The Gospel of Sovereign Grace — A Succinct Presentation

When God created Adam in the garden,he created him as the legal representative of all of his descendents. This means that he stood in the place of every single one of us in the garden. Through his fall into sin, all of Adam’s descendents, Christ excepted, fell and sinned in him (Romans 5:12, 18–19).

As a result, all mankind is born into sin, and cannot fulfill God’s righteous requirement demanded by his Law (Psalm 51:5; Romans 3:23). Man’s heart is wicked and deceitful above all things (Genesis 8:21; Ecclesiastes 9:3; Jeremiah 17:9), he loves his sin, and cannot subject himself to the Law of God, nor can he receive the things of the Spirit of God, since they are foolishness to him (Romans 3:9–20; 8:7; 1 Corinthians 2:14). Man is completely incapable of paying off the sin-debt that they owe to Jehovah God, whose justice demands either absolutely perfect obedience to the Law, or eternal judgment as a result of sin.

THE GOOD NEWS

But God, who is rich in mercy, did not permit all mankind without exception to be left in this miserable state. The Triune God chose his elect family out of every nation of people, in Christ Jesus as their representative before the foundation of the world. The Father chose his people for salvation, the Son was sent to redeem his people, and the Spirit is now sent forth to impart eternal life to every single one of them individually at the appointed time (John 3:8).

The eternal Son of God became flesh, taking on a human nature while remaining both truly God and truly man (John 1:1–3, 14) for the express purpose of saving his people from their sins (Matthew 1:21–23). He did this by being born under the Law for the purpose of perfectly fulfilling it do that he might be an acceptable, spotless sacrifice on behalf of his people (Matthew 5:18; Galatians 4:4; Hebrews 9:14; 1 Peter 1:19). He was perfectly obedient to God, even to the point of death on the cross (Phil. 2:6–8). While on the cross, the sinless Son of God stood in the Father’s wrath, having the sins of the elect legally credited to his account, undergoing the punishment of hell in both body and soul in their stead, and permanently freeing them from the curse and condemnation of the Law (Matthew 27:46; Galatians 3:13; 1 Peter 2:24). His blood has legally cleared them of the guilt of all sin, therefore rendering them as perfectly righteous in the sight of God (Ephsians 1:3–6, 5:26–27; Hebrews 10;14–18). Having accomplished what He was sent to do, Jesus declared that It is finished (John 19:30). As a result of this accomplished redemption, God raised Him from the dead and seated Him at his own right hand, to return one day to judge the living and the dead (Romans 4:25; Mark 16:19; Acts 17:31).

The Gospel demonstrates how a perfectly just and righteous God can justify the ungodly without sacrificing His justice. The demands of God’s Law and justice have been satisfied permanently by Jesus Christ on behalf of everyone that He represented. When you stand before God one day, in His courtroom, you must have a PERFECT righteousness to plead, anything less than absolute perfection will not suffice. Thr good news is that Jesus Christ has saved his people from their sins, and had provided them with that required righteousness. This means that if Jesus Christ died for you, then you are bound for heaven. You cannot go to hell since there is no sin imputed to your account to go to hell for.

But how does one know if he/she is one of God’s elect for whom Christ died? Well, dear reader, is what you have read here today truly good news to you? Do you believe this good news, and rejoice in it? The promise of the Gospel is that whoever believes on Christ does so because they have already been born of the Spirit and are already in possession of eternal life (John 5:24, 6:46; 1 John 5:1). Only one who has been born again by the Spirit of God will be able to recognize this truth. You can’t work or will or pray your way to being born again. God must beget the sinner anew. Salvation is truly of the LORD alone.

So, dear reader, if the Spirit of God has pricked you in the heart, and caused you to experience the new birth, giving you eyes to see your utter depravity, and desperate condition, humbling you in the dust before Him, crying out in your inner man “What must I do to be saved!?”, then be not afraid. The blessed Savior calls all of those who are wearied and heavy-laden by the burden of sin, and calls them to cast them upon Him. He promises all who come to him that his yoke is easy and his burden is light. He who believes on him shall not be ashamed, nor ever be cast out. If this is you, dear reader, if you find yourself convicted of your sin and trembling under the terror of the Law, then simply look to Jesus Christ, and you may be assured that your sins have been blotted out, and you are one of God’s elect for whom Christ died. Flush your self-righteous works religion like the dung that it is, and seek your righteousness in Christ, and Christ alone!