2. The message is the Gospel which is compelling to believe. 

3. The death of the sinless Christ makes the sinner to evaluate his life and repent. 

4. Because it is inherently good news, it is to be confessed and proclaimed to be such. 

5. The cross stands for the Gospel, 1 Cor 1:18ff, which is more fully the death, burial, and resurrection, 1 Cor 15:1-4, which must be obeyed. In baptism the sinner obeys the Gospel, the death, burial and resurrection which makes him new.  When we preach the Gospel of Jesus, people get baptized, Acts 8:12; Acts 8:36ff.