LESSON 5.10 WHAT IS THE GOSPEL?

Lesson 5 - GOD'S SALVATION

5.10 WHAT IS THE GOSPEL?

The word gospel means "good news." It tells us what Christ did to take away sin, 1 Corinthians 15:1-4. To have your sins taken away, you must obey the gospel. The apostle Paul said in Romans 1:16, "I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God unto salvation." Christ had no sin of His own. Our sins were put on Him on the cross. He died, was buried, and resurrected to take away our sins. To claim God's salvation, you must go through a process of dying, being buried, and a resurrection to a new life to take away the sins that killed your spiritual unity with God. This process is called a spiritual rebirth. Christ said in John 3:5-7, "Except one be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God."

It is not possible to die physically and be raised as Christ did but is done symbolically when we are baptized in water. The water is a symbol of the grave. When you are completely submerged in a watery grave, that will represent the burial of your old life of sin. Visualize in your mind what is happening as I describe it to you step by step. Read every Scripture reference in your Bible, and let God tell you about the terms of His salvation.

When a person sins, it brings the death penalty and kills him spiritually, Romans 6:23. Sin is what killed Christ. He died to pay for sin. His body, that bore our sins, had to be buried. When He came forth from the grave, He was reunited with God. To be reconciled with God, He had to get rid of sin. You must also get rid of your sin , Romans 5:8-11.
When you go to the water to be baptized, you are bringing your body that has been spiritually killed by sin, to bury it in a grave, Romans 6:3-4. You must be willing to bury the old life of sin or your baptism will be of no value.
By being lowered into a watery grave, you will re-live Christ's burial, by acting it out in your own life, Romans 6:10-11. How? The old sinful body that separated you from God is put into a symbolic grave to show that you have buried the old man of sin, Romans 6:6 and that you are transferring your loyalty to righteousness, Romans 6:12-14. You will no longer be a slave to sin, Romans 6:16-18.
If your faith and repentance are genuine, God will remove your sins in baptism. You will be raised out of the watery grave, free of sin, Romans 6:7. Only by being baptized in this manner will you be resurrected as a new person spiritually, Romans 6:4-5. You will be born again, John 3:3.
In the few seconds it takes to lower your body into the grave, God will forgive all of your sins. At that point, you will be clothed with Christ, Galatians 3:27; cleansed spiritually, Romans 6:6;saved from Satan, and you will become a part of God's family. This is why 1 Peter 3:21 tells us that baptism saves. In baptism, God will give you the Holy Spirit, Acts 2:38, to live within as a spiritual shield to help you fight the battle of sin in the future, Ephesians 3:16-20. The Spirit is a down payment or pledge that God will keep all of His promises, Ephesians 1:13-14.