...I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. (Rom. 1:16)
This gospel summary was written by our pastor, Justin Trevino, for regular use in our church. Born out of the conviction that every generation of Christians must faithfully steward the gospel—comprehending it, clarifying it, confessing it, contending for it, and boldly committing it to the next—it is included in the regular rotation of historic creeds and confessions that we recite on Sunday mornings, as we seek to impress the truth upon the hearts and minds of both children and adults, equipping them to prize and proclaim the good news of Christ and His kingdom.
The gospel is the joyous declaration
that a new creation has dawned in Jesus Christ.
Fully God and truly man, He came from above,
the radiance of the Father’s glory and His eternal delight,
to call us out of darkness and death,
into His glorious life and marvelous light.
All have sinned and gone astray,
exchanging God’s glory for gods of our own making,
betraying our Creator by worshiping what He created.
Fully deserving His wrath and curse, both now and forever,
we stand hopelessly condemned before Him,
without defense or excuse.
But God, being rich in mercy,
sent His Son into the world to save sinners.
He lived the life we could not live,
and died the death we deserved to die.
Crucified, He bore the sin that was ours,
to clothe us in the righteousness that is His.
Upon Him, our Savior and Substitute,
the Father poured out His wrath,
and satisfied His justice,
punishing the Righteous in place of the guilty,
that He might be just and the justifier of the ungodly,
to bring us into His all-satisfying presence.
He rose from the dead, ascended to the Father,
and now reigns over all as David’s royal Son,
pouring out His Spirit and the riches of His grace,
on all who repent and believe in His name:
forgiveness and adoption, freedom from sin’s dominion,
newness of life, and the joy of eternal fellowship with God.
He is the victorious last Adam,
the serpent-crushing, death-destroying Son of Eve,
Abraham’s Offspring, born to reverse the curse,
and to bless the nations with the light of salvation,
the greater Moses, leading a redeemed humanity from every nation,
to their glorious inheritance in the new creation.
The gospel proclaims the sovereign reign of the risen King,
the increase and final triumph of His kingdom,
when He comes again in glory to judge and make all things new,
and celebrates the plundering of Satan’s kingdom,
as Jesus rescues and restores the captives of sin and Satan,
for their full and lasting enjoyment of His eternal glory.