Craig Smith • The Message of the Church • Sept. 24, 2023

• The

of the gospel – “Now brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you…For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve.” (1 Cor. 15:1-2a, 3-5)

That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. (Rom. 10:9)

The gospel is the message of what we are saved

Reveal Answer

and what we are saved

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– “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. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Eph. 2:8-10)

• The

Reveal Answer

of the gospel* – “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And He is not served by human hands, as if He needed anything, because He Himself gives all men life and breath and everything else…He commands all people everywhere to repent. For He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising Him from the dead.” (Acts 17:24-25, 30b-31)

The distortion of the gospel…
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Reveal Answer

– “You foolish Galatians!… After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?” (Gal. 3:1a, 3)

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– “What shall we say then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?” (Rom. 6:1-2)

• The

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of the gospel – “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes…” (Rom. 1:16a)

• The

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of the gospel – “All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God’s grace in all its truth.” (Col. 1:6b)

• The

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of the gospel – “You learned it from Epaphras…” (Col. 1:7a)

“Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” (Luke 15:23b-24)