21 Questions - 8. What exactly is the gospel? How can I explain it using and not using the scripture?

I presume most Christians focus on the New Testament to describe the gospel (also known as the good news). I tend to think of the gospel story a combination of the Old and New Testament together. In the Old Testament tells the story that man breaks God's Law and the New Testament demonstrates God's love for us by telling us how He resolved the situation.

The Gospel message tells the story of God's love for us that while we were still sinners (dead in our trespasses, earned wages from sin equals death), Jesus came and died for us. It is a compassionate love story about God and His desire for us to be reconciled to Himself. To be reconciled means God is wanting to restore friendly relations between Himself and each one of us. 

When I was going through a ministry certification process, a comment was made by the examiner regarding saved and unsaved alike, "We are all God's children". If you know me at all, you might have guessed that I asked for clarification. I referenced 1 John 3:7-10

Dear children, don’t let anyone deceive you about this: When people do what is right, it shows that they are righteous, even as Christ is righteous. But when people keep on sinning, it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil. Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning, because they are children of God. So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God.

I was asked to explain my view regarding these verses. Before explaining this text, I referred to John 3:5-8, 5 Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.”

The reason for referring to John 3 is to establish that we are dead. We have a soul but we don't have spiritual life yet. The verse says, "the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life". If we can agree that this is true and until we are born again by the power of the Holy Spirit, we are dead. As such, we are said to be dead in our trespasses (we are dead because of our sin)

Ephesians 2:1-2 Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world.

Colossians 2:13 You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins

It is my belief that until we are born again, we are not His children. The scripture is true or it isn't. Before being born again, we are dead and obeying the devil (uhhhhg, his child). When given spiritual life, we become a new creation. We are redeemed and by adoption, are called sons and daughters. Then and only then are we His legitimate children. 

The gospel message (good news) is that Jesus, God's son came to the earth to die for our sins. He defeated death and provided a way for man to be reconciled to God. A beautiful guarantee of those that stay in communion with God is eternal life. One way or another there is an eternal future. The question we should ask ourselves if do we want a future of eternal life or eternal destruction (torment, pain, suffering, wailing, gnashing of teeth). 

The gift of God is free and He commutes the death sentence off of each person who repents and turns from their sin and puts their trust in Jesus. Putting trust in Jesus means we transfer the trust we have in ourselves and put it on Jesus, for we cannot save ourselves.

The only way I know to share the gospel without using the bible is to share the testimony of the supernatural power and miracle God performed in my life. For most of my life, I have been exposed to the truths of the Bible. I attended summer camps, went to summer Bible schools and the sort. At a point in my teen years, I believed I wanted to get serious with God and live for him. Not being rooted, a storm came and I walked away from God and the church. I remember a difficult situation that occurred at church, and in the lobby of that church following the meeting, I said to my mom, "if this is what Christianity is, I don't want to have anything to do with it" I walked and I rebelled. Though I lived my own life, I really could never shake that I was living in sin and in rebellion. Looking back I shake my head and realized it was a terrible way to live. In all the good and bad, God was there, even though I wanted nothing to do with Him. But God was persistent and He continued to put people in my life to pray for me and be His mouthpiece. I just would not listen or relent. I was not going to allow anyone or anything break my will. God, in His mercy, allowed me to go through a very difficult situation and guess what, my will broke. I realized I could not keep fighting against who He said I was and who I was meant to be. 

I don't normally kneel but that night, I knelt next to the bed and I began to talk to God. I began to repent and godly sorrow flowed from my heart. That night I will probably never forget. I was a different person. I did not say a simple prayer and ask Jesus to come live in my heart. No, I came to the end of myself and called out to God. He met me where I was and instead of condemning me, He gently showed me sin after sin after sin, of which I repented. He was compassionate. He was kind. He allowed me to empty myself and allowed me to see why I needed Him in my life. Listen, I was not just saved. I was rescued. A supernatural miracle occurred and God rescued me. Since then, life has been a wild journey. I look forward and don't focus on the past. However, when I look back to that day He rescued me, I am thankful, so much so that words can't express. 

Just as God rescued me, He can rescue you too. God's words are found in the scriptures. I dare to say God is more than just His words we find in the Bible, He is our creator and our life source. His Spirit is among us, calling those not saved, and to those born again, He leads, comforts, teaches, guides us. Without God's word and His Spirit dwelling in me, I would be lost, without hope. With Him, all things are possible.