Beliefs
The Gospel is the integrating motif which binds together all that God has ordained for His purposes. While there are many ways to define “gospel,” simply stated, the Gospel tells the truth about our current predicament and is the good news about God’s redemptive work through Jesus Christ. The Gospel binds together all theology, and it is the basis for Christian ministry and worldview.
Gospel Integration Defined
The gospel is the point of continuity for Christian theology because it explains what happened, how we are justified before God through His grace and Jesus’ death on the cross, how God promises to restore all that exists, and it is the motivation for what we do. Theology stemming from the Gospel is not merely information about God, it is the knowledge of God that leads to life transformation (1 Cor. 15:1-4). It tells who Jesus is and how because of what He has done, we have the avenue to authentic Christian spirituality.
Because of the Gospel, we can have a right view of ourselves and God. Faulty theology stems from the human propensity to either bring God to our level so we can understand Him, or elevate ourselves to God’s level in order to feel good about ourselves in light of Him. However, the gospel makes it clear that God is great and we are not. It clarifies the reason for which we were created, and that is not to actualize our potential as our current humanistic culture would say, but rather to bring glory to God. When we were created, God declared it to be good, however, sin has separated us from God and made us completely repulsive to Him because He is holy and righteous. If we attempt to view ourselves in light of what some people think to be the “good” that might inherently in all of us, we miss the whole reason for why Jesus came and why the world is corrupt. The Gospel emphasizes our depravity and God’s grace in saving us from ourselves. God’s redemptive work in Jesus demonstrates His love for us by taking what was broken in us and the world because of sin and making it right in His eyes again. If we do not see ourselves as broken, then Jesus has nothing to fix, and there is no reason for what he did other than the fact that God wanted to come and experience our existence. The Gospel reveals that the only place humans can ever find complete significance, meaning, potential, freedom, or fulfillment is only in and through Jesus. From this frame of reference, the Gospel shows us our lowliness and God’s grandeur, thus giving us a right appreciation for God and a reason to change.
Because of the Gospel, the world and humans become “good” again. The Gospel changes everything. Its purpose is the transformation of all that was created “good” (Genesis 1), but was fractured in the world by human sin (Genesis 3). It gives the hope that God is working in our lives and in the world to restore it. When Jesus went to the cross, he took our sin upon himself, paying the penalty for our sin, and satisfying God’s wrath toward us. Because of this, those who have faith in Jesus are reconciled to God. The faithful can stand before God and his justice claims them righteous because of Jesus. This sets the Christian faith apart from other philosophies and moral standards which teach the only way to God and right standing is through our personal effort. Rather, the Gospel shows that the only hope of righteousness and good standing with God is through the person of Jesus. He is the only hope for human salvation (Rom. 10:2-4).
Because of the Gospel, we know how to live (Rom. 1:17). Not only does it make us Christian, but it grows us in our faith as such. Without faith in who Christ is and what He has done, we cannot be saved, nor can we experience life change and the peace that comes from it. The hope by which we live is the Gospel message that God, in His grace, has redeemed, and is redeeming us for his glory. The Gospel is not only an event that took place in Christ defeating death, it is a present reality that He is, through the power of His spirit, transforming us into His likeness. How we and the world were created in Eden is now becoming a revisited reality because of God’s grace, through our faith. The Gospel is not only our justification, but also our sanctification and gives full meaning of what was accomplished on the cross.
The Gospel is foolishness to the world, but is the wisdom of God (1 Cor. 1:18-21). Not only that, but the Gospel will offend some not only because of its truth about the sin condition, but also because of the fact that it says we are helpless to save ourselves (Rom. 9:30-33). In any case, Christians are not to fold to the temptation of being ashamed (Mark 8:38). Rather, with boldness and abandon, we proclaim the saving message of the Gospel with the hope and promise that God has prepared those who will hear it (1 Cor. 1:21; Rom. 1:16; Ps. 40:9-10).
The Gospel relates to ministry because it is the message we proclaim, the method we employ, and the mission that drives us. For example, in Colossians 1:28, Paul writes, “We proclaim [Christ] (message), admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom (method), so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ (mission).” If Jesus was for us in giving His life to redeem people, Christians ought to be for people and the redemption of the world. Our ministerial duty and joy is to not only share the message of the gospel, but live the gospel in such a way that the gospel takes root in our context. As a result, not only are we continually redeemed by the gospel doing its work in our own lives, but the world around us (culture, folks, etc.) is being redeemed because the church is continuing this gospel ministry of Christ. Because Christians have experienced God’s grace through Jesus, and are reconciled back to a right relationship with him, God has given the task of becoming ambassadors of his reconciliation to the world (2 Cor. 5:11-21; Gal. 5:14). Jesus is for us, so we are for those around us.
Some Key Doctrines:
God - The Gospel reveals who God is and puts Him as the focus of all things.
The Person & Work of Christ - The Gospel shows that God the Son is completely sufficient by making us acceptable to the Father by His atoning work on the cross.
Holy Spirit - The Gospel is the reality that God is working to redeem this world through the Holy Spirit's empowerment and transformation of believers.
Scripture - The whole Bible is the Gospel which points to Jesus Christ as the agent of God's redemptive work for humanity.
Humanity - The Gospel tells the truth of God's creative purpose for humanity and our depravity due to sin.
Sin - The Gospel explains sins affects and how humans and their world are redeemed from it.
Salvation - The Gospel proves that Jesus is the only way to salvation and that through Him, God has made a way for those who hear His call to be freed from sin and its penalty.
The Church - The Gospel puts believers together on mission and gives them a focus of worship by giving a reason and purpose for living as agents of God's grace to the world.
The Last Things - The hope of the Gospel is that Jesus is coming back to restore the heavens and the earth, to raise everyone--the living and the dead--for final judgment, and to ultimately put death to death, completely restoring what was lost due to sin.
Here are some confessional statements Infusion Church ascribes to.