The Gospel is simply the good news of Jesus Christ and God’s plan of salvation and redemption to anyone who believes in Him (Jn. 3:16).  In 1 Cor. 15:1-9, Paul reminds believers of the exact Gospel he preached to them.  The Gospel is: Christ died for our sins on the cross, according to scripture.  Christ was buried.  He conquered death and rose again three days later in the resurrection.  Christ later appeared to more than 500 individuals over the next forty days.  This Gospel that Paul talks about is the Gospel Christians are to wholeheartedly believe in order to come into a saving and living relationship with Jesus.

            Justification is the legal act by which believers are declared righteous and reconciled before God (2 Cor. 5:21).  Justification is God’s work that was accomplished by the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ on the cross (Rom. 8:30).  When an individual is justified, he/she is no longer condemned as a result of his/her sin but is made righteous (on account of Jesus’ death) and can now stand before God.  When justification happens at the point of belief, the individual is no longer guilty of their sins before God.

            The first step in obtaining individual faith is individual election and drawn to God (Jn. 6:44, Rom. 8:30).  The individual then responds to this calling, believes, and is justified.  Christ’s righteousness is imputed onto the individual, covering up the past sin of Adam that was passed along in addition to the individual’s own sins.  This means that when the justified individual stands before God, they are forgiven of all sins: past, present, and future.  Lastly, justification is entirely by God’s grace (Rom. 3:23-24).  It does not depend on any merits of the individual but comes through faith in Jesus Christ (Rom. 5:1).

            Sanctification refers to a Christian’s growth into the likeness of Jesus Christ.  Unlike justification, sanctification is an ongoing, internal condition occurring throughout the life of the Christian.  There are three main stages of sanctification.  The first stage is the initial moral/positional change that takes place at the moment of justification (1 Cor. 6:11).  At this point, the Christian is no longer ruled by the power of sin.  The second stage is the sanctification that occurs throughout the believer’s life.  This is the process of becoming more and more holy from the point of conversion all the way until death with the help of the Holy Spirit.  The last stage is when the Christian dies and is glorified.  His/her body no longer has the sinful nature and the Christian is given a new body so that, in every sense, he/she is in a state of perfect holiness before God. 

            Issues of social concern correspond directly to the nature of the Gospel.  The Gospel that Jesus spoke about throughout His ministry was very tough to accept.  It was not a message that allowed for more belief; Jesus expected life changes that included caring for the social needs of people (Lk. 4:18, Isa. 61).  This looks differently depending on the culture one lives in, but a Christian should also be looking to help out those in need.