Study 6: The Gospel and Salvation by Grace

Before you begin

Many people think Christianity is chiefly about trying harder, turning over a new leaf, becoming respectable, or making ourselves acceptable to God. But that is not the gospel. The gospel begins with the truth that we cannot save ourselves. We are too guilty to excuse ourselves, too unclean to cleanse ourselves, and too weak to raise ourselves from spiritual death.

The good news is that God has not left sinners to perish. In love and mercy, He has sent His Son into the world to do for us what we could never do for ourselves. This study turns our eyes away from self-salvation and toward the grace of God in Christ.

This study at a glance

Read these passages first

These passages show the heart of the gospel and the freeness of God’s saving grace.

What the gospel is

The gospel is the message that God saves sinners through the person and work of Jesus Christ. The Son of God came into the world, fulfilled the law perfectly, bore the penalty of sin in the place of His people, rose again from the dead, and now gives forgiveness and life to all who trust in Him.

This is why the gospel is good news. It tells us that salvation has been accomplished by Another. Christ has not merely made salvation possible in a vague sense. He has actually done the work necessary to redeem sinners. He has obeyed, suffered, died, and risen again, so that those united to Him may be saved.

Why salvation must be by grace

Grace means undeserved favour. It is God’s kindness shown to those who deserve the opposite. Because we are sinners, salvation cannot be a reward for effort. If God were to deal with us strictly according to our deserts, we would be condemned, not welcomed.

This is why grace stands at the heart of the gospel. God saves, not because we are worthy, but because He is merciful. He pardons the guilty, receives the undeserving, and gives freely what none could earn. Salvation is not partly grace and partly merit. It is grace from beginning to end.

What Christ has done for sinners

The Lord Jesus did not come merely to teach, comfort, or inspire. He came to save. He obeyed the Father perfectly in the place of His people. He offered Himself upon the cross as a sacrifice for sin. He bore the curse that sinners deserved. He rose again in triumph over death, proving that His work was accepted.

Therefore, salvation rests upon a finished work. Believers are not accepted because they have made themselves worthy, but because Christ is worthy and His work is complete. The cross was not a partial payment. It was a sufficient atonement. The resurrection was not a hopeful sign only, but the declaration of Christ’s victory.

What salvation includes

Salvation is a rich and glorious gift. In Christ, sinners are forgiven, justified, reconciled to God, adopted into His family, and given new life by the Holy Spirit. The gospel does not leave us merely tolerated. It brings us into peace with God and begins the work of renewing us from within.

This matters because many people think salvation means only escaping punishment. But God’s grace goes further. He removes guilt, restores fellowship, and makes His people new. Those who are saved by grace are brought into a living relationship with God through Christ.

How this fits with the 1689 London Baptist Confession

In harmony with the 1689 Confession, we may say that those whom God effectually calls He freely justifieth, not by infusing righteousness into them, but by pardoning their sins and by accounting and accepting their persons as righteous. This justification is not for anything wrought in them or done by them, but for Christ’s sake alone.

The Confession also teaches that faith itself is not the ground of acceptance, but the instrument by which Christ and His righteousness are received. Thus salvation remains wholly of grace, grounded in the obedience and satisfaction of Christ, and received through faith alone.

Why good works cannot save us

Good works have an important place in the Christian life, but they cannot be the foundation of our acceptance with God. Our best works are imperfect, mixed with weakness, and unable to atone for sin. They cannot erase guilt already incurred, nor can they produce the righteousness God requires.

This is why the gospel shuts us up to Christ. It strips away boasting. It leaves us with no confidence in the flesh. Then, when grace has saved us, good works follow as the fruit of salvation, not the cause of it.

Why this matters personally

Many troubled souls live as though they must somehow make themselves fit for Christ before they may come to Him. But the gospel speaks to the unworthy, the weary, the guilty, and the undone. Christ is not offered to the deserving, but to sinners. Grace is most glorious when we stop pretending we can manage without it.

There is deep relief here. We do not need to climb our way into God’s favour. We need to receive what He has freely provided in His Son. The gospel humbles us, because it tells us we cannot save ourselves. But it also comforts us, because it tells us Christ saves completely.

You may be wondering

Reflection and response

These questions are here to help you think honestly before the Lord.

A simple prayer before moving on