The gospel is the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ. It proclaims that we are saved by grace through faith in Christ alone, who lived a perfect life, died on the cross, rose again, and offers forgiveness to all who repent and believe.

How can someone be saved?

Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. When the Holy Spirit regenerates the heart, the sinner responds in repentance and faith, trusting wholly in the finished work of Christ.

What does it mean to repent and believe?

To repent is to turn away from sin with godly sorrow; to believe is to trust entirely in Jesus Christ for salvation. These are not works, but gifts of grace flowing from regeneration.

Gospel of Grace: Repent and Believe in Christ

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Gospel of Grace: Repent and Believe

by Crystal Wilson

Before the foundations of the world were laid, before time had its first tick, there was God—eternal, self-existent, and infinitely sovereign. From the infinite depths of His wisdom, holiness, and love, He ordained all that would come to pass. In six literal days, He spoke the cosmos into being. By His Word the stars were hung, the oceans fixed, and the dust of the ground was formed into man, into the Imago Dei.

Yet into this perfect creation, sin entered through one man. “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned” (Romans 5:12). Adam shattered the divine command and plunged all his posterity into ruin. We, his children by nature, inherit his corruption. We are not merely sinners by action, but by nature—born in iniquity, slaves to sin, enemies of God, and spiritually dead. “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me” (Psalm 51:5). “You were dead in the trespasses and sins… and were by nature children of wrath” (Ephesians 2:1–3).

And yet, God is not the author of sin. His decrees are holy, His judgments are just, and though He ordains all things—even the fall of man—the origin of sin remains a mystery hidden in the counsels of His divine will (Deuteronomy 29:29; James 1:13).

The Holiness of God and the Weight of Sin

God is not as we are. He is thrice-holy (Isaiah 6:3)—eternally pure, infinitely just, blazing in unapproachable light (1 Timothy 6:16). To sin against Him is to incur a debt of infinite weight. “The soul who sins shall die” (Ezekiel 18:20). No man, tainted by Adam’s fall, could offer a righteousness pleasing in His sight. The law was given not to save, but to expose our utter inability, to silence every mouth, and to make all the world accountable to God (Romans 3:19–20). It reveals the abyss of our guilt and the height of God’s holiness.

Christ the Lamb Foreordained

But God, in eternal love, purposed salvation in the eternal plan of redemption. There are no plan B’s with the Almighty. From eternity, the Son was appointed as the Lamb who would be slain (Revelation 13:8). In the fullness of time, God sent forth His Son—born of a virgin, born under the law—to redeem those under the law (Galatians 4:4–5). He walked this earth not as a conquering king, but as a humble servant. “He was despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3).

On a hill outside Jerusalem, Christ hung crucified. He bore the wrath that justice demanded. Pierced hands, thorn-crowned brow, mocked and bleeding—yet it was not merely Roman nails that held Him; it was divine purpose. “It pleased the Lord to crush Him” (Isaiah 53:10). He who knew no sin became sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21). He was our propitiation—our wrath-bearing substitute. “He bore our sins in His body on the tree” (1 Peter 2:24). “My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Psalm 22:1) cried the sinless One, as He absorbed the penalty His people deserved, appeasing holy wrath.

The Resurrection and Ascension

He died—truly and bodily died—and was laid in a tomb. Yet death could not hold the Author of Life. On the third day, the grave was silenced. He rose, declaring victory over sin, death, and the grave. The stone was rolled away—not to let Him out, but to let the world see He had risen. He appeared, He spoke, He ate, He was touched by Thomas (John 20:27). He ascended bodily to heaven and sat down at the right hand of the Father (Hebrews 1:3), His work finished, His blood accepted. There, even now, He intercedes for His redeemed (Romans 8:34) as our faithful High Priest, bearing our names before the throne, ever pleading His once-for-all sacrifice (Hebrews 7:25).

The Spirit’s Witness and the Call to Believe

But how shall sinful men be made partakers of such grace? Not by might. Not by merit. “You must be born again” (John 3:7). The Spirit was sent—our Helper, our Seal. It is the Spirit who gives life (John 6:63), who causes the dead heart to beat. “The wind blows where it wishes… so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:8). This is regeneration—a sovereign mercy of God. We do not cooperate; we are raised. Dead bones live. Blind eyes see. Stony hearts are replaced with hearts of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26).

Then, and only then, come faith and repentance—gifts of God (Ephesians 2:8–9; 2 Timothy 2:25). These are fruits of the new birth, not conditions for it. “But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God—who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12–13). To be saved is to believe in the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, trusting in Him alone for righteousness.

“For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5). “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). And once saved, Christ keeps His own. He who began the work will complete it (Philippians 1:6).

And now hear the gospel call—the very call our Lord Himself both began and concluded His ministry with:

“Repent, and believe the gospel” (Mark 1:15).

Acknowledge your guilt. Turn from your sin. Forsake the world and cast yourself wholly upon the mercy of Christ. This repentance is not self-reform; it is a broken and contrite heart God will not despise (Psalm 51:17). This faith is not blind optimism—it is trust in the crucified, risen, reigning Savior. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31).

The Life of the Redeemed

To belong to Christ is to be made new—a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). The Christian walks not by sight, but by faith, clinging to every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. To belong to Christ is to love His Word. “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth” (John 17:17). The Christian life is one of pilgrimage—marked by trial, hardship, even sickness and loss. Yet all of it is sovereignly ordained, for through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom (Acts 14:22). Suffering is the rain that waters the soul, making the green hills of grace rise from the fog.

Though outwardly wasting away, inwardly we are being renewed day by day (2 Corinthians 4:16). We walk by faith, groaning for the day of glory. And when we die, we are immediately in His presence (2 Corinthians 5:8). Yet this is not the end. For a day is coming—when Christ shall return in glory, and “we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2). Our bodies will be raised incorruptible (1 Corinthians 15:52), and we will dwell in the New Heavens and New Earth.

“They will see His face…” (Revelation 22:4).

Flee to Christ. Trust Him. Worship Him. He is mighty to save.

“Whoever comes to Me I will never cast out” (John 6:37).
“He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all—how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32).

Stay in your Bibles. Be a Berean. Pray for Discernment.