The true Gospel of Jesus Christ is about the fulfilment of the Abrahamic Covenant, which is the reconciliation of all things in heaven and on earth to Father God, through the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross. It is about God being who He says He is, the Saviour of the world, the Savour of all people. It is about preaching the Kingdom of God to come on this earth in two phases, the Millennial Kingdom, and later the Eternal Kingdom of the New Heaven and the New Earth. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is indeed Good News for all, because ultimately, in God’s time and in His order, all of God’s creation will be delivered from sin and death, because Jesus Christ died for the sins of the whole world. Father God sent Jesus Christ, His beloved Son, into this world to seek and save the whole of lost humanity through preaching the Good News of the Kingdom of God.
THE KINGDOM OF GOD
Luke 4:43
He said to them, “I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent.”
This is exactly what Jesus did. He went about all the cities and villages in Israel preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. (Matthew 9:35) Jesus instructed His disciples to preach the Kingdom of God. (Luke 9:2) Apostle Paul also preached the Kingdom of God. (Acts 19:8)
In the Bible, the Kingdom of God is also referred to as the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of Christ. Hundreds of scriptures refer to the Kingdom of God, and it is the core message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Yet, amazingly very few Christians fully understand the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, which Jesus, His disciples and the apostles preached.
What is the Kingdom of God?
The Bible speaks of the Kingdom of God coming in two phases. There is the first phase of the Millennial Kingdom of God, followed by the second phase of the Eternal Kingdom of God of the New Heaven and the New Earth. However, there is the Lake of Fire Judgement Age separating the Millennial Kingdom and the Eternal Kingdom of God as previously explained in Chapter 5. During the Lake of Fire Judgement Age, all resurrected unbelievers and all fallen angels will be judged and reconciled to God, through the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross, before the establishment of the Eternal Kingdom of God.
Many Christians are unaware of these two phases of the Kingdom of God. Let us now prove, from Scripture, that there are indeed two phases of the Kingdom of God.
Revelation 20:4
And they (the Elect Bride of Christ) lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
Yes, indeed there will be a Millennial Kingdom of God when the resurrected Elect Bride of Christ will reign with Christ for a thousand years over all people who have survived the Great Tribulation and their descendants.
Jesus Christ will return to earth to restore the Kingdom of Israel, the throne of David, for a thousand years.
Luke 1:32-33
32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. 33 And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever (aion), and of His kingdom there will be no end.
Please note that the Greek word aion in this verse, which is translated ‘forever’ in the NKJV, is an age-related word. Its strict literal translation is an age or ages as we explain in Chapter 17. The throne of Jesus Christ over Israel (the house of Jacob) in the coming Millennial Age will not last forever. It will last for an age of one thousand years only, but of His Kingdom there will be no end. This means that the Millennial Kingdom will be followed by the Eternal Kingdom of God, but this will be after the Lake of Fire Judgement Age.
In the Old Testament, there are many references to the Millennial Kingdom of God. Full details are given in Chapter 11, The Millennial Age of the Kingdom of God.
Revelation 20:7
Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison.
The earth will be thrown into a new age when Satan is released from his prison of the bottomless pit at the end of the thousand year Millennial Age of the Kingdom of God. This new age will be the Sixth Age of the Lake of Fire Judgement. This is when all resurrected unbelievers and Satan along with his fallen angels will be judged in the Lake of Fire, and ultimately all will be reconciled to God. The Lake of Fire Judgement Age will be followed by the Eternal Seventh Age of the Kingdom of God of the New Heaven and the New Earth.
Revelation 21:1
Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.
God’s Future Literal Kingdom on this Earth
It is important to understand that when Jesus Christ talked about the Kingdom of God, He was talking about a future literal Kingdom of God, which will come to this earth. He did not talk about or promote a hazy idea of an ethereal kingdom in ‘heaven’ somewhere or a kingdom set up in the hearts of men. The Bible is very clear about this and it is unfortunate that many Christians do not understand this core message of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God.
Jesus Christ instructed His followers to pray for the coming of a literal Kingdom of God, to be established on this earth.
Matthew 6:9-10
9 In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. 10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Jesus Christ will return to this earth immediately after a prophesied time called ‘the Great Tribulation’. The Bible says that the time of the Great Tribulation will be absolutely horrific and unprecedented. We cover this subject in Chapter 10, ‘The Second Coming of Jesus Christ’.
Jesus Christ must firstly consume and destroy all of man’s ungodly worldly kingdoms before He establishes His Millennial Kingdom on this earth.
Daniel 2:44
And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.
The point we must understand is that Jesus is returning to this earth and He is returning to set up His Kingdom on this earth, first the Millennial Kingdom and then the Eternal Kingdom of God.
Revelation 11:15
Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!”
Notice that the kingdoms of this world will become the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. What about the scripture Luke 17:20-21, which some have interpreted to say that the Kingdom of God is entirely something spiritual, which is set up in our hearts? Let us now examine this scripture in detail.
Luke 17:20-21
20 Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; 21 nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within (entos-meaning in the midst of) you.”
Please note that Jesus Christ was speaking to the unbelieving, self-righteous Pharisees, so He did not mean that the Kingdom of God was within or in the hearts of these unbelieving Pharisees.
The Greek word entos translated to mean ‘within’ in a few Bible versions should be translated as ‘in the midst of’ you, or ‘among’ you, as correctly translated in the Revised Standard Version. What Jesus Christ said to these unbelieving Pharisees was that the only way to enter into the future Kingdom of God was to believe in Him, who was standing in the midst of them, and who was the very personification of the Kingdom of God.
If Christ lives in us through the Holy Spirit, we are ambassadors of Christ and witnesses representing the coming Kingdom of God. As God’s redeemed people, we are strangers and pilgrims in this world. (2 Corinthians 5:20, Acts 1:8, Hebrews 11:13)
The Kingdom of God is something we will enter into in future on this earth at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ when our corruptible bodies are resurrected and changed into glorious immortal incorruptible bodies. All true believers carry this sure hope in their hearts and Apostle Paul makes this abundantly clear in 1 Corinthians 15:50-58.
The Kingdom of God, which Christ preached, was and is the good news of the future, literal, earthly Kingdom, which Christ will establish when He returns to earth as King of kings and Lord of lords. Our Christian hope, the hope of the saints, is the sure hope of resurrection and rulership with Jesus Christ when He returns to establish His Millennial Kingdom on this earth.
The coming Millennial Kingdom of God was so central in the mind of Jesus that He even preached about it when He appeared to His disciples during the forty-day period between His resurrection and His ascension.
Acts 1:3
to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.
Jesus spoke of the restoration of the Kingdom of Israel as prophesied by the prophets in the Old Testament. This is why the disciples wondered whether He would restore the Kingdom of Israel when He appeared to them during the period of forty days.
Acts 1:6-7
Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.
Notice that Jesus agreed with His disciples that He will one day restore the Kingdom of Israel. However, Jesus said that the time for the restoration of the Kingdom of Israel lay in the future at an appointed time only known to the Father. It will be the time when Jesus Christ returns to this earth to establish His Millennial Kingdom of God.
Most of the references in the Bible about the Kingdom of God relate to the coming Millennial Kingdom of God. There are only a few references about the Eternal Kingdom of God of the New Heaven and the New Earth.
Jesus Christ makes it very clear that only a few people, during this age, will be saved to enter the Millennial Kingdom of God on earth as His Elect Bride.
Matthew 22:14
“For many are called, but few are chosen.”
These chosen few will be resurrected in their immortal bodies at the First Resurrection to enter the Millennial Kingdom of God when Christ returns. They are God’s Elect, both from the nation of Israel and the Gentile nations. God is not desperately trying to save the whole world during this age, and Satan is not winning hands down by taking multiple millions of human beings to hell every day.
Understand this wonderful biblical truth that God’s ultimate purpose is to save all, and not just a few people. Yes, only a few will be saved to enter the Millennial Kingdom of God, but in God’s time and order, ultimately all people will be saved to enter the Eternal Kingdom of God of the New Heaven and the New Earth.
1 Timothy 4:9-11
9 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance. 10 For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe. 11 These things command and teach.
God will ultimately save all people. However, believers (God’s Elect Bride) who are relatively few in number will enjoy a special salvation. They will be blessed to enter both phases of the Kingdom of God, the Millennial Kingdom and the Eternal Kingdom of the New Heaven and the New Earth. Whereas, all people who die as unbelievers, will not enjoy this privilege of being in the First Resurrection and therefore they will miss out on the glorious Millennial Kingdom of God.
Now that we have explained the two phases of the Kingdom of God, the Millennial Kingdom and the Eternal Kingdom, we shall go on to explain how God qualifies us to enter His Kingdom through the gift of His Righteousness.
THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD
Matthew 6:33
But seek first the kingdom of God and His Righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
The Bible is clear that no unrighteous person will inherit the Kingdom of God. Before we can understand the Righteousness of God, and how we may receive the gift of God’s Righteousness, it is necessary to understand clearly the unrighteousness of man.
The Unrighteousness of Man
1 Corinthians 6:9-10
9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.
The Bible gives long lists of unrighteous behaviours unacceptable to God in several places. (Mark 7:21-23, Romans 1:28-32, Revelation 21:8) There is no doubt about it; an unrighteous person cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. The problem is that there is no one, not even one person, who can claim to be righteous of himself before God.
Romans 3:10
As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one”.
Generally, it is not difficult to discern the acts of unrighteousness as listed in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 above, and in other parts of the Bible. However, most people do not understand that there is another form of unrighteousness, which is self-righteousness. Self-righteousness is not so easily discernible, yet it is also unrighteousness.
The Self-Righteousness of Man
The Pharisees were religious people, scrupulous in observing the Law of God given through Moses. However, Jesus Christ condemned their self-righteousness in very strong terms. (Matthew 23) The Pharisees were blind to their self-righteousness. Like the Pharisees, all religious people are blind to their self-righteousness and the Bible is clear that a self-righteous person will by no means enter the Kingdom of God.
Matthew 5:20
For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven (the Kingdom of God).
Jesus Christ says that a person’s righteousness must exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees before he can enter the Kingdom of God, meaning that the Pharisees’ religious righteousness is totally unacceptable to God. All of man’s religions make people self-righteous and not God Righteous.
The Righteousness of the Law of God
God gave the Israelites His Law through Moses. The Bible says that the Law of God is perfect, holy, just, good, spiritual and righteous. (Psalm 19:7, Psalm 119:72, Romans 7:12, 14) God is Love and all of His commandments are fulfilled through the two great commandments of love, love for God and love for men. (Matthew 22:34-39) Also, we are born with a conscience that shows us things done contrary to the Law of God, which is the Law of Love, unless we disregard our conscience so that it becomes seared. (Romans 2:14-15)
The problem is that man always misses the mark and falls short of keeping the Law of God perfectly. It is impossible for man to become righteous before God through God’s Law. Any attempt to be righteous before God through the Law simply ends up in self-righteousness. The Bible says that whoever shall keep the whole Law, and yet stumble in one point, is guilty of all. (James 2:10)
The problem is not with the Law of God, but with the fallen nature of man. The purpose of the Law of God is not to make man righteous, but to demonstrate to man how exceedingly unrighteous he is, compared to the perfect, sinless Righteousness of God as revealed in the Law of God. (Romans 3:19-20, Romans 7:13)
God uses the Law like a diagnostic instrument to bring man into the knowledge of his incurably sick, helpless, fallen and sinful state. This prepares man to respond and accept God’s solution for his cure.
God’s Solution for Man’s Unrighteousness
God understood the problem of the unrighteousness of man right from the beginning, even before He created man. God had already worked out a solution, even before He created the heavens and the earth, in the beginning.
1 Peter: 1:20
He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you.
1 John 2:2 (NIV)
He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
Please note that Jesus Christ was foreordained from the foundation of the world to die on the cross as an atoning sacrifice for the sins of the whole world.
God’s Righteousness of Faith
As we have seen, it is impossible for man to attain to the same perfect, sinless and holy Righteousness of God, through the observance of the Law. However, God has made it possible for all men to receive His Righteousness through the gift of His faith to believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Romans 5:1, 18
1 Therefore, having been justified (dikaioo) by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
18 Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification (dikaiosis) of life.
In these verses, the Greek word for justified is dikaioo, which literally means made righteous and the Greek word for justification is dikaiosis, which means righteousness as given in Strong’s Concordance.
The free gift of God’s Righteousness will come to all men by God given faith in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, in God’s time and His order.
The Righteousness of God must be revealed by God given faith
Romans 1:16-17
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. 17 For in it (in the Gospel) the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”
The expression ‘faith to faith’ means the saving faith given by God and received by man. Apostle Paul grieved for his fellow countrymen, the Jews, who remained unsaved because they were unaware of the Righteousness of God. All people remain ignorant of God’s Righteousness until it is revealed to them through God given faith in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Romans 10:3
For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God.
Man, in his fallen state, can only keep the Law of God legalistically, which makes him self-righteous and not God Righteous. Apostle Paul was a Pharisee and he understood the righteousness of the Law in its legalistic form only, until God moved into his life and led him to salvation through the Damascus experience. By the legalistic observance of the Law, Paul had thought that he was righteous and blameless, but when he truly came to understand the free gift of God’s Righteousness, apart from the Law through faith in Christ’s sacrifice, he recognised that his self-righteousness was like rubbish.
Philippians 3:8-9
9 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith.
Each person must go through his own ‘Damascus Experience’ by coming to genuine repentance for his unrighteousness and self-righteousness, and receive the free gift of God’s Righteousness of Faith for Salvation. Everyone must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus Christ as the Saviour of the world.
Acts 20:21 (NIV)
I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.
Though our salvation is a gift from God, it is important to understand that repentance and faith are necessary conditions for salvation, however, both repentance and faith are also gifts from God.
The Gift of God’s Righteousness of Faith
The Bible says that Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness.
Romans 4:3
For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”
It is extremely important to understand exactly what Abraham believed about God, which made him righteous before God. If we wish to receive the gift of righteousness of faith and be accounted righteous before God, then we must believe God in the same way as Abraham.
Galatians 3:6-8
6 just as Abraham “believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” 7 Therefore know that [only] those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, [saying], “In you all the nations shall be blessed.” So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.
Please note that God preached the Gospel to Abraham. How? By saying that, “In you all the nations shall be blessed.” This of course, is the Covenant promise. The Abrahamic Covenant is the Covenant of faith, where God has unconditionally bound Himself to fulfil every aspect of the Covenant through the Seed of Abraham, who is Jesus Christ Himself. Also, note that this scripture says that those who have the faith to believe in the Abrahamic Covenant are blessed along with believing Abraham, and they are called sons of Abraham.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the fulfilment of every aspect of the Abrahamic Covenant. So, it becomes vitally important for all of us to understand and believe every aspect of the Abrahamic Covenant. Let us remind ourselves of the Abrahamic Covenant, which we covered in detail in Chapter 6.
Genesis 12:2-3
2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
The three key aspects of the Abrahamic Covenant are:
1. God will make Abraham a great nation of blessing. This obviously refers to the nation of Israel. The Bible is abundantly clear that God will bless Israel, both physically and spiritually, and Israel will become a great and leading nation of blessing, which in turn will bless all other nations. There is no doubt that the complete fulfilment of this part of the Abrahamic Covenant is yet to come in the future. It will happen in the Millennial Kingdom of God, after the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. It will only be then that Israel will occupy the full extent of the Promised Land, as promised to Abraham.
2. All the families of the earth shall be blessed in Abraham. Yes indeed, all the families of the earth shall be blessed in Abraham through his Seed, who is Jesus Christ. ‘All the families of the earth’ means all of humanity, Adam and Eve and all of their descendants. This part of the Abrahamic Covenant is truly universal in scope as confirmed by many other scriptures in the Bible, some of which we have given in Chapter 4.
Genesis 15:5-6
5 Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” 6 And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.
In this scripture, God promised to Abraham that his descendants will be countless, like the stars of heaven. Here, God is referring to the multiple billions of descendants who shall be blessed through the Seed of Abraham. Ultimately, in God’s time and order, the whole of humanity will be saved. Adam and Eve and all of their descendants will come to believe in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. As the scripture says, ‘For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order’. (1 Corinthians 15:22-23a)
Abraham believed what God told him that the whole of humanity would be saved through His Seed, Jesus Christ, and this belief made Abraham righteous with God’s Righteousness.
3. God will bless those who bless Abraham, and curse those who curse him. We have already commented on this aspect of the Covenant in detail, in Chapter 6.
The Faith of Abraham
Romans Chapter 4 is an important chapter, which speaks about the faith of Abraham who is the father of us all.
Romans 4:16
Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all.
True believers become sons of Abraham through faith. Faith in what? Faith in the outworking of the Gospel of Jesus Christ through His complete ministry to fulfil the Abrahamic Covenant. Apostle Paul absolutely understood that Jesus Christ, the Seed of Abraham, would fulfil all aspects of the Abrahamic Covenant.
Galatians 3:16
16 Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds” as of many, but as of one, ‘And to your Seed’, who is Christ.
The ministry of Jesus Christ is about the fulfilment of the Abrahamic Covenant. The full ministry of Jesus Christ involves His birth, His death and resurrection, His Second Coming, the First Resurrection of His Elect Bride, the Millennial Kingdom, the Second Resurrection, the Lake of Fire judgement, the reconciliation of all unbelievers and all fallen angels, and finally the handing over of the Eternal Kingdom of the New Heaven and the New Earth to God the Father.
The Faith to be Born Again
Only the gift of genuine God given ‘Abrahamic faith’ enables us to identify ourselves with the full work of the cross to become born again believers. Let us understand what Jesus meant when He said that we need to be born again to enter the Kingdom of God.
John 3:3-6
3 Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
4 “Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?"
5 Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Notice when replying to Nicodemus, Jesus says that in order to enter the Kingdom of God, one has to be born of water and the Spirit. To be born of water refers to the physical birth of a baby from its mother’s womb through the breaking of the waters at the time of delivery. Whereas, to be born of the Spirit refers to the spiritual birth of a believer through repentance and faith in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
The Bible clearly says that we must all go through two deaths and two births before we can literally enter the Kingdom of God. We are all familiar with physical birth and physical death. However, few people understand that there is also spiritual death and spiritual birth.
We all come into this world with an Adamic nature, which the Bible calls the ‘old man’. Our ‘old man’ is our fallen, sinful, self-righteous human nature, which all of us are born with because of Adam’s sin. All of humanity, being descendants of Adam, is born spiritually dead. Therefore, we are all born into this world spiritually separated from God, as children of Satan, until God makes each of us spiritually alive in Christ, as born again children of God.
Spiritually speaking, our ‘old sinful Adamic man’ must be put to death in order for us to be born again and receive the life of our ‘new righteous Jesus man’. How does this happen?
Romans 6:5-6
5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.
It is very important to understand what Apostle Paul is saying in these verses. Paul is referring to the spiritual death of the ‘old man’ and the spiritual birth of the ‘new man’ of believers through their personal identification with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ as the Saviour of all people.
Paul says that we believers should know that we are spiritually united together in the likeness of the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. When Jesus died on the cross, our ‘old sinful Adamic man’ was crucified with Him, and when Jesus was resurrected three days after He was crucified, our ‘new righteous Jesus man’ was resurrected with Him. This signifies the born again reality of becoming a true Christian. This we understand, receive and embrace by the gift of saving faith, which God grants to each and every one of us in His time and order.
Galatians 2:20 (KJV)
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
In this verse, Apostle Paul totally identifies himself with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Paul says that he (his old sinful Adamic man) was crucified with Christ, and he (his new forgiven sinless Jesus man) now lives by the faith given to him by Jesus Christ who loved him and died for him.
A born again Christian has the resurrected life of Jesus Christ living in him through the indwelling Holy Spirit, and he remains totally righteous before God because God has become his Righteousness.
2 Corinthians 5:21
For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
Jesus Christ died for All
The power of the Gospel is such that Jesus Christ died to take everybody’s ‘old man’ with him when He was crucified on the cross because He died for the sins of the whole world. Jesus Christ died on the cross for the universal salvation of all people.
2 Corinthians 5:14-15
14 For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and 15 He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.
We had better believe what the Bible says. Jesus has already earned everybody’s salvation because He died for all, and He died to forgive the sins of not only believers but also the sins of the whole world.
1 John 2:2 (NIV)
He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
Apostle Paul clearly understood the true Gospel of Jesus Christ for the universal salvation of all people.
Romans 6:10
For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.
Notice again that Jesus Christ died to sin once for all. Jesus’ last and most important prayer to Father God before He died on the cross was to ask for the forgiveness of His very murderers. (Luke 23:34) We can be one hundred percent sure that Father God will grant Jesus’ request. As Jesus’ murderers will be forgiven, then surely there are no sins that cannot be forgiven.
What about the so-called unforgivable sin, ‘blasphemy against the Holy Spirit’? As we explain in Chapter 18, the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit remains unforgiven ‘in this age’ and ‘the next age’, but not forever. All unbelievers will be forgiven in the Sixth Age, during the Lake of Fire Judgement as detailed in Chapter 12.
The work of the cross for the Universal Salvation of the whole world was finished approximately 2000 years ago. However, not all people have entered into the blessing of their salvation yet, because God is working out His Plan for the salvation of all people in His time and order, which extends beyond this age.
1 Corinthians 15:22-23a
22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. 23a But each one in his own order.
God’s Elect Bride is called the Firstfruits, and so the order for them to be made alive in Christ is different from all those who die as unbelievers. These Elect believers are made spiritually alive in Christ by God given saving faith, before they die. However, all people who die as unbelievers will be spiritually made alive in Christ after they die, after they are resurrected and judged in the Lake of Fire.
Saving faith is God’s gift and it is not of human origin. It is impossible for us to believe in and identify ourselves with the death and resurrection of Christ through mere human faith because human faith is always self-righteous. Many Christians fail to understand the vital difference between God given saving faith and human self-righteous faith. The faith to believe in the true Gospel of Jesus Christ is indeed the gift of the same faith that God granted to Abraham ‘when he believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness’. This same ‘Abrahamic faith’ is granted to God’s Elect who are blessed along with believing Abraham.
Ephesians 2:8-9
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.
Hebrews 12:2
Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
The so-called sinner’s prayer, which many preachers require unbelievers to pray for their salvation, does not save anybody without the gift from God of saving faith.
Romans 10:9-13 (NIV)
9 That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. 11 As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” 12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile–the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Yes indeed, anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, but it requires the same gift of faith that God granted to Abraham. A truly born again believer understands the importance of the Abrahamic Covenant and that God has a Plan to bless Israel and to save the whole world through the Seed of Abraham, Jesus Christ.
When a person believes and accepts by God given Abrahamic faith what Jesus Christ accomplished on the cross for him and for the whole world, a powerful and wonderful transformation takes place in the person’s life through the gift of the Holy Spirit. A truly born again person is transformed from darkness to light, from blindness to sight, from captivity to freedom and from being a child of Satan to being a child of God. He receives the blessed assurance of the Holy Spirit that all of his sins, past, present and future, are forgiven and that he stands totally righteous before God with God’s Righteousness.
Even though a believer still battles with the temptations of the flesh, the glorious and powerful spiritual reality of the Gospel is that a believer’s sinful ‘old Adamic man’ has already been crucified with Jesus Christ on the cross and his sinless ‘new Jesus man’ has already been resurrected with Christ when He was resurrected from the dead, approximately 2000 years ago.
Ephesians 2:4-6
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, 5 made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised [us] up together, and made [us] sit together in the heavenly [places] in Christ Jesus.
How amazing, glorious and powerful the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is! A truly born again believer is indeed spiritually sitting together with Christ Jesus in the heavenly places. The spiritual reality of the Gospel is permanent and eternal, whilst the physical reality of our fleshly bodies in this fallen world that surrounds us is temporal and transient.
The Fruits of God’s Righteousness
Once having been made righteous by God given faith in Jesus Christ, God expects us to produce the fruits of God’s Righteousness. We must understand the important difference between the Righteousness of God, which we have by faith, and the fruits of God’s Righteousness, which comes through our Christian living. The gift of God’s Righteousness is what Jesus Christ earned for the whole world on the cross, whereas the fruits of God’s Righteousness are the result of the outworking of the Holy Spirit throughout the life of a true believer.
Galatians 5:22-23
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
A true believer has the covering of God’s Righteousness through God given faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He is looking forward to entering the coming Kingdom of God in his new, immortal, resurrected, glorious body as the Bride of Christ, at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. In the meantime, the focus for the believer is to be filled with the fruits of God’s Righteousness to the glory and praise of God.
Philippians 1:9-11
9 And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, 10 that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, 11 being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
Every aspect of our salvation is a gift from God. Repentance and faith are gifts from God. (Romans 2:4, Ephesians 2:8-9) The Righteousness of God is a gift from God. (Romans 5:17) The Holy Spirit, which helps believers to produce the fruits of Righteousness, is a gift from God. (1 Timothy 1:6-7) The fruits of Righteousness themselves are gifts from God. (Philippians 1:11) Our salvation is one hundred percent the work of God’s grace from start to finish, and man is in no position to boast whatsoever about any aspect of his salvation. All the glory goes to God.
What is the true Gospel of Jesus Christ?
As we have shown from Scripture, the true Gospel of Jesus Christ is about the fulfilment of the Abrahamic Covenant, which is the reconciliation of all things in heaven and on earth to Father God, through the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross. It is about God being who He says He is, the Saviour of the world, the Savour of all people. It is about preaching the Kingdom of God to come on this earth in two phases, the Millennial Kingdom, and later the Eternal Kingdom of the New Heaven and the New Earth. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is indeed Good News for all, because ultimately, in God’s time and in His order, all of God’s creation will be delivered from sin and death because Jesus Christ died for the sins of the whole world. All will be covered with God’s Righteousness and there will be no unrighteousness in the Eternal Kingdom.
May God grant you the gift of Abrahamic faith to believe in the true Gospel of Jesus Christ during this lifetime, to become part of Christ’s Firstfuits, along with Abraham and all of Christ’s Elect Bride.
