Gospel Guidebook: Getting and Keeping It Right 
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"Christ Died for Me" is NOT the Gospel
by Robert P. TerryUpdated January 16, 2025
It is beyond question that Jesus Christ came to save "His people" (Matthew 1:21) and lay down His life for "His sheep" (John 10:11-17), but the Apostles never required any man to confirm that Christ died for him individually as a condition of believing the Gospel. The reason for this is that the Gospel is solely concerned with "God's Son Jesus Christ," who He is and what He did (Romans 1:1-4). It is true that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to save sinners, but it would be a mistake to assume that these sinners for whom Christ died compelled God in any way to die for them, rather than God acting out of sheer mercy in order to display the riches of the glory of His grace (Ephesians 1:5-6, 2:4-7). We come to understand that "Christ died for me" as an implication that can be drawn from believing the content of the Gospel, but if we turn around and somehow mystically appropriate the proposition that "Christ died for me" as a condition of believing the Gospel, we subtly shift the focus of the Gospel from Christ to ourselves. As sinners we have the tendency to make everything about ourselves, but in the case of Gospel, we must resist this urge and let Christ receive the glory He deserves. As such, the Gospel concerns God's righteousness in Christ (Romans 1:16-17), and only upon believing it, can we proclaim among other believers that "Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:" (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).