The gospel of Jesus Christ: What is it?

[Arkady]

Now I take it that once the act of removing sin was performed by one of His apostles, that the individuals whose sins have been removed would then have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, as well? The two things are not separate from one another, right? Sins can't be loosed all the while not receiving the Spirit?

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God,
eternally begotten from the Father, God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God, begotten, not made, of the same substance as the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered, died, and was buried.
On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father.
With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.

if you meet someone who is bishop or priest and he stands in Grace (I have not met any one so far) there are several things to do to be adopted by God as his son:

1) Learn the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed by heart
2) Get instructed or instruct yourself in at least the very basics of the Orthodox Church Doctrines
3) Confess ALL your sins to the priest/bishop you can possibly bring to your memory (write them down. that'll help)
4) Get born again to wash away your sins by triple immersion in water (done by clergy) in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost
5) Get annointed with oil by clergy to receive the Holy Spirit (this replaces the laying on of hands for laymen)
6) Drink the Blood of Christ in the form of wine and eat His Flesh in the form of bread to have Life in yourself and thus you are made a member of the Church and from now on you belong to the Body of Christ Which He has ressurected on the third day (His renewed Body is not like ours. We are not cannibals)

Try to confess your sins on a daily or weekly basis because they tend to accumulate quickly and participate in the Holy Communion.

Arkady. Russia.