On Thursday, I retire, which officially makes me a fossil. On my last Sunday, can I talk about something important to me? As a fossil, I have to say I am very concerned about the church in general. I fear we have lost sight of some very basic things and, as a result, are drifting, achieving very little. One of those things is the gospel.
What is the gospel? If I asked you to tell the person next to you, could you? Maybe you could. If you are clear about the gospel then I hope today will give you renewed confidence. If you are not clear about the gospel, I hope today might help. I will touch on several Bible passages and list some concepts that I believe are essential to the gospel. You can see if you agree. We will have our main reading at the end.
Suppose a non-Christian friend asked you about the meaning of Christmas. What would you say? I am sure you would focus on Jesus; Jesus is the reason for the season. But what would you say about Jesus?
Suppose a friend comes to you distressed that she was going to lose her job. Does the gospel have any good news for her? Anything more specific than “God loves you. It will be alright.”?
Suppose you have a non-Christian friend who is enjoying a trouble-free life. Everything is going well. Is there any reason to talk with him/her about the gospel? What would you say?
Maybe you know exactly what you would say in each of those situations, but my fear is that there is, among Christians, increasing uncertainty about what the gospel is and increasing discomfort with aspects of the gospel. There are bits we do not want to talk about.
In Romans 1:16-17, Paul said, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed – a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it was written; “The righteous will live by faith.”
Paul was not ashamed of the gospel. I would have to say that sometimes I am ashamed of the gospel. I am embarrassed by it. I do not want to raise it or speak about it. I fear people’s rejection. There are certain gospel concepts that I suspect people will react against and I am embarrassed to mention them.
But, the gospel is the power of God that brings salvation.
Think about those friends: the person who does not know what Christmas is about, the friend losing her job, the friend with no problems. Wouldn’t you like to be able to help? Wouldn’t you like their eyes to be opened to the blessings of a relationship with Jesus? But how? What will get through to them? What is it that can bring about that change? It is the gospel that is the power of God to bring salvation. No other message has that power. Only the gospel. Clever words do not have that power. Loving people does not have that power. We can love people and comfort people but that does not have the power to save. Only the gospel has that power. It is crucial that we know what the gospel is or we remain powerless.
It is the power of God that brings salvation. Let’s list salvation as one of the non-negotiable, essential concepts. But here’s the problem: Some people see salvation only in terms of what happens after we die. The gospel is simply about getting your ticket to heaven. If you raised your hand at an evangelistic event, you are saved. It has little to do with anything in this life. So, is the gospel of any immediate relevance to your friend about to lose her job or is the best we can say that it will be better when she dies. What does salvation mean to her or to the friend with not a care in the world?
On the other hand, some people are embarrassed by any talk about life after death. I have heard Christians mock the idea of life after death. Heaven is an old-fashioned idea; the gospel is about this life. So, which is it? Is it all about heaven or is it not about heaven at all? Do we know what the gospel is?
We can answer half of that question very easily. The gospel certainly is about eternal life. In fact, eternal life is central to the gospel. Can anyone think of a gospel-related verse that would confirm that?
John 3:16-17 For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world but to save the world through Him.
The reason God sent His Son is that people might not perish but have eternal life. Eternal life is central. When your friend asks about the meaning of Christmas, you have to mention eternal life because that is at the core of why God sent His Son. V.17 talks about God saving the world through Jesus. Salvation and eternal life are joined together.
The gospel is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes. Belief, or faith, is another essential component of the gospel. No gospel presentation is complete without inviting people to put their faith in Jesus. John 3:16 says: whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Those passages emphasise that it is faith in Jesus: Whoever believes in Him. God saves the world through Him. Your conversation with your questioning friend must centre on Jesus. He is the Saviour. He is the one people need to trust and follow. It is all about Jesus.
But, again confusion. Some Christians say Christianity is all about loving one another. The world will be saved if we love one another. We hear that in the context of Covid-19 and racial tensions and poverty. Of course, Jesus did teach us to love one another and, of course, it is important, but it is not the gospel. Can we save ourselves by loving one another or do we need Jesus to save us? Was Jesus just a good teacher or is He the One who saves? The Bible is clear that Jesus is the Saviour. We are saved through faith in Jesus.
Sometimes Christians are criticised for being arrogant and claiming that salvation is found in Jesus and in Jesus alone. Again, we can be embarrassed about that. We would rather say that people of all religions and no religion will be saved, but Jesus Himself said, “I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6). The Apostles were not embarrassed to say, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
Let’s continue with the Romans passage: For in the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed – a righteousness that is by faith, from first to last.
Again, Paul emphasises faith. It is by faith from first to last. But what about righteousness? The gospel reveals the righteousness of God. People debate whether “the righteousness of God” refers to God’s righteousness; God’s holy character, or the righteousness that God bestows on those who have faith in Him. Maybe it is both. The gospel does reveal God’s righteousness. The gospel reveals both the holiness of God and the love of God. But the gospel also reveals that God, in His mercy, forgives those who believe, making us righteous. Jesus took our sin and we receive His righteousness. God’s righteousness does not depend on faith but ours does, from beginning to end. The gospel is about being made righteous.
This brings us to one of the unpopular aspects of the gospel. We need to be made righteous because we are not righteous. We rebel against God. We want to live our way, not His way. We are disobedient. To use the unpopular language, we are sinners who have rebelled against God and deserve judgement.
Think about your three friends. Do you have to mention sin (or some paraphrase of sin such as rebelliousness)? Is sin relevant to Christmas? Is sin relevant when grieving over the loss of a job? Is sin relevant to the person whose life is going fantastically?
It is essential. Paul tells us what the gospel is.
1 Cor 15:2-4 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
In summary: Jesus Christ died for our sins and rose again. The Cross is at the centre of the gosepl. There is no gospel without the Cross. If someone explains Christianity to you but it does not include the Cross, then it is not gospel. Jesus died for our sins. The problem is our sinfulness. Our relationship with God has been broken by our sinfulness. There would be no need for the gospel if it wasn’t for our sinfulness. That is why Jesus died. But the gospel is also that He rose again. Notice Paul’s gospel essentials: Jesus, His death, our sin and the empty tomb: victory. The resurrection points to the reality of eternal life but it also points to the new life that Christians receive now. Jesus said to Nicodemus, “You must be born again”. Being born again is not something we can do. The rebirth is a work of God. It is not a requirement; it is the result of the gospel. It is not about us changing our behaviour but being spiritually reborn – new people living a new life. The Bible talks about us dying with Jesus and rising with Him to live a new life.
We have to mention sin because sin is the problem. We get into messes because we want to live independently of God. There is no solution other than repentance and faith. Repentance is another non-negotiable essential of the gospel. Jesus’ message was summarised as a call to repentance.
Mark 1:14-15 After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news (the gospel) of God. “The time has come,” He said, “The Kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news (the gospel).”
Did Jesus talk to people about their sin? Very often He didn’t lead with that. He led with mercy and compassion, with healing, with love. But that led to a call to follow Him. And that is a call to change direction, to repent. We cannot follow Jesus if we are still following our own desires. Jesus’ preaching was summarised as being a call to repentance.
You might not mention sin in the first conversation. You too might lead with mercy, compassion, healing, love but, at some point, you are going to have to ask, “Will you follow Jesus?” That will require a change of direction. At some point the person broken, or non-existent, relationship with God is going to be relevant. It is central.
A life lived with God is infinitely better than a life lived without God. We could all list numerous blessings: forgiveness, being children of God, receiving the Holy Spirit, answered prayers, healing having a purpose in life, security, peace, hope, the assurance of eternal life in God’s perfect Kingdom. The gospel is about eternal life but not just eternal life. It is about living life with God, and for God, now.
Jesus called people to follow Him. Some Christians are very passive but following is active. Followers take instruction from Jesus and they imitate Jesus’ example. They serve Jesus as Lord of their lives. You might have noticed that the 1 Corinthians passage said, “By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you.” Holding firmly to the word means faithfully living by the word of God. There was an “if” there. We will be saved if we are obedient to the word of God. We are not saved by good works but we are saved for good works.
James says that the genuineness of our faith is seen in our good works. It scares me a lot when people say that all we have to do is believe in Jesus and we will be saved. Genuine belief results in a change in the direction of our lives (repentance), living for God instead of living for ourselves. Genuine belief says, “Jesus, because of all you have done for me, I dedicate my life to serving you.” But how many people are sitting in churches thinking that because they raised their hand at an evangelistic event once, they are saved? Think of all the parables about a master who goes away leaving his servants in charge of his business. When he returns, those who are not doing what they have been told to do are cast out.
Matthew 7:21 Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord” will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of my Father who is in heaven.
The gospel must include the call to change direction and live for God – repent, follow, obey.
I believe those things are essential to the gospel. I might be wrong; let’s talk about it. But, if I am right, there is, in the church, a lot of fuzziness and embarrassment. The gospel is about the fact that Jesus Christ died for our sins and rose again and we are called to trust Him and follow Him. We need to reclaim the gospel and not be ashamed of it for it is the power of God that brings salvation to all who believe.
Do you think that any of those words is not essential to the gospel?
In relation to your friends, are any of the things in the bottom two rows relevant? Eternity is relevant to everybody but so are the more immediate blessings. Which of those is relevant to the situation of your friend? Healing? Being loved? Hope? Forgiveness? The gospel is the good news that person needs.
But also, is that the gospel you have believed? Have you confessed your sinfulness and repented, trusting in Jesus as your Saviour and actively following Him? The gospel is the power of God that brings salvation to all who believe.
This gospel is everywhere in the New Testament. For example, I will read Titus 2:11-15 sentence by sentence. You tell me what aspect of the gospel that sentence refers to.
Titus 2:10-15
11 For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12 It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope – the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.
15 These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you.
Other possible passages. Identify the aspects of the gospel mentioned.
- Ephesians 2:1-10
- 1 Peter 1:3-9
M.P.C. Sermons 