...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
of a new creation now begun in Jesus Christ.
Fully God and truly man,
He came from above,
the shining brightness of the Father’s glory,
to call us from darkness into His 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,
with no 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.
On the cross, He bore the sin that was ours,
to clothe us in the righteousness that is His.
The Son, the Father’s eternal delight,
drank the cup of the Father’s wrath.
The Blessed Son became a curse for us,
to redeem us from the curse of the law,
that we who stood condemned under the curse
might be richly blessed in Him.
He rose from the dead, ascended to the Father,
and now reigns over all as David’s Son, yet David’s Lord,
pouring out His Spirit and the riches of His grace,
on all who repent and trust 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 coming consummation of His kingdom,
when He returns 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 joy and the eternal glory of the Triune God.