The Gospel in a Nutshell

Most of the world believes in "justification by death" - in other words, the only thing it takes to get to heaven is to die. You hear this universalist mythology everywhere in popular culture. That is not the gospel. It is appointed once for man to die and then the judgment. That is bad news. What follows is a basic outline of the "good news" that has to be connected and fleshed out in class.

John 3:14-18

Parallels From Romans 3

Some References

 14"As  Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must  the Son of Man  be lifted up;

25   whom God displayed publicly as (40) a propitiation (41) in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness,

26 for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time,

40.     1 John 2:2; 4:10

41.         1 Cor 5:7; Heb 9:14, 28; 1 Pet 1:19; Rev 1:5          

Concept: God has provided a savior who dies to demonstrate His righteousness, because death is the penalty of sin.  

In Numbers 21:7-9, The bronze serpent on a standard is introduced. Jesus refers to this as a prelude to the climax of his discussion with Nicodemus. The Nehustan was a type of Christ in its inception. The dying people needed an intercessor to approach God for them, and God mercifully provides a way of salvation.  It is a picture of  the hopeless relying on a designated  foreign source of salvation and healing. Faith in the God who provides (Yahweh Yireh) brought salvation. This was to demonstrate that Yahweh Tsidkinew (God our Righteousness)  IS the only source of righteousness- the people were as utterly at His mercy then as we are now. Jesus repeats the lifted up metaphor several more times.

15   so that whoever  believes will in Him have eternal life.

22   'even the (32) righteousness of God through (33) faith (34) in Jesus Christ for (35) all those who believe;

25b  -'in His blood through faith.

25c- This was to demonstrate His righteousness,

32.     Rom 1:17; 9:30

33.     Rom 4:5

34.     Acts 3:16; Gal 2:16, 20; 3:22; Eph 3:12

35.     Rom 4:11, 16; 10:4

Concept: Whoever is dead in sin and believes IN CHRIST receives life.  

Life is in the blood (Gen 9:4; Lev 17:10-14; Deut 12:16-24).Whoever is 'all those who believe'. Romans makes it clear that all have sinned, and God has provided a lamb. Eternal life is life in the presence of God, and that begins at salvation, through faith in the blood of Christ. There is a now and not yet quality to this salvation- we are saved, we are being saved and we shall be saved!

John 1:12   But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,  13   who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

16   "For God

19b- accountable to God;

21/22/26-righteousness of God

25 a propitiation

Concept: The Gospel is about God primarily. He is the standard and the focus of the gospel. We benefit but it is about God, not us. He is the violated one, it is His wrath, His glory has been impugned. Sin is an hideous, overt rebellion, cosmic treason. He is the one for whom justice demands a propitiation. He is the Gracious One.

God's authority  demands our accountability to  Yahweh Tsidkinew (God our righteousness). This picture goes back to the Patriarchs.

so loved

25b- forbearance of God

Concept:This  is the motivation of God's forbearance and provision- His love.

Christ said that there is no greater love than to lay life down FOR friends, and he modelled this perfectly. John said God is Righteous, God is Light, God is Love in his first letter. There is a dynamic there that must be apprehended. God's love is never set in opposition to his Righteousness and His Light. His love is mixed with justice.

the world,

19-The world 

22b-(36) there is no distinction; 23   for all (37) have sinned and fall short

36.     Rom 10:12; Gal 3:28; Col 3:11

37.     Rom 3:9

Concept: The entire world is at enmity with  the God who Loves and has Life.

We naturally hate God, defy and despise Him. There are no exceptions in and of ourself. But the flip side of this is that the ground is level at the foot of the cross, and God is not a respecter of men. The need is universal and the solution is exclusive. The good news is that the solution is sufficient to meet the needs of the world and is efficacious for whosoever believes.

that He gave His only begotten Son,

21-the righteousness of God has been manifested 

24   being  justified as a gift (38) by His grace

38.     Rom 4:4f, 16; Eph 2:8 

Concept: God provides salvation at the greatest cost that goes beyond even the universe and creation- the eternal second person of the Trinity incarnated on earth.

The Father laid down the only life that could be laid down- that of the only begotten Son, co-equal and coeternal Christ. He is the ONLY perfect sacrifice. The Son is the great gift of God we are to receive by grace through faith.

that whoever believes in Him

22- through (33) faith (34) in Jesus Christ for (35) all those who believe;

24   being justified as a gift  by His grace through  the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;

33.     Rom 4:5

34.     Acts 3:16; Gal 2:16, 20; 3:22; Eph 3:12

35.  Rom 4:11, 16; 10:4

40.1 John 2:2; 4:10

Concept: Belief is required, and yet dead men cannot believe on our own. 

Again verse 16 harkens back to 15- whoever- is anyone and everyone who believes- it is sufficient for all, and efficacious for the believer.

Romans 10:9-10 tells us the requirements for salvation. This entails agreeing with God that Christ is the Lord, (master and commander of our life) -and believing that God has raised him from the dead- that is, that the resurrection shows that Christ is God's satisfaction for the judgment against Sin- the soul that sins shall die- He would not have been raised if this were not so. (Philippians 2:5-11). When we believe and receive this truth, we are made children of God (John 1).

Concept: Christ is the author and finisher of saving faith.

Heb 5:9       And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;

Heb 2:10     For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain (same word) of their salvation perfect through sufferings.

Heb 12:2     Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

shall not perish, but have eternal life.

24   being  justified  

24b-through (39) the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;

39.     1 Cor 1:30; Eph 1:7; Col 1:14; Heb 9:15

Concept: Life is only possible for the righteous In Christ, but it is SURE for the redeemed because they are truly just.

The just live, the unjust die. Unrighteousness by its very definition  brings death. Justification is a two sided coin. To be declared righteous means that God's righteousness has been propitiated by the substitutionary atonement of Christ's work on the cross , so we are freed from the penalty of Sin and that we have  had the righteousness of Christ imputed to us. We are clothed in Christ's righteousness when we are placed In Christ. What God declares to be so Is so- it is not a legal fiction. We are  become the righteousness of Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:21

He made Him who [Acts 3:14; Heb 4:15; 7:26; 1 Pet 2:22; 1 John 3:5] knew no sin to be [Rom 3:25; 4:25; 8:3; Gal 3:13] sin on our behalf, so that we might become the [Rom 1:17; 3:21f; 1 Cor 1:30] righteousness of God in Him.

Isaiah 61: 10   

       I will  rejoice greatly in the LORD,

          My soul will exult in  my God;

          For He has  clothed me with garments of salvation,

          He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness,

          As a bridegroom decks himself with a garland,

          And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

17   "For God did not send the Son into the world  to judge the world, but

25-in the (42) forbearance of God He (43) passed over the sins previously committed; 

26b- so that He would be just

42.     Rom 2:4

43.     Acts 14:16; 17:30

Concept: Christ's work was to glorify God by His perfect obedience and vindicate God's righteousness.

Christ is our passover- Yahweh Yireh has provided a lamb as the perfect sacrifice. God's righteous JUSTNESS cannot be violated or he would cease to be God. Yet The righteous standard of God is that by which all men are judged. It is impossible to meet this standard of perfection in ourselves.

Guilt is said to be expiated when it is visited with punishment falling on a substitute. Expiation is made for our sins when they are punished not in ourselves but in another who consents to stand in our room. It is that by which reconciliation is effected. Sin is thus said to be "covered" by vicarious satisfaction. 

The cover or lid of the ark is termed in the LXX. hilasterion, that which covered or shut out the claims and demands of the law against the sins of God's people, whereby he became "propitious" to them.

that the world might be saved through Him.

24   being justified as a gift (38) by His grace through (39) the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; 

26c- (God) the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

38.     Rom 4:4f, 16; Eph 2:8

39.     1 Cor 1:30; Eph 1:7; Col 1:14; Heb 9:15

Concept: Christ is the means to the end of salvation for those who have faith In Him.  

A man must be righteous to  come into the presence of Holy God. This is the great need of man since the fall and the Bible is the story of how God has progrssively revealed  who He is and what is required in the light of who he Is. 

The English words righteous and just are basically the same greek word-Dikaiosune- it means in a broad sense: the state of him who is as he ought to be, righteousness, the condition acceptable to God

a.the doctrine concerning the way in which man may attain a state approved of God

b. integrity, virtue, purity of life, rightness, correctness of thinking feeling, and acting  

The righteousness we need is only found in Christ.

1Pe 2:24     Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.  

18   "He who believes in Him is not judged;

22   even the (32) righteousness of God through (33) faith (34) in Jesus Christ for (35) all those who believe;

24   being justified as a gift (38) by His grace through (39) the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;  

25b-'He passed over the sins previously committed;

32.     Rom 1:17; 9:30

33.     Rom 4:5

34.     Acts 3:16; Gal 2:16, 20; 3:22; Eph 3:12

35.     Rom 4:11, 16; 10:4 

38.     Rom 4:4f, 16; Eph 2:8

39.         1 Cor 1:30; Eph 1:7; Col 1:14; Heb 9:15

40.     1 John 2:2; 4:10

Concept: Belief is a gift of grace that is possible because of Christ's redemptive act in His death and  the validation of resurrection. 

1 John 2:2; 4:10 tells us that the propitiation in the blood of Christ saves us.This is why He is our 'Passover'. We are justified by grace through faith in the chosen redeemer.

1 John 2

2   and He Himself is  the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also (2) for those of the whole world.

1 John 4

10   In this is love,  not that we loved God, but that  He loved us and sent His Son to be  the propitiation for our sins. 

1 Cor. 15: 3   For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died  for our sins according to the Scriptures,

To believe is more than mental assent- it is a transfer of trust- to rely on and adhere to that which is believed in, total dependence.

he who does not believe has been judged already,

19   Now we know that whatever the  Law says, it speaks to  those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and  all the world may become accountable to God; 

20   because (28) by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for (29) through the Law comes the knowledge of sin. 

28.     Ps 143:2; Acts 13:39; Gal 2:16

29.     Rom 4:15; 5:13, 20; 7:7

Concept: Being under judgment is the status of every  person- we are either judged on our own nonexistant merit or Christ's sufficiency.

Since all have sinned, and none are justified in any other way than  by grace through faith, the final judgment of eternal separation from God is a given- judgment is sure. God has, by the revelation of the transcript of His character in the moral universe,  (the Law), rendered any objection futile.

2Co 8:9       For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.

because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

22   even the (32) righteousness of God through (33) faith (34) in Jesus Christ for (35) all those who believe; for (36) there is no distinction;

23   for all (37) have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

32.     Rom 1:17; 9:30

33.     Rom 4:5

34.     Acts 3:16; Gal 2:16, 20; 3:22; Eph 3:12

35.     Rom 4:11, 16; 10:4

36.     Rom 10:12; Gal 3:28; Col 3:11

37.     Rom 3:9

Concept: Unbelief is to deny the true character and nature of the God who is Righteous, Light and Love and His great works on our behalf.

The name reveals the nature and character of the one who bears it. The law condemns us. We must be reconciled to God to live. Christ redeems us from the curse of the law, IF WE BELIEVE and RECEIVE the gift.