The Gospel is: God in His eternal counsels, freely choosing to save sinful men from His wrath, by sending His Son Jesus to die and to be condemned in their place, at the same time imparting Christ own righteousness that he lived to them as if they had lived it them selves, thus giving them eternal life, so that they might Glorify God for his Mercy by enjoying him forever. This is Good News       

          1 John 4:14, "And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world."

          Ephesians 1:7, "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace." 

           Ephesians 2:4-13, "But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, (5) even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), (6) and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, (7) that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. (8) For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God...in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near."

 (Romans chapters 1-12, Titus 2:11-3:8, Ephesians chapters 1-2:13-14,16,19, Colossians chapters 1-2, Galatians 6:14, Galatians 3:13, 2 Corinthians 5:15, 2 Corinthians 5:21, 1 Peter 2:24, Hebrews 9:14,24-28, Hebrews 8:1,6,10-12, 1 Peter 3:18, Galatians 1:4, Philippians 3:8-9, 1 John 4:10, Matthew 26:28, Isaiah 53:10, Isaiah 61:10, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John)

(A)     Mans fallen Nature. Slaves to sin:

          John 8:34, "Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin."

          Romans 3:10, "As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one;  There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God."

          "It is hard to exaggerate the importance of admitting our condition to be this bad. If we think of ourselves as basically good or even less than totally at odds with God, our grasp of the work of God in redemption will be defective. But if we humble ourselves under this terrible truth of our total depravity, we will be in a position to see and appreciate the glory and wonder of the work of God..." - (John Piper). The more we understand this truth, the more beautiful Gods Mercy and Grace will be to us. This is what God plans to do for us in eternity, to show His Glories to us through understanding and enjoying His Infinite Mercy. (Romans 9:22-23,15:8-9; Ephesians 2:7) Therefore we need to plan to know this reality very well. Our happiness and Gods Honor is a stake in is pursuit.

          The Gospel is the answer for all questions in life, not psychology, not self-esteem, but the Gospel is the answer and supreme help for everything in life. Paul, the disciples and the rest of the early church did fine without psychology and therapeutic movement.  Not that all psychology is bad, for if psychology is used to follow and help serve the absoluteness and authority of Scripture then it is a good thing. The reason psychology at its core is not the best help in life is for one reason. It does not address the absolute reality of Sin and the only cure of mercy in Jesus Christ. Sin is the answer for everything in life that is not positive but negative, boring, hurtful, evil, perverse, painful and disgraceful, sin is why. That is why the Gospel with its answer to sin is relevant to all people in all families, cultures, nations, colors, rich, poor, dumb, or smart. All have their lives destroyed  and messed up because of sin. All can relate to it. And the Gospel through Jesus Christ is the only way, the only truth and the only escape from this reality of people being sinners in treason of an Almighty God.

          God created the human heart to admire Greatness, which is namely Himself. What sin forever did to us was separate us from enjoying that greatness, which is the Glory of Christ who is the image of God.  Sin is the problem why we are so hungry for pleasure and happiness and yet are never satisfied.  Sin is why we hated God and why God had wrath stored up against us.  Sin is why we and all creation suffers from corruption, disease, death, sadness, why every thing in life we work at seems to work against us, why our conscience bothers us and why we hurt ourselves and why we hurt other people and why other people hurt us.  The biggest problem with sin is not that it hurts people but that it blasphemes and dishonors God and His Son Jesus Christ. It is cosmic treason against a Holy God. Sin, apart from the Grace of God, has confined the whole human race into that great reality called Hell.  Sin is THE problem for the human race. When the Holy Spirit regenerated our hearts and gave us Life, owing only because Jesus Christ died for our sins and imputed His righteousness to us, it is here we find the only way people are made right before God and our age old enemy sin, is defeated.  Jesus and His Gospel is our only answer we need in life, to have life(i.e. happiness, satisfaction, completeness, etc..). Life is knowing God(John 17:3) and with out God you don't have life. (1 John 5:11-12)

           (Romans 8:7, Jeremiah 2:11-13, John 17:3, Romans 3:11, Romans 5:12, Romans 6:12, Matthew 8:34,42-44, Colossians 1:21, Ephesians 4:17-18) 

(B)Justification  - Sanctification

 Isaiah 53:11, "My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities."

Romans 4:25 "who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification." 

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24, "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely...He will do it."

1 Peter 3:15 ,"But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts."

      Understanding the difference in Justification and Sanctification and therefore resting in this finished work of Christ is one of the most important on going understandings a Christian does. Wrong in your understanding here and you will struggle will legalism and guilt your whole life. The most powerful weapon the Christian has in defeating these sinful attitudes is a right understanding and treasuring of the finished work of Christ for our Justification and Sanctification. Along with humble prayer for help that the truth we read will by Gods granted power, bring life to our sin infected hearts and minds.   

"-Justification is being declared righteous (before God the Father).

-Sanctification is being made righteous, being conformed to the image of Christ. (Becoming what you all ready are, righteous by the imputation of Christ.)

-Justification is our position before God.

-Sanctification is our practice. You don't practice Justification! It happened once for all, (2000 years ago with the Historical Jesus Christ on a Cross)

-Justification is objective, Christ (finished) work for us. (2 Corinthians 5:21 & Titus 3:7,)

-Sanctification is subjective, Christ working within us. (Christ also bought for us our Sanctification and it is His promise that He has taken the Ultimate responsibility to complete our sanctification in us, Philippians1:6, 2:12-13)

-Justification is immediate and complete upon conversation. You will never be more justified than you are the first moment you trust in the person and finished work of Christ.

-Sanctification is a process. You will be more sanctified as you continue in (Grace-given) obedience.

-Sanctification is a process. You will be more sanctified as you continue in (Grace-given) obedience.

           The weakest believer and the strongest saint are alike equally justified. Justification admits no degrees. A man is either wholly justified or wholly condemned in the sight of God. None of us can add to the finished complete work of Jesus on the cross. He paid the price of our sins He satisfied God's Wrath.     

           The weakest believer and the strongest saint are alike equally justified. Justification admits no degrees. A man is either wholly justified or wholly condemned in the sight of God. None of us can add to the finished complete work of Jesus on the cross. He paid the price of our sins He satisfied God's Wrath.     

         Sanctification is a process, the process of becoming more like Christ (becoming what you already are, a saint), of growing in holiness. This process begins the instant you are converted and will not end until you meet Jesus face to face. (Which means), we work hard at obeying God's word. We read our Bibles. We pray. We meditated on Scripture. We memorize Scripture. We share the Gospel. We serve our church. We fast. (We learn to love and Value God above all things in life, and to love each other as ourselves.)" - Quoted from "The cross centered life" by C.J. Mahaney, The Cross Centered Life, Multnomah, 2002.  ()- added by: Oshea Davis

              Corinthians 2:2, "For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified."

          Galatians 6:14, "But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world"

             2 Corinthians 1:20, "For all the promises of God in Him(Christ) are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God."

Yours in Christ: Oshea