Essential Gospel Doctrine

We first see GOD. The existence of God is an essential gospel doctrine. If one does not have GOD, one does not have the gospel. But the gospel does not just stop at God’s existence. What does God do? God PROMISES. And the only way the gospel can be good news is if God has the power to keep all His promises without even a single failure.

What does the Bible say about the ability of God to keep His promises? Because of space limitations, the Scripture verses will not be written out, but please turn to these passages and read them:

This is only a small percentage of the passages that talk of God’s faithfulness to keep His promises. If God’s promises were not sure to be fulfilled, then all is in vain.

How can we be sure that God is able to keep all His promises? Some of the verses above mention this, and there are many other verses that mention it as well. The reason we can be sure that God is able to keep all His promises is because God is sovereign. That means He is in total control of all things. He created all things, and He orders all things. There is not a single thing in the universe that is not controlled by God. If there is anything that is not under God’s control, then whatever it is that is not under God’s control can get in the way of God’s fulfilling His promises. If God promises to do something, yet there are some people around who are not controlled by God, then those people could thwart God’s promise. God must be in control of every single thing. Here are a few Scriptures that show that God is in control:

And the Bible says that the most important event in history, even though it was carried out by evil men, was predetermined: Luke 22:22; Acts 2:23; 4:27-28.

TO SAVE

TO SAVE means to deliver or rescue. So the gospel speaks of God’s promise to deliver or rescue.

First of all, what is the necessary implication of deliverance or rescue? If I’m going to RESCUE someone, does that mean that everything is okay with the person I’m going to rescue? No! It means that there is something terribly wrong. That person is in a situation in which he is in need of RESCUE. And if I’m going to DELIVER someone, it’s because that person is being held or is bound by someone or something. Since the gospel speaks of God’s saving certain people, what is the terrible situation from which these people need to be RESCUED? What are they bound by from which they need to be DELIVERED?

The Bible clearly tells us the state of these people before they are rescued and delivered. In fact, it tells us that the state of these people – that is, the ones that are mentioned in the gospel – before salvation is no different than the state of everyone without exception by nature. Ephesians 2:1-3 says that we were dead in trespasses and in sins. When it says we were dead, does that mean that we did not breathe or that our heart was not beating or that our brain was not working? We can see from verses 2 and 3 that it does not mean that, because it says that we were doing things. So when we talk about unbelievers being dead, we do not mean that they do not do anything. This death is a certain kind of death. As verse 1 says, it is a kind of death that is in trespasses and sins. We were dead in our sins. Colossians 2:13 says that we were dead in the offenses and the uncircumcision of our flesh. John 3:19 says that unsaved people love darkness rather than light, because their works are evil. Romans 6:17 and 20 says that we were slaves of sin. So we were dead in sin and slaves to sin. This means that everything we did was evil, and we could not do anything good. We could not even understand the difference between good and evil. In the second part of Romans 6:20, it says that we were

For the answer to this question, look at Romans 5:12-19. Sin entered the world through one man. Through one man’s disobedience, the many were constituted sinners. Who is this one man? He was the first man ever to be created — Adam. What does that have to do with us? Adam’s sin is imputed to all whom he represented. How many people did Adam represent? All of Adam’s posterity. The doctrine of original sin is essential gospel doctrine.

What is God’s attitude toward those who are dead in their sins and who are void of righteousness? Ephesians 2:3 says that we were by nature children of wrath.

This is why, when we were dead in trespasses and sins, we were children of wrath. We were under God’s wrath. At the very end of the verse, it says, “even as the rest.” This shows that everyone without exception by nature is a child of wrath. They are under God’s curse. Everything they do is under a curse.

Now someone might ask,

Proverbs 12:10 says that even the mercies of the wicked are cruel! His so-called goodness to others is actually cruelty in God’s sight! Hebrews 11:6 says that it is impossible for unbelievers to please God. Do you see any exceptions in here? Does an unbeliever’s so-called good deeds or acts of kindness please God? God says that this is an impossibility. And if it is impossible for an unbeliever to ever please God, what is God’s attitude toward those who do not please Him? Only a curse. Never a blessing. Proverbs 3:33 says that the house of the wicked is cursed. Deuteronomy 8:15-19 shows that everything he does is cursed.

When the Bible speaks of those who are dead in their sins, who are slaves to sin, who are bringing forth fruit unto death, who cannot bring forth good fruit, who cannot please God, and who are under God’s curse, it is not just speaking of the immoral pervert. It is also talking about the one who is doing his best to obey God and to be moral and dedicated and sincere but who does not believe the gospel.

In Philippians 3, he shows that he was not an immoral pervert when he was lost; in fact, he was just the opposite. He was a moral, sincere, zealous, religious person. Yet because he did not believe the gospel then, Paul counted all that but loss. Proverbs 15:8 says that the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to God. It is all an abomination, even if it comes in the name of Christ. The so-called “Christians” of our day who claim to love and worship God but who do not believe the gospel (including all who believe that Christ died for all without exception) are bringing forth fruit unto death. They have a zeal, but it is not according to knowledge (Romans 10:2). They are ever learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth (2 Tim. 3:7). The state of the religious unbeliever who comes in the name of conservative Christianity, even in the name of the doctrines of grace, is the same as the state of the irreligious, unconcerned, immoral, liberal homosexual.

Part and parcel with the doctrine of original sin and total depravity is the doctrine of what sin earns. For if certain people are saved from their sins, they are also saved from the consequence of their sins. What is the consequence of sin? Romans 6:23 says that sin earns death. Sin demands death. Verse 16 talks about “sin to death.” Verse 21 says that “the end of those things is death.” When Romans 5 speaks of Adam, it speaks of condemnation and death as sin’s result.

What is this condemnation and death, which is also spoken of as damnation? The Bible clearly states that it is the state of the wicked after they die in which they are eternally punished for their sins. The place in which they are eternally punished for their sins is called hell. The following are some Scriptures that speak of the horrible state and place of those who die in their sins:

We see from these passages two main truths about hell. First, it is a burning with fire that causes unimaginable pain and agony and torment to all who are there. Second, this burning fire and torment will last for eternity. The fire will never go out, and the pain and agony will never end. What a sobering thought. Even the worst suffering on earth cannot even begin to compare with the torment of hell.

Why does hell exist? And why are its occupants tormented forever? Some say that God would not do such a thing as tormenting the wicked forever. The reason people say these things is because they do not know who God is.

Sin against an eternally Holy God must be punished with eternal punishment. Those who do not believe in the eternal punishment of the wicked do not believe in the utter sinfulness of sin. They do not believe that sin is that much of an offense to God. And the reason they do not believe that sin is such an offense to the eternal God that the wicked must be punished eternally is because they do not believe in the Holy and Just God of the Bible.

We have thus far seen what God’s people are saved from. Now we go into what this salvation entails, according to God’s testimony. What happens to a dead sinner when he is saved?

First, when the sovereign God appoints a time to save one of His people, there is absolutely no stopping it. God’s saving power is irresistible. Read John 6:37. Are there any exceptions there? Are there any whom God has given to Jesus who will not come to Him? Now look at verse 44:

Let us now look at the change that takes place at this time.

There is first a change of state before God. We have already seen that God’s people by nature are in a state of wrath and condemnation. They are under God’s curse. They do not have a righteousness that equals God’s righteousness. What happens at salvation to a person’s state before God?

This is an amazing truth. God, because He is holy, only fellowships with those who are as righteous as He is. And He will admit no one to heaven who does not have a righteousness that equals His. Imputation is the only way that God can be just to justify sinners. Because of imputation, there is a change from death to life. We, by nature, in our own righteousness, were dead in sins and could only bring forth fruit unto death. But what does the Scripture say about our state when we are saved? Read Ephesians 2:4-5 and Colossians 2:13. We were dead once, but we were made alive. This making of a new life is sometimes called being born of God. Read John 3:3-8 and 1 Peter 1:23. Regenerate is another word for born again. Generate = born, and re = again. So when we talk about regeneration, we are talking about being born again.

As part of being born again, there is a change of heart. Read Ezekiel 11:19 and 36:25-26. Before salvation, God’s people have a heart of stone. After salvation, God’s people have a heart of flesh. What does this change of heart mean? In order to find this out, we need to see what is the function of the heart according to Scripture. The following are examples (notice what the heart is doing in each of these passages):

Let us now look at descriptions of those who are saved. Read John 17:3. What is everlasting life? It is knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ. Read John 8:32. What is the truth that God’s people know that sets them free? It is that same truth that those who do not believe are ignorant of! It is the truth of the righteousness of God revealed in the Gospel; the truth of the person and work of Jesus Christ! Read Romans 6:17-18: What is that doctrine that believers believed when they were made free from sin? Again, it is the same doctrine of which unbelievers are ignorant! 2 John 9 says that those who do not stay in the doctrine of Christ do not have God.

Another effect of the change of heart is repentance. It is important to note the passages in which repentance and belief of the gospel are mentioned together. Some examples are Mark 1:15 and Acts 20:21. Since repentance is connected with belief, of what does this repentance consist? When God’s people are given knowledge of the true gospel, they repent of believing a false gospel. This means that they turn totally away from the false gospel of salvation conditioned on the sinner and submit to the righteousness of God revealed in the true gospel of salvation conditioned on the atoning blood and imputed righteousness of Christ alone. They count all their works while believing a false gospel as dung, as dead works, as evil deeds, as fruit unto death. They realize that their belief of a false gospel showed that they were lost. They will never speak peace to their former selves.

Repentance and judging go hand-in-hand. If one believes that he was lost while believing a false gospel, then he obviously will not think that someone else is saved who believes that same false gospel.

We are given an example of true repentance in Philippians 3:4-9. When Paul believed in the true gospel of the righteousness of God, he counted his former religion as loss and as trash. He realized that when he believed in salvation conditioned on the sinner, he was bringing forth evil deeds, dead works, and fruit unto death. He realized that now that God had changed his heart to believe the gospel, he would never go back to bringing forth evil deeds, dead works, and fruit unto death. They were on the dung heap. This is true gospel repentance. If someone says that he repented of a false gospel at conversion and then needs to continue to repent of a false gospel as a Christian, then that person is still dead in his sins, because he has no idea what true gospel repentance is. True gospel repentance is a one-time occurrence, just as regeneration is a one-time occurrence.

There is another important meaning of “TO SAVE.” The aforementioned Hebrew and Greek words also mean “to preserve,” “to be safe,” and “to do well.” Here we see that salvation does not only have to do with the initial deliverance and rescue from the bondage of sin, but it also has to do with being preserved from evil. Once we are delivered and rescued, we remain in this state forever. So the gospel also includes God’s promise to preserve. What kind of good news would it be if God promised initial regeneration but then said that these regenerate people can become unregenerated and finally perish in hell? This is not good news at all. In fact, it is a blatant form of salvation conditioned on the sinner, because it says that a person’s bad works can undo his salvation. And if his bad works can undo their salvation, what does he think will redo his salvation?

Let us review some Scriptures that show that God preserves everyone He regenerates and that not a single person whom God saves will return to a state of lostness.

Who is able to pluck the sheep out of God’s hand? No one! They shall never perish.

Can anyone or anything stop or hinder God’s people from being saved eternally?

This leads into a vital area of subjective preservation. God’s people are preserved from believing, confessing, and following a false christ and a false gospel. Read John 10:5. Does it say that we will sometimes follow a stranger? Does it say that we will follow a stranger and follow the true Shepherd at the same time? No! It says that we will never follow a stranger! […] Christians still do struggle with sin and constantly fall short of the perfect standard in their character and conduct, but they never follow a stranger or confess a false gospel. Anyone who says that a Christian can follow a stranger and confess a false gospel does not know the preserving grace of God.

HIS PEOPLE

Whom does God promise to save?

Matthew 1:21 shows that God promises to save HIS PEOPLE. In the context of the verse, these are specifically CHRIST’S PEOPLE.

Look at verse 15 again in light of this. Jesus said that He lays down His life for the sheep. Then in verse 26, Jesus said that these Jews were not of His sheep. So — did Jesus lay down His life for these Jews? Can there be any doubt in the mind of anyone who really believes in the Jesus of the Bible? There cannot be.

Ephesians 5:25 and Acts 20:28 show that Christ gave Himself up for the church and purchased the church with his own blood.

Another part of John 10 points us to another essential gospel doctrine. In verse 29, Jesus said that His Father gave the sheep to Him. When did that giving take place? This article mentioned predestination earlier — God determined all things before He created the world. If He determines anything in reaction to what His creation does, then His promises would not be sure an certain, because they could be changed by the will of man. This is most strongly shown in God’s predestinating a certain number of people to be given to Christ and saved based on Christ’s work alone. This kind of predestinating is sometimes called election, and the people whom God elected are sometimes called the elect.

In Ephesians 1:3-14, we see that God chose His people before the foundation of the world. But we also see that bare election is not enough. God chose His people before the foundation of the world to be redeemed and adopted in Christ, to make us understand the truth of the gospel, to be to the praise of His glory, and to be sealed with the Holy Spirit.

These are people who are Christ’s own possession. Second, notice that at the end of this verse, it talks about the calling out of darkness into light. As we saw before, this darkness is the darkness of ignorance, and this light is the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. God does not elect someone and then save that person and leave that person ignorant of the person and work of Christ.

We see in Romans 9:9-24 that God chooses to have mercy on whom He will have mercy, and He chose the objects of mercy before they were even born, even before they had done anything good or bad. Verse 23 says that God prepared the vessels of mercy beforehand. Notice also that verse 11 says,

These people know nothing of true, Biblical predestination and election. God predestinates His people to be called by the gospel, to be saved based on the atoning blood and imputed righteousness of Christ alone, and to know that they have been saved based on the atoning blood and imputed righteousness of Christ alone. Without this, predestination and election are empty doctrines of self-righteous religionists.

In 2 Timothy 1:8-11, we again see that God’s people were chosen in eternity past. And again we see that this choosing is in direct opposition to salvation by works. We see that this choosing was to salvation by means of the calling of the gospel, which brings life and incorruptibility to light.

CONDITIONED ON

God saves His people CONDITIONED on the work of Christ alone.

“Condition” as a noun means “an essential requirement of.” So if A is CONDITIONED on B, then A cannot happen until the requirement of B is met. In the gospel, salvation cannot happen unless the requirement of Christ’s obedience and death is met. When we talk of those who believe in salvation CONDITIONED on the sinner, we are saying that these people believe that salvation cannot happen unless the requirement of the work of the sinner is met.

THE ATONING

Before the atonement, there must be an imputation. The sins of all God’s people were imputed or counted or legally charged to Jesus Christ on the cross. This was typified in the Old Testament in the sacrifice of atonement. (See Leviticus 16 for an example.) In Isaiah 53, we see Christ bearing the transgression of His people. The sins of His people were imputed to Him. Jesus Christ actually became guilty by imputation. He remained perfect in His character and conduct, but He was counted guilty because sin was imputed to Him. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says that Jesus Christ was actually made sin for us.

If Christ atoned without imputation, then He must have either atoned for no one or atoned for Himself. We know that both of these are impossible. In order to make atonement, Christ must be the substitute and representative of a certain number of people.

BLOOD

Why is BLOOD a necessary part of the gospel?

Leviticus 17:11 says that the life is in the BLOOD, and it is the BLOOD that makes atonement. Hebrews 9:22 says that there is no remission without the shedding of BLOOD. Remission means

And 1 Corinthians 11:25 says that the cup in the Lord’s Supper is the New Covenant in Christ’s blood.

Another reason that the blood of Christ must be shed is because it is a giving from one to another. Christ gave His blood, which was His life, to His people. Blood that stays inside a human cannot be given to another. It cannot be sprinkled onto another. Christ did not keep His blood to Himself. He sprinkled our hearts from an evil conscience, as Hebrews 10:22 says. He washed our sins by His blood, as Revelation 1:5 says. His blood cleanses us from all sin, as 1 John 1:7 says. This sprinkling is a purging; it is a cleansing. Christ gave up His own blood — His own life — so that we might be cleansed by that blood.

In the New Testament, we see in Ephesians 2:13 that Christ’s blood made us come to be near because of that reconciliation. We see in Colossians 1:20 that Christ’s blood makes peace and reconciles.

AND IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST

The first imputation is the imputation of the sins of Christ’s people to Christ, making Christ legally guilty. The second imputation is the IMPUTATION of Christ’s RIGHTEOUSNESS to His people, making us legally righteous.

Again, if imputation is to occur, there must be representation. Jesus Christ must be a representative of a people.

Not only was Jesus Christ totally sinless; He was a totally sinless man. Jesus Christ was fully human. Matthew 1:25, Luke 2:7, and Galatians 4:4 clearly show that he was born of a woman. Matthew and Luke say that he was a child and grew up, just like any of us. Jesus got hungry and thirsty and tired and sleepy, just like any of us. In fact, 1 John 4:3 says that anyone who does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not from God. Jesus came in the flesh, a flesh just like ours, and had all the same bodily needs that we do. Yet, unlike any of us, He did all this without sin. And it had to be this way, or else there would be no imputed righteousness. Christ also had to be a human because a human must be punished for the sins of humans. Just as Christ was our representative and substitute in His life, He was our representative and substitute in His death. And since sin demands death, and God cannot die, Jesus Christ had to be a human who could and did die. He had to be a human who could and did pour out His blood. He had to be a human who could and did rise again from the dead, giving resurrection life to us. The humanity of Christ is an essential gospel doctrine.

But not only was Jesus Christ human, He was also God. And He had to be God. He had to be God because only God can forgive sin. Only God can deliver us from the power of sin and death. Only God is without sin. Only God can satisfy His own justice. And only God can sanctify the offering. We see in Matthew 1:18-20 and Luke 1:35 that Jesus Christ was conceived by God the Holy Spirit. We see in Isaiah 7:14 and Luke 1:34 that Jesus Christ’s mother had not had sexual relations with any man before He was born. Isaiah 9:6 says that Jesus Christ is

John 1:1 and 14 says that the Word was God and became flesh and dwelled among us. Titus 2:13 says that Jesus Christ is our great God and Savior. Jesus said in John 10:30 that He and God the Father are one. John 1:14 and 18, John 3:16 and 18, Hebrews 1:5 and 5:5 and 11:17, and 1 John 4:9 say that Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God. And 1 John 4:15 says that whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God is regenerate. The deity of Christ is an essential gospel doctrine.

Jesus Christ had to be a God-man. He had to be one person with two distinct natures: a divine nature and a human nature. He had to be both of these at once because He had to be the Mediator between God and men — the only One who could go between them. 1 Timothy 2:5 says that Christ Jesus is the only Mediator. Who can make peace between Holy God and sinful man? Only a God-man Mediator.

ALONE

God saves His people conditioned on the atoning blood and imputed righteousness of Christ ALONE. There are so many false gospels out there that say

Grace is not really grace if the works of the sinner are introduced as forming any part of the ground of his salvation. If someone conditions any part of salvation, from regeneration to final glory, on anything that proceeds from the sinner, then what they call “grace” is actually no grace at all. It is a system of works, and it is an abomination to God. In Galatians 5:2, Paul says that if one is circumcised thinking that this forms at least some part of the ground of his salvation or acceptance before God, Christ will profit him nothing. It is Christ’s work alone that is the ground of all salvation and all blessing.

Those who believe in universal atonement do not believe that it is the work of Christ alone that makes the difference between salvation and damnation. Instead, they believe that it is the work of the sinner that makes the difference. These people do not believe the gospel.