The gospel is not something man made up or a well-informed opinion, but is good news directly revealed from Almighty God regarding what He has done in Jesus Christ to rescue all those who have called on His name. The Gospel is the news that Jesus Christ, the Eternal Son of God, the Righteous One, died for our sins and rose again for our justification, eternally triumphing over all his enemies, so that there is now no condemnation for those who believe. It is a declaration about what He has done, not what what we are to do. It is a divine rescue, a complete deliverance ... not advice, not a moral improvement program, nor a philosophy of life, since what we need is sovereign mercy, not assistance.
The gospel is not about any merit I have, but is based upon Jesus' merit alone. It is not what we have done for Jesus, but what Jesus has done for us (Rom 5:19, 2 Cor 5:21, Phil 2:8) in his sinless life, sacrificial death and triumphant resurrection.
Dr. Tim Keller once said "...the gospel is news about what God has already been done for you, rather than instruction and advice about what you are to do for God. The primacy of his work, not our work, is part of the essence of faith. In other religions, God reveals to us how we can find or achieve salvation. In Christianity, God achieves salvation for us.
Monergism
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