GOSPEL
The mission of Compass is to invite everyone to find and follow Jesus. This course is designed to give you the tools you need to start the journey of following Jesus and inviting others to join you. This first article begins with a diagram and words that articulate the core of Jesus' message and following Him over the long haul in life.
The cross diagram that later appears in this session illustrates the past, present and future aspects of what Jesus did for us.
The cross diagram that later appears in this session illustrates the past, present and future aspects of what Jesus did for us.
Justification: Freedom from the Penalty of Sin
The circle with lines through it represents your life before you came to Christ. The lines represent your sinful patterns of thought and behavior.
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
The circle with lines through it represents your life before you came to Christ. The lines represent your sinful patterns of thought and behavior.
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

If I gave you a glass of water that had one drop of poison in it, would you want to drink it? No. Similarly, because God is completely holy, he can’t allow even a little sin into his presence. The result of that is separation from God. But Jesus came to provide the solution for our sin.
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
A wage is something you earn for what you do. What our sin earns for us is physical death and spiritual separation from God for eternity in hell. But because of his love, God sent Jesus to die on the cross, to pay the penalty for our sin and offer us eternal life.
2 Corinthians 5:21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Jesus lived the life we should have lived, then died the death we should have died. He was punished for our sin and we get credit for his perfect life. But just understanding this intellectually is not enough. We each must decide to follow Jesus as Lord.
Romans 10:9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
We must believe his death on the cross is all we need to be saved and surrender our lives to following Him.
The moment you genuinely trust Christ as Lord, you are placed into Christ and God sees you as “holy and without fault in his eyes” (Ephesians 1:4). The perfect circle at the top of the cross represents the fact that when you decided to trust Christ, you were placed into Him and are completely forgiven based on Jesus' death on the cross.
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
A wage is something you earn for what you do. What our sin earns for us is physical death and spiritual separation from God for eternity in hell. But because of his love, God sent Jesus to die on the cross, to pay the penalty for our sin and offer us eternal life.
2 Corinthians 5:21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Jesus lived the life we should have lived, then died the death we should have died. He was punished for our sin and we get credit for his perfect life. But just understanding this intellectually is not enough. We each must decide to follow Jesus as Lord.
Romans 10:9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
We must believe his death on the cross is all we need to be saved and surrender our lives to following Him.
The moment you genuinely trust Christ as Lord, you are placed into Christ and God sees you as “holy and without fault in his eyes” (Ephesians 1:4). The perfect circle at the top of the cross represents the fact that when you decided to trust Christ, you were placed into Him and are completely forgiven based on Jesus' death on the cross.

In Romans 5:1, Paul calls this being, “justified through faith.” An easy way to remember what justified means is that when it comes to your status before God, it is “just-as-if-I’d" never sinned. When God looks at you “in Christ”, he sees Jesus in all his righteousness.
Why it is so important to our growth to understand our justification in Christ?
Sanctification: Freedom From the Power of Sin
The horizontal part of the cross represents our current spiritual growth. This process is called sanctification.
The horizontal part of the cross represents our current spiritual growth. This process is called sanctification.
Not only were you saved from the penalty of sin, but now you have the power to say "no" to sin and "yes" to what God has for you.
Romans 6:6–7 We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin.
Romans 6:6–7 We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin.

This doesn’t mean that you will be perfect, but it does mean that God gives you the ability to fight sin’s power.
When you receive Christ, you also receive the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 1:13–14 When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance.
The Holy Spirit is the spiritual proof of your changed heart. As we cooperate with Him, the Holy Spirit is the one who helps us get rid of our old sinful habits and changes us into Christ’s image.
2 Corinthians 3:18 And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.
We all come to Christ as a fixer-upper and the Holy Spirit wants to do a remodel! It’s not a quick flip, it’s going to take a lifetime! Our job is to work with Him one room at a time. Knowing this also helps give us grace toward others, because just like you, God’s not done with them yet! God wants us to work with Him in our lives.
Philippians 2:12-13 Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.
He provides the desire and power, but we must still put in effort. We need the Spirit’s help through the whole process.
Ephesians 5:18 Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit,
The word “filled” refers to a continual filling. This means that we stay filled by constantly drawing our power from Him.
Galatians 5:25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
In Galatians 5, Paul contrasts the signs of walking in the Spirit with the sinful nature. Following the sinful nature leads us to things like lust and anger, but the fruit of the Spirit leads us to things like love, joy, peace and patience. The way to tell if you are filled with the Spirit is to simply ask yourself, "what’s coming out of my life in this moment?". The more we stay in step with the Spirit, the more he will transform us.
Romans 12:1–2 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Notice it says we are to “be transformed,” implying that God’s the one to do it. He transforms us by changing the way we think. As our minds are renewed, our attitudes change, which changes our actions, which changes our lives.
It won’t be easy. You will need all the help God provides to win these daily battles and break free from sin.
Be patient because spiritual maturity takes time. When you are learning a new language you can be committed to it, but still make a lot of mistakes. The goal is progress. On earth, you will never be sinless, but you can sin less and less.
When you receive Christ, you also receive the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 1:13–14 When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance.
The Holy Spirit is the spiritual proof of your changed heart. As we cooperate with Him, the Holy Spirit is the one who helps us get rid of our old sinful habits and changes us into Christ’s image.
2 Corinthians 3:18 And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.
We all come to Christ as a fixer-upper and the Holy Spirit wants to do a remodel! It’s not a quick flip, it’s going to take a lifetime! Our job is to work with Him one room at a time. Knowing this also helps give us grace toward others, because just like you, God’s not done with them yet! God wants us to work with Him in our lives.
Philippians 2:12-13 Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.
He provides the desire and power, but we must still put in effort. We need the Spirit’s help through the whole process.
Ephesians 5:18 Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit,
The word “filled” refers to a continual filling. This means that we stay filled by constantly drawing our power from Him.
Galatians 5:25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
In Galatians 5, Paul contrasts the signs of walking in the Spirit with the sinful nature. Following the sinful nature leads us to things like lust and anger, but the fruit of the Spirit leads us to things like love, joy, peace and patience. The way to tell if you are filled with the Spirit is to simply ask yourself, "what’s coming out of my life in this moment?". The more we stay in step with the Spirit, the more he will transform us.
Romans 12:1–2 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Notice it says we are to “be transformed,” implying that God’s the one to do it. He transforms us by changing the way we think. As our minds are renewed, our attitudes change, which changes our actions, which changes our lives.
It won’t be easy. You will need all the help God provides to win these daily battles and break free from sin.
Be patient because spiritual maturity takes time. When you are learning a new language you can be committed to it, but still make a lot of mistakes. The goal is progress. On earth, you will never be sinless, but you can sin less and less.
Glorification: Freedom From The Presence of Sin
The last part of the cross diagram is another perfect circle. This is our future salvation. The word for this is glorification.
The last part of the cross diagram is another perfect circle. This is our future salvation. The word for this is glorification.
Romans 8:30 Those whom he justified he also glorified.
As Christians, we have the hope of freedom from the presence of sin after we die or when Christ comes back. In Heaven, we will have no more tears or pain and will be completely free from sin.
As Christians, we have the hope of freedom from the presence of sin after we die or when Christ comes back. In Heaven, we will have no more tears or pain and will be completely free from sin.

At Compass, we talk about the gospel often because it’s not just the way to start the Christian life, but it applies to every part of the Christian life. It’s not the diving board, it’s the pool. The gospel is not just the ABCs, it’s the A-Z. We never outgrow the gospel.
Rightly understood, the gospel is the foundation for every way we obey and the Holy Spirit is the one who gives us the power to obey. The gospel is the lens that we see all of life through. The night before Jesus died, he gave his disciples the key to bearing spiritual fruit.
Why is understanding these three aspects of salvation (Justification, Sanctification, Glorification) key to our growth in Christ?
Rightly understood, the gospel is the foundation for every way we obey and the Holy Spirit is the one who gives us the power to obey. The gospel is the lens that we see all of life through. The night before Jesus died, he gave his disciples the key to bearing spiritual fruit.
Why is understanding these three aspects of salvation (Justification, Sanctification, Glorification) key to our growth in Christ?
In this next part, read over John 15 to see how you can grow and bear spiritual fruit in your life.
John 15:1–17 1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. 9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. 12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17 These things I command you, so that you will love one another.
John 15:1–17 1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. 9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. 12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17 These things I command you, so that you will love one another.
What does this passage teach us about how we grow and produce fruit?