have fallen short. Not some, not well, you come into the world and you're good and perfect and you're you're all fine, and then eventually you learn to sin. No, all have fallen short of the glory of God. Ephesians 2, verse 3 says that we are all by nature children of wrath. That means like literally who we are by nature. Sin is in our nature. That's why we know this. If you're a parent, you don't have to teach your kids disobedience. We have to teach them obedience. You don't have to tell people not to, uh, or you don't have to tell people to sin. You have to tell people not to sin. We don't have to try and sin. Sin happens. We are capable of acting on our sinful temptations. Many people do again and again and again. Sin is our problem forever. Left to our own devices and without a rescue operation from God, we are doomed and we are damned. We cannot enter heaven where God is because he will not welcome sin nor sinners into his holy presence. And so all human beings are on their way to hell without a divine intervention. The Bible teaches about mankind and about sin in Romans 6.23 that the wages of sin is death, meaning the payment for sin and the result from sin is death. If you ever want to know why the world is so broken, look no further than sin. It's man's primary problem. That is the bad news, which is why God provided a solution, and in that we find the good news. And so we're talking about what is the gospel? How can you talk about what the gospel is without now the third word? Christ. It's a name. Christ, the anointed one, the Messiah, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Every Bible passage or Bible concept I've mentioned in the section, we would say, under man, all of that covers the bad news. Now the good news. Jesus Christ in Romans 6.23 is said to be the avenue to the free gift of God, and that is eternal life. On the front end of Romans 6.23 is the wages of sin is death. On the back end is, but the free gift of God is eternal life in your works. No. In, hey, you're a good person, give some money to a church. No, in no in Christ Jesus our Lord. That's it. In Romans 3, verses 23 to 25, the first part says, For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. That's bad news. Shifting, though, to the good news, the second half in verse 24 and to 25, being justified as a gift by his grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, whom God displayed publicly. He's talking about the cross as a propitiation. I'm going to tell you what that word means. In his blood through faith, this was to demonstrate his, meaning God's righteousness through Christ, because in forbearance of God, he, in the forbearance of God, he passed over the sins previously committed, meaning Jesus was righteous. And God, who's righteous, expected a righteous standard in the righteous sacrifice given for unrighteous sinners. So God passes over the sins previously committed. The gospel is the good news that Jesus Christ came to save sinners. Jesus came to earth. He was born of a virgin so that he would be both God and man. The Holy Spirit conceived him in the Virgin Mary. He was not born of mere man and woman. Why? Well, because then he would have been stained with original sin. He needed a perfect nature, a sinless nature. He would be both God and man. Divinity and humanity. Sinless and yet human. He was able to save sinners because he was sinless. He was able to relate to sinful men not because he was a sinner, but because he was a man. He lived the perfect life that you and I never could. He overcame the temptations you and I never can. He died a death to pay for sin and broke its curse so that you and I could live not under the curse, but under freedom and liberty and joy and blessing. All of the wrath and punishment that God had to pour out upon sin, he doesn't pour out on you and I as believers. He poured it upon Jesus, his son. When Jesus is on the cross and he cries out, It is finished. He was declaring that the payment for our sin had been completed. And when this passage says that we've been justified in Romans chapter 3, we've been justified. That means you and I, as believers, are declared righteous before God. And the question then begs, how can I be made righteous if I am a sinner? I've done nothing to earn that status. Well, there it is. You've done nothing. I've done nothing. Salvation is a gracious gift. Jesus paid your debt and my debt. And since he was righteous, he's able to give you and I a righteousness that is not our own. That's what that phrase means in Christianity. I've been given a righteousness not my own. What does that mean? I didn't earn my standing before God. That means you and I did nothing to deserve it. You know, that's grace. It's unmerited favor. That's what the word grace means. And yet, because of God's great love for you, he redeemed you. How did he redeem you? By what cosmic mechanism did God seemingly solve the problem of sin and redeem sinners? Well, that's that word propitiation. That's what Christ was and is and has been for us. Propitiation is a Greek word. It basically translates atonement. And to atone, or the word atonement, is defined as that which appeases anger and brings reconciliation with someone who has reason to be angry. And so now I want you to remember what I already said to you about a holy, righteous God who would not wink at sin. He will deal with it. God is separated from man because of sin, angry at sin. He will punish sin. And here comes Christ, the propitiation, the atonement, the one who reconciles God and man. And so when you sing at Christmas time, maybe you even remember the line God and sinners reconciled. What does that mean? It's atonement. It's propitiation. And what this is when we're talking about Christ is penal, substitutionary atonement. What does that mean? Penal? Penalty. Substitution, it's a trade. It's the great exchange. His life for yours. His righteousness given to you. Your sin given to him. So you could say penalty, trade, and then substitution, atonement, paid. Trade, paid. That's what God has done. He's paid the penalty for sin. He's substituted himself for us and he's atoned for our sin. His blood and death appeased the anger of God, satisfied his wrath, fulfilled the punishment required, and then that that allows us to be invited into close relationship with God again. Jesus is the bridge that has connected the chasm. We can go from lost sinners to fellowship with God, friends, his children again. Why? Because of Christ. That's the reality of who he is. What the first Adam ruined, the second Adam has redeemed. All made possible through Jesus Christ. So you if you've ever wondered what's the big deal about Jesus, that's the big deal about Jesus. He is the only one who could save dead, lost humanity. He's given us now fellowship, relationship, and healing between a holy God and sinful man. First Peter 2.24 says he himself bore our sins in his body on the tree. That we might die to sin. That means I don't want it. And live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. Oh, you're dead to sin when you're a believer. You're alive to righteousness. In 2 Corinthians 5 21, Paul says, For our sake, he made him to be sin who knew no sin. That's what it means. Jesus became sin. It didn't mean he acted sin or did sin. He became God the Father put it all on him and poured out his wrath upon his son. Paul finishes that verse by saying, so that in him, meaning Christ, we might become the righteousness of God. But it didn't end with his death. There was a resurrection. And that's the power behind the gospel. See, if he stayed dead, how could he give us life? That doesn't make any sense. It's illogical. But he rose from the grave. He conquered sin. He conquered death. And that proves that he has all authority to redeem us, all authority to break the curse of sin, all authority to give eternal life because he conquered death. He is life. Redeem sinners, Christians, are people who place their trust and hope and faith and allegiance in Christ. We're those who believe in this, that Christ came to save sinners, that he died, that he was buried, and then he rose on the third day. He is the only savior, the perfect Son of God. He's the Lord over our lives, and all of that leads to the final word we must consider: response. Who is Jesus? The only savior, the only redeemer, the perfect sacrifice who satisfied the wrath of a holy, righteous God. If you place your faith in him, you can be saved. And that's where response comes in. In the Bible, we don't find a message like some of these soft peddling preachers will give you today. You know, just love others or just pray this prayer and you're good. Like salvation is some American commodity and you can earn it, or it's a kind of fire insurance that you acquire and you keep in your portfolio. No. In the Bible, when Peter is asked, What must we do to be saved? What do we got to do? His first word out of his mouth is repent. What does that mean? It means to change your mind. The Greek word metanoia. It means change your mind, go the other direction. What does that mean for us today? Stop thinking the way you used to when you loved your sin. Stop believing your way is best. Stop thinking you are good enough for God without Christ. Stop thinking you can do good works to earn salvation. Stop making up your own belief system. Stop making excuses about why God should just let you into heaven. And definitely, most definitely, stop believing in yourself. Change your mind. Repent. Turn away from the direction you have been going or were going. And what did you do if you're a believer? And what should you do if you want to be a Christian? Go a new direction. Trust in Jesus. Turn away from sin and turn to Christ. What does that mean? Think his way. Be like him. Go his direction. Where his feet go, follow. Put your faith, trust. That's what it means to throw yourself upon. Put your trust in him alone for salvation. Trust in him for forgiveness of your sins. See your good works, the things you do that are good, as something that flows out of a changed heart because you love God and you want to love others, but not as some method for earning a place in heaven. Ephesians chapter 2, verse 8 to 10 says, For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not as a result of works. No one can boast. We can't brag. I did this, I chose Christ, I did this, I changed my life, I decided, I, I, I. No, he did it. He did it, and then we responded. For we are his workmanship, Paul says, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. So what's our response? We trust in Christ by faith alone, and then our good works, which do not achieve salvation, no, they become merely the outwork. Of our salvation because we have a changed heart, we now have changed lives, and changed lives serve and love and give and live a life that honors Christ. We are to trust in Jesus. And when we do, we're given a new heart. We are washed, we are cleansed, and we are promised a life of purpose and hope and peace no matter what we face on this earth. Because when this life ends, the one who conquered death now, at that moment, will give you life eternal with him forever in heaven. There's one passage that I want to remind you of, and I want you to always remember this one. When you're thinking, what is the gospel? It's Ephesians chapter 2, and it's verses 1 through 10. The next time you're wondering, you know, where can I go to just get the gospel all in one passage? If you have your Bible, you can turn there. If you uh need to push pause and go grab your Bible, that's great. But if you're at the gym, you're on the road, that's okay. I'll just read this to you and kind of let it wash over your mind and your soul. Be reminded, this is the gospel message. Ephesians 2, verse 1. And you were dead in your trespasses and sins. There it is, man's problem, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, meaning you were going the devil's way, the world's way, according to the prince of the power of the air. That means Satan was kind of running the show, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. You were disobedient like all of them were. Among them, we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, didn't we? We followed after our lusts. We just did what we wanted, what felt good and what seemed good. We were by nature, he says, children of wrath. There it is. But God, verse 4, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us. You see that? But God, not but you and me, but God. Even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together. See, he did it. Dead men don't raise themselves. We didn't save ourselves, we didn't change ourselves. God did it. He is the great initiator. Man, the humble, lowly responder. He woke us up out of our dead state and gave us a new heart. The Bible says, By grace you have been saved. And he raised us up with him, and he seated us with him in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. You know, that's your status today. If you're a believer, you are seated in kind of a now but not yet in heavenly places with Christ. That is your status, that is your citizenship. So that in the ages to come he might show the surpassing riches of his grace and kindness towards us in Christ. You know, God is showing how kind he is when he saves you. He's showing his love, he's showing you his mercy. And then Paul finishes, For by grace you have been saved through faith. And that not of yourselves. It's the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, so that we would walk in them. We were dead and he made us alive. It's all his mercy, it's all his grace. Nothing at all that we have done. What's the gospel? What is the good news? The good news is that God sent his son to save lost, dead sinners like you and I, completely changing not only our present, but our entire future. In the next episode, I want to come at the gospel from a totally different angle. I want to highlight what the gospel is not. This episode, obviously, just a glorious treasure. I mean, even my own heart is so edified and so uplifted just thinking about these things. But it's important to know not just the truth and focus on the truth, but it can be helpful to consider how things that are almost true are still a lie. It was Charles Spurgeon who once said, discernment is not knowing the difference between right and wrong. It's knowing the difference between right and almost right. So I want to help you discern the almost gospels that are not gospels at all. And so we're gonna look next time an episode titled What the Gospel Is Not. And then later on in the series, how to share the gospel, and we're gonna get all in there together. Thanks for listening, for watching, for sharing, and for supporting. I want to encourage you to send this episode to somebody who needs to hear the good news about Jesus Christ and the love of God through the gospel. And this is a great resource to utilize for that. If you haven't already, make sure to subscribe to our For the Gospel YouTube channel and follow for the gospel on all social media platforms to take advantage of all of the free resources that we offer. Our ministry purpose is to provide sound doctrine for everyday people. So everything we do is designed to accomplish that. To learn more about our ministry or to become a monthly gospel patron, go to www.forthegospel.org. I'll be back next Monday with another episode. Keep on living for the gospel.