The Gospel rests at the foundation of the Christian worldview. Get the Gospel right, and your Christian worldview will stand firm. Get the Gospel wrong, and your Christian worldview will be unstable. A wise Christian, then, will seek to understand the essentials of the Gospel. What are the essentials of the Gospel?
God created people in His image.
Being created in God’s image meant that Adam and Eve had a unique capacity to live in a personal relationship with their creator, that God had authority over them and that they were to serve as stewards of creation (Genesis 1:26-30).
People rebelled against God.
Adam and Eve’s sinful rebellion (Genesis 3:1-7) had terrible consequences: Sin entered the world (Romans 5:12a), death (physical and spiritual) spread to all (Romans 5:12b, 15), divine condemnation befell all (Romans 5:16, 18) and humanity’s relationship with God became marked by alienation and hostility (Romans 5:10a; Ephesians 2:3; Colossians 1:21).
God took the initiative to bring His salvation.
God took the initiative to bring His salvation by revealing Himself to Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3). He promised to bless him with land and descendants, and declared that through Abraham’s descendants “all the families of the earth [would] be blessed” (Genesis 12:3b). As Paul reveals, God announced the Gospel in advance to Abraham, for Jesus Christ came from Abraham’s descendants, the Jewish people (Galatians 3:9). Christ provided the way for sinners alienated from God to become part of His family (Galatians 4:4-5).
One should reflect carefully on Jesus’ identity and work.
The gospels present Jesus as the Messiah (Matthew 1:1, 16:16), the Son of God (Mark 1:1, 15:39), the Savior (Luke 1:69, 2:11), and the divine Christ and Son of God (John 1:1, 20:31). Also, the gospels emphasize Jesus’ important work of solving humanity’s sin problem. Jesus died on the cross as the substitute for our sin (Matthew 20:28; Mark 10:45). He took God’s wrath upon Himself for all.
To receive God’s salvation, one must repent, believe and obey.
Repentance involves a change of mind about one’s sin that leads to a change in behavior. It entails acknowledging that one’s sin is offensive to a holy God and seeking to respond appropriately to His righteous standards. The Prodigal Son serves as a model of repentance (Luke 15:18-19), as does Zacchaeus (Luke 19:8).
People must also believe or put their faith in Jesus Christ. That is, they must display a wholehearted trust in Jesus as God’s Messiah and Son whose substitutionary death saves them from their sin (Matthew 1:1, 16:16; Luke 1:77, 2:11; Mark 10:45; John 20:31).
Obeying God’s commands is also required (Matthew 7:21-23). Obedience refers not to a cold, blind allegiance but to submitting to God’s will within a covenant relationship (Luke 22:20; Jeremiah 31:31-34). Obedience should be motivated by a wholehearted love for God and people (Matthew 22:34-40).
Those who respond to God’s salvation should live as Christian disciples.
Discipleship includes abiding in His Word (John 8:31-32), loving others (John 13:34-35), bearing fruit (John 15:8) and living under the Spirit’s control that He might produce His fruit in one’s life (Galatians 5:16, 18, 22-25; Ephesians 5:9-10). Discipleship also involves seeking to make disciples of the nations (Matthew 28:19-20) and remaining faithful and watchful until Christ’s second coming (Matthew 24:42-51, 25:1-13; 1 Timothy 6:13-15).
Believers will join God in His eternal kingdom, while unbelievers will be excluded.
One day, Christ will return in His glory (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17; Revelation 19:11-21). He will judge those who did not respond appropriately to the Gospel and cast them into hell (Revelation 20:11-15, 21:8). In contrast, believers will enjoy eternal fellowship with their King as citizens of His kingdom in the new Eden He establishes on the earth (Revelation 22:1-5, 21:1-3).
Even the most complex, sophisticated expression of the Christian worldview stands or falls on the simple Gospel. In light of this fact, Christians should seek to understand Gospel basics such as sin, the cross and the proper human response of repentance, belief and obedience.
A Christian must never become so educated that his Christian worldview ignores the Gospel.
— Michael Bryant is executive vice president and professor of Christian studies at Charleston Southern University.