The Importance of the True Gospel

Your salvation does not depend on how strongly you believe something or how sincere your belief is. It depends entirely on the object of your faith—what you believe. What do we believe as Christians? What is the gospel?

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.

If we try to please people, we abandon the reality of the gospel. Even similar elements altered in any way create a completely different gospel. In our time, we live among people-pleasers seeking approval from others rather than from God. Those seeking to please people are not servants of God; they do not have the right gospel.

Paul goes so far as to say that even if he himself or an angel from heaven preached a different gospel, that being should be accursed—damned to hell. The Judaizers in Galatia added requirements like circumcision and dietary laws on top of the true gospel, transposing something over it, making it no gospel at all.

The Series Outline: What is the Gospel?

This four-week series follows this outline:

1. The gospel is a message about God.
2. The gospel is a message about sin.
3. The gospel is a message about Jesus Christ—His person and work.
4. The gospel is a message about faith and repentance.

Tonight, we focus on the first: the gospel is a message about God. It starts with God, is concerned with God, and ends with God.

A God-Centered Gospel

To understand the gospel, we must begin with God. Scripture always points to what it reveals about God. John Calvin said you never truly understand who you are until you behold the face of God.

Many gospel presentations jump straight to "Jesus loves you and died for your sins," but this is incomplete. The Bible starts in Genesis with God as Creator. Why? Because the gospel is about God—His nature and what He expects. He has the right to expect obedience because He created everything from nothing. All things owe their existence to Him. Animals exist as animals, humans as humans, because God created them that way. Without Him, nothing exists. We owe everything to God.

The Apostle Paul grasps this in Acts 17:22-34, preaching to religious but lost Athenians—not Christians.

So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are indeed his offspring.’

Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

Paul's Presentation in Athens

Paul does not start with "Jesus died for your sins." He begins with God as Creator and Lord of heaven and earth. The Creator cannot live in temples made by man or be served by human hands as if He needs anything—He gives life, breath, and everything to all mankind, continually.

God made every nation from one man, determining their times and boundaries so they would seek Him. In Him we live, move, and have our being—we are utterly dependent on Him every moment. Even our breath is His present gift; life continues by His sovereignty, not mere biology.

Paul quotes their poets: "We are indeed His offspring." He hijacks their words about Zeus to refute idolatry. If we are offspring of the divine, why make gods of gold, silver, or stone—images of human art and imagination? Idolatry is futile.

God overlooked times of ignorance but now commands all people everywhere to repent. He has fixed a day to judge the world in righteousness by the man He appointed, giving assurance by raising Him from the dead.

God's Ownership, Lordship, and Right to Judge

Everything depends on God. We owe Him our existence, allegiance, and obedience. He provides the "owner's manual"—Scripture—for how we should live. Rebellion against His rules is sin.

God is self-existing and self-sustaining. We exist to seek and worship our Creator. Some mocked Paul, others wanted to hear more, and some believed. The gospel starts with God's sovereignty, ownership, lordship, and right to judge. Without this foundation, we have a man-centered gospel.