What do you think of when you hear the words “the gospel”? Do you think of a way of life? The plan of salvation? Of terms like “justification”, “sanctification”, and “glorification”? Do you think of a set of biblical truths set forth in Scripture? All of these are certainly a part of the gospel. But I believe that, when we hear the words “the gospel” we should not think first of truths or ideas, but rather of a person. Specifically, of God Himself. The gospel is not first about truths that exist outside of God. Rather, it is first about God Himself—His desire to save sinners and the work He has done to accomplish His desire.
Too often, the gospel gets detached from the character of God. What I mean by this is not that we think of the gospel as having nothing to do with God, but we begin to think of the gospel as something that exists outside of Him rather than as something that flows from His very character. When this happens, the gospel becomes a set of truth claims, not a story of God’s redemption. Grace becomes an impersonal force rather than the effectual workings of a loving God.
But the gospel must not be detached from the character of God. Rather, we need to think of it as the expression of His character. Salvation is the application of God’s love. God saves sinners because He loves them. In fact, the gospel is a reality because God Himself is good, loving, merciful, and gracious. Grace exists because God is gracious. He is first gracious; grace is the expression of that grace. He saves, not begrudgingly, not from duty, but because He loves us. God’s action in the gospel is a result of His goodwill toward mankind. He first of all wills to save; from His divine goodness comes divine action—the salvation of sinners.
As grace is rightly understood as connected to God’s character, so too sin must be seen as that which opposes God’s righteous nature. Sin is not merely the violation of an objective moral code; it is an offense against God Himself. The law we break when we sin is not arbitrary. Rather, it is the revelation of God’s own character. When we sin, disobeying God’s law, we sin against the very person of God. We have not just broken some universal code of honor. We have rebelled against God Himself.
Sin’s offense doubles when we realize that we have done more than just break God’s law. When we sin, we use God’s provisions against Him. We curse Him with the breath He gave us. We worship the creation, rejecting the Creator. We take pleasure in the gifts He gives while refusing to take pleasure in the Giver. Sin is more than breaking an arbitrary law, it is an offense against God Himself.
Similarly, grace is not merely the experience of transforming power, but is God Himself working in our lives. Grace is not a tap to turn on; grace is God’s redemptive power at work in our lives. We need to live by grace. That means we live in relationship with God, receiving what He offers us. Grace is amazing because it is God Himself at work to save sinners. God gladly meets us in our need and redeems us from our sin.
The apostle Paul describes this in Titus 3:4: “When the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us.”[1] Paul describes the gospel as the appearance of God’s kindness and love. God’s kindness compels Him to save us. “Kindness” translates the Greek chrēstotēs, which is used nine other times in the New Testament. It speaks of goodwill, favor, or generosity toward others. God is kindly disposed toward us, desiring to bless us, to do good for us.
“Love…toward man” translates philanthrōpia. From this comes the English “philanthropy”—benevolence or goodness toward others. Interestingly, the other time philanthrōpia is used (Acts 28:2), it is translated “kindness.” Translating it that way here in Titus would read “the kindness and the kindness of God.” While that translation lends an awkward reading, it underscores the emphasis. The appearance of God’s mercy—seen in the gospel—is a result of His kindness toward us. He loves us; therefore He acts. He desires to bless us; therefore He moves to action, redeeming us through Christ.
It is helpful to see this in its progression: nature, desire, action. God is kind in nature. It’s who He is. Because His character is kind, He desires to do what is kind. Because He desires to do what is kind, He acts in kindness. The second and third movements in this progression are before us in Titus 3. God is kindly disposed toward mankind; this is manifested in His mercy through Christ. His kindness “appeared” in Christ. God the Son “became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). Everything God offers us in the gospel—His kindness in action—results from His nature (as kind) and His desire (to show us kindness).
The gospel as we know it is not the only story God could have written. God did not have to redeem sinners. He is under no obligation to anyone or anything which dictates what He can and cannot do. Though He did not have to, He did redeem us, for which we will be eternally grateful. But if He were not good—if He were not kind—Scripture might be no more than an account of God’s righteous judgment. And we do need to recognize that there’s nothing unjust about that picture. God is not obligated to show us grace. But He does. Because God is good—because He is kind—He acted to save us. He met us in our need, dealt with our sin, and redeemed us to Himself. His kindness compels Him to show us grace.
This kindness is cause for glory. We glorify God for His love, but in fact, God the Father glorifies God the Son for His love. John records the Father and the Son glorying in each other because of the gospel. In John 10 we read that the Father loves Jesus because Jesus gave Himself for us. “Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again” (John 10:17). The Father glories in the Son’s atoning death and victorious resurrection. Likewise, Jesus gives His life, not to glorify Himself, but to bring glory to the Father. “Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name” (John 12:27-28). Jesus went to the cross to bring glory to the Father. The Father desires to save, and He delights in what the Son has done to accomplish that salvation. The Son desires to save, and submits Himself to the Father’s will that He could make salvation possible. The Godhead takes joy in the gospel, because through it, God’s kindness becomes grace—grace through which we’re saved.
God does not save because He has to; He saves because He wants to. And it is His joy. He does not save begrudgingly; God loves to save sinners. Hebrews says Christ went willingly to the cross. In fact, He rejoiced despite it. “For the joy that was set before Him [He] endured the cross, despising the shame…” (Hebrews 12:2). Jesus gave His life willingly, because of love. He wanted to save sinners, and He freely gave His life to redeem us.
This means that God wants you in His family. If you are saved, you are adopted as His child. He wanted covenant relationship with you, and He sent Christ to redeem you to Himself. If you are not saved, if you have not surrendered to Christ, God desires that you come to Him and be saved. Christ came to save even the worst of sinners. God is not willing that any perish, but that all come to repentance. Indeed, that is why Christ came, not to condemn sinners but to save them. God delights in saving all who come to Him in faith: self-righteous, hypocritical, insecure, pretentious, rebellious, or anyone else. God loved us when we were His enemies (Rom. 5:10). He redeemed us even in our sin. God’s mercy is offered to all.
Grace saves us from sin. It is God’s benevolence, His goodwill, which reaches down and pulls us out of the muck of our sin. But the gospel is more than salvation from sin. It is salvation to God. We are reconciled to Him, adopted into His family, joint heirs with Christ as His brothers and sisters. Grace is more than a force; it is God’s action. In the gospel, God reconciles us to Himself. We were wounded, but He has healed us. We were sinners, but He saved us. We were orphans, but He adopted us. We are the privileged ones who live in relationship with the Living God.
These privileges are ours by grace. This grace is ours because of God’s kindness. God loves to save sinners. It is His joy to meet filthy sinners in their need and redeem them, drawing them to Himself in love, cleansing them through Christ, and adopting them into His covenant family. God is kind. His kindness is ours to enjoy in Christ.