The Gospel
2 August 2026
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(Romans 6:23)
Please turn with me in your Bibles to the Book of Romans and to chapter 6. This morning we're beginning a topical series that Mike and I will be working through on Sunday mornings over the next 3 months or so on the topic of The Church. And we're going to be looking at several key themes connecting with the subject of The Church and the importance of this. So, we're going to read just one verse from Romans, Romans 6:23, as we prepare to begin today and the beginning of this series. So, Romans 6:23. This is the word of God.
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Amen.
Let's pray together. Our Lord and our God, we come to you in prayer this morning and we ask may you quicken, challenge, convict our hearts that we would look to the glorious gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and be hungry for it, to be desiring to live according to its truth because Father, this is the message of life, this is the message by which we have a right relationship with you. We pray, dear Father, that what is proclaimed would be honouring to what we see before us in the Holy Scriptures, that your name would be glorified, that your church would be built up. May your kingdom advance, may souls be saved. Lord, may you do it, may you work by your spirit, for we ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.
So, as we prepare to begin this series on the subject of The Church, one of the key convictions that I've had even since before beginning this church 7 odd years ago is that in our nation there is a great need for the reforming of the doctrine of the church, particularly in understanding the importance of being in membership in the church. And this is very apparent as we look out at the church just by and large in our nation and see that increasingly what we find of churches is being unclear of the very message of the doctrine of the Bible, the very gospel itself, being generally vague on doctrine, being pragmatic about it in application, and having the teachings of that church being tailored to the felt needs, all geared towards a weakening of churches and it becoming a free for all by which we see more worldliness and less Christ in the functioning and application of the church. And so, the reason to deal with this subject and many of the themes that we're going to be unpacking is to mainly be reminded of the key core doctrines of something that is foundational to life on this earth. That is the church which as we'll think about as we go on, which is Christ's bride, His people born again, set apart and called to be that salt and light here on this earth.
Now everybody who comes into membership in this church goes through an 8 week church membership course where we look at some of the subjects that we'll be tackling in this series and one thing that should be stressed is that throughout all that we cover, the lion's share of what we deal with should not, it really should not be new and profound doctrinal teaching that is something that you've maybe not considered before. But the reality is that some of what we do unpack will be new. It will be profound and it is consistently very much needed, as we consider dealing with subjects like today, The Gospel, and then getting into Baptism, the importance of Membership and doctrine and Discipleship and Discipline and all of these sorts of areas that we will be exploring in the upcoming weeks. Subjects that so often many, especially those who come into membership, say, yes, I agree, I understand, I get this, but then when it comes to the practice, the reality of it, it looks like something quite different. So, one of the key reasons for dealing with this is not simply to be reminding and teaching and grounding us in these key doctrinal subjects of the church, but it's also to consider in an even more pointed manner, well, what does this actually look like in the life of the church and in your life as part of the church?
So, with that stressed, we begin today with first things first. And that is the subject of the gospel. In 1 Peter 2:2 it says “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation.” And so, when we deal with any subject, whether it's introducing the subject, whether it's a applying the subject, whether it's living our lives on the basis of the subject, the Gospel must be at the very centre and the heart of it as Christians. This is something that we need to grasp and grasp with clarity and precision because the Gospel is not something that is a past tense, one decision that you made once upon a time. The Gospel is not something that you can put behind or aside when you move on to more bigger and maybe more mature things. No, the Gospel is at the centre and the heart of it all. Every single subject that we cover on the topic of the Church, the Gospel is at the centre of it. And crucially, knowing and believing the Gospel is essential for anyone, absolutely anyone, to be part of and to be the Church. Because if you do not understand, grasp and believe the Gospel, then you cannot be part of the church. All of the other subjects that we will deal with, there may be a misunderstanding or a lack of teaching and ways by which, yes, you definitely need to grow in that area and you could still be part of the church. But when it comes to the Gospel, it would be impossible. And so today, we come to deal with the Gospel. That's the title of this sermon, the Gospel. Nice and easy to grasp and tackle.
Now, as we've seen in some of the series that we've been working through, we're continuing through the Book of Hebrews in our afternoons, there's been texts working through Romans and other parts of the Scriptures over the years, there have been sermon after sermon after sermon, unpacking the depth, the richness, the weight, the magnitude of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. So today, this subject could be an entire lifelong series. So, what we're aiming to do in the time we have this morning is to go through what the Gospel is, dealing with all of the main key points in order to be very crystal clear. Yes, this is the Gospel and by the grace of God, this is the gospel that I believe. So, we're going to be going through this and the verse that we read, even though this isn't a series study on the Book of Romans, even though we'll not be explicitly unpacking this verse, we will be dealing with a lot of the key points in it. And in that verse, Romans 6:23, a lot of the key points mentioned are crucial to understanding the Gospel. We have mention of death and life. We have mention of Christ. We have mention of free gift. We have mention of sin. And also, there is mention of God.
Now this is something that often I would challenge people on when beginning our church membership course regarding the subject of the Gospel and how you would articulate the Gospel. How would you would maybe witness to an unbeliever with the message of the Gospel? And some people say, we'd start with sin or maybe some people go straight to speaking about Jesus and grace. Well actually, the first place that we should be clear in starting on is on the doctrine of God. Now take for example the Apostle Paul. When he is standing in the Areopagus, he observes in this pagan culture that there is the worship of an unknown God in Acts 17:23. And this is something that we do encounter in this fallen world, that many have suppressed the truth, Romans 1:18. So, there is a blatant and a willful denial of the very fabrics of what is true, namely the existence of God. And so, when we begin with God in relation to the teaching of the Gospel, we look to the Scriptures and we see the Scriptures are the Word of God. This is God's Word and the Word of God reveals who this God is. That this God is the one true living God. He is holy, He is distinct and set apart from all others, He is all knowing, He is all powerful, He is infinite and He is eternal. This is Yahweh. the God who is revealed in the Bible. He is the triune God. He is one true living God in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And we see right from the beginning of the Bible that this one true living God is the one who created us. He created us in 6 literal days, and we are the pinnacle man, made in His image, male and female He created them, in His image we were made. And we also have revelation in the Bible as to why we were made. People all across the world in different philosophical and other ways means they try to search for the meaning of life and we have it in the Bible. We were made by this one true living God and we were made for Him. We were made we were made to be on this earth, to glorify, to magnify, to make known, to rejoice in, to praise, to exalt this one true living God. Made for Him and made to enjoy Him forever.
Now with that stressed, as we continue in the unpacking of the subject of the Gospel, we go back to the verse that we read. And the verse, though it is mentioning this free gift of God, and we've dealt with the existence of God, the verse is actually initially dealing with the fundamental problem on this earth. You, me, our fundamental heart problem because the verse begins by saying for the wages of sin is death. The wages of sin is death. Now when we hear as we begin the doctrine of God and that God created us and that we were created for Him, we do also note that there are those who are worshipping unknown gods, there is the suppressing of the truth. Why and how does this happen? Well again we find it in the beginning of the Bible that God has created man in his image. He sees that it is good. There is a perfect harmony and then very quickly in this Garden of Eden that God has created for man, it becomes distorted. It becomes ruined by sin. In that garden we have the appearance of the enemy of God, which is Satan coming in the form of a serpent, mentioned in John 8:44. And he comes with a spiritual poison to corrupt the mind and the approach of the man and woman in the garden, tempting the man and the woman to disobey God and His commands. And that is exactly what we find the woman followed by the man does in this garden. So, with this, the disobedience of God, there comes the fall of man. Like an analogy I've used many times, if we can picture something that is perfect, like a glass of water that then is contaminated with poison, that is somewhat of a suitable picture of what now becomes of us, those created by God in His image. We're corrupted, we're contaminated by the poison of sin. Now sin by definition is lawlessness. It means disobeying God, it means going against God. And what we have to understand is that this is not simply an external thing that you do from time to time. This is the internal, this is the very heart of who and what you are.
Just turn with me briefly to the Gospel of Mark and chapter 7, and the Lord Jesus gives a diagnosis of the human heart in the application of the way by which we live. Now look at this list that the Lord Jesus goes through in Mark 7 from verse 20 and see if it sounds somewhat familiar, not to the people around you, but to you. Mark 7:20-23, Jesus said - What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.
Now as we go through this list, if we're thinking, well it's a checklist and I don't think I've killed anyone and I've not committed any robbery so do I kind of pass somewhat? No, as the Lord Jesus is saying, this is from the heart. This is the way we think. This is the way that we're wired. And the reason for this is because of sin. We've been corrupted by sin like a cancer that spreads through our body. Our entire being is now in a fallen condition. Now we need to grasp this because time and time again, as we, for example, go out to evangelize, even yesterday, as we were on the doors proclaiming the Gospel, speaking to a woman who continuously went back to the fact that, yes, she thinks she's a good person, and compared her sense and standard of morality to the really awful people out there. And this is how we often think we create a standard of morality and we place ourselves above that, getting the pass mark, and there's maybe others who don't, and so therefore, if we've got God and heaven and all of these sorts of things, I get a pass, others over there, they don't.
Now brothers and sisters, we need to be crystal clear about this. There is a standard, a standard of morality by which must be met. But you and I, we do not define that standard of morality and this is why the Apostle Paul also in Romans 3:10 says that there is no one righteous. Now note this, there's not an exception here. Oh, well if you've been good enough, if you've been a churchgoer enough, if you've been religious for said amount of years, no it says no one is righteous, no not one. That includes every single person here in this room bar none. Everyone out in this area bar none. Everyone in this country. Everyone in the entire world, none. Nobody is righteous. No, not one. This is the condition in which we are. And so therefore, if people are maybe thinking, deep down they've really got a heart of gold. No. Deep down we know that the heart is desperately wicked, deceitful above all things. Now as you sit here this morning, do you believe this? Do you understand your condition? Because that's you. That's all of us. That's our standing before God. And it's why in this text, in Romans 6:23, it's talking about wages of sin. So, these are the things that you do. which is your sin, that's what you bring to the table. That's what you have as you stand before God. What does it lead to? It leads to death. Death is what it leads to.
Now think of the message of the false religion. Whether it be you adhering to the five pillars of Islam, whether it be you following the teachings of Buddhism, whether it be the new, latest fad, whatever it may be, what do we have as emphasis? This is what you must do. Even in sects, cults and false teaching in the name of Christianity, we have this very thing. The same framework. This is what you must do.
And what we have to understand is there is nothing that you can do. The contamination of that poison of sin corrupts everything that you are. So even your good works are described as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). The only thing that you can contribute to, the only thing you can stand upon before the Most High God, who is holy, He is righteous, He is the perfect judge, is your sin which condemns you. So, you stand before God condemned in your sin.
Now this is not the message of hope and life and if people were to hear this they might say – well, this sounds like a really negative message. Well, this is a diagnosing of the condition. We're about to come to the message of the Gospel but here we must first diagnose your condition. We have the existence of God. He defines the moral standard revealed in the giving of His law. We have the Ten Commandments and as we stand before them, we see, yes, I've violated every one of them. In my heart, in my mind, indeed. That's who I am. I'm a law breaker. And I didn't need to be taught to sin. Children, as they're growing up, they don't need to be taught how to lie and steal. No, this is the very nature of fallen humanity. So, we stand before God, and God's verdict is that we are guilty in our sin. The wages of our sin therefore means death.
And so, if people wonder, why is the world the way that it is? The world is the way that it is because we are the way that we are. We have corrupted and contaminated the earth and it's why the earth is afflicted. It's why these disasters happen. It's why bad things happen. But not to good people. No, to bad, sinful people. That's the framework theologically that we have in Scripture and everyone justly is deserving of death physically here on this earth and then spiritually it is the eternal death of hell which is an eternity under God's wrath and judgment forever. That's the condition. That's the warning. That is what man must be aware of.
Now as you sit here this morning, maybe as one who thinks and knows and says, well I believe in the Gospel, I'm a Christian, as you hear of this, even being reminded of this, maybe for the 500th time, of man's sinful condition, this is your brother and sister, maybe your father and mother, your children, your neighbour, your colleague, the people out in the streets of Hilton and Woodside, this is their condition. And what are we called to do and to be? Well, this is where we come to the Gospel. This is the message that we have. This is the message that by the grace of God, we know and we believe. Because look at this verse in Romans 6:23, the wages of sin is death. So that's what you contribute, your sin which leads to death. That's your work, which means death. But then we find the flip, the message, the hope, the life. Because it goes on to say, but the free gift of God is eternal life. So here we go, there's a free gift and we'll get to this. Eternal life, that sounds great. In what? In who? Christ Jesus our Lord. That's who.
Now this is where we get decidedly, deliberately and essentially exclusive. And rightly so for the sake of souls. If people are wanting to put, well, Jesus and a few other figures and, well, let's just take your pick, whichever religion, as we've already established. No!
False religion is at the heart, a religion of death which emphasizes work which in no way can grant you salvation. Here we have a gift and it is found through Christ. Here's the distinction, here's the hope, and here is the essential message, the Gospel, Jesus Christ.
And so, we then find we need to come to unpack, well who is Christ Jesus our Lord mentioned in this verse? Who is Jesus Christ? Now do we know this? Do you know this morning sitting here who Jesus is? As Jesus asked the disciples in the middle of His earthly ministry, who do people say that I am? And some were saying Elijah, John the Baptist, some other prophet. Who do we say, who do we know Jesus is? Well again we look to the Word of God, the Holy Scriptures, and we see He is the radiance of the glory of God (Hebrews 1:3). He is Jesus Christ and He and the Father are one because He is the second person of the triune God and He is God because He is described as the one who is before all things and in Him all things hold together (Colossians 1:17). Jesus Christ therefore is not simply another prophet with a word. No, he is the word becoming flesh and dwelling among us (John 1:14). He's not simply another high priest who will enter the earthly tabernacle. No, he is the great high priest who is the once for all sacrifice for sinners. And he's not simply another great king in the line of kings of David. No, he is the everlasting kings in whom for whom we can give glory, for he is the king of kings and the Lord of lords today. He has an everlasting kingdom which is established because we know that he is the better Adam, he is the greater Moses, he is the new and better David, because he is the one God who came in human flesh, being born of a virgin. Luke 1:35, it says - The Holy Spirit will come upon you. This is to a virgin, this young woman Mary, and it says - and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore, the child to be born will be called Holy - the Son of God.
This is who Jesus Christ is, the one who is truly God. And so, when he comes to this earth, he assumes our physical condition. He becomes like us as a man. And yet spiritually and morally, He is not like us. Because you, me, we are corrupted in our sin. We are born of sinful earthly parents. Jesus is born of a virgin. The Holy Spirit will come upon from most high and overshadow her. And we see that Jesus is the one who lived a life perfect, without sin. So, when you and I, we stand before God's holy law, we stand guilty and accused. Jesus, how does he stand before God's holy law? Without sin, no guilt. And he is the one, the only one who has ever lived, who could, who does, who has fulfilled this law. That's his life, his perfect sinless life. If we were to read through the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, what do we find of the Lord Jesus? We see wisdom that's unmatchable, we see mercy which is incomparable, we see teaching that's untouchable, we see miracles that are incomprehensible, we see a man who taught with authority, he cast out demons, he calmed the storm, he healed the sick, he gave sight to the blind, he raised the dead. This is the Lord Jesus Christ. This is whose life we come to magnify as we read through the gospels.
And yet at the same time, Jesus' life was not devoid of suffering. No, He was greatly targeted. He was persecuted. He was the one, though without sin, who faced temptation, hunger, tiredness, but also betrayal and abandonment. Insulted, rebuked, beaten, rejected, and left alone, the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many.
And this is now where we come to the very heart, the very life-saving heart of the Gospel. Because it isn't simply by the perfect life that he lived, though that is fundamentally crucial, it is by that perfect sinless life being laid down. His life being laid down. Mark 8:31 says - And he, Jesus, began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. So, suffer, be handed over and be killed.
Now, there are certain things that as you hear them again and again, the novelty wears off. Oh yeah, I've heard that before. I've seen that one before, read that before. But there are other things, the more you read on them, the more you think and reflect and meditate, the more rich, the more cherished, the more treasured they become. What of the message of the Gospel? As we sit here this morning and reflect maybe for some of you for the thousandth time. That Jesus Christ, the Son of God came to this earth, assumed the bodily form in which we sit here this morning, faced the ridicule, the scorn and the shame to the point where he was tried, beaten, scourged like a common criminal and handed over to be executed by crucifixion. This isn't just some saintly type of man on the earth. No, this is one who literally is perfect. This is God Himself, being forced to carry a cruel cross which someone had to assist in because such was His condition by that point physically where He would go all the way on that road to Calvary and He would be nailed to a cross. That's what Jesus Christ has done. That's what this free gift in Romans 6:23 is all about. It's all about what Jesus has done for you.
You, brother, sister, in Christ, the one who believes in the Gospel, this is what Jesus has done for you. By being nailed to the cross, he's bearing the sins of his people. The wickedness, the treachery, the debauchery, the immorality, all of it, Jesus is bearing it. The poison of your sin which corrupts you and condemns you, Jesus is taking that upon himself. Now here is the crucial point that needs to be stressed. As he's taking that sin upon himself, he is dealing with that sin. This is why we have the doctrine of atonement, substitutionary atonement, where he is dying as a substitute in the place of the people he's come to die for. So that's you, me, Christian who Jesus has come to die for. He's dying in our place. He's taking that sin which condemns you. He's taking it. He's dealing with it. And he's eternally putting it away as only he can by his perfect sinless life. And we know that he is putting that sin away because God the Father at the time when Jesus is bearing that cross looks upon the sun and darkness comes upon the land. And that darkness is the righteous wrath, his anger which is burning against Jesus on the cross. That righteous anger, God's wrath, which you deserve to face, which you deserve to face for an eternity in hell, Jesus is bearing that curse. He is bearing your sin for you. That's the gospel message.
It's the greatest news in all the world and nothing can compare than the fact that Jesus has laid down his life for sinners. He has died in the place of sinners like us. His blood has been shed and we are cleansed; cleansed of our sin. And we receive His righteousness in its place. Standing before God as ones whose wages of sin is death, now we come to a free gift, the gift of Christ, His life being laid down, His blood being shed, His righteousness being credited to our account, that we could stand before God and be declared justified.
How could it be? Jesus Christ, He is the Saviour of sinners. He has defeated death by tasting death itself and the defeating of death is displayed in all its glory on the third day after he has died and buried. Because on the third day, as the women and then the disciples come to the tomb in which he was buried, the stone that was used to seal the tomb, we are invited to look in and we find he is no longer there, but he is risen. Jesus Christ is risen. Acts 2:24 says - God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.
Now note what this verse is saying, it is not possible for Jesus to be held by the pangs of death. Jesus, unlike us, he cannot be held by the grave. Now why is that? Because unlike you and me, Jesus knew no sin. And on the cross, He's defeated sin. He's put it away. He's conquered it. He has defeated death. And so therefore there's no claim the grave can have over the sinless Saviour who has defeated death. And so, what do we have? Jesus rising. And He rises victoriously. This is not a, well Jesus managed to get out of that, but we're still in a bit of a mess. No, we have a picture of victory of Jesus Christ and all who are in him. Because right from the beginning of creation, God created us for life. Death is the result of sin. Sin has distorted it. It is the unnatural invader, the intruder of life, something we've become so accustomed to, we know we are all going to die because of sin, and here we have the picture of the empty tomb. Here we have the risen Lord and Saviour, and we have the picture of victory, we have the picture of hope, we have the picture of life, we have eternity.
And that is made emphatically clear in 1 Corinthians 15 from verse 56, when it says – The sting of death is sin. Yes, the sting is sin, and the power of sin is the law. Because the law condemns us. But then we come to verse 57 - But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Note this victory, victory language, because Jesus Christ has risen, defeating sin and death. As we sit here this morning, is this what we believe? As we look to Jesus, as we look to this message of the cross, as we look to the Gospel? Do we believe that it results in victory? Because if so, for those who have this victory in Christ, we come with joy. We come with joy knowing that whatever the world, whatever the devil has to throw at you, however downcast, however afflicted by circumstances you may be, you are, you know that in Christ you have the victory. It's not a victory that you have won by your own work, merit or effort. It's not a victory that you will achieve if you continue to do X, Y and Z. No, you look to the cross and every day you're reminded. The Lord's mercies are new every morning and the mercy, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ is the Gospel. That's my hope as I wake up tomorrow morning that Jesus Christ has defeated sin and death and I am in Christ. My hope, my life is in Him.
What do we notice when we compare Jesus, the religious figure of Christianity, to that of Muhammad, to that of the Buddha, to that of Guru Nanak and whatever other religious leader we want to pick? There is only one. There is only one who is alive. There is only one for whom the death of that religious figure meant the beginning of eternal life, and that is Jesus Christ. It's why when we go to the beginning of the Book of Hebrews, it begins in spectacular fashion because we have Jesus sitting down. He is sitting down on His exalted throne because the work is completed. He's defeated sin and death and Jesus rises victorious. He ascends to be seated at the right hand of the majesty on high. And today, this very hour, this very moment, we know Jesus Christ is alive and he's alive triumphant, he's alive victorious. He is the Lord and the King over all, and the promises he will return to this world that seems to be in so many ways imploding. Jesus will return triumphantly and every knee will bow and every single tongue will confess Jesus Christ. He alone is Lord. Nobody else. This is why we're not saying, oh, Jesus is a saviour. He's one of the saviours. No, he is the saviour. This is exclusive. In John 14:6, Jesus is bold, clear, and emphatic - I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Those are the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is why, as we begin to draw this to a close, and in relation to the subject of the church, with this message of the Gospel, there then comes the call of the Gospel. At the beginning of Jesus' earthly ministry in the Gospel of Mark, his first recorded words are (Mark 1:15) - the time has come, the kingdom of God is near; repent and believe the good news. Repent and believe. Repent of your sin and believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. This is the call of the Gospel. Now as you sit here, here today, are you one who sits as a repentant sinner, believing in Christ as your Lord and Saviour? Is this what you confess with your lips and believe with your heart (Romans 10:9)?
Because many people could be caught or confronted by something bad, wrong, sinful that they've done and say, yeah, I'm guilty. But is there a conviction of sin? Is there a being cut to the heart as we see in Acts 2:37? Is there, as Jehian was touching on last month in Isaiah, that woe is me, a man of unclean lips (Isaiah 6:5), that conviction as we stand before the most holy God?
This is not a flippant matter because this is not simply, I've done a little naughty against my neighbour but it's no big deal. And when it comes to standing before the Most High God, this is not the message of, oh well God's going to put his arm around you and say it doesn't matter anyway. No, it does matter. Your sin matters so much that it would take the Son of God coming to this earth and laying down that life for a sinner like you. That's how much it matters. Are you convicted by the fact that your sin separates you from God, that you have gone against your Creator? You, in your fallen condition, are deserving of hell. Well, brothers and sisters here today, this is why we come to repentance. Because if you are convicted of your sin, to repent of your sin is to turn. Literally turning from the worldly way, the suppressing of truth by which you've lived, turning from that. Because you're so disgusted, so much of a disdain, a righteous hatred for that sin. And because you're convicted, that's repentance. You turn from that and you turn in faith, believing in Jesus Christ as the Lord and the Saviour of your life. Do you repent and do you believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour? Because for all who repent and believe, the Bible makes clear 2 Corinthians 5:17 - Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold the new has come.
Now how can this be possible? Perhaps here this morning, maybe even children as you're sitting here and you know you can articulate the Gospel. How is it then made possible that anyone in a fallen sinful condition, we're spiritually dead before God, how can anyone come to truly know and believe this? Only by the Spirit of God regenerating the sinner's heart, changing that heart, taking out that heart of stone and putting in that heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26).
Because for every convicted sinner, Jesus has put away your sin. And so, you stand upon faith in Jesus Christ, forgiven. If you're in Christ Jesus, you're a new creation. You are born again, and this means you have been cleansed by the blood of Christ. It has cleansed you. It washes away your sin because we look to the one who has paid a debt that he didn't owe for the ones who owe a debt that we cannot pay. So, when we stand before the living God, the Lord Jesus Christ on the day of judgment, you know we're guilty. Every one of us, we're guilty before God. But because of the nail-pierced hands of the Son of God, because of His blood which has been shed, because of his righteousness which is credited to your account. You are declared justified. You are welcomed into heaven as a child of God, seated at the marriage supper of the Lamb, forever seeing and savouring your glorious Saviour, Jesus Christ.
That's what heaven is. It's an eternity of the greatest joy and satisfaction which is found in our glorious Saviour. He has made this reality for all who are spiritually born again. That's what it means to be a Christian. That is what it means to believe in the Gospel. And if you sit here and think, well, I'm not good enough. I don't deserve this. Well, Romans 6:23 says - For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life. It's a gift. It's not something that you earn. So, when it comes to anyone sitting here as a Christian and thinking, have I been Christian enough? Am I doing enough still? No, every day we must be reminded that it's not whether we're doing enough. Every day we need Christ and be reminded that Christ has done enough, that Christ is enough. And if you believe in Christ, in who He is, in what He has done, then you are a child of God. You are in Christ Jesus. That's what the Gospel is and that's what it means to be a Christian. And this is what the church is. This is what the church is made up of. Those who are saved by the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. So, we begin this series with first things first. The message of the Gospel. And oh may it be our prayer that as we hear the Gospel today that our hunger for it, our cherishing of it would deepen all the more. And may it be that for any who do not truly know and believe the Gospel that the Spirit of God would convict and bring you to your knees in repentance and faith in Christ and in Christ alone.
Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, we come to you in prayer and we thank you for the message of the gospel. Thank you for Christ's blood and His righteousness, for His perfect life, His sacrificial death, His victorious resurrection, His ascension triumphant seated on the throne, the one who is Lord and King over all. Thank you, Father that the Gospel is the message of Jesus Christ and His saving work for sinners like us. Lord, may we be convicted. May we be overjoyed, may we be reminded, and may we cherish these central foundational, all-encompassing realities by which now we can be called children of the living God, those who follow Jesus Christ, because we know and we believe in this free gift of God, this eternal life that we have in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, in whose name we pray. Amen.