After Jesus told Nicodemus of God loving the world He said this: “But he who does not believe is condemned already, because He has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:18). If you do not believe on the Son of God for your salvation you are condemned. What a terrible word to consider. No payment, no purging, no Savior, no help, no hope. The end of condemnation is the judgment. That’s why this gospel matters.

…who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

Hebrews 1:3 NKJV

What Is The Gospel?

How often do you hear the word, “gospel”? Sermons, hymns, songs, books, articles, blogs, social media, the word is all over the place. What is the gospel? One church defined the gospel in this way, The gospel means ‘good report’ or ‘good news.’ The gospel is not just good news because of its content. It is good news because of the form of its delivery. It is not good advice. The gospel never tells us something to do. The gospel tells us about something that has already been done. The form which Christ has chosen for the delivery for this saving message is through the means of preaching.”

The gospel is good news and a good report. Wonderful! But what is the good news and the good report? I cannot be saved by hearing the word, “gospel,” I must be saved by the message of the gospel. What is the message of the gospel? What is its call?

There are things less clear in Scripture than other things. The gospel is not one of those things. The gospel that Paul was not ashamed to declare and that Christ’s people have given their lives to make known is throughout the Scripture. Few places however is it so succinct as in the seven words of Hebrews 1:3, “He had by Himself purged our sins…” The writer of Hebrews is not concerned to give a word about the message of the gospel, He is concerned to declare the gospel. Here is the gospel in a sentence: He has by Himself purged our sins!

Who Is He?

He had by Himself purged our sins. Who is this, “He”? Perhaps you think the answer is self-evident. For those that trust in Christ alone for salvation the answer should be obvious. Christ is the “He” of this statement. But how many don’t know what others take as obvious?

The Pharisee said, “I thank God I am not like other men…” The Pharisee thought he had purged his own sins. The Judiazers thought circumcision would purge their sins. Most of the western world and some in evangelical churches think that they get to heaven by being as good as they possibly can be.  They will purge their own sins. But that is not what the text says.

The Son is “He” who by Himself purged our sins. Jesus is the Son spoken of in Hebrews 1:3. It is the Son who has in these last days spoken to us the Word of God. The gospel of God begins with the person Jesus Christ.

Jesus is He whom Thomas fell down in worship and confession and cried out saying, “My Lord and my God.”1. The one and the same Jesus that Peter confessed, “Thou art the Christ the son of the living God.”2 It is the Jesus who dying on the cross heard and affirmatively answered the words of the dying thief, “Remember me when you come into your Kingdom.”3 This is “He” who by Himself purged our sins.

Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners and He saved each sinner for whom He came. Jesus Christ Himself is the gospel message. To proclaim the gospel is to proclaim Jesus Christ. There is more to the gospel but surely there is nothing less.

The gospel of Jesus Christ does not stop with the name. It continues to give an account of activity. What did Jesus do?

What Did He Do?

He had by Himself purged our sins. Hebrews opens with the seven perfections of Christ. The writer mentions us in this sixth perfection by reference to what we did. We sinned. Christ purged our sin. The gospel message takes it as a given that all have sin and all are sinners.

If you are reading this thinking you can know the gospel without coming face to face with your sins and your standing before God you are deceiving yourself. The wages of sin is death. Look at the graveyards. All before you have died. Look around you. All that are now living will one day be on the other side of the grass. You will one day die. This is the reason. You have sinned. You deserve eternal damnation.

Jesus Christ came to deal with sin. That is the gospel. But what specifically did He come to do with sin?He had by Himself purged our sins. Consider the word purged. What comes to mind by this word? Utter destruction. The complete removal, wiping out, taking away of something or someone. Stalin wiped out hundreds of thousands of suspected enemies of the state during the “Great Purge.”4

Farmers seek to purge the weeds from their fields. Utter destruction of the weeds is the goal. The surgeon seeking to purge the cancer from the patient’s body is going for its complete and utter removal. The mother who instructs her child to purge his mind and mouth of sinful language wants it entirely wiped out. When something is purged, nothing should be left.

Farmers, doctors, and parents, attempt to purge what is evil. They may or may not be successful. The analogies only go so far. The gospel is not an attempt to eradicate the sin of all those whom the Father has given the Son. It is not a chance for the eradication of sin. The gospel is that Christ Jesus did purge the sins of His children. He came to this world to do it and He did what He came to do.

Expiation

Some modern Bible translations differ from the Authorized Version and the New King James Version on this point. They say something like, He made purification for sins… Purification is the effect of the purging. As a result of the purging of sin, the sinner is pure. But the word here is not getting to the effect of purging. Rather, the meaning focuses on the act of purging. Christ purged the sins of His people. The theological term here is expiation. Its an archaic word but don’t let that concern you. Instead, remember it. Expiation has to do with the taking away of guilt through the payment of a penalty.

If you have ever been pulled over for speeding, your guilt is paid in the eyes of the state when you pay the associated fine. A criminal may pay for their crime over years in prison. None of these payments of course satisfy God for sinning against Him but they do expiate the wrath of the state.

Christ Jesus expiated the sin of His children. Christ took away the Christian’s guilt by the payment of the penalty to God. That payment He made with His own blood when He died on the cross 2,000 years ago. There in agony, suffering, and sorrow, He purged our sins.

This gospel message is the same in the Old Testament as in the New Testament. The Psalmist said, “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow” (Psalm 51:7). The prophet Isaiah writes, “Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, and Your sin purged” (Isaiah 6:6).

Sufficient

Having purged our sins, notice the sufficiency of the payment that He made. Complete removal of sin. Complete payment for sin. Christ made a complete satisfaction of the wrath of God.

Read More