Gospel of Christ

“ Where there is, amid whatever darkness, a mind seeking after truth and right, some ray of light is given, some gleam of a better hope by which the soul may draw nigh to God,—coming whence or how perhaps none can tell. The gospel of Christ finds in every new land souls waiting for God’s salvation. Such a preparation for the Lord, in hearts touched and softened by the preventings of grace, its first messengers discovered everywhere,—a remnant in Israel and a great multitude amongst the heathen. ”

“ The blessed gospel of Christ is what I hold; that do I believe, that have I taught, and that will I never revoke!" ”

“ We, as Latter-day Saints, have embraced the Gospel of Jesus Christ. What is that Gospel? It is faith in God; it is an avowed confession of the existence of a Deity, that there is a supreme intelligence that not only governs, but built the universe, the great architect of the heavens. We believe in his existence; that he is a rewarder of all them that diligently seek him. ”

“ The opening of the heart to receive Christ, and the new sense of his pardoning grace and power, give to the converted man the key to the interpretation of Scripture, for "the mystery of the gospel," the central secret of Christianity, is "Christ in you, the hope of glory." He whom the Holy Spirit has first led to the knowledge of sin, and has then led to the acceptance of Christ, is prepared to enter into the meaning of Scripture, and no other man can understand it. ”

“ The Gospel of Jesus Christ, as it is given in the Old and New Testaments, the Book of Mormon, the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, and in the experience of every true Christian who has lived and still lives upon the earth, teaches that it is the privilege of every Saint so to live and walk before their God, as to enjoy the light of the spirit of truth from day to day, from week to week, and from year to year, through their whole lives. ”

“ And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." What blessed words! and then they doubtless explained to him that the faith here spoken of, meant such a belief in Jesus, as would lead to repentance for all sin so displeasing to Him, and make men strive to do all in their power to please Him: for to believe the Gospel, means to do all that the Gospel teaches. Such, no doubt, was the Apostles' teaching, as "they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house." ”

“ The preaching of Jesus Christ, which was kept secret since the world began, now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith, Rom. xvi. 25, 26. The doctrine of grace and salvation by the gospel is for all ranks and conditions of men (slaves and servants, as well as masters) , therefore engaging and encouraging all to receive and believe it, and walk suitably to it, adorning it in all things. ”

“ You have with your eyes seen the change wrought by the Divine power of the gospel of Christ; for nothing else has brought it about. To those who love God and their neighbour as themselves, such manifestations and proofs of his mercy towards mankind, revealed in the gospel of our Saviour, are delighted and most encouraging’. ”

“ Either Christ must live and the Law perish, or the Law remains and Christ must perish; Christ and the Law cannot dwell side by side in the conscience. It is either grace or law. To muddle the two is to eliminate the Gospel of Christ entirely." ”

“ The Hebrews had the same Gospel, or good news of pardon and salvation through Christ, that we have. Speaking of them in the wilderness, the Apostle Paul says, "For unto us was the Gospel preached as well as unto them." Hebrews 4:2.
Every sacrifice they made for sin, every lamb slain, was to show their faith in "the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." John 1:29. The blood of the offering was a type of the blood of Christ.
Jesus Christ is the great central figure of the Gospel. It was Christ who was with Israel in all their journey from Egypt to the promised land. ”

“ Christ in us is so; we must ground our hopes of heaven upon the fulness of Christ's merit, for the pardon of sin, the power of his Spirit, for the sanctification of our nature, and the prevalency of his intercession, for the conveyance of all that good which he has purchased for us. There is that in him, as he is made known, and made over, to us in the gospel, which is sufficient to redress all our grievances, and to answer all the necessities of our case, so that he is a Saviour to the uttermost. ”

“ The Gospel is preached to men and women in the flesh; and if they repent, and are baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, by one having divine authority, and receive the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands, as a gift of God to enlighten their minds and guide them into all truth, and they abide in it and are really baptized into Christ, then when Christ appears in His glory they will be with Him, and be numbered as His jewels. They will be "Christ's at His coming." They will have part in the first resurrection. ”

“ Wherever the Gospel comes, it brings salvation - it offers deliverance from all sin to every soul that hears or reads it. As freely as the sun dispenses his genial influences to every inhabitant of the earth, so freely does Jesus Christ dispense the merits and blessings of his passion and death to every soul of man. ”

“ We profess to be teaching the very same Gospel that was taught by Christ and His Apostles. We contend that there is but one true Gospel. Jesus said, "Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, that leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." (Matt. 7: 14.) Paul taught: "There is one body, and one spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling: one Lord, one faith, one baptism." (Eph. 4: 4, 5.) He further said: "Though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed." ”

“ I, but Jesus Christ; in whom
being bound, I the more fear,
as being yet only on the way
to suffering.
2 But your prayer to God shall
make me perfect, that I may attain
to that portion, which by God's
mercy is allotted to me Fleeing
to the Gospel as to the flesh of
Christ; and to the Apostles as
to the presbytery of the church.
3 Let us also love the prophets,
forasmuch as they have led us
to the Gospel, and to hope in
Christ, and to expect him.
4 In whom also believing they
were saved in the unity of Jesus
Christ; being holy men, worthy
to be loved, and had in wonder ”

“ Now we may learn hence, First, To admire the height and depth of the doctrine of Christ; it is a great mystery of godliness. The things of the gospel are heavenly things, out of the road of the enquiries of human reason, and much more out of the reach of its discoveries. ”

“ We know that we have the Gospel of Christ that has been revealed from heaven in this generation, wherein are taught faith, repentance, and baptism for the remission of sins, and that obedience to those doctrines will bring all things to our remembrance, and thereby enable us the more perfectly to do the will of God while we dwell here in the flesh. ”

“ and that, on the other hand, there is nothing so great or so goodly in creation, but that it is a mean symbol of the Gospel of Christ, and of the things He has prepared for them that love Him. ”

“ For when Christ came, he came preaching, not the gospel of the individual, not a gospel simply to save that man, that woman, that child, but the gospel of the Kingdom, the gospel which this great Association so effectually preaches and not only preaches but applies and administers as well. ”

“ In this high "faith of Christ" we have the true revelation of God's will for man; the Gospel speaking to us in its most touching and impressive tones,—either reproaching us for our indifference and calling us to repentance, or else aiding and encouraging us onward in the good path of righteousness. ”

“ But the Gospel message as it began to be preached after Christ died and the Holy Spirit came to earth, was not known in Old Testament times. That Gospel not only offers remission of sins, but tells the believing sinner that he becomes in Christ a Son of God and a joint heir with the Lord Jesus Christ; that eternal life is his present possession and that he is one spirit with the Lord, for the Holy Spirit makes His abode in him. ”

“ One thing and one only is necessary for Christian life, righteousness and liberty. That one thing is the most holy Word of God, the Gospel of Christ, as he says, John xi, "I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, shall not die forever" [John 11:25] ; ”

“ What is meant by the everlasting Gospel? I know that some people think there was no Gospel until Jesus came; but it is a great mistake. Adam, Noah, Abraham, and Moses had the Gospel; and when Jesus came he came to offer himself a sacrifice for the sins of the world, and to bring back the Gospel which the people had lost. "Well," says one, "do you mean to affirm that the men you have just named had the Gospel?" I do, and hence it is called the everlasting Gospel. "How do you know?" Why, the Scriptures say the Gospel held the keys of the mysteries of the revelation of God. ”

“ So the Gospel "unveils God's righteousness"; it draws the curtains from His glorious secret. And as each fold is lifted, the glad beholder looks on "from faith to faith." He finds that this reliance is to be his part; first, last, midst, and without end. He takes Jesus Christ by faith; he holds Him by faith; he uses Him by faith; he lives, he dies, in Him by faith; that {35} is to say, always by Him, by Him received, held, used.
Then lastly, we mark the quotation from the Prophet, who, for the Apostle, is the organ of the Holy Ghost. ”

“ In the writings of the prophets we meet with more of the plain and express promises of the Messiah, and the grace of the gospel; but here, in the books of Moses, we find more of the types, both real and personal, figures of Him that was to come; shadows, of which the substance is Christ, Rom. 5. 14. Those to whom to live is Christ, will find in these that which is very instructive and affecting, and will give great assistance to their faith, and love, and holy joy. This, in a particular manner, we search the scriptures for—to find what they testify of Christ and eternal life: John 5. ”

“ In the Gospel story we find five great points of special importance; the birth, the life on earth, the death, the resurrection, and the ascension. In these we have what an old writer has called "the process of Jesus Christ;" the process by which He became what He is to-day—our glorified King, and our life. In all this life process we must be made like unto Him. ”

“ But if thou begin with Christ, and consider his coming into the world, and dost believe that God hath sent him for thy sake, to suffer for thee, and deliver thee from sin, death, the devil, and hell; then when thou art so armed with the knowledge of Christ, then, I say, this simple question cannot hurt thee; for thou art in the book of life, which is Christ himself.
[pg 023] Also we learn by this sentence, “Many are called,” that the preaching of the gospel is universal; that it pertains to all mankind; that it is written, “Through the whole earth their sound is heard.” ”