The Simple Gospel: Response

Introduction

We love to save ourselves. If you research books, podcasts, YouTube, audiobooks, and other forms of nonfiction content, self-help ranks in the top 5 in every category. We love the idea of helping and improving ourselves. And in many ways this isn’t completely a bad thing. If you want to get better at work, better at cooking, or manage your emotions in a healthier way, there are practical things you can do. Even in these aspects of life, sometimes it’s better to let someone help us rather than us trying to help ourselves. When we carry this into our spiritual lives, we hit a danger zone. Humans are sinful. God is Holy. Self-help can’t get us to God. Self-improvement is at the heart of manmade religion. Nothing could be more anti-gospel than self-help.

FCF: We find it so hard to let go of our works and trust in Jesus alone for salvation.

Main Point: When we hear the glorious gospel, God commands a response: faith and repentance.

1. We need to believe in Jesus to receive eternal life. (John 3:16–18, 36)

Christ's work in salvation is rooted in God's love for us.

The tangible evidence of God’s love is displayed by giving His ONLY Son to save the world (John 3:17).

Only begotten / "one and only" Son: Utterly unique and incomparable. The ONLY Divine Son of God.

God’s love for us is the source and foundation of salvation.

We find it hard to believe that God could love us. Yet He didn’t even spare His ONLY Son!

One day, Jesus will indeed judge the world through His saints, but His primary purpose in coming was to save the world!

We receive Christ's work of salvation by believing in Him.

Believe: Complete trust and reliance based on proven trustworthiness.

Belief is more than just acknowledging facts—it’s aligning your life with what you believe.

Illustration: If I believe a retirement account will benefit me in 30 years, I’ll organize my life and finances to prepare for it. Faith in Christ today is an eternal investment!

The gospel is open to whoever believes. God doesn’t discriminate! He doesn’t care what you look like, where you’re from, or who you are. If you hear the gospel, you are called to place your faith in Christ!

The gospel is NOT for the good people who have cleaned up their lives. Don’t let your sin stop you from coming to Christ! That’s the very reason you should come!

Anyone who hears and believes will be saved. Anyone who hears and rejects has no excuse!

Belief in Christ removes our condemnation. (cf. Romans 8:1)

God didn’t send Jesus to bring condemnation to the world. He could have rendered judgment from heaven without sending Christ.

Jesus came to bring life, and we trust in that 100%!

Unbelief is evidence of condemnation: "condemned already"

"The wrath of God remains on him" (John 3:36)

No sinner can answer God and say, “it’s not fair”

When a person rejects the gospel, they are deserving of God’s just and fair condemnation.

Belief is evidence of new birth and removed condemnation:

"Unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3)

"Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God" (John 3:5)

John wants us to be SURE that we know we are not condemned by God if we are in Christ!

Christ’s work achieves salvation for us.

Through Christ the world is saved.

Jesus doesn’t just make salvation possible, He saves!

He rescues us from the wrath we deserve for our sin.

We can rest assured that trusting in Christ will indeed lead to salvation.

The Son gives eternal life (John 3:36).

Specifically, John mentions eternal life.

We are saved from the penalty of sin, which is death. In exchange, we get life for eternity.

Salvation isn’t mainly about living a good, moral life in the present. It’s about enjoying, glorifying, and worshipping God forever.

Christ’s work brings us into a family relationship with God (John 1:12–13).

A big aspect of salvation is a new identity—Children of God.

We don’t just view God as Lord or Judge. We also view Him as Father.

Application: Do you believe in Jesus?

Have you believed in Jesus in a way that radically altered your life? Does your hope for salvation depend wholly on Him?

To believe in Jesus, you HAVE to give up the idea that you can somehow work or earn your way to God’s love. That’s HARD in our culture. We’ve been taught religion, and it’s deeply ingrained in many of us.

Is your assurance of salvation based on the things you’ve been doing, or on Christ Himself?

2. We need to repent and follow Jesus, the Source of eternal life. (John 3:19–21, 36)

Sin causes us to love darkness rather than light.

We can’t deny that sin makes us love the darkness.

Evidence of loving the darkness is doing wicked things; doing evil things is evidence that we hate the light.

The darkness and light motif is found all throughout Scripture—it points to the difference between good and evil.

The first creative act God ever did was reveal His light to the world: "Let there be light" (Genesis 1:3).

After Christ returns, there will never be darkness again. God’s glorious light will be the source of light for the world.

Being in sin is described as being blind—unable to see the Light:

"In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." — 2 Corinthians 4:4

Repentance is turning from darkness to light.

We can think of repentance in 3 parts:

Change of mind: When we see God’s perspective on the world, we need to change our minds about sin and match our view to His.

Remorse: There’s an element of remorse or grief that comes when we recognize our sinfulness.

Turning around: True repentance includes turning from that sin that has been revealed. (This is where we get the word "convert"—to turn around or transform).

Though Jesus doesn’t use the word repentance in this passage, He describes it vividly:

Person in Darkness: Loves darkness, hates the light, and hides from the light because he doesn’t want his sin exposed.

Person in Light: Does what is true, comes to the light, and shows that God is at work in his life.

What is the key difference? Where they go with their sin.

The unrepentant person remains in darkness—their sin and hatred of Christ.

The person who repents comes to the Light! They confess their sins to Christ and turn to Him!

Beware of false repentance.

Sadness without change: You might shed a tear or feel bad about sin, but you don’t stop chasing it. Worldly sorrow leads to death (2 Corinthians 7:10).

Illustration: A person who is allergic to gluten but eats it every day.

Knowledge without application: It’s one thing to KNOW the right thing to do; it’s another to obey. "Blessed rather are those who hear the Word of God and keep it!" (Luke 11:28).

Selective Repentance: Repenting from big, noticeable sins while keeping little "pet sins" you refuse to give up. "Put to death the deeds of the body" (Romans 8:13).

Application: Have you turned away from sin and turned to Jesus?

Search yourself: Are you still walking in sin, or have you turned away from sin and turned to Christ?

We ALL have to RESPOND to the gospel!

As John lays it out: "whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him" (John 3:36).

The gospel is more than a religious suggestion. It’s the power of God for salvation!

3. We need to give all glory to Christ for our eternal life. (Ephesians 2:8–9, Romans 6:23)

Illustration: Think about an inheritance given to children by their parents—wealth transferred from one person to another. It would be foolish to claim that you’re a self-made person or that you built that wealth when someone simply gave it to you.

Sadly, many professing Christians talk about salvation as if it were something we achieved by our good works. Instead, when we respond to the gospel, we need to give ALL the glory to Christ.

Why does this matter?

1. We can unintentionally make things about us.

Talking about faith and repentance is important, but we can focus too much on ourselves and what WE are doing.

Salvation is the gift of God. Apart from a decisive work of God on our behalf, we wouldn’t be saved!

"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." — Ephesians 2:8–9

The Bible teaches that God even grants us repentance—it’s not something we generate on our own:

Acts 11:18 speaks of the Gentiles being granted "repentance that leads to life."

In John 3:1–15, Jesus tells Nicodemus that we have to be born again! We have to be regenerated and given a new heart to respond to the gospel. That’s the work of the Lord, not us!

2. We need to intentionally make everything about Christ.

Since humans are tempted to take the credit, we must be intentional to give all credit to the Lord!

Apart from Christ, we can do NOTHING of spiritual and eternal value. We have a will, but it is damaged by sin until the Holy Spirit gets hold of us.

Put simply: We earned the wages of sin, which is death. God gave us the free gift of eternal life through Christ (Romans 6:23). Christ is the HERO of the story, not us!

We didn’t just wake up one day and decide to be Christians. The Holy Spirit drew us, showed us the beauty of Christ, and gave us a new heart. Then, we saw the glory and power of Christ and responded in faith!

Application: Who is the Hero of your story?

When you think about your salvation story, who do you think about? Do you think about all that you’ve done, or do you think about Jesus?

Do you tell people how you got your life together, or how Jesus got YOU together?

Do you reflect on how you figured things out, or how Christ transformed your heart?

A major aspect of sharing the gospel is sharing how it impacted your life. Don’t make yourself the hero of the story.

As one Christian rapper put it: The gospel is the only story where the hero dies for the villain!

Conclusion: Have you responded to the gospel?

Whether you’ve been here the past 3 weeks or not, here’s the gospel in a nutshell: God — Man — Christ — Response.

Will you turn from your sins and turn to Jesus this morning?

Will you walk in genuine repentance?

Will you look at Christ and have the burden and guilt of your sin wiped away?

"If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." — Romans 10:9

This is the essence of faith and repentance. Turn to Him today!