The gospel

The apostle Paul described the gospel of Christ by saying it is the ‘power of God for salvation to everyone who believes’ (Romans 1:16). This means that the gospel is the means by which God chooses to save people. The term ‘gospel’ literally means ‘good news’. It is the good news that God through His grace made it possible for sinners to be saved from the wrath to come.

The Bible makes no secret about the fact that God is holy. He cannot even look upon sin. His very being is opposed to sin and so He will not let sin go unpunished (Nahum 1:2–7).

Even though God is holy and does not tolerate sin He devised the plan of salvation for mankind. This is what makes the gospel good news! Jesus Christ by dying on the cross for sin made salvation possible for all who would believe in Him (John 3:16).

We here at Glenvista Baptist Church are committed to being a gospel-driven and Christ-centered church. Purely because Christ laid down His life for sinners such as us can we be called His sons and daughters. It is therefore our desire to spread the good news of Christ so that others might also come to the knowledge of God’s grace (Matthew 28:18–20).

Who Jesus is

The Bible is clear on the dual nature of Jesus Christ: He is fully God and fully Man. He is one Person with two distinct natures. He has existed as God in His deity before anything was created (John 1:1–3) and is the second Person of the Holy Trinity, God the Son (Matthew 28:19). He sustains the universe (John 1:3; 1 Corinthians 8:6), He rules sovereignly as the King of kings and the Lord of lords (Revelation 19:16), and He is YAHWEH in the flesh (John 8:58). In His incarnation He became fully human, having taken on human nature with a human will and emotions, yet remaining fully God. He was born of a virgin and did not commit any sin in His entire life, although He was tempted to sin as we are (Hebrews 4:15).

What Jesus has done

By dying on the cross Jesus became the substitutionary sacrifice in the place of sinful mankind. This was something that no one forced Him to do; He did it willingly, driven by love (John 10:18) and by obedience to the Father in accordance with the Godhead’s eternal plan of salvation. He came as the perfect Lamb of God, the only one who could take away the sins of the world (1 John 2:2). God poured out His wrath on Jesus as He became the bearer of our sins (Isaiah 53:10). Through His resurrection from the grave He overcame death and sin and the devil, and secured a future resurrection for the saints (1 Corinthians 15:20–21).

How we should respond

At the baptism of Jesus, the Father said of Jesus, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased’ (Matthew 3:17). Because the Father wishes to glorify His Son He also expects us to do the same (Philippians 2:9–11). Eternal life is only to be found in Jesus (John 5:24; 10:10) and so the Bible is clear that we must repent unto Christ for life. This means to turn away from our sin and to turn to Him for forgiveness. God assures us that ‘If you confess that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved’ (Romans 10:9).