The Gospel
Brought Near
by the Blood of Christ
The Christian message can be told a thousand ways, but in every age it comes down to four words: God. Man. Christ. Response. God who made you. Man who has rebelled. Christ who has rescued. The response he requires. What follows is the gospel we preach every Lord’s Day — the same message proclaimed by the apostles, recovered in the Reformation, and held without reservation by Pray’s Mill Baptist Church.
The One Who Made You
A holy God, worthy of all worship.
There is one God, infinitely glorious, eternally existing in three persons — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He made every star, every river, and every man, woman, and child for one ultimate purpose: that they might know him, love him, and find their joy in him forever.
He is holy — separate from all evil, blazing with purity, jealous for his own glory. He is just — he will not call good what is evil, nor evil what is good. And he is merciful — slow to anger, abundant in steadfast love. The first truth of the Christian message is that this God exists, and that you were made by him, and for him.
Where We Stand
Made for him, fallen from him.
We were made for communion with God. The Genesis story tells us our first parents walked with him in the cool of the day. But in Adam, we rebelled. Sin entered the world, and with sin, death.
Every one of us has inherited Adam’s nature and added our own offenses to his. We are not basically good people who occasionally slip; we are, by nature, “children of wrath” (Eph. 2:3), “far off” (Eph. 2:13), “having no hope and without God in the world” (Eph. 2:12). This is not a popular thing to say, but it is true. And until we see it, we cannot understand the rescue.
What God Has Done
Brought near by the blood of Christ.
God did not leave us in our rebellion. In the fullness of time he sent his eternal Son — true God, true man — to do what we could not do. Jesus Christ lived the obedient life we have failed to live. He died the death we deserved to die. He rose from the grave on the third day, declaring his work finished and his victory complete.
By his blood, those who were “far off” have been brought near (Eph. 2:13). This is the message we proclaim every Lord’s Day.
What You Must Do
Repent and believe.
The gospel is not “be a better person” or “say a prayer.” It is a call to repent — to turn from sin and self — and to believe — to entrust yourself wholly to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. This is not the work of a moment but the shape of a whole life.
The one who comes to Christ is forgiven, justified, adopted into God’s family, indwelt by his Spirit, and kept by his power to the end. There is nothing to add to what Christ has done. There is everything to do in response.
Come and See
Don’t say a prayer alone in private.
If you are reading this and you are not sure whether you have been brought near, we would love to talk with you. Don’t say a prayer alone in private and hope it counts. Come to a Sunday service, sit under the Word, and afterward speak to one of our pastors. We will read the Scriptures with you, answer your questions, and pray with you.