This is the first post I have made tagged as “unstructured”. An “unstructured” tag means this is going to be similar to rant in the sense that I am not focusing too much on organization, but differs from a rant in that I will not use an angered tone (as is traditional in rants).
When was the last time you considered the Gospel? Not just the last time you briefly remembered it, but the last time you really sat down and focused on it? How important do you believe the Gospel is in a Christian’s life? In this post, I will discuss the centrality of the Gospel in the lives of believers. This is something I have come to feel very strongly about in recent months, and hopefully by the end of this post you will see why.
Background: What is the Gospel?
“Gospel” means “good news”. It is summarized in 2 Corinthians 15:3-4, which reads:
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures
In short, the Gospel is the message that Jesus Christ came to this earth, lived a perfect life, bore our sins when He died on the cross, and defeated death by his resurrection.
Believe in the Gospel is the only way to be saved. This post is not intended to teach you how to become a Christian, so I’ll just briefly tell you that if you are not a Christian, the way to become one is as follows:
- Realize your guilt before God
- Believe in the Gospel
- Pray to God asking for forgiveness by the work of Jesus Christ
- Repent of your sins
For more information, see the Roman’s road.
Why does the Gospel matter for believers?
Many churches teach the Gospel is the way to be saved. This is true. However, many of those churches also neglect to teach the Gospel after someone is saved. This is a terrible mistake. Although few churches would say it directly, many churches imply by their teachings that after one is saved, it is up to the efforts of that individual to become holier and maintain a good standing before God. This is not what the Bible teaches. Take note of Galations 2:20 below:
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Notice that Paul says the life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God. The Christian life is not about trying to make yourself a more moral person; it is about focusing on the Gospel. When we focus on the Gospel, the Holy Spirit starts to conform us to the image of God. It is not by our own efforts.
The Gospel therefore, is the means of salvation and sanctification. You may have heard of the Latin phrase Sola Fide. This means “Faith Alone”. It was used during the time of the Protestant Reformation to summarize the belief that we are saved by faith alone, and not by works (as the Roman Catholic Church had been teaching). Yet it seems that we Protestants 500 years later have forgotten what Sola Fide implies in our lives. Paul dealt with the same issue in the book of Galations. The church at Galatia had started to believe the teachings of the Judaizers. They taught that one must keep the Jewish law in order to be saved. While a few details have changed, the same is being taught today when people teach anything other than the Gospel for salvation and sanctification. Notice this passage (Galations 3:2-3)
I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?
And this one (Galations 3:10-14):
For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because “the righteous will live by faith.” The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, it says, “The person 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 pole.” He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.
The Bible is abundantly clear that Christ’s work was total and complete. There is nothing we could do to add to our salvation. Trying to do so is arrogant, as you are effectively saying that Christ’s death was not sufficient for your salvation. Part of the beauty of the Gospel comes from the fact that, because we are justified by faith and not by works, God’s love for us remains the same regardless of what we do. There is nothing we can do to make God love us less, or to make him love us more.
At this point, you might ask: “If we are justified by faith and God’s love is constant, why not keep on sinning?” Paul has an answer. Romans 6:1-4 reads:
What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
This verse teaches that if we are united to Christ, our old, sinful desires were put to death when Jesus was. Thus, if we truly believe the Gospel, we have died to sin. At a different point, Paul talks about our remaining flesh. This is what causes us to continue to sin. However, if we truly are Christians we our desires will begin to align with God’s. We will no longer want to sin. Another verse on this topic is 2 Peter 1:9, which says:
For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.
In the former verses, Peter had listed several qualities that a Christian develops. We can see from this verse that if we are backsliding, it is because we have taken our eyes off of the Cross.
Conclusion
I know that was a bit messy, but hopefully you can see why I believe that the Gospel is not something you use to get into heaven and nothing else. It is the means of sanctification as well as salvation. The entirety of the Bible tells the story of the Gospel, from the prophesies and symbols of the Old Testament, to the teachings of Christ and the Apostles in the New Testament.
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