The Gospel of Jesus Christ: A Deductive Approach

Kaiana

Much has been written about the gospel of Jesus Christ. What I hope to add to the conversation by writing this document is clarification about what must be believed in order to receive the mercy and grace of God in its totality. We do this by gathering together the relevant Scriptural verses which articulate the consequences of not embracing a cognitive or affective requirement. This has the added benefit of also identifying which ideas are truly heretical. Here I’m defining a heresy based upon what notions would lead a person away from the saving gospel and, thus, towards a Christ-less eternity. My hope is that this might result in helping seekers of God apply a level of discernment that they might not have otherwise when choosing a local church for membership. On a larger scale it might even help reduce the friction that is sometimes experienced between Christians of different denominations who, although they know they have theological differences, may not have the categories to discern between those which are heretical (cp. Gal 1:8) and those of a mere subjective nature (cp. Rom 14:5).

The entire gospel can be represented by four main truths about the Savior: (1) the identity of the Savior, (2) the ministry of the Savior, (3) the sovereignty of the Savior, and (4) the centrality of the Savior.

1. Identity of the Savior

He told them, “You are from below, I’m from above. You are of this world, but I’m not of this world. That is why I told you that you will die in your sins, for unless you believe that I AM, you’ll die in your sins.” – John 8:23-24 (ISV)

Then the Jewish leaders asked him, “You are not even 50 years old, yet you have seen Abraham?” Jesus told them, “Truly, I tell all of you emphatically, before there was an Abraham, I AM!” At this, they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the Temple. – John 8:57-58 (ISV)

In the above passage, Jesus declares His deity and when the Pharisees don’t quite catch the significance of His statement He drives it home until they can no longer ignore it. Why take the risk? After all, He almost got stoned to death. He makes it crystal clear: “…for unless you believe that I AM, you’ll die in your sins.”

There are many people and belief systems that want to honor Jesus as a great moral teacher. There are others that aren’t so generous and realize that when a person claims to be the Creator-Owner-Judge of the universe, the only available options that rightly describe such are person are Lord, liar, lunatic, or legend. Sometimes it’s good to be backed into a corner. It drives us to a moment of clarification and decision-making so that our choices are no longer so ambiguous and we move past the point of merely meandering through life. It’s like that line in the movie, The Shawshank Redemption: “I guess it comes down to a simple choice, really. Get busy living or get busy dying.”

The Bible makes it abundantly clear that Christ is the Creator. The book of John begins with this simple fact: “In the beginning, the Word existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. Through him all things were made, and apart from him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life brought light to humanity” John 1:1-4. “For by him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether they are kings, lords, rulers, or powers. All things have been created through him and for him” Col 1:16. “God, having spoken in former times in fragmentary and varied fashion to our forefathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by a Son whom he appointed to be the heir of everything and through whom he also made the universe” Heb 1:1-2.

One of the most powerful passages on the deity of Christ is found in the twelve chapter of John:

These things Jesus spoke, and He went away and hid Himself from them. But though He had performed so many signs before them, yet they were not believing in Him. This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet which he spoke: “LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT? AND TO WHOM HAS THE ARM OF THE LORD BEEN REVEALED?” For this reason they could not believe, for Isaiah said again, “HE HAS BLINDED THEIR EYES AND HE HARDENED THEIR HEART, SO THAT THEY WOULD NOT SEE WITH THEIR EYES AND PERCEIVE WITH THEIR HEART, AND BE CONVERTED AND I HEAL THEM.” These things Isaiah said because he saw His glory, and he spoke of Him. – John 12:36b-41 (NAS)

What makes this passage so powerful is that when matched back to the quoted portion of the Old Testament, we find that the second quotation is from Isa 6:10. Therefore, Jesus’ “glory” that Isaiah witnessed and “spoke of” is from the same context, which reads, “In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.”

Hence, the LORD in the Old Testament is the pre-incarnate Christ of the New Testament. As such, when the pre-incarnate Christ delivers His Ten Commandments to the nation of Israel on Mount Sinai (Exod 20:1-17), He does so using the intrinsic right that He has as Creator over all creation. As the psalmist states, “Know that the LORD Himself is God; it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture” (Psa 100:3). Because the Creator also has the right to be the moral Law-giver over His creatures (Rom 1:18-32), we are beholden to His moral law (Heb 4:13). And it is our absolute failure to keep God’s moral law that establishes our need for a Savior, lest we stand guilty before Him as our Judge (Heb 9:27, 10:26-27).

2. The Ministry of the Savior

Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God… For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” – John 3:3, 16 (NAS)

Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also. – 1 Cor 15:1-8 (NAS)

Jesus tells us in John 3 that unless one is born again, one cannot see the kingdom of God. Just about a dozen verses later in what is surely the most quoted verse of the Bible, He infers that being born again is connected to believing in Him. Paul expands upon the actual content of what is to be believed by itemizing the objective facts of what Christ did to accomplish our salvation: (1) He died, (2) for our sins, (3) according to the Scriptures, (4) He was buried, (5) He was raised on the third day, (6) and He appeared to many of His disciples. There are two corollaries to this particular point, namely, the depravity of sinners and the exclusivity of the Savior.

A. The Depravity of Sinners

Depravity doesn’t infer that we are as bad as we can be as sinners, but it does mean that we are as bad off as we can be. We could be more evil in our treatment of others, but we couldn’t be any further away from being worthy of God’s blessing. Why? Because as James 2:10 says, “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.” Our failure to hit the target of God’s righteousness in our behavior, is not eased by the fact that we could have missed it by a larger margin because the penalty is the same: “the wages of sin is death” (Rom 6:23). Furthermore, all people apart from Christ are condemned “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23).

Had there been another way for us to be saved apart from the death of God’s Son, He surely would have taken it. Paul tells us, “For if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law. But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe” Gal 3:22-23. It is the very fact that God was willing to take such ultimate measures that leads Paul to conclude, “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?”

Understanding the severity of our crisis is important because, without knowing our circumstances, how then could we ever value or appraise the worth of God’s solution? If ours was a financial obligation and we were only short by five dollars, the appreciation would not be as great as if our debt was five trillion dollars and God still paid it for us. In this case the cost was immeasurable, for it required the death of God’s very Son. Here’s the crucial point: you will not rightly grasp the bullet that was dodged until you understand and acknowledge that you were the one that deserved to die that death on the cross.

When we read that “Christ died for our sins” (1 Cor 15:3) it means that He took your place to suffer a penalty that you justly deserve (cp. Isa 53:4-6; Rom 5:6; 1 Peter 3:18). Let that sink in. If Christ died to pay for the penalty you owed, that logically and directly infers that if Christ’s death is not applied as the payment for your sins, your debt is still intact and the suffering He endured is what you still owe according the righteous Judge over creation. Now if you don’t see your life as being worthy of such a horrendous penalty, you simply don’t understand the high and righteous standard of our holy Creator. If you are offended that God would give you the death penalty for how you have lived your life before Him, you don’t know yourself… let alone God and His holiness. For we are sinners by nature, choice, and status. Which of us can say that we have never broken any of God’s Ten Commandments, for example? What is needed is a Savior who can pay our debt (slaves to sin are unable to earn any righteousness of their own) and then provide us with new hearts that we may be “born again”, having been adopted into the family of God through faith in Christ.

B. The Exclusivity of the Savior

Christ’s death on your behalf clears the ledger of debt so that you can be reconciled with God. The just Judge is now free to treat you with grace as an adopted son or daughter. All you need to do is to believe and receive Him. His friendship is there for the taking… thanks to the sacrifice of His dear Son. And because Christ has risen again, He is alive to personally relate with you in this journey of life, just as He has promised, “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matt 28:20).

Here we want to emphasize the sufficiency of Christ’s ministry alone. If we attempt to add any of our own self-righteous works (cp. Isa 64:6) to Christ’s finished sacrifice as the basis for our salvation or even our sanctification (cp. 1 Cor 15:10), we dishonor God by stealing the credit that He alone deserves (cp. Gal 3:1-5). There is nothing we can do to add to His atoning work to make it more effectual. God designed it to be this way in order for the glory of this accomplishment to be Christ’s alone, for if it were possible for us to contribute anything towards our salvation it would only serve to cheapen the divine sacrifice that was made to purchase it.

How severe is this mistake? Paul writes in Galatians 3:10, “For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.’” In Ephesians he tells us, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Eph 2:8-9, ESV). This heretical error will keep you out of heaven and is so wide-spread among self-sufficient, independent sinners that want to pride themselves in being self-made achievers that Paul gives it a special name: the stumbling stone.

What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith; but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone, just as it is written, “BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE, AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.” – Rom 9:30-33 (NAS)

In contrast if we will simply accept the free gift of God of eternal life in Christ Jesus (Rom 6:23) with humility, we can claim this mighty promise: “if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, ‘WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED’ (Rom 10:9-11). To those who would trust in the God Peter adds, “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you” (1 Pet 5:6-7).

Jesus, being divine, was willing to stoop low and become human in order to qualify as our sinless substitute (Heb 2:14-15) on the cross and die in our place for our sins, the just for the unjust (1 Pet 3:18) to bring us to God. This was in obedience to His Father (John 14:30-31) and His successful victory as our Savior over sin and death (1 Cor 15:54-57) leads us to His exalted reward (Phil 2:5-11; Rev 5) and our next point.

3. The Sovereignty of the Savior

While they were listening to these things, Jesus went on to tell a parable, because He was near Jerusalem, and they supposed that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately. So He said, “A nobleman went to a distant country to receive a kingdom for himself, and then return. And he called ten of his slaves, and gave them ten minas and said to them, ‘Do business with this until I come back.’ But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’ When he returned, after receiving the kingdom, he ordered that these slaves, to whom he had given the money, be called to him so that he might know what business they had done. The first appeared, saying, ‘Master, your mina has made ten minas more.’ And he said to him, ‘Well done, good slave, because you have been faithful in a very little thing, you are to be in authority over ten cities.’ The second came, saying, ‘Your mina, master, has made five minas.’ And he said to him also, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’ Another came, saying, ‘Master, here is your mina, which I kept put away in a handkerchief; for I was afraid of you, because you are an exacting man; you take up what you did not lay down and reap what you did not sow.’ He said to him, ‘By your own words I will judge you, you worthless slave. Did you know that I am an exacting man, taking up what I did not lay down and reaping what I did not sow? Then why did you not put my money in the bank, and having come, I would have collected it with interest?’ Then he said to the bystanders, ‘Take the mina away from him and give it to the one who has the ten minas.’ And they said to him, ‘Master, he has ten minas already.’ I tell you that to everyone who has, more shall be given, but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. But these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slay them in my presence.” – Luke 19:11-27 (NAS)

“But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’ Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” – Matt 25:31-46 (NAS)

The emphasis on this point is the inevitability of the Son’s worldwide reign (John 3:35) and the kingdom of righteousness to come where all that offends will be removed (cp. Psa 2). Even in this age Christ is currently ruling from the heavens (Matt 28:18) and assembling His bride, the Church, who will reign over the earth at His side with exceedingly great joy… for who else is worthy to rule, but the One who loved them to the uttermost (John 13:1)? Yet those who reject His offer of salvation and the prompting of His Holy Spirit through their conscience (Matt 12:31-37) are left to their own devices. Even their very morality, which was given to them in order to seek God and that they mistakenly took to be their own, is returned to its Owner. Thus, the children of God are set free to inherit the earth (Rom 8:19-21) and His enemies, like vipers that are relegated to a snake pit (lest the children get bitten) are cast aside.

4. The Centrality of the Savior

If anyone does not love the Lord, he is to be accursed. Maranatha. – I Cor 16:22 (NAS)

Now one of the Pharisees was requesting Him to dine with him, and He entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. And there was a woman in the city who was a sinner; and when she learned that He was reclining at the table in the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster vial of perfume, and standing behind Him at His feet, weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears, and kept wiping them with the hair of her head, and kissing His feet and anointing them with the perfume. Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet He would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching Him, that she is a sinner.” And Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he replied, “Say it, Teacher.” “A moneylender had two debtors: one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they were unable to repay, he graciously forgave them both. So which of them will love him more?” Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.” And He said to him, “You have judged correctly.” Turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave Me no kiss; but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss My feet. You did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with perfume. For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.” Then He said to her, “Your sins have been forgiven.” Those who were reclining at the table with Him began to say to themselves, “Who is this man who even forgives sins?” And He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” – Luke 7:36-50 (NAS)

Our final point is also the culmination of the prior three sections. Namely, that the divine goal of recognizing the identity, ministry, and sovereignty of the Savior is to appreciate His centrality in our lives and hearts. Were any single individual appropriately understood to be our awesome and holy Creator, we would recognize the honor and affection that would be their due. Were any single individual appropriately understood to be our merciful and gracious Savior, we would recognize the honor and affection that would be their due. Finally, were any single individual appropriately understood to be our righteous and perfect King, we would recognize the honor and affection that would be their due. Yet Christ is all three. Therefore, we shouldn’t be too surprised that He makes demands upon our affections that would be outrageous were it to come from any other individual: “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me” (Matt 10:37). After all, who gave you the people in your life that you value so much? And shouldn’t the Giver be of more value than the gifts?

You see, God the Father has written His story (cp. Eph 1:3-14) in such a way as to show us creatures of finite understanding the infinite worth of His Son so that through all eternity we might give Him the praise and glory due His name (cp. Col 1:16; 1 Cor 15:22-28). Only through such a sequence of events, which includes the fall of angels and the fall of mankind (and, might I respectfully add, per Psa 139:16, the hurts and joys of your own life as well?), might all creation first learn the full extent of God’s love for us (John 17:23), thereby winning over our love for Him (1 John 4:19). Yes, the plan of God is breath-taking (Rom 11:33-36) and more worthy than all the books that will ever be written (John 21:25), but it is comprehensible and makes a persuasive case for why you, too, should ask Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today… loving Him with all of your heart, and all your soul, and all your mind, and all your strength (Mark 12:30). May God abundantly bless you and prove the reality of His presence in your life as you trust in Him!