The Gospel
Key Verse
“ This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” John 17:3
Basic Biblical Understanding
The Gospel is the Good News of our created design, sin’s intrusion, and Christ’s solution for human flourishing.
The Bible tells us that we were created in God’s image for the purpose of knowing and loving Him. However, our sin separated us from that relationship. Sin is breaking God’s law, and the penalty for sin is spiritual death/separation from God (Romans 6:23, Isaiah 59:2). Everyone has sinned (Romans 3:23), and there was nothing we could do to make things right.
The Good News is that Jesus did for us what we could never do for ourselves. He lived a sinless life, He died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin, and He rose from the dead that we might have eternal life. Jesus offers eternal life (reconciled relationship) to those who will repent of their sin by placing faith in Him.
The word repentance may sound confusing, but it simply means agreement with God. We agree with God about our spiritual predicament and His offer of forgiveness. We act on that agreement by placing faith in Jesus’ offer for eternal life. Eternal life is not going to heaven when you die. Heaven is a great fringe benefit of being rightly related to God.
Eternal life is to know God intimately. It is to be reconciled to God and to experience our created purpose of knowing and loving Him.
Verses (ask God to show you how they apply to your life)
- “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23
- “ But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8
- “ For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23 • “ 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
- “For whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Romans 10:13 Helpful
Questions and Application
1. What is sin? Have you ever sinned? What are the consequences of sin?
2. What does it mean to place your faith in Christ? 3. What does God offer to those who place their faith in Christ?
The Bibl e
Key Verse
“ All Scripture is God- breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.”
2 Timothy 3:16 (NIV)
Basic Bibl ical Understanding
The Bible is a book by God about God. God wrote the Scriptures through about forty human authors (using their gifts, personalities, and experience to reveal Himself to us). With each phrase and nuance, the authors “spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21). The completed Scriptures are truthful, accurate, inspired, and absolutely consistent with what God intended to reveal about Himself.
While the Bible includes history, truth, and pearls of wisdom, a person’s ability to understand the Bible is not primarily an intellectual exercise. A person needs spiritual sight to understand spiritual realities. That’s why 1 Corinthians 2:14 tells us the “natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.” The only way to gain spiritual sight is by placing faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Likewise, applying the Bible isn’t primarily an exercise in discipline. We need God’s enabling grace to live out the teachings of Scripture. When God’s Spirit indwells a person, He brings divine enablement to those who humbly submit to Him (James 4:6).
The Bible is experienced in a state of prayer, submission, and dependence. We pray for God to, “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law” (Psalm 119:18). We submit our thoughts, will, and agenda before the truths of God’s Word (John 17:17). We depend on the Holy Spirit for understanding and enablement as He guides us into all truth (John 16:13).
Before God releases the power of the Word in your life, you may argue with the Scriptures, doubt them, or ignore them altogether. But when God moves, extraordinary things happen. His Word revives the heart, makes wise the simple, and enlightens the eyes (Psalm 19:7– 8). Our sins are revealed, but so is our Savior, and trusting in the Word produces tangible, miraculous outcomes that are only possible with God.
Verses (ask God t o show you how they apply t o your l ife)
• “ So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” Isaiah 55:11
• “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.” John 17:17
• “ For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two- edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of m arrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12
Hel pf ul Questions and Appl icat ion
1. Are you approaching Scripture in a state of prayer, submission, and dependence? If so, what has God done? If not, what’s holding you back?
2. Are you spending regular time reading the Bible? If not, how can you make that happen?
Eternal Life
Key Verse
“This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” John 17:3
Basic Biblical Understanding
When people think of eternal life, several ideas usually come to mind: heaven, salvation, God’s gift, etc. Eternal life is a concept that Jesus addressed regularly. He said…
- “Whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.” John 3:15
- “ For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life…” John 6:40a
- “These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” Matthew 25:46
While Jesus spoke of eternal life often, He didn’t define it at first. People started coming to Him with questions. A lawyer asked Jesus, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 10:25b). The same question was asked by a young ruler in Luke 18:18. Knowing people were searching for answers, Jesus said, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me” (John 5:39).
It’s not until John 17:3 that Jesus defined eternal life. “This is eternal life, that they may know You…” This verse is like the Rosetta Stone for much of God’s activity. Each passage that speaks of eternal life can now be seen in its true context. Eternal life is to know God.
The reason Jesus set aside the glory of heaven and came to earth is that we may know God. The purpose of Christ’s trial, beatings, and death on the cross was that we might know God. God’s offer to humanity in Romans 6:23 is the free gift of knowing Him.
Eternal life is to know God. Eternal life is not going to heaven when we die; eternal life is the free gift of knowing God. Heaven is an incredible benefit given to those who know God. That changes everything. It changes the way we read the Bible. Scripture is God’s revelation of Himself. As we read, we get to know God.
It changes our understanding of God’s ultimate plan. The plan was not religion but relationship. It changes our understanding of discipleship. The goal of discipleship is not transferring information; the goal is developing an intimate relationship with God through Jesus Christ. If we fail to understand eternal life, we pursue religion and miss God. We learn about God and miss knowing Him.
Verses (ask God to to show you how they apply to your life)
- “ For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” John 3:16
- “ …that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death…” Philippians 3:10
- “ For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23
Helpful Questions and Application
1. Do you know God? Do you have eternal life? If the answer is “Yes,” how can you know Him more? If the answer is “No,” what’s holding you back from believing in Him today?
2. We get to know someone by spending time with them where the focus is on them. The same is true of God. We get to know God by spending time with Him in Scripture, in prayer, in worship, etc. How is God prompting you to spend time with Him today, and what do you need to do to make that happen?