East Caribbean Baptist Mission: Gospel Tract
THE GOSPEL MESSAGE
1. THE MAKER: Who is really in charge?
"In the beginning, God created..." (Genesis 1:1)
Listen! Everything in the universe starts right here! According to the Bible, we did not make ourselves, the universe or anything that we can see. God did! He alone has the right to direct and control what He has made. God has designed that we should have an intimate relationship of love with Him, one in which His commandments are obeyed and our joy is made full in keeping them. God's pure righteousness and absolute holiness demands that we mirror His holiness, especially in our hatred for everything sinful or evil.
For more information in this point, see Genesis chapters 1-2, Psalm 89 and Revelation chapter 4.
2. THE MISERY: What exactly went wrong?
"If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves..." (1 John 1:8)
Mankind's rebellion against God is the problem. In fact, all of our problems are just symptoms of this great problem. Our failure to love God and keep His commandments has resulted in our misery, our loss of joy and the absence of purpose in our lives. Ultimately, this has exposed us to not only a futile life on earth, but also to an eternity in Hell where we experience the wrath of God in response to the infinite debt that was incurred because of our sin against an infinitely holy God. There will be a Day of Judgment when we will all have to answer individually for our sin.
For more information on this point, see Romans chapter 5, 2 Thessalonians chapter 1, and 1 John chapter 1.
3. THE MEDIATOR: Who is able to fix the problem?
"There is salvation in no one else..." (Acts 4:12)
Jesus Christ is the only One who can help us to pay an infinite debt of sin, for He was the only Infinite Person to walk the face of the earth. He was God Incarnate, God in the flesh. This is the Gospel, the greatest news in the world, that God the Father has sent Jesus, God the Son, to secure the salvation of sinners by becoming a sacrifice on the Cross of Calvary as payment for all the sins of all who are the targets of His grace, mercy and pardon. This is the basis upon which a sinner can be forgiven.
What Jesus actually did was this. He lived the perfect life that God requires, on behalf of sinners, and died the ultimate death that sin deserves, also on behalf of the same sinners. Jesus Christ absorbed the wrath of the Godhead that all sinners justly deserve. He also imputed His own absolute purity and perfect righteousness to their account. Then He rose from the dead to prove that He was indeed God Incarnate and truly qualified to save sinners. Because of this work by Christ, filthy sinners can truly put the horror of their depraved character and corrupt record behind them once for all! Great news!
For more information on this point, see John chapter 10, Matthew chapter 28, and Acts chapter 4.
4. THE MEANS: How should you respond?
"...repent and believe in the gospel." (Mark 1:15)
There is one God, according the Bible. However, this one God has mysteriously and inexplicably revealed Himself in the Bible as three distinct persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Father, before any of us were born, made His decision concerning which of all guilty sinners He will pardon, not because of anything good in any of them, but only because of what is good in Himself alone. The Son (Jesus Christ) came to earth to be the sacrificial payment for the sinners whom the Father had chosen. This is what we explained in point #3 (THE MEDIATOR: Who is able to fix the problem?). The Holy Spirit's work is to regenerate (change and claim) the hearts of the sinners who were paid for by Jesus Christ.
Who exactly are these sinners? Those who prove to have genuinely repented of their sins and have also believed (or exercised faith) in the Gospel are the only recipients of God's mercy. If the Holy Spirit has enabled you to truly repent of your sins and believe the Gospel, you may rejoice that you have been included in God's grace. You are saved from the wrath to come! You may live with confidence, joy and purpose!
Repentance involves your proving that you truly hate and reject your sinful life, that you have a change of mind concerning sin. Belief (or saving faith) involves trusting and obeying Jesus Christ alone as the basis of your salvation. You completely trust Christ to pay your sin debt on Calvary and you obey Him alone (not to earn your standing but) to demonstrate your gratitude to Him and your undying love for Him.
The next steps are (a) to announce your conversion to the world by applying for Believer's Baptism, as Jesus Christ had commanded, (b) to officially unite with a local church that is biblically faithful and (c) to consistently demonstrate your changed life to the world around you.
For more information on this point, see John chapters 3 and 17, Acts chapter 17 and Ephesians chapter 2.
(This tract was prepared by Dr H W C Jonas of the East Caribbean Baptist Mission © 2017)
If you are ready to act on what you have just heard or read, please fill out our Gospel Response Form. We will make your spiritual need the priority of our ministry. church./gosperesponse-form
1. THE MAKER: Who is really in charge?
"In the beginning, God created..." (Genesis 1:1)
Listen! Everything in the universe starts right here! According to the Bible, we did not make ourselves, the universe or anything that we can see. God did! He alone has the right to direct and control what He has made. God has designed that we should have an intimate relationship of love with Him, one in which His commandments are obeyed and our joy is made full in keeping them. God's pure righteousness and absolute holiness demands that we mirror His holiness, especially in our hatred for everything sinful or evil.
For more information in this point, see Genesis chapters 1-2, Psalm 89 and Revelation chapter 4.
2. THE MISERY: What exactly went wrong?
"If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves..." (1 John 1:8)
Mankind's rebellion against God is the problem. In fact, all of our problems are just symptoms of this great problem. Our failure to love God and keep His commandments has resulted in our misery, our loss of joy and the absence of purpose in our lives. Ultimately, this has exposed us to not only a futile life on earth, but also to an eternity in Hell where we experience the wrath of God in response to the infinite debt that was incurred because of our sin against an infinitely holy God. There will be a Day of Judgment when we will all have to answer individually for our sin.
For more information on this point, see Romans chapter 5, 2 Thessalonians chapter 1, and 1 John chapter 1.
3. THE MEDIATOR: Who is able to fix the problem?
"There is salvation in no one else..." (Acts 4:12)
Jesus Christ is the only One who can help us to pay an infinite debt of sin, for He was the only Infinite Person to walk the face of the earth. He was God Incarnate, God in the flesh. This is the Gospel, the greatest news in the world, that God the Father has sent Jesus, God the Son, to secure the salvation of sinners by becoming a sacrifice on the Cross of Calvary as payment for all the sins of all who are the targets of His grace, mercy and pardon. This is the basis upon which a sinner can be forgiven.
What Jesus actually did was this. He lived the perfect life that God requires, on behalf of sinners, and died the ultimate death that sin deserves, also on behalf of the same sinners. Jesus Christ absorbed the wrath of the Godhead that all sinners justly deserve. He also imputed His own absolute purity and perfect righteousness to their account. Then He rose from the dead to prove that He was indeed God Incarnate and truly qualified to save sinners. Because of this work by Christ, filthy sinners can truly put the horror of their depraved character and corrupt record behind them once for all! Great news!
For more information on this point, see John chapter 10, Matthew chapter 28, and Acts chapter 4.
4. THE MEANS: How should you respond?
"...repent and believe in the gospel." (Mark 1:15)
There is one God, according the Bible. However, this one God has mysteriously and inexplicably revealed Himself in the Bible as three distinct persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Father, before any of us were born, made His decision concerning which of all guilty sinners He will pardon, not because of anything good in any of them, but only because of what is good in Himself alone. The Son (Jesus Christ) came to earth to be the sacrificial payment for the sinners whom the Father had chosen. This is what we explained in point #3 (THE MEDIATOR: Who is able to fix the problem?). The Holy Spirit's work is to regenerate (change and claim) the hearts of the sinners who were paid for by Jesus Christ.
Who exactly are these sinners? Those who prove to have genuinely repented of their sins and have also believed (or exercised faith) in the Gospel are the only recipients of God's mercy. If the Holy Spirit has enabled you to truly repent of your sins and believe the Gospel, you may rejoice that you have been included in God's grace. You are saved from the wrath to come! You may live with confidence, joy and purpose!
Repentance involves your proving that you truly hate and reject your sinful life, that you have a change of mind concerning sin. Belief (or saving faith) involves trusting and obeying Jesus Christ alone as the basis of your salvation. You completely trust Christ to pay your sin debt on Calvary and you obey Him alone (not to earn your standing but) to demonstrate your gratitude to Him and your undying love for Him.
The next steps are (a) to announce your conversion to the world by applying for Believer's Baptism, as Jesus Christ had commanded, (b) to officially unite with a local church that is biblically faithful and (c) to consistently demonstrate your changed life to the world around you.
For more information on this point, see John chapters 3 and 17, Acts chapter 17 and Ephesians chapter 2.
(This tract was prepared by Dr H W C Jonas of the East Caribbean Baptist Mission © 2017)
If you are ready to act on what you have just heard or read, please fill out our Gospel Response Form. We will make your spiritual need the priority of our ministry. church./gosperesponse-form