The reality of your life is that you will live forever.  Where will you live forever?  The good news is that the God who made you offers you to live with Him forever.  We find the good news in the Bible, the Scriptures.  And the following is an excerpt from a Bible study, explaining what the Scriptural teaching is regarding the Gospel (or good news).   

Scriptural Teaching Pertaining to the Gospel of Christ Jesus

"I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. . . For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith.'"  Romans 1.16-17.

he Gospel of Christ Jesus is the good news from the God of the Universe.  The God who made us made a way for us to be reconciled to Him.  Before we identify God's way of reconciliation, it is important that we have a firm grasp of man's dilemma.

A.  Man's Dilemma - Separation From God Because of Sin

All of us are in the same situation and subject to the same condition.  We are all sinners in a world cursed by God.  "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way."  Isaiah 53.6.  "All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags."" Isaiah 64.6.  "All of us" means every single one of us.  We have all gone astray and turned away from God.  We are all unclean and have nothing to offer God to correct our situation.  "There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."  Rom. 3.23.

From Adam to the very last person, all are sinners who have turned away from God.  Soon after Adam's sin of disobedience and distrust of God, the entire world had become evil.  In the sixth chapter of the history of man, Scripture tells us that the "Lord saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time."  Gen. 6.5.  In the book of Jeremiah, we read that the "heart is deceitful about all things and beyond cure."  Jer. 17.9.  Man is totally unable to cure his sin plight in and of himself.  We are all sinners, and all of us confirm our turning away from God by our own sinfulness.  As sinners, we are alienated from God and are enemies of God.  Col. 1.21.  Because of our sin, we are separated from Christ and without hope in this world.  Eph. 2.12.  Our sin resulted in our separation from God.  Isaiah 59.2.

In the book of Genesis, in that same sixth chapter of the history of man, we read that God brought judgment on the people of that day.  "The Lord was grieved that He had made man on the earth, and His heart was filled with pain.  So the Lord said, ‘I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth.'"  Gen. 6.6-7.  "But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord."  Gen. 6.8.  Because of God's grace upon Noah, Noah and his family were spared of the wrath of God.  God instructed Noah to build an ark to protect Noah and his family from the floodwaters.  God said, "I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it.  But I will establish My covenant with you, and you will enter the ark - you and your sons and your wife and your son's wives with you."  Gen. 6.17-18.  God instructed Noah to bring at least two of every living creature on the ark as well.  God saved Noah and his family, as well as all the creatures on the ark.  As God brought a flood in the days of Noah as judgment and punishment for the wickedness of mankind, so God is to bring final judgment and punishment for all sin in the near future.

Scripture instructs us that man "is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment."  Heb. 9.27.  "God has set a day when He will judge the world with justice."  Acts 17.31.  Each person is to face God and give an account of his life and of his sin.  Man has no excuse for his sin.  The Bible is clear that the "wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men . . . since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. . .  For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities . . . have been clearly seen . . . so that men are without excuse."  Rom. 1.18-20.  All of us are without excuse for our sin and for our turning away from God.  At judgment, man cannot say that he didn't know or that he is not responsible.  All of us know and all of us are responsible.  And so, at judgment man will be without excuse.  At judgment, man will be judged by his works.  Rev. 20.13.  And, according to Scripture, even man's righteous acts are like filthy rags in the sight of the holy and pure God.  Isaiah 64.6.  Man cannot save himself either from his sin or the judgment of his sin.  Man's wicked heart is beyond cure.  Jer. 17.9.  Left to ourselves, we are without excuse, separated from God, and destined for judgment.  Left to ourselves, we are without excuse, separated from God, and destined for judgment.

But so far we have only touched upon the reality of man's dilemma.  Judgment brings confirmation of condemnation and results in the wrath of God.  "It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."  Heb. 10.31.  Scripture describes the judgment of man for his sin as being included in the "day of the Lord."  The book of Amos describes it this way: "That day will be darkness, not light. It will be as though a man fled from a lion only to meet a bear, as though he entered his house and rested his hand on the wall only to have a snake bite him."  Amos 5.18-19.  The judgment will result in a guilty verdict for all who face judgment.  The result of judgment for all who face it is "everlasting destruction" resulting in eternal separation from God.  II Thess. 1.9.  Jesus described the punishment for sinners in this way: "Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels . . .  And these will go away into everlasting punishment."  Matt. 25.41, 46.  This is man's dilemma.     

B.  Man's Needs - Forgiveness of Sins, Imputed Righteousness, and Justification

Without God's intervention, all of man would be forever separated from God.  Man's dilemma is that he must receive forgiveness of his sins and exemption from judgment.  Man, in order to be reconciled to God, must do something with his sins.  But, again, man left to himself is powerless to handle his sin dilemma.  If we die without our sins forgiven we are bound for the Lake of Fire resulting in everlasting separation from God.  Only God has the power to adequately handle man's sin problem.  Only God could provide for the reconciliation of sinful and wicked mankind through His love for us, and also provide for the satisfaction of the justice required by His holiness and purity.  Only God could remove man's guilt and properly place it upon the Savior, such that the punishment for sin according to God's wrath could appropriately be applied to Him.  God's way of reconciling man to Himself was by making a way for sin to be punished, and thereby relieving man of his responsibility for his sin.  Man needs forgiveness for his sins and to be exempt from any judgment for that sin.  In a sense, these are negative needs, in that man's sin and punishment for sin are negatives in our lives which need removed.  God's way for man to have these needs met was through the obedience and sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.  Man also needs his eternal destiny to be determined and secured before his physical death.  And so, man also needs righteousness to be able to dwell with God forever.  In a sense, this need is a positive need.  God's way for man to have this need met was also through the obedience and sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.

It should be helpful to give an example of man's dilemma in terms of an impossible case of a prisoner who has been tried and condemned to death.  He is guilty, there is no question.  Suppose that another person comes and requests of the judge that he be allowed to take the guilty prisoner's place and incur the punishment of the crimes.  It is even doubtful that the judge would allow it.  And even if the judge allowed it, the prisoner would still be considered guilty of the crimes, and rightly so.  The prisoner may have been forgiven, but he is not free of blame.  The prisoner may not have to suffer the punishment because of the sacrifice of another, but his guilt remains.  This situation of another person taking the punishment due the prisoner is akin to the result of a governmental pardon of a prisoner for crimes committed.  The prisoner's guilt remains, though the punishment is relieved.  In both situations, the prisoner, though set free, remains a criminal.  Suppose a person who committed no crime approaches the judge and requests that the prisoner's guilt be transferred to him, so that the punishment can properly be applied to him?  What then?  This is an impossibility for any earthly tribunal.  For mortal man, there is only one way for the accused to be justified, and that is, he must be found to be not guilty.  If he is determined to be not guilty, then he is justified.  If the accused is found guilty, he cannot be justified.  Man needs the forgiveness of his sins and righteousness imputed or credited to his account in order to be justified, that is, decreed and treated as righteous and free to relate familial and eternally with the God who made him.   

C.  Faith is the Instrument By Which Man's Needs are Met in Christ

Forgiveness of sins, imputed righteousness, and justification are made possible because of Christ.  And these things are accomplished in effect by what the Bible describes as "faith."  God's way is the way of forgiveness of sins, imputed righteousness, and justification by God's grace through faith.  The good news is that what God requires of man is to believe God for reconciliation.  From Adam to the very last man, God's requirement is that man believe God.  "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast."  Eph. 2.8-9.  Sinners are not saved by works.  Sinners are powerless to save themselves by working their way to God.  Salvation is accomplished by Jesus.  Salvation through Jesus is appropriated by faith.  Faith is the means by which man is saved from his sins and from judgment.  Faith is the instrument by which man's needs are met in Christ.  Man needs forgiveness of sins, the imputation of righteousness, and justification.  These needs are met in Christ through faith.         

Forgiveness of sins.  "All the prophets testify about Him [Jesus] that everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His name."  Acts 10.43.  "I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me."  Acts 26.17-18. 

The imputation or credit of righteousness.  "However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness."  Rom. 4.5.  "The words ‘it was credited to him' were written not for him [Abraham] alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness - for us who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead."  Rom. 4.23-24. 

Justification.  "So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified."  Gal. 2.16.  "Since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand."  Rom. 5.1-2.       

Faith involves looking away from self, and looking to God for man's needs to be met.  Faith involves genuine understanding that man can do nothing about his dilemma, and a trusting surrender to God's way of remedying man's dilemma.  With faith, there is an abandonment of self-reliance.  Faith is the instrument by which we receive God's forgiveness, Christ's righteousness, and justification before the Almighty.  Though faith is the instrument for appropriating God's solution to man's dilemma, faith is without merit in and of itself.  Faith's power is due to God's decreeing it to have any force or value, and even more, because of the object of faith's attention.  Jesus Christ - the source of our faith - possesses and is worthy of all merit for man's salvation.  He is the author and perfecter of man's faith. 

God's grace is offered to man as a free gift.  A gift is a gift only when nothing is required or due in return by the recipient of the gift.  The recipient need only receive the gift, believing it to be real and offered to him.  In a sense, faith is simply the hand by which one receives the gift of God.  There is no merit in faith, except that which comes because of faith, and that being the perfect and holy merit of the Lord Jesus.  Faith is the instrument that connects needy and helpless man to the gracious and merciful God of the Ages.  Faith is the instrument by which we appropriate Christ's obedience and sacrifice.  Faith is the instrument that unites us with Christ, such that we receive Christ and all things belonging to Christ.  Man receives forgiveness of sins, Christ's righteousness, and justification not because of faith, but through faith.  "This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ."  Rom. 3.22.  Through faith, man accesses the power of God in all its majesty, purity, and honor.

Remember, we are discussing the Gospel of Christ Jesus.  The Book of Romans has as a central teaching theme the Gospel of Christ Jesus.  Inherent in this teaching is the understanding that the Gospel for mankind is faith in Christ, not works of man.  The writer of Romans, Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, instructs that for Jew and Gentile alike, salvation is through faith in Jesus Christ.  In chapters one and two, the truth is confirmed that all men are without excuse before Almighty God, and that the Gospel is the power of God through faith.  Paul writes:  "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.  For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith.'"  Rom. 1.16-17.  In chapter three, the important point is made that "Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin."  Rom. 3.9.  And so, the "whole world" is to be "held accountable to God."  In fact, because of sin and guilt, "every mouth" will be silenced."  Rom. 3.19. 

The Book of Romans uses "the law" to describe not only the Mosaic law for the Jews but also to describe the mindset of some that they can work their way to good standing with God; in other words, the thinking is that if man obeys the law, he will earn his way to Heaven and to a place with God forever.  In Romans, trying to obey "the law" is identified with working one's way to good standing with God.  This kind of "work" is contrasted with genuine faith.  Three chapters are devoted to the instruction that the Gospel is God's grace through faith, not obedience to the law or in one way or another "working" one's way to Heaven.  Rom. Ch. 3, 4, 5.  "Therefore no one will be declared righteous in His sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin."  Rom. 3.20.  We can agree that "no one will be declared righteous" in God's sight by obedience to the law or even merely seeking to obey the law.  Remember, one of man's needs is that he be declared "righteous."  Well, if obedience of the law or seeking to obey the law will not give man that righteousness he needs, what will?  The Book of Romans clearly provides the answer to this question: "through faith."

"But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.  This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.  There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.  God presented Him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in His blood.  He did this to demonstrate His justice, because in His forbearance He had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished - He did it to demonstrate His justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.  Where, then, is boasting?  It is excluded.  On what principle?  On that of observing the law?  No, but on that of faith.  For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law."  Rom. 3.21-28.  Man receives forgiveness of sins, imputed righteousness, and justification by believing God, by faith in Christ.  The instruction in Romans on this most important teaching continues:   

"What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered in this matter?  If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about - but not before God.  What does Scripture say?  ‘Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.'  Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation.  However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.  David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: ‘Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.  Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him.' . . .  The words ‘it was credited to him' were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness - for us who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.  He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification." Rom. 4.1-8, 23-25.  Faith is God's requirement for man in order that man's needs would be met.  Through faith, all of man's needs are met by God in Christ Jesus.               

Imagine you are in a cave with no way out, with no food or water.  You discover a pipe with a cover over it.  You remove the cover, with the result being that water flows from outside the cave to you.  The water is pure and refreshing, and accomplishes the saving of your physical life.  The pipe itself is not helpful to you, in and of itself.  However, because it is the instrument by which the precious water comes to you, the pipe is your lifeline.  The water is what saves you, but the pipe is the instrument that brings the water to you.  And so, faith, like the pipe, is not helpful to you, in and of itself.  If you were with faith and faith only, with no Christ, you have nothing.  Because faith is the instrument that allows God's grace, mercy, and love to flow to you and in you, your faith is precious and worth more than all the world's gold.  Your faith brings God's forgiveness, Christ's righteousness, and justification.  

D.  God's Grace, Mercy, and Love are the Effective Cause By Which Man's Needs are Met

God's forgiveness, Christ's righteousness, and justification are available to man because of God's grace, mercy, and love.  Through faith, man receives God's grace, mercy, and love.  Through faith, man receives God's forgiveness, Christ's righteousness, and justification.  Faith itself teaches that man has nothing of any merit, whether before or after regeneration, to bring to his salvation.  Faith is not a work, but rather a genuine and godly response to what God has done.  In Hebrews, we read that Jesus is the author and perfecter of our faith.  In every sense, God receives every inch, iota, particle, and morsel of glory for the rescue of sinful man.  For all eternity, God will receive the praise of man's salvation, with man possessing no merit in and of himself for the salvation of his soul.  Faith, by its definition, requires this as the state of affairs.  Faith, by God's definition, precludes any other circumstance but that God saved man and man believed God for that salvation.  "The God of all grace" is the effective cause by which man's needs are met.  He says this: "I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more."  Isaiah 43.25.       

In the impossible case of the prisoner who has been tried and condemned to death, God's way of relieving the prisoner from his dilemma is beyond our finite understanding, and is even mysterious to us.  What man cannot do, God does perfectly and assures it forever.  In the situation of the condemned prisoner, God's justice requires that the crimes be punished.  In the way that Christ Jesus saves us, He enters the Royal Courtroom and acknowledges the reality and veracity of the guilty verdict against the prisoner.  For the prisoner who is willing, Jesus stands in the place of the prisoner and takes the prisoner's guilt.  There is only one worthy and capable of doing this: the Lamb of God.  At the time when the punishment for the crimes is to occur, Jesus is present to receive the punishment.  Jesus stands in the place of the prisoner and in reality assumes the prisoner's guilt.

In reality, at the appointed time, Jesus endures the prisoner's punishment.  And this reality, of Jesus suffering for the sins of the world, is a reality that reaches back in time and has as its origin a place outside of time before that day at Calvary.  The reality is that the Triune God designed this exchange of guilt and punishment before time began.  Scripture tells us that He "chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight.  In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will - to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves.  In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that He lavished on us."  Eph. 1.4-6.  God has the right to do as He pleases, and it was His pleasure to decree this exchange of guilt and punishment.

We need to know that man did not merit being saved, nor did man merit God's grace, mercy, and love.  The forgiveness of man's sins, Christ's imputed righteousness to man's account, and man's justification, came about because of God's pleasure and will.  The moving and effective cause of the rescue of man was God.  It was God in His sovereignty who initiated the grace, mercy, and love that saved man from his dilemma.  Even man's belief, his faith, is an initiation of God's grace.  Acts 18.27 ("to those who by grace had believed"); Heb. 12.2 ("Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith"). 

"For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.  He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake."  I Peter 1.18-20.  Another term related to the great salvation of man by God is the word "redeemed."  "Redeemed" is from the Greek and has as its meaning to release on receipt of ransom, to redeem, to liberate by payment of ransom, and to deliver from evils of every kind, internal and external.    Man owed a sin debt he could not pay the ransom for.  Man needed to be delivered from the debt of his sin, from the payment for his crimes, and from the wrath of God for his sin.  Man needed an escape from the bondage he was held to by his own wretchedness.  "For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance - now that He has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant."  Heb. 9.15.

In consideration of God's grace, it is important to understand that God chose those who would believe.  Listen to what is written in God's Word, speaking in part of Israel and God's future dealing with Israel: "So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace.  And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace."  Rom. 11.5-6.  God's grace is the initiating and governing element of man's salvation.   The Triune God planned not only the possibility of redemption for man but also the reality of redemption for man before the creation of the world.  Part of the good news of Christ is that God had a plan to save man before the creation of the world.[1]  "In Him [Jesus] we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will."  Eph. 1.11.  God "chose us in Him [Jesus] before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight."  Eph. 1.4.  In a real sense, as Jesus was chosen to be the Savior of the world before the creation of the world (I Peter 1.20), so God's elect were chosen in Christ before the creation of the world (Eph. 1.4).  See also Matt. 25.34.

The Triune God planned not only the

possibility of redemption for man but also

the reality of redemption for man

before the creation of the world.  Part of the

good news of Christ is that God had a plan

to save man before the creation of the world.

Those men and women who have believed, from Adam to the very last person, who are saved by faith, are identified as God's "elect" in Scripture.  Mark 13.27; Rom. 11.7; Titus 1.1; I Peter 1.2.  Even the angels who did not depart with Satan during the great rebellion are identified as "the elect angels."  I Tim. 5.21.  For the elect of God, there is comfort in knowing that God had a plan before the creation of the world, to save sinners from their sin.  And here is the comfort: what God plans to do will be accomplished.  When God is involved, you can trust that it will work out perfectly.  God's ways are perfect.  "He is the Rock, His work is perfect; for all His ways are justice, a God of truth and without injustice; righteous and upright is He."  Deut. 32.4.  "As for God, His way is perfect..."  II Sam. 22.31.  God is perfect in knowledge.  Job 37.16.  "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul."  Psalm 19.7.  God is sovereign and perfectly so in everything: His ways, His work, His righteousness, His holiness, His justice, His power.  The foundational truth about God's grace, mercy, and love meeting man's need is that God is sovereign and He designed salvation for His elect.  What God has ordained, will take place.   

At times, Scripture identifies God's grace, mercy, and love toward man as a "free gift."  Rev. 22.17 ("whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life").  And more, Scripture identifies the recipients of God's love as "free."  Rom. 6.18 ("you have been set free from sin").  Is a gift ever revoked?  If so, then it is not a gift.  Can a slave, who has been properly set free, be taken back in bondage legitimately?  If so, how?  Even if the slave sought the former slavery, this is an impossibility.  The answer is "no," a gift cannot be revoked if it is a gift; a slave, properly set free, cannot be taken back into bondage.

A gift cannot be revoked if it is a gift; a slave, properly set free, cannot be taken back into bondage.

"But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions - it is by grace you have been saved.  And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages He might show the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.  For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast."  Eph. 2.4-9.  Why are we saved?  The passage above instructs us that it is because of God's love for us, and because of His grace upon us.  There is no work of man involved in our salvation.  And in order to confirm this, Scripture instructs that "it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast."  The gift of God is salvation.  "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."  Rom. 6.23.  God's gift to man is eternal life in Christ Jesus.  Eternal life in Christ Jesus is not God's gift if man does this or that work.  Scripture solidly teaches that salvation is not of man's works but of God's grace, mercy, and love.  God's gift is eternal life in Christ Jesus, through faith.  The reason Paul can exclaim by the Holy Spirit, "Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!," is because the gift is freely given, with no restrictions. 

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!  In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade - kept in Heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time."  I Peter 1.3-5.  Our inheritance, our salvation, can never perish, spoil or fade.  God is the Keeper, so to speak, of our inheritance, our salvation.  We are told in Scripture that our inheritance as children of God is kept in Heaven for us.  We are also told that we are shielded by God's power through our faith in Christ Jesus. 

Those who receive God's free gift are also set free.  Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.  Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."  John 8.31-32.  Certain unbelieving Jews responded to Jesus' statement, "We are Abraham's descendants and have never been slaves of anyone.  How can you say that we shall be set free?"  John 8.33.  These Jews had three problems, and Jesus identifies them.  "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin."  John 8.34.  This is all mankind's problem, as we have already pointed out.  We are all sinners, held in bondage to sin.  This is man's great dilemma.  These Jews had another problem.  They did not believe they had a sin problem.  "We are Abraham's descendants and have never been slaves of anyone.  How can you say that we shall be set free?"  John 8.33.  These unbelieving Jews relied upon the tradition in which they had been brought up.  Instead of personally taking responsibility for sin and seeking reconciliation with God, they believed tradition (custom, ritual, and institution) was enough.  The third problem they had was that they did not believe Jesus to be the remedy for their sin problem.  "If I am telling the truth, why don't you believe me?"  John 8.46.  This is the bottom line issue for every soul.  Do you understand your dilemma, and do you believe Jesus?  In John chapter 8, Jesus makes it clear that there are children of God and children of the devil.  Those who belong to God are children of God, and those who do not belong to God are children of the devil.  John 8.34-47.  Jesus is the truth who sets men free from sin.  John 14.6.  The truth that sets men free from sin is the truth that comes from God in Christ Jesus.

"So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed."  John 8.36. 

When Jesus sets a person free, he is free indeed.  Instead of one, two, or even three problems, in Christ we have no problems!  I am referring to the problems identified above.  Through faith in Christ Jesus, we "have been set free from sin."  Rom. 6.18.  "But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life."  Rom. 6.22.  Because of God's grace, mercy, and love, those who have faith in Christ Jesus receive forgiveness of sins, freedom of sin, Christ's righteousness, and justification.  The "result is eternal life."  Rom. 6.22.  "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free."  Gal. 5.1.  Jesus "loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood."  Rev. 1.5.  "Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.  But now He has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation."  Col. 1.21-22. Because  of the forgiveness of our sins, the imputation of Christ's righteousness to our account, and our justification, we are truly free from accusation.  Not the world, not the devil, not anyone anywhere has anything to say against us that has not already been taken care of by God's grace, mercy, and love through Christ Jesus at the cross.      

"But now He has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation."

God's grace makes this possible.  For our purposes, "grace" is the word used by Scripture to describe God's mercy and love toward sinners who were undeserving of God's goodness.  God's grace is sufficient for our salvation without any working of man.  Man's responsibility, if you will, is to believe God for salvation.  Faith is man's responsibility, and yet we have already read Scripture indicating that even man's faith is a gift from God, for Jesus is the author of man's faith.  Remember, all salvation is by grace, "And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace."  Rom. 11.6.  "It is because of God that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God - that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.  Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."  I Cor. 1.30-31.  There is no boasting in what man has done.  No one can boast because "it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works."  Eph. 2.8-9.  God's grace is not only sufficient in the sense that it is ample, plenty, and adequate for man's salvation, but it is the compelling, credible, and single cause of man's salvation.  Man does not cooperate by working with God for his salvation.  Scripture is clear on this. 

Forgiveness of Sins.  Remember, man's dilemma is his sin.  God remedies man's dilemma absolutely.  There is a finality to man's dilemma when God cures man's problem.  God removed your sins an immeasurable distance.  "[A]s far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us."  Psalm 103.12.  God purified us from all sin.  "But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin."  I John 1.7.  God forgave us all our sins.  "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding."  Eph. 1.7-8.  God will not bring them to mind.  "Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more."  Heb. 10.17.  God treads our sins underfoot and casts them into the sea.  "[Y]ou will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea."  Micah 7.19.  God made ours sins white as snow.  "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool."  Isaiah 1.18.  God removed even the standard we violated.  "He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; He took it away, nailing it to the cross."  Col. 2.13-14.  All our sins means past, present, and future sins. 

Imputed Righteousness.  "Righteous" or "righteousness" biblically in this context refers to perfect fulfillment of God's requirements.  This is good news if sinners are described as receiving "righteousness."  The book of Romans instructs us that "no one will be declared righteous in His sight by observing the law."  Rom. 3.20.  When Scripture speaks of "observing the law," it is speaking of man working to please God and to obtain a righteousness apart from God's grace.  No one will be declared righteous by working to please God.  Righteousness only comes to man by faith, and that by the work of Christ Jesus.  Paul understood this full well, as he wrote to the church at Philippi.  Paul pointed out to the church that if there was to be boasting in the flesh or in the law, he could boast the most.  "If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more."  Phil. 3.4.  He proceeds to identify those requirements of the law that he had fulfilled.  He then writes, inspired by the Holy Spirit:

"Whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.  What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.  I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ - the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith."  Phil. 3.7-9.  Paul abandons all righteousness of his own that he worked for by following the law (he said that "as for legalistic righteousness," he was "faultless" v. 6).  Paul had received revelation from God that justification for man could not come by legalistic righteousness.  In his letter to the churches at Galatia, he was emphatic that "we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified."  Gal. 2.16.  "I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!"  Gal. 2.21.  Paul considered his legalistic righteousness to be rubbish.

Christ's righteousness is given to us by God through faith.  God treats us as righteous because He understands that Christ's righteousness now belongs to us in the sense that God's judgment of us assesses our righteousness by the righteousness of Christ.  Did you understand that?  For the moment imagine that to qualify as an heir of God and to enter into His Heaven you had to have 500,000,000,000,000 trillion dollars in your bank account, ready cash.  This is an impossibility for anyone, and so the situation is one of despair and hopelessness.  Though we have already been forgiven of our sins, we still lack a righteousness warranting God's favor.  We need righteousness credited to our account, and in this example righteousness is represented by the 500 trillion dollar requirement.  Suppose you receive a phone call from the bank one day, and it is the manager of the bank with some good news.  He informs you that God contacted the bank and ensured the deposit of 500,000,000,000,000 trillion dollars in your account, effective today!  The bank manager further informs you that the money is absolutely yours with no strings attached and no tax penalty.  You proceed to Heaven's gate, and you are ushered into God's throne with pomp and circumstance worthy of a prince or princess.  This is the reality of Christ's righteousness imputed to our account.  God sees us as possessing the righteousness required for royal treatment.  And, this is His doing!  This truth is further developed as we more precisely examine the meaning of justification.        

Justification.  What forgiveness of sins and imputed (credited) righteousness allow for is the justification of the sinner.  How can God declare a guilty sinner to be without blame, free from accusation, no longer subject to punishment, and righteous in His sight?  It was His good pleasure to accomplish what was impossible with man.  Christ Jesus made Himself formally accountable for sin such that the punishment was properly placed upon Him.  He was obedient unto death, and suffered for our sins on the cross.  Both His righteousness and His sacrifice are applied to our lives, in reality, such that we are able to be justified.  

In one sense, justification is a legally binding spiritual decree.  It is as if justification is the grand yet solemn ceremony where God grants and decrees forever the sinner's status as forgiven, righteous, holy, blameless, and entitled to sonship forever in God's Kingdom.  And in another sense, justification is intentional and purposeful action by God ensuring the sinner's place in His Kingdom, so that the sinner's status will be a receiving and rewarding position forever and forever.  In this sense, justification will be that continuous state of being for the soul whose life has been changed by His God.  The prisoner with the impossible case needs justification.  Justification has to do with the essential status of an individual.  Justification is active in nature, for it accomplishes a change in status for an individual.  The Greek word translated "justification" in the New Testament, has the meaning to render just, innocent, and righteous.  Webster's Dictionary defines "justify" or "justification" to be an act: to show one to be just or right, to vindicate; to free from blame; to declare guiltless; to supply good or lawful grounds for.  Webster's Dictionary supplies the proper meaning for Scripture's use of the term.  Justification is the act of God determining a guilty sinner to be guiltless by reason of adequate vindication and good and lawful grounds.  In other words, God's way provided adequate vindication for the sinner's guilt and there are good and lawful grounds for decreeing the sinner free from blame. 

Because of the obedience and sacrifice of Jesus, the guilty sinner is determined to be righteous and worthy of eternal life.  It is a change from a state of guilt and condemnation to a state of forgiveness and acceptance, as though the person's innocence had been proved.  Justification is the opposite of condemnation.  Where condemnation is the act of sentencing a guilty person to punishment, justification is the act of sentencing the same person to be free from accusation and blame, not subject to any punishment, and entitled to reward.  In reality, justification for the sinner involves God as Judge decreeing the sinner to be forgiven of his sins and therefore no longer guilty as charged.  The decree includes the determination that the sinner is freed from the penalty of the law and fully positioned in a royal sonship relationship with the Living God.  Justification is the direct result of the righteousness of Christ being imputed to us.  By this imputation, God considers the sinner to be righteous and therefore punishment is not proper, but instead the sinner is entitled to the heavenly inheritance.  Justification is confirmation by God and an act of God toward the sinner that he is no longer under condemnation, but set free from the law, righteous, deserving of God's blessing, and entitled to God's inheritance.             

There is no cooperating "work" of man needed or permitted for justification to occur.  Justification takes place because of God's grace in Christ only through faith.  Paul speaking to the Jews, and counseling in the "Way," stated, "Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.  Through Him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses."  Acts 13.38-39.  Justification involves both the forgiveness of sins and the righteousness of Jesus imputed to the believer. 

E.  Christ is Sufficient to Satisfy Man's Needs

The Gospel of Christ Jesus is good news for all mankind.  The good news is that God has made a way for man to be reconciled to God.  The Bible tells us that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.  Heb. 9.22.  Consistent with this requirement, God sent His Son to shed the perfect blood and provide the perfect sacrificial punishment for sin.  For all who acknowledge this truth and receive God's offer of reconciliation, God justifies and treats them as if they had never sinned and as the righteousness of Christ.  Like that of a judge who acquits the accused because of innocence, so God removes the charges against the believing sinner and declares him righteous because of Christ.  By God's actions, sinners are reconciled to God and restored to a position of favor with God.

The salvation of man is God's doing.  Remember, God reaches out to us.  By faith, man responds.  What becomes true of man by faith and because of Christ Jesus, is irrevocable.  Imagine again the impossible case of the prisoner who has appeared not before any earthly tribunal but before Almighty God in His Throne Room.  The prisoner accepts God's true assessment of his situation in terms of his sin and his guilt.  Furthermore, the prisoner receives the offer of forgiveness, of Christ's righteousness credited to his account, and full justification.  God accepts Christ's perfect obedience and sacrifice for sins at the cross.  The prisoner receives full and legitimate pardon for his crimes, his guilt is indisputably removed, and he is fully justified.   And so, the prisoner is received into God's Kingdom, and God promises him eternal life.

In this imaginary, impossible case of a prisoner, the moving cause and source for the prisoner's blessed outcome is God Himself.  The prisoner's part is to simply acknowledge, concede, and confess guilt, AND, to receive eternal life with all of its blessings on God's terms.  Scripture describes man's part as faith.  Assuming the situation is true above in regard to the impossible case of a prisoner who appears before Almighty God and receives God's pardon and justification, now imagine that the prisoner is called before Almighty God a second time only to have everything that was decreed for him at the previous hearing now removed as a matter of fact.  Because the former prisoner has committed another crime, he no longer is entitled to God's pardon, no longer forgiven for his sins (he has committed a new sin), no longer with Christ's righteousness (either removed from him or it is ineffective), and he is no longer justified (because of the new sin). 

And so, the prisoner is again in the same dilemma he was before he originally met Christ.  He faces the same penalty for his crimes: eternal separation from God in Hell.[2]  What now?  Because salvation is of the Lord, this portion of the hypothetical is a true impossibility.  God's pardon of the prisoner, God's forgiveness of the prisoner, the credit of Christ's righteousness to the prisoner's account, and the justification afforded the prisoner are all God's doing for the prisoner.  They will not be taken away.  God's salvation and eternal life are given with an eternal perspective, not a temporal perspective.      

Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life."  John 5.24.  There is a crossing over with faith in Christ.  Scripture does not recognize crossing from death to life and then from life back to death.  This is not the truth and does not come from God's Word.  You may recall the story Jesus tells of the rich man and Lazarus.  The rich man dies and is in torment in Hell but sees Abraham up and far away.  The rich man calls to Abraham and requests that Abraham send Lazarus, who is with Abraham: "Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire."  Luke 16.24.  Abraham's response, as told by Jesus, is definitive in regard to whether any crossing back can take place.  "Between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us."  Luke 16.26.  There is only one crossing over: "from death to life."  You must become a child of God.

Scripture does not recognize crossing from death to life and then from life back to death.  This is not the truth and does not come from God's Word.

All of humanity is born separated from God, and in essence, is a child of the devil.  John 8.  This study is not addressing the issue of babies or very young children who die, where they go.  The status for man in his dilemma and without the faith by which he receives God's grace, mercy, and love, is described by Scripture as "death."  "Just as sin entered the world through one man [Adam], and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned ... Death reigned from the time of Adam ...."  Rom. 5.12, 14.  Scripture instructs us that death reigns in man because of his sin.  Rom. 5.17.  Remember earlier from John chapter 8, that Jesus makes it clear that there are children of God and children of the devil.  Those who belong to God are children of God, and those who do not belong to God are children of the devil.  John 8.34-47.  Those who belong to the devil are those who have not applied God's grace, mercy, and love to their lives and dealt with their sin in the way God has provided.  When the sinner believes God for His salvation, he crosses over from death to life.  Part of this crossing over involves being set free from the bondage of sin.  Rom. 6.7 ("freed from sin"); Rom. 6.18 ("set free from sin").  Part of this crossing over is the believer's application of Scripture's exhortation to "count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus."  Rom. 6.11.  Part of this crossing over is the removal of the law as a condemnation and the application of God's grace as the governing principle in the believer's life.  The law brought death to man because of sin.  Rom. 7.10.  God's grace brings eternal life.  Rom. 6.23.  Part of the crossing over from death to life is what Scripture instructs us at Romans chapter 8:

"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death."  Rom. 8.1-2.  There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  For those of us who have believed on the Lord Jesus, there is no condemnation.  We have been set free from the law of sin and death.  Christ Jesus "destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel."  II Tim. 1.10.  For those who believe, the death of sin that brings condemnation to men is destroyed.  Jesus shared in our humanity "so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death - that is, the devil - and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fears of death."  Heb. 2.14-15.  For those who believe God, they become children of God and no longer is the devil their father in the sense that sin and death reign over them.

"The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.  He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners."  Isaiah 61.1.  While Jesus walked the earth incarnate, He went into the synagogue in Nazareth as was His custom on the Sabbath.  As He stood up to read, the scroll of Isaiah was handed to Him.  He unrolled it, read Isaiah 61.1, then rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down.  "The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on Him, and He began by saying to them, ‘Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.'"  Luke 4.16-21.  There is no question but that Jesus was the anointed one who was sent to "preach good news to the poor." 

Jesus was sent to "proclaim freedom

for the captives and release from darkness for prisoners." 

Jesus was sent to "proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for prisoners."  Isaiah 61.1.  The word for "liberty" in the Hebrew has the meaning a flowing, free run, liberty.  The word for "captive" in the Hebrew has the meaning to take captive.  The word for "bound" or "prisoners" in the Hebrew has the meaning to tie, harness, to bind (with cords), to be imprisoned, bound, to be taken prisoner.  The purposeful and intentional meaning of Scripture here is that mankind is held in bondage by sin and to sin.  Remember, this is man's dilemma.  Man's dilemma is described as captivity and darkness.  And in a real sense, all of creation is held captive. 

"For the creation was subject to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God."  Rom. 8.20-21.  From Genesis 3, all of creation has been in bondage and subject to "decay."  Part of the cursing in Genesis 3 was the binding of creation to death because of sin.  Christ Jesus came to "liberate" creation from that bondage, and there is "glorious freedom" for those who believe, for those who become the children of God.   

What does Scripture teach in regard to when a soul becomes a child of God?  Scripture teaches that a soul becomes a child of God when he believes.  "Yet to all who received Him [Jesus], to those who believe in His name, He gave the right to become children of God."  John 1.12.  In the Gospel of John alone, this truth is repeated numerous times by Jesus Himself.  John 2.11; 3.14-15; 3.16; 3.18; 3.36; 4.42; 5.24; 6.27-29; 6.40; 6.47; 7.38; 8.24; 9.35-38; 10.37-38; 11.25-26; 12.46-48; 13.19; 14.1; 14.6; 14.12; 16.27; 17.20; 20.29; 20.31.  The Gospel of John makes it clear why the Gospel was written:

"And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name."  John 20.31.  After feeding more than five thousand with only five loaves and two fish, Jesus told those who pursued Him for another meal to work for "the food which endures to everlasting life."  They asked Jesus what "shall we do, that we may work the works of God?"  The context was everlasting life, and so the question, in other words, was what must we do to have everlasting life?  "Jesus answered and said to them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.'"  John 6.27-29.  Jesus also said:     

"And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day."

"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life."  John 6.40, 47. 

Remember, Jesus is Truth and self-attesting, and what He says is true and self-attesting.  Jesus promises that those who believe in Him have "everlasting life."  Speaking to the Pharisees, Jesus said:

"You will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins."  John 8.24.  Remember, man's dilemma is his sin.  God's way for man to avoid judgment for his sin is that man deal with his sin by turning to Christ in faith.  After giving sight to a blind man, Jesus asked the man, "'Do you believe in the Son of God?'  He answered and said, ‘Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?'  And Jesus said to him, ‘You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you.'  Then he said, ‘Lord, I believe!'  And he worshiped Him."  John 9.35-38.  This must be our response to God's grace, mercy, and love.  Jesus said:

"I am the resurrection and the life.  He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.  And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.  Do you believe this?"  John 11.25-26.  Whoever believes in Jesus "shall never die."  There is one crossing over, that is, from death to life.  Once crossed, there is no crossing back.  And, this is God's doing.

Scripture's teaching is that it is impossible for a person whose life reflects this truth to cross back over to death. 

Scripture's teaching is that it is impossible for a person whose life reflects this truth to cross back over to death.  "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.  My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand.  I and the Father are one."  John 10.27-30.  Jesus gives eternal life to us.  God the Father gave a special people, including you and me, to Jesus.  This work of salvation is God's work. 

God's salvation and eternal life are given with an eternal and secure perspective, not a

temporal and doubtful perspective.

The crossing over is liberation from captivity, freedom from the bondage of sin, and moving from darkness to light.  "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom."  II Cor. 3.17.  One of the marks of a child of God is the sealing of the Holy Spirit.  "Having believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance."  Eph. 1.13-14.  The Spirit of God indwells the person, and this is what Jesus told Nicodemus as recorded in John chapter 3.  Jesus told him that "no one can see the Kingdom of God unless he is born again."  John 3.3.  Nicodemus was concerned about eternal life, and Jesus met him squarely with the truth.  Nicodemus responded to Jesus' statement, "How can a man be born when he is old?  Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!"  John 3.4.  Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the Kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.  Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit."  John 3.5-6.  "Flesh gives birth to flesh," indicating that the carnal can never birth the spiritual.  "Flesh" represents the corrupt nature that all mankind inherit from the Garden of Eden, through Adam.  Jesus proceeded to instruct Nicodemus (and ultimately the world) of the way to be born again.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."  John 3.16.    In order to be born of the Spirit, a person must believe in Jesus Christ.  Jesus repeated His message several times for Nicodemus: "that everyone who believes in Him [Jesus] may have eternal life," John 3.15; "that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life," John 3.16; and, "whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son," John 3.18.  The third chapter of John ends with John the Baptist's message confirming Jesus' instruction to Nicodemus:  "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him."  John 3.36.  The Spirit of God indwells the children of God.  And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.  "So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed."  John 8.36.  Children of God have been liberated from the bondage of sin, they have been set free from sin, and they are truly free.[3] 

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.  Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves by burdened again by a yoke of slavery."  Gal. 5.1.  The specific context in Galatians chapter 5 is the essence of the gospel of Christ - faith in Christ.  God used Paul to press the truth of the gospel of Christ.  Even a substantial part of the early church had mistakenly blended works and faith for the gospel.  For example, in Galatians chapter 2, we learn from Scripture that Paul was forced to confront Peter for his actions in response to fear of the "circumcision group."  Gal. 2.11-13.  Paul writes, "When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all, ‘You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew.  How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?  We who are Jews by birth and not ‘Gentile sinners' know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ.  So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.'"  Gal. 2.14-16.  Again, "law" and "circumcision" are words to describe works of man.  Galatians makes clear that works of the law such as "circumcision" are burdens and bring the "yoke of slavery" that does not produce life.  "Christ has set us free" from the "yoke of slavery."  Gal. 5.1.  "Mark my words!  I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all...  You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace... For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value.  The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love."  Gal. 5.2, 4, 6.  The clear teaching here is that any works man brings to his salvation in Christ has the effect of alienating him from Christ!  This we must never do!

The story is told of a Christian farmer who was deeply concerned for his unsaved neighbor.  The neighbor was a carpenter.  When the farmer would share the sufficiency of and finished work of Christ's sacrifice for the carpenter's salvation, the carpenter would persist in believing that he had to do something himself to ensure his salvation.  One day the farmer asked the carpenter to make a gate for him.  When the carpenter finished the gate, the farmer retrieved it and hung it on a fence in his field.  The farmer invited the carpenter to visit and determine that the gate was hung properly.  When the carpenter arrived, he met the farmer with a sharp axe in his hand.  "What is that for?" asked the carpenter.  "I'm going to add a few strokes to your work on this gate," the farmer replied.  The carpenter objected, indicating that there was no need because the gate was perfect as it was and that he had done everything necessary for the completion of the gate.  The farmer took his axe and began to strike at the gate anyway, and in a moment the gate was ruined because of the farmer's actions.  "Look what you have done," cried the carpenter, "you have ruined my work."  "Yes," said the farmer, "And that is exactly what you are trying to do.  You are trying to add your miserable works to the completed and perfect work of Christ for your salvation.  Your miserable work is like my striking your gate with this axe."                     

Scripture instructs us to the truth of the Gospel of Christ.  The gospel is believing in Jesus, believing in His name.  Jesus accomplished everything for us: the righteous life, the perfect sacrifice, the death, the punishment, the resurrection.  The work of reconciliation necessary for us to be brought back to God was accomplished by Jesus.  On the cross, Jesus cried out, "It is finished."  John 19.30.  One theologian said, "In English this is only three words, in Greek just one.  Yet this word sums up the greatest work that has ever been done. . . ‘It would need all the other words that ever were spoken, or ever can be spoken, to explain this one word.  It is altogether immeasurable.  It is high; I cannot attain to it.  It is deep; I cannot fathom it.'"  The work of Jesus satisfied all requirements for us to be reconciled to God our Maker.  The work we must satisfy is to simply believe.  Again, Jesus said this, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one He has sent."  John 6.29.  Christ accomplished everything necessary for our eternal life, held eternally secure by the one who made it possible - God.

"It is finished."  In part, Christ's statement was a declaration that the full price for man's redemption had been paid, by Christ.  Remember, the wages of sin is death.  Christ suffered death on our behalf, so that we would not have to suffer the just punishment for our sins.  Scripture tells us that we "were bought at a price."  I Cor. 6.20.  "He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our inequities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed."  Isaiah 53.5.  On that day when Christ voluntarily went to Golgotha to be crucified, He did so to accomplish the work necessary for our salvation.  The work of Christ was to provide, as our Great High Priest, the most perfect sacrifice for our sins.  You recall that under the first covenant, the blood of lambs, goats, and bulls was required.  Under the first covenant, the High Priest entered the inner room of the Tabernacle to offer a blood sacrifice for himself and the sins of the people.  Heb. 9.6-7.  The regulations required by God under the first covenant were a matter of "food and drink and various ceremonial washings - eternal regulations applying until the time of the new order."  Heb. 9.10.  The sacrifices made under the first covenant were not able to "clear the conscience of the worshiper."  Heb. 9.9.  "Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins."  Heb. 10.11.   

Speaking of Jesus, John the Baptist exclaimed, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"  When Christ came as High Priest of the new covenant, He was able to enter into the Most Holy Place, into Heaven itself, and He was able to provide the perfect sacrifice that makes perfect those who would draw near to God, and "made perfect forever those who are being made holy."  Heb. 10.1, 14.  It was "impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins."  Heb. 10.4.  But the blood of Christ provides a "new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, His body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith ... for He who promised is faithful."  Heb. 10.20-23.  See also Rom. 5.9-11. 

Christ's sacrifice brought redemption of man, forgiveness for man, perfect righteousness for man, and justification for man.  Christ's sacrifice removed sin from those who would believe and trust in Christ's work, "and where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin."  Heb. 10.18.  In other words, the work necessary for man's salvation is finished!  Man's work, as described specifically by Christ, is to believe in the one He has sent."  John 6.29.  The real "work" of salvation has been totally accomplished by God.  It is His doing.  Because of Christ's most perfect sacrifice with His blood, the faithful are "made perfect," are able to enter Heaven, and are to draw near to God "in full assurance of faith."

Jesus said this:  "All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.  For I have come down from Heaven not to do my own will but to do the will of Him who sent me.  And this is the will of Him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that He has given me, but raise them up at the last day.  For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."  John 6.37-40.  God the Father has given God the Son a people for His glory.  We are "looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works."  Titus 2.13-14.  "For you are a people holy to the Lord your God.  The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be His people, His treasured possession."  Deut. 7.6.  The Lord God saved His "own special people," of which we are a part.  This is the good news.  Jesus assured us that He "shall lose none of all that" God the Father has given to Him.  This is God's work.  Jesus has promised to raise us up at the last day.  Jesus has promised eternal life for those the Father has chosen and for everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him.  The gospel "is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes."  Rom. 1.16.  The gospel is the power of God because by and through the gospel God draws men unto Himself.  No one comes to Christ unless God draws Him.  John 6.44.  In history and unfolding in time is the fulfillment of God's plan of salvation.  The Lord God has saved a "special people" the fulfillment of which has not yet been seen. 

In summary:  

Christ and His Work are All-Sufficient  

Christ's Work is Satisfactory

Christ and His Work are Perfect

Christ's Work is Complete

God's justice was completely satisfied by Christ's sacrifice on the cross.  Nothing man can do or will do can contribute to Christ's perfect work.  Christ's sacrifice on the cross, with the shedding of His blood, is sufficient and adequate to provide for the salvation of man.  Christ's work is complete in and of itself, and nothing can be added to it to make any contribution whatsoever.  Man's responsibility is to believe on Christ, trusting Him for the salvation of his soul.  In Christ Jesus, we have the perfect understanding of God being for us.  Rom. 8.31.   

This is the good news of the Bible.

[1] God's offer of reconciliation, of His grace, mercy, and love, was to all mankind.  Those who respond to God's offer of reconciliation are God's elect.  Those who reject God's offer of reconciliation are totally responsible for doing so, and reap the consequences of their choice. 

[2] It is Christ who provides us salvation.  Christ's work is the work of salvation.  We simply believe Him for our salvation.  Our works, whether good or bad, will not impact our salvation.      

[3] Some of what is true of the children of God is shared in Living For Victory, a workbook I designed to disciple for faith living, from which this good news is excerpted, and these truths are identified as the ABC's of Christianity.  These truths of the children of God are irrevocable truths, just as a prisoner who has been set free and absolved of guilt cannot properly be imprisoned again for the same charges, and just as a slave set free absolutely cannot be legitimately recaptured and enslaved.  These truths are because of what God has done for the children of God, not of any work of man.  A.  Alive.  You are a new creation.  II Cor. 5.17.  "When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ."  Col. 2.13.  B.  Blessed.  You are called "blessed."  "Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.  Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him."  Rom. 4.7-8.  C.  Child of God and Citizen of Heaven.  Child of God.  We are children of God with all rights, privileges, and benefits.  This truth opens up most of the blessings we have in Christ.  "Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God."  John 1.12.  Citizen of Heaven.  Because you are God's child, your citizenship is Heaven.  Phil. 3.20.  Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household ...."  Eph. 2.19.  D.  Delivered.  We were under the sentence of death because of our sin.  We were to be separated from God forever.  "He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and He will deliver us."  II Cor. 1.10.  "He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love."  Col. 1.13.  E.  Established.  What God establishes is fixed and sure.  God's love for us is sure, established by who God is: "Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet My unfailing love for you will not be shaken."  Isaiah 54.10.  We are established by who God is and by our knowledge of Jesus Christ, through faith.  "So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have."  II Peter 1.12.  F.  Free.  You have been set free from sin and from the law of sin.  "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death."  Rom. 8.1.  G.  Gifted.  "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."  We received God's gift in Jesus when we believed on His name.  "God's gifts and His call are irrevocable."  Rom. 11.29.  "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast."  Eph. 2.8-9.  H.  Holy and Heir of God.  Holy.  You are holy.  "But now He has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation."  Col. 1.22.  Heir of God.  You are also an heir of God.  "The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.  Now if we are children, then we are heirs - heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ ...."  Rom. 8.16-17.  "So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir."  Gal. 4.7.  I.  In Christ. There may not be another phrase or two-word combination which tells so much.  We are "in Christ."  "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."  Rom. 8.1.  "And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages He might show the incomparable riches of His grace ...."  Eph. 2.6-7.  J.  Justified.  Your faith brings your justification.  Justification is the act of God making you acceptable before Him, pardoning you of your sin and making you "just" as if you had not sinned.  "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand."  Rom. 5.1-2.  K.  Kingdom priests.  "To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve His God and Father - to Him be glory and power for ever and ever!  Amen."  Rev. 1.5-6.  L.  Loved.  The Almighty God loves you.  It is worth reminding you.  "To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood ...."  Rev. 1.5.  M.  Minister of Reconciliation.  Because our citizenship is Heaven, we are "aliens and strangers on earth."  Heb. 11.13.  As representatives of other countries come to our nation as ambassadors, so we are ambassadors for Heaven.  And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation.  We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us."  II Cor. 5.19-20.  In this role, we are ministers of reconciliation.  II Cor. 5.18.  N.  New Creation.  "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"  II Cor. 5.17.  O.  Of God.  Again, two words say so much.  We are born of God.  "Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God - children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God."  John 1.12-13.  P.  Predestined.  God chose you before the creation of the world.  Eph. 1.4.  "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light." "I Peter 2.9.  "In Him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will ...."  Eph. 1.11.  Q.  Qualified.  We must be a thankful people.  Who can stand in the presence of God on that Day when men are judged by their deeds?  No one is qualified for Heaven on their own.  We will always be "giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light."  Col. 1.12.  God the Father did this through the Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.  R.  Rescued and Redeemed.  Rescued.  We were rescued from ourselves, our sin, and our own way.  We were rescued from the evil one and from his dominion.  "For [God] has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."  Col. 1.13-14.  Redeemed.  "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.'  He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit."  Gal. 3.13.  S.  Saved.  "And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."  Joel 2.32; Rom. 10.13.  "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."  Acts 4.12.   T.  Taught by God.  It is a tremendous privilege to be taught by God.  "Now about brotherly love we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other."  I Thess. 4.9.  "Surely you have heard of [Christ] and were taught in Him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus."  Eph. 4.21.  U.  United with the Lord in Spirit.  "But he who united himself with the Lord is one with Him in spirit."  I Cor. 6.17.  "If we have been united with [Christ] like this in His death, we will certainly also be united with Him in His resurrection."  Rom. 6.5.  "If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from His love ... then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in the spirit and purpose."  Phil. 2.1-2.  V.  Victorious.  "But thanks be to God!  He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."  I Cor. 15.57.  "This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.  Who is it that overcomes the world?  Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God."  I John 5.4.  W.  Washed.  God washed our sins away; he cleansed them white as snow.  "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool."  Isaiah 1.18.  Acts 22.16.  X.  X is the letter chi in Greek.  It is the first letter for the word "Christ," or "Cristos."  We are to always "fix our thoughts on Jesus" (Heb. 3.1), "fix our eyes on Jesus" (Heb. 12.2), because He is our everything.  Y.  Yoked.  We are yoked with Christ.  "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."  Matt. 11.28-29.  Z.  Zealous.  We are to be zealous for God.  As Phinehas was zealous for God and received a reward, so we must be zealous for God.  "Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned back My wrath from the children of Israel, because he was zealous with My zeal among them ...."  Num. 25.11.  The last letter, z, representing the word "zealous," is to remind us that we are to believe God daily and so be consumed by the zeal of God.   The Holy Spirit is in us, and therefore, the zeal of God is in us!  We are looking for the "blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.  Titus 2.13-14.