The Gospel That I Preach

The Gospel of God is the Gospel of our salvation (Mk 1:14; Rom 1:1, 16; 15:16; 2 Cor 11:7; Eph 1:13). It is good news of God’s mercy and grace toward sinners (Rom 9:15–16), whom He has chosen for salvation before the foundation of the world (Rom 11:5–6; 2 Thess 2:13). Having written the names of His elect in the Lamb’s book of life before Creation (Rev 13:8; 17:8; 21:27), God the Father gave us to His Son in eternity past (Jn 6:37; 17:2, 6, 24; 2 Tim 1:9). The Apostle Paul wrote to the Romans and the Ephesians about our adoption as sons (Rom 8:15, 23; Eph 1:4–5); we who were predestined to receive Christ by the preaching of the Gospel (Jn 1:12–13; Rom 10:17; 1 Cor 1:18; 2:2).

Salvation has a predetermined plan (Acts 2:23), a means of execution (Christ), a means of application (Holy Spirit), and an eternal end (Is 45:17; 1 Jn 5:11–13). Salvation belongs to the Lord, who is the source of eternal salvation (Heb 5:9), from beginning to end (Ps 3:8; Jon 2:9; Rev 19:1). All of the many elements of our deliverance are attributed to God our Savior (Titus 2:13; 3:4; 2 Pet 1:1). He saved us (Titus 3:5), not we ourselves. It is the will of God, not the will of man (Jn 1:12–13) that determines who is a vessel of mercy being prepared for glory and who is a vessel of wrath prepared for destruction (Rom 9:22–23).

God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are divinity in community. Three Persons of the Triune Godhead are revealed in Holy Scripture, both Old Testament and New Testament. Together, they are one God — equal in substance, yet different in functional roles. In all things pertaining to God, there is unity amidst diversity. The perfect love relationship among the divine Persons is presented to us in the revelation of the Trinity on the pages of Scripture. As the creeds of the early church declare, “We believe…in the Father…in the Son…in the Holy Spirit…”

Our God is the sovereign creator and sustainer of all things (Jn 1:3, 10; Rom 11:36; Col 1:15; Heb 1:2–3). He sits in the heavens and does as He pleases (Ps 115:3; 135:6). In the revelation of Himself, we learn of His salvation of sinners (Lk 19:10; Acts 4:12; 1 Tim 1:15; Heb 7:25). God sent His only begotten Son into the world (Ps 2:7; Jn 1:14; 3:16; Heb 1:5; 5:5), in order to save His people from their sins (Jer 31:7; Mt 1:21).

The Problem

Sin has been with each person since conception in his or her mother’s womb (Ps 51:5). As heirs of Adam, our inheritance from him is original sin (Rom 5:12; 1 Cor 15:22). Since conception, each person’s sin nature has produced one offense after another (Eph 2:3). All have sinned (Rom 3:23), with the consequence of death (Rom 6:23). It is appointed for each one to die, once, and then comes the righteous judgment (Heb 9:27; c/f 2 Cor 5:10; Rev 20:11). The just sentence for reprobate sinners on Judgment Day is the second death — an eternal punishment in the fiery torment of the lake of fire (Mt 25:41, 46; Jude 7; Rev 20:11, 14–15).

The plight of humanity is the tragic descent from the domain of darkness into outer darkness, forever (Mt 8:12; 22:12; 25:30; Col 1:13). Unless this course is mercifully interrupted by God Himself, the natural man remains without God and without hope in the world (Eph 2:12). Although most people refuse the moniker “hater of God” (Rom 1:30; see also Jn 7:7; 15:18–25), it is the label the Bible applies to those people outside of Christ.

The Bible further emphasizes this dichotomy by showing the separation between the wheat and tares (Mt 13:24–26, 29–30), the sheep and goats (Mt 25:32–33), the righteous and the godless (1 Pet 4:18), the children of God and the children of the devil (1 Jn 3:10). The essential question to be answered is, “What is the difference between the two groups of people — the natural man versus he that is spiritual (1 Cor 2:14–15)? The difference, making all the difference, is the presence or the absence of the Holy Spirit in each person (Jn 14:17; Rom 8:9, 11).

It is the third Person of the Trinity who applies all the blessings and benefits to the elect redeemed people of God, now born again to new life (Jn 3:1–8; Rom 6:4; 2 Cor 5:17; Eph 1:13; 1 Pet 1:3), by the Holy Spirit’s indwelling presence in the regenerated soul (heart + mind + will). He who has the Son of God has the Spirit of God’s Son, the Spirit of adoption (Rom 8:15, 23; 1 Jn 5:12).

In contrast, the natural man cannot accept the things of the Spirit of God because he is of the world (Jn 15:19), and the world cannot receive the Holy Spirit (Jn 14:17). The natural man (1 Cor 2:14), dead in sin (Eph 2:1), thinks the things of the Spirit of God are foolishness (1 Cor 1:18, 23). He has no love for God in his heart (Jn 5:42) because God’s Word has no place in him (Jn 8:37). He cannot hear God’s Word (Jn 8:43); and He does not hear because He is not of God (Jn 8:47). He has no faith in Christ because he does not belong to Christ (Jn 10:26). The devil, the adversary of every man, has blinded the mind of the natural man so that he cannot see the Gospel (2 Cor 4:4).

The Interruption

The called man of God is appointed to a stewardship of the Gospel (Acts 14:23; 1 Cor 4:1–2; 9:17; Col 1:25; Titus 1:5, 7). He is entrusted with the message that helps both sinners and saints to see Jesus, the icon of God (Col 1:15) and author of our faith (Heb 12:2), who is shown to us in the Bible. The Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy with the imperative to “preach the Word” (Acts 16:10; 2 Tim 4:2).

Faith comes to God’s elect redeemed people by one hearing the Word of Christ (Rom 10:17). God is well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe (1 Cor 1:21). Faith is a gift of God (Eph 2:8–9), granted by His grace toward His beloved (Gal 3:22; Phil 1:29; 2 Pet 1:1; Jude 3). No one should ever take credit for any aspect of his or her salvation because it is all of God from beginning to end (Rom 15:17; 1 Cor 1:31; 2 Cor 12:9; Gal 6:14; Heb 3:6). Christians are Spirit-empowered witnesses in this matter of salvation (Acts 1:8). In this way, God receives all the glory due Him.

In the end, God will have saved every single person He intended to save. He will lose none of His own; and no one can pluck them from His hand (Jn 10:28–29). Nothing can separate the saints from God’s love (Rom 8:31–39). This is the power of God and the wisdom of God to complete the work He began in each one He loved in eternity (Eph 1:4–5), at the cross (Rom 5:8), and poured out in their hearts by His Spirit (Rom 5:5; 1 Cor 1:24; 2 Cor 5:5; Phil 1:6).

The new creation of the new heavens and the new earth is the eternal home of those who lived in Christ and died in Christ in this life (Eccl 12:5; Is 65–66; Rev 21–22). At the resurrection to life on the day of Christ’s second advent (Jn 5:28–29), the souls of the saints made perfect (Heb 12:23) will be conjoined to glorified bodies to be caught up together with Christ in the air (Rom 8:30; 1 Thess 4:16–17).

The salvation that is in Christ Jesus is both body and soul. When we see Jesus face-to-face (Rev 22:4), on that day, we will be like Him in His glorified state (1 Jn 3:2). The Christian believes in Jesus, who is our only hope for our future, after the death of the body (1 Tim 1:1; Titus 2:13; 1 Pet 1:3). He gives us eternal life (Jn 6:27; 10:28; 17:2; 1 Jn 5:11, 20).

Together with our brethren from around the world and throughout history, we rejoice in the Gospel of Jesus Christ because it is a Word that does not return void to the One who sent it into the world (Is 55:11) — in order to call all men everywhere to repent and believe it (Acts 17:30). Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved (Acts 16:31). God gave us His Word, regarding salvation, and He will accomplish everything that concerns us (Ps 57:2; 138:8). This is the Gospel that I preach, Christ Jesus — eternal, incarnate, sinless, crucified, resurrected, ascended, glorified, enthroned, ruling, interceding, returning, judging and reigning.

David Norczyk

Spokane Valley, Washington

December 27, 2023