The Gospel of Grace

Many people today, including several Christians, do not know what the Gospel is. They do not know that when it comes to salvation, no amount of good works, charity, money, fasting, etc., can bring them to eternal life. But rather people usually assume that when their good works outweigh their bad works, God will look at their good works and forgive their sins. There are others who also assume that if they keep the 10 commandments perfectly, then God would see that this person has kept the commandments and will forgive their sins, and ultimately grant them eternal life. There is another category of people who assume that they need to have faith and works so that God will evaluate their faith and works and deal with them accordingly. Before reading any further, ask yourself this question, what is the Gospel?

The Gospel is Jesus Christ stepping down from heaven, coming down to our level, taking upon Himself all our sins when He hung on the cross, paying for all our sins with His precious Blood, transferring all of His righteousness to us, so that we can live in total forgiveness of sins and possess the gift of eternal life. When we die, heaven is our home. Because of Jesus’s finished work on the cross, salvation is offered as a free gift to us, as Jesus Christ paid the price for all our sins with His precious Blood. The Bible says:

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved” - John 3:16-17

The Greek word used for “whosoever” in the above verse is “πας” (pas) which means everyone or anyone. In other words, the above verse is not saying that it is only for people who have their life holy and organized, or who have a good fellowship with God. You may consider yourself the worst sinner in the entire universe, you are the "whosoever" stated in the above verse. The Greek word used for “have” in the above verse is “εχη” (eche) which is in the present active tense, meaning, that the very moment a person begins to believe that Jesus Christ is their Lord and Savior, that person has salvation as a free gift, and their life will never be the same again. The Bible says:

“For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” - 2 Corinthians 5:21

In the Old Testament, as stated in Leviticus 1:1-4, a person is to bring a lamb to the doorway of the tabernacle, where he is to lay his hands on the head of the lamb, thereby transferring all of his sin to the lamb, and the lamb’s righteousness is transferred to the man. Finally the lamb is slain and offered as a burnt offering upon the brazen altar. The Bible says:

“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” - Romans 6:23

Salvation is given to us as a free gift. It is free to us because someone else paid the price for us. That someone else is none other than the Son of God, Jesus Christ Himself. He left heaven's glory, stepped down to our level by becoming flesh, and dwelt among us for the very purpose of saving us. Jesus Christ being a Jew, His name in the Hebrew is Yeshua(ישוע), which means "salvation". Jesus said:

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life” - John 5:24

Apostle Paul, who was a Pharisee of Pharisees, who was mentored under the famous Rabbi and Torah scholar Gamaliel, used to persecute Christians and put them in prison. One day on his way to Damascus, he had a life changing encounter with Jesus Christ, and the Lord made Apostle Paul into a Grace preacher. In his letter to the church at Ephesus he mentions:

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast” - Ephesians 2:8-9

Many people today, including several Christians, do not know what Grace is. Few Christians proclaim that we are under Grace, but saying so they add works. Grace by the Biblical definition is “unmerited favor”, which has nothing to do with works. Apostle Paul clarifies this in his letter to the Romans:

“And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work” - Romans 11:6

When it comes to salvation, it is purely by the Grace of Christ that we posses the gift of eternal life. There is no amount works in the world that we can do to receive it except it is given to us by God. Today, because Jesus Christ has paid the price with His precious Blood, we have salvation as a free gift. Grace can be abbreviated as God's Riches At Christ's Expense. The Bible says:

“And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission” - Hebrews 9:22

In other words, without a blood atonement, there is no way a person’s sins can be forgiven. Even keeping the 10 commandments is not going to grant a person eternal life. Apostle Paul boldly preached this message in a Jewish synagogue on a Sabbath saying:

“Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses” - Acts 13:38-39

In other words Apostle Paul was boldly stating that because Jesus Christ has paid the price with His precious Blood, God has completely forgiven us from all our sins. Apostle John, who leaned on the bosom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and listened to the heartbeat of heaven stated:

“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” - 1 John 1:7

The Greek word used for “cleanseth” in the above verse is “καθαριζει” (katharizei) which is in the present continues tense, meaning that the Blood of Christ is continuously cleansing us in a wash cycle. Because the Blood of Christ is continuously cleansing even as you are reading this article from all our sins, God the Father in His New Covenant says that He will never ever remember our sins:

“For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more” - Hebrews 8:12

The Greek word for “no more” in the above verse is “ου μη” (ou me) which is a double negative emphasizing a strong assurance saying never ever by any chance will I ever remember your sins. Under the Law of Moses, God says that He will visit the sins of the people to the third and the fourth generation (Exodus 20:5). Whereas under Grace, the Lord says that He will never ever remember our sins because our sins have been completely paid for by the precious Blood of Christ. Today we have access to the throne of God because of Jesus’s finished work on the cross. King David being under the Old Covenant said:

“Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD(יהוה) imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile” - Psalms 32:2

Later Apostle Paul also quotes this Psalm in his letter to the Romans saying:

“Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin” - Romans 4:8

Finally, Apostle John in his letter states that the things that are documented in scripture are written so that we may all know, that because we believe in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, we possess the gift of eternal life right this very instance:

“These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God” - 1 John 5:13

The word Gospel in the Greek is “ευαγγελιον” (euangellion), which means “Good News”, and it is stated in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 by Apostle Paul saying that we are saved when we believe in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We are not saved by doing more and more good works, because the work has been finished, which is why Jesus Christ when He was on the cross, cried out, "it is finished" (John 19:30). The Greek word used for "finished" in John 19:30 is "τετελεσται" (tetelestai) which is in the perfect tense, meaning that this is done once for all and will never be repeated again. In other words, He paid it all. We are saved by putting our faith on our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, because He paid it all for all our sins, and God has forgiven us completely, therefore there is now no more condemnation for us.