True Gospel of Jesus Christ

This section is intended to give short, easy to remember answers to some of the most basic and important questions of the Christian faith.

Why is Jesus Christ the Only Way to God?

God is righteous – infinitely righteous. To stand in His presence and be in His family, you must be righteous as well. Jesus Christ is the only One who can make you righteous; that is why He is your only access to God. Jesus makes you fully righteous here and now in your redeemed spirit. Some day He will also give you a new righteous body as well.

No other religion or philosophy can make you righteous; that is why there are not "many paths to God." All other religions put the burden on you to perform in order to please God and gain His favor. In grace, God always initiates; as a believer, you always respond in faith. God took the first step by forgiving all of your sins on the Cross of Christ; only the sin of unbelief was not forgiven. When you do believe and trust in Christ as Savior, God “saves” you by giving you a new heart and coming to live in you. God takes out your old sinful spirit and gives you a new, clean heart indwelled by the Holy Spirit. It is then that you are "born again," fully righteous in your spirit and welcomed into the family of God.

What Happened to Me When I Was "Saved"?

The term "salvation" is not the same as the forgiveness of sins. Salvation is, as Jesus taught, being "born again." Being born again means that you are literally born again in your spirit; in other words, you are made clean and righteous as God gives you a brand new spirit. Upon faith in Christ as Savior, God removes your old sinful spirit and replaces it with a new, clean heart. Then, the Holy Spirit comes to live in you to make you literally righteous by His indwelling presence as He joins as one with you in your spirit.

The removal of your old spirit and its replacement with a new, clean spirit is what Jesus meant when He said, "... you must be born again." The forgiveness of your sins on the Cross was the necessary first step of grace that God took so that He could save you. But, since the Cross did not forgive the one sin of unbelief, you cannot be saved until you trust in Jesus Christ alone as your Savior. With this last sin removed, God "saves" you through the new birth.

How Can I Live the "Christian Life" as God Intended?

The Christian life is one of union and faith. In your redeemed spirit, you live in union with the indwelling Christ. In your mortal body and soul, which have not yet been redeemed, you follow Christ in faith. Jesus lives through your union of spirit and you respond in faith through your mortal body and soul. Jesus Himself literally lives His life through you as a member of His Body. This is how God intended all Christians to live, and it is how Jesus lived in the power of the Holy Spirit when He lived on the earth. Seeking to live under external rule or law is works, an ever-failing attempt to serve God and be righteous through your own mortal soul and body - that is, through your own human energy or self-effort.

What is the Difference Between Soul and Spirit?

Your inner spirit is your essential “person.” Your spirit is the part of you that God redeemed when He saved you; therefore, your born again spirit is eternal, secure, righteous and joined to the Holy Spirit as one. You cannot sin in your spirit because Jesus lives in you. (Saying that the Holy Spirit lives in you is exactly the same thing as saying that Jesus Christ lives in you.)

Your body and soul are the human, mortal part of you and they have not yet been redeemed; the outer part of you is the same as it was before you were saved. The Apostle Paul said that your "house" will make you groan as it longs to be redeemed like your spirit. Even though your mortal body/soul can still sin, God is sanctifying this part of you by the renewing of your mind with His transforming truth as revealed in Scripture.

Note: The term "soul" is used to mean your thoughts and emotions, consistent with popular definitions such as "mind, will and emotions" or "personality." The writers of the Bible used this term in different ways.

What is the "Grace of God"?

Even though "grace" technically means God's "unmerited favor," a much more meaningful way to understand grace is to recognize that God initiated everything necessary for salvation, and He initiates everything necessary to live the Christian life. God provided the means of salvation through the Cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and He provides the resources to live a righteous life through His indwelling Spirit. You respond in simple faith. The essence of grace is, "God divinely initiates and you faithfully respond."

Are Christians Under the Law?

The Bible teaches that the Law was an exclusive covenant between God and the children of Israel. It was never given to the Gentiles because Jesus Christ ended the Law before salvation was ever offered to the Gentiles.

Jesus came to this earth to fulfill the Law, and He did with His sinless life. This qualified Him to become the perfect Lamb so that He could go to the Cross. Upon His resurrection, when sin and death had already been defeated, Christ ended “the Law for righteousness” to all who believe. By the time the Gentiles were being grafted in, the Old Covenant Law had already become the ministry of “death” and “condemnation” since it had never been able to make anyone righteous.

Romans 10:4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

Hebrews 10:9b … He {Jesus} takes away the first {Old Covenant Law} in order to establish the second {the New Covenant}.

So what is the believer’s relationship to the Law today? The spirit of the Law, its representation of God’s holiness, is eternal. But the doing of the Law was replaced by Jesus Christ 2,000 years ago. The Law under the Old Covenant was external, powered and accomplished by human self-effort. The “Law” under the New Covenant is internal, powered and accomplished by the spiritual power of Jesus Christ in the heart of every believer. The Old was imperfect because of human weakness; the New is perfect because of Jesus Christ. God moved His Law inward so that it could be lived out through the power of Jesus Christ in you.

Hebrews 10:16 "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws upon their heart, and on their mind I will write them," He then says, …

How Can I Experience the Abundant Life of Jesus Christ?

The abundant life is in your spirit, not in your soul, and not in the physical world. You will never find the abundant life through people or possessions. This is understood since Jesus Himself and all the Apostles never experienced life with physical abundance. Rather, they lived a life of "union" abundance with God in their spirits. To the extent that you experience Christ in your spirit, you experience His abundant life. The abundant life is one of hearing the spiritual "voice" of God, understanding Scripture with spiritual "eyes," having the "mind of Christ" and experiencing Christ's righteousness being lived out through you. These things exceed temporal experiences. The abundant life also consists of suffering and persecution, as Christ Himself experienced suffering and promised in lives of His followers.

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