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| Introduction |
Appendix
B |
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Summary
of what we mean when we say "The Gospel"
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Hopefully you would recognize that
everything we're about centers around, and is founded on a concept we call "the Gospel". To make sure we are being absolutely clear, we want to take a little
time and walk through what we mean. |
A. We Didn't Invent the Concept or Term
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| The Gospel is really what Scripture is all
about. In fact you can get a feel for its importance just by looking at
a few scriptures containing the word. |
| Jesus Said: |
Matt 24:14
"And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached
in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will
come."
Jesus also said:
Mark 8: 35-36 "For whoever wants to save
his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the
gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world,
yet forfeit his soul?"
It is said of Disciples:
Acts 8:25 "When they had
testified and proclaimed the word of the Lord, Peter and John returned
to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many Samaritan villages."
The next verse shows that the Gospel is not just a New Testament
phenomenon.
Rom. 1:1-2 "Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an
apostle and set apart for the gospel of God, the gospel he promised
beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures."
Also,
Gal. 3:8 "The Scripture foresaw that God would
justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to
Abraham: 'All nations will be blessed through you.'"
The
Gospel is the way of Salvation. Its core concept is a righteousness for
us not by working to be sinless, but simply by faith
(believing):
Rom. 1:16-17
"I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power
of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for
the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from
God is revealed, a
righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it
is written: "The righteous will live by faith."
The
Cross of Christ is a core component of the gospel.
1 Cor. 1:17-18
"For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the
gospel, not with words of human wisdom, lest
the cross of
Christ be emptied of its power. For the
message of the
cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are
being saved it is the power
of God.
There are two aspects to the gospel: an
immediate one and an ongoing component.
1 Cor. 15:2 "By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the
word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain."
Paul continues the above statement by laying out
an overview of the gospel and declaring it to be the
most important concept given him.
1 Cor. 15:3-4 "For what I received I
passed on to you as of first importance: that
Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was
buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,"
Preaching or teaching something else, as "The
Gospel" is seriously wrong.
Gal. 1:6-8 "I
am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you
by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel, which is
really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into
confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we
or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we
preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!"
The above passage continues contrasting believing
the gospel with obeying the
law.
Gal. 3:10
All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it
is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do
everything written in the Book of the Law." Clearly no one is
justified before God by the law, because "The righteous will live
by faith." The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, "The man
who does these things will live by them." Christ redeemed us from the
curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree." |
| Just from this subset of verses containing
the word "gospel" you get a feeling for how core the Gospel
is, to what God is
about for humankind. If you
would continue the study you would see that the Gospel is the central
theme of scripture.
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2. Believing the Gospel
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| Paul's words give an
excellent overview of the gospel and declare it to be the most
important concept given him: |
| 1 Cor. 15:3-4
"For what I received, I passed on to you,
as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the
Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day
according to the Scriptures,..." |
| It is by personally accepting and believing
in Christ and his work that we have a guaranteed relationship with God.
We become God's child! There
is no ladder to climb, there are no goals to achieve to obtain God's
favor. |
| Rom. 10:9-10
"That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him
from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you
believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess
and are saved." |
| That relationship with God brings you
limitless benefits. An afterlife with him in heaven for a start, but also
the opportunity for personal peace and joy while you're on this earth. To
learn of more benefits read the book of Galatians. |
| When you hear us talk about "believing
the gospel" or "living the gospel," we are speaking, not
only of becoming one of God's children, but also of an ongoing trust in his work on the cross, as a way of life.
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3. The Gospel as a way of life
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| One can daily live a life of purpose, hope, and peace by believing the Gospel: that God, in his love,
has supplied a sacrifice that makes me his beloved child.
It is in the believing of this truth, and the ramifications of
this truth,
that we find peace and joy, moment by moment, regardless of circumstances.
Think of it this way. "God loves me so much, that he's given himself as
supreme sacrifice for me. So, no matter what my day is like, no matter
what life brings my way, I can continue to trust that it is all part of
his love for me." |
| The result of such believing is almost
unfathomable. You have to see it happen to believe it. When a person,
day by day, relies on God in this way, there is a well of joy, peace and purpose that pours out of their life. What's more, love for God and others grows
and grows in the person's life. Obedience to God's commands becomes
"natural". Not as a way to get to God, or gain his acceptance,
but simply because of a deepening love for God. |
| While this process of change and growth, called sanctification, takes place in a Christian, it is not based on a system of works, and
ever watchful trepidation, but on believing the gospel, which results in joy and obedience! [View Illustration A] |
| Let's be honest with ourselves. The closer we
draw to God the worse off we will appear. The brighter the light the
more dirt will be seen. But, when it comes to good and bad, it's easy to buy into the
above model, because of our built in
self-deception. How can we honestly evaluate our own sanctification. We are all too ego bound to even begin to evaluate
our spiritual progress, let alone determine if the things we are doing
are based on pure/good motives or bad ones. |
| Below is a more gospel-based way to look at believing the Gospel (the growth process the
church calls sanctification). In a living
relationship with God, through His Holy Spirit working in us
constantly bringing us back to the Gospel, we see Him grow greater in
his holiness, perfection, faithfulness, power, etc. and we see ourselves
more unworthy, because more of our sin is being exposed. This dynamic
reveals a wider and wider gap between ourselves and God, a gap that must be bridged! The
only hope of bridging this gulf, is to have a greater view of the Love of God (in his act
of giving Jesus to pay for our sin). [View Illustration B] |
| If one doesn't see God's love demonstrated on
the cross, as the bridge for the gap between God's holiness and our
sinfulness, then our feelings result in one of two responses: 1) feelings
of guilt because of the sin we see in ourselves, which results in self-punishment
(self-crucifixion). Or, 2) feelings of denial, which results in self-righteous. Either approach will
only end in despair. |
| The Church is the body of Christ, wherein we are constantly
reminded of the Gospel, through small group accountability, Sunday services,
and one on one encouragement. God intended the Gospel to be our day to day
way of life. Scripture illustrates both aspects of the Gospel
beautifully:
Hebrews 10:14
"because by one sacrifice he has made
perfect forever
those who are being
made holy."
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