Updated 12-28-15
"For I am not ashamed of the gospel,
for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes."
Romans 1:16
“Now I make
known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you
received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold
fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance
what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the
Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day
according to the Scriptures.”
1
Corinthians 15:1-3
"Therefore
having overlooked the times
of ignorance, God
is now declaring
to men that all
people everywhere should repent,
because He has fixed
a day in which
He will judge the world
in righteousness through a Man whom
He has appointed, having furnished proof
to all men by raising
Him from the dead."
Acts 17:30-31
“In these
days I feel bound to go over and over again the elementary truths of the gospel. In peaceful times we may feel free to make
excursions into interesting districts of truth which lie far afield; but now we
must stay at home, and guard the hearts and homes of the church by defending
the first principles of the faith. In
this age there have risen up in the church itself men who speak perverse
things. There be many that trouble us
with their philosophies and novel interpretations, whereby they deny the
doctrines they profess to teach, and undermine the faith they are pledged to
maintain. It is well that some of us,
who know what we believe, and have no secret meanings for our words, should
just put our foot down and maintain our standing, holding forth the word of
life, and plainly declaring the foundation truths of the gospel of Jesus
Christ.”
Charles
Spurgeon - The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Vol.32, p.385
The Amazing Gospel
Most
people marvel at the size of the universe, at the stars in the sky, and at the
whole of creation, but this wasn’t even the most difficult thing God has ever
done. God created the universe
easily—with just a word, He spoke it
and it came to pass. Now, contrast that
with what God had to do in order to justify the heart of wicked mankind—Jesus
Christ, God Himself, had to come down
to earth and become a man, die a horrible death, and drink down the awful cup
of wrath that we deserved.
The
gospel story of all that went into our redemption is something we too often take
for granted, but it is more awesome and amazing than the words of man can ever
begin to describe. The study of it will
lead to a greater knowledge of the heart of our incredible God, which will lead
us to a greater love and devotion for Him.
Every word and doctrine in the Bible is
given from God and is important.
However, some doctrines are more important than others. Our eternity does not depend upon the
peripheral issues in the Bible, but it does depend entirely upon the gospel. It
is this gospel in which we stand and by which we are saved. If you do not understand it, you understand
nothing in Scripture. If you are wrong
about the gospel, you are wrong about everything. The gospel is the most important part of the
most important book ever written, and yet there are many who foolishly chase
after other things and do not think it worthy of their time. 1 Peter 1:9 tells us that the very outcome or
goal of our faith is salvation—not prosperity, good relationships, or a better
life in this world. There are many
promises given to us in the Bible, but the greatest promise of them all is
salvation; and it is the gospel of Jesus Christ that the power of God for
salvation is found.
Hebrews 2:1 warns us about the
importance of the gospel and says that, "We must pay much closer attention
to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it." We must pay not a little more attention, but much
closer attention to the message of our great salvation, lest we drift
away. Many assume they already know the
gospel to the peril of their own souls.
We must anchor our souls to the gospel and not drift away, for it is our
only hope of escaping the wrath that we deserve for our sin. Hebrews 2:3 says, "How will we escape if
we neglect so great a salvation?"
We will not.
You can profess to be wise but be a fool
if you think you already know everything there is to know about the
gospel. Paul warns in 1 Corinthians 8:2,
"If anyone supposes that he knows anything, he has not yet known as he
ought to know." The gospel is a lot
more than knowing God has a wonderful plan for our lives, that we are sinners,
and that Jesus died for us; but the message we hear preached today seldom goes
deeper than that. You can study the
gospel for a thousand lifetimes and yet still barely scratch the surface of the
glorious wonder of all there is to know.
The gospel is not something people need
to know initially in order to be saved so that they can move on to bigger and
better things. There are no bigger and better things! The gospel is the thing we need to
know—not just initially for salvation, but for a lifetime of growing in
holiness. This is what 1 Corinthians
15:1 refers to when it says that this is the gospel "in which also you
stand."
There have been men and women throughout
history who were fueled by a passion for God that seems so far above and beyond
what we have in our own lives. These
saints caught a glimpse of the greatness of the gospel of Christ and this is
what fueled their passion for God.
The
gospel is the good news about Jesus Christ.
Too many men, myself included, forget that in all of their learning
about the details of the gospel. J.C.
Ryle in his book Holiness said, "Their talk is more about salvation
than about the Saviour—more about redemption than about the Redeemer—more about
justification than about Jesus—more about Christ’s work than about Christ’s
person. This a great fault, and one that
fully accounts for the dry and sapless character of the religion of many
professors...Cease to regard it as a mere set of abstract propositions and
abstruse principles and rules. Look at
it as the introduction to a glorious, personal Friend. This is the kind of Gospel that the Apostles
preached."
We must study the gospel of Jesus Christ
in order to know Jesus. We cannot grow
into greater love and devotion of Christ unless we know His holy and just
character, unless we understand our unholy and sinful nature, and unless we understand
all He has done to purchase our redemption. Paul Washer says in The Gospel's Power and Message that,
"Genuine and enduring passion comes from an ever-increasing,
ever-deepening understanding of what God has done for His people in the person
and work of Jesus Christ," and that, "We are saved from our sin,
reconciled to God, and brought into fellowship with Him as sons! What more could we desire, or what more do we
need?" Nothing else in this world,
nor any of the other promises of God matter in comparison to the privilege of
knowing Him and the costly gift of salvation given to us. It is then that we can understand how
wonderful this gospel and this God truly is.
From
the sermon True Gospel – Part 2 – What is
the Gospel? by Paul Washer:
“When I look in the mirror, I do not see
a person that I am very proud of. I’m
motivated by the fact that God has not given me what I deserve. I deserve Hell, and God has not given me
Hell. Not only has He not given me what
I deserve, He has given me what I do not
deserve, and that’s Him.
I would never mention something so low
as Heaven. Heaven could never motivate
me—streets of gold and gates of pearl could never carry me on to the finish
line. It’s Him. It’s Him that makes Heaven Heaven. If you never learn that, you’ll be quite
deluded, you won’t have much strength.
It’s Him, and what He has done for us—that’s the only thing.
Another question: in all the churches,
you always hear about the gospel. But do
you know what is the gospel? Do you have
an idea? Have you ever one time in your
life understood what is the gospel? The word “gospel” comes from a Latin word
“evangelicon” and it means “Good, happy news”.
The gospel is not bad news, it is good news. But it starts this way: God is just.
I have a question for you: Do you prefer
God to be unjust, or do you want a just God?
Who wants an unjust God? A bad
God? Anyone? No, nobody wants an unjust God.
God is just. But you say: “It’s Ok.” No!
It’s not ok. The fact that God is
just is your greatest problem. Your greatest problem is that God is just. You say: “Why is that a problem?” Why? Because
you are not just. You have sinned. The Bible says: “For all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God You have sinned. You have lied.
You have had malicious thoughts.
If God is just, He HAS to satisfy His
Justice. And the only way that that is
possible is by punishing you in Hell for all your sins.
“The boastful shall not stand before
Thine eyes; Thou dost hate all who do iniquity.”
Psalms 5:5
What does this text say? Does it say that God just hates the sin and
loves the sinner? No, it says that He
hates all those who do iniquity. And you
say this, “But what about John 3:16?
John 3:16 says, ‘For God so loved the world...’ It’s
in the Bible.” Yes, it is in the Bible
and it is true, but Psalms 5:5 is in the Bible and it is just as true and you
have got to deal with it. That is the
problem in American Christianity. You
only take one side of the coin.
“Behold then the kindness and severity
of God…”
Romans 11:22
You will hear sermon after sermon after
sermon about the love of God and yet the Bible speaks explicitly about the
hatred of God and most of you have never heard one sermon about it. You are only getting one side of the
story. And that is very dangerous. You
only take one side of the coin. And I
don’t know if you have studied logic, but that is impossible. Coins always come
with two sides.
You say, “God doesn’t hate because God
is love.” And I tell you, “No, God does hate because God is love.”
He loves the unlovable. His love is so strong that He even loves the
objects of His own hatred.
Some preachers say, Jesus is all you
need!” Let me tell you, Jesus is all you
have.
And apart from Him, the only thing that would await you is the just, furious
wrath of Almighty God.
It is not so much that you say you know
Him, it is more that He says He knows you.
I can go to the White House and tell the guards, “I know the President.” They still would not let me in. But if the President comes and tells the
guards, “I know Paul Washer,” I’m getting in no matter what. Heaven is the same way. Jesus says in Matthew 7:22 that, “Many will
say to me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord…’ but I will say, ‘Depart from Me, I never
knew you.’”
There are many who claim to be
saved. I ask them, “What are you saved
from?” They usually reply, “From
sin.” You are not saved from sin. Sin is not looking to destroy you because of
your wickedness, God is.
“God
is a righteous judge,
and a God who has indignation every day. If
a man does not repent, He will sharpen
His sword; He has bent
His bow and made
it ready.”
Psalm 7:11-12
Indignation – anger aroused by something
unjust
God had a
plan to save you. Christ’s death was not
some accident. It was the only way a
just God could allow a wicked sinner like you and me into Heaven. God displayed His Son on the Cross as a propitiation. This word is very important. Apart from this word you cannot understand
the gospel. It is a sacrifice to God
that would allow Him to show mercy to criminals.
The greatest
problem in Scripture is this: If God is just, then He cannot forgive you.
God saved
you:
FROM Himself,
FOR Himself,
And BY
Himself.”
The Gospel Will Result in a Changed Life
"I remember just a while back a
man in my own town in Illinois who was a known drug addict, drug dealer,
fornicator, absolutely everything…He passes away and the pastor of one of the
largest Baptist churches in the area is standing there at the funeral. The place is loaded with every person that
has hardly ever been in church, drug addicts and everything you can imagine are
all there in church to honor their dead friend and that pastor gets up and he
says, ‘I praise God. I know this young
man. He sowed a lot of wild oats, but
when he was nine years old I was there when he prayed to receive Jesus Christ
as his Savior and he is in heaven today.’
And all those lost sinners went
straight out into the street justified in their sin because of conservative,
evangelical Baptist preaching. That is
typical in almost every church in this country.
It is true. It is true and it is
pathetic. It is pathetic.
Salvation is not a flu shot. It is not a magic prayer that we say one time
and then live the rest of our lives in blatant sin. It is a work by God to transform and bring
those to life who are spiritually dead and it will result in a changed life.
Let’s say I was invited to speak at
your church and I am late. I say, ‘I
apologize for being late. I was changing
my tire on the side of the road and a lug nut rolled out and I grabbed it
without looking and I was hit by a logging truck going 120 miles an hour that
weighs 30 tons, and that’s why I am late.’
There are only two possibilities,
logically. One is I am absolutely insane
or I am a liar. Why? Because it is absolutely against nature! It is impossible
to have an encounter with a logging truck going 120 miles an hour that weighs
30 tons and not somehow be changed by that encounter.
Now how can you say you have had an encounter with God and not be changed? You say you have had an encounter with God,
but you have not been changed! So God
now has less power than a logging truck?”
Getting Back to Fundamentals: What is the Gospel?
Let me share a quick video (3:41) which
contrasts the Gospel message with how evangelism is often done today:
These are the questions used today in
modern evangelism:
1. Do you know you're a sinner?
2. Do you want to go to heaven?
3. Would you like to pray and ask
Jesus into your heart?
If people say yes to all three, we
pronounce them saved. We live in an age of "easy-believism" and
savvy marketing that has watered down the message of the gospel into four
spiritual laws or five things God wants you to know. We present
Christianity in a way that makes it easy for someone to make a decision.
I have been guilty of this myself. I went with my friends to witness and
talk to people in public about Christ years ago as a young believer and people
weren't very receptive. I had a background in sales and marketing before
I became a teacher and a coach, so I made my message less offensive and changed
it to, "Hey, God's got a wonderful plan for your life," and more people
wanted to listen. I made it easier for
people to listen about Christ when I cut corners and left out the parts of the gospel
that were most offensive to people.
Paul Washer warns in The Gospel's Power and Message that we
must "not succumb to the lie that we can advance the gospel through our
brilliance, eloquence, or clever strategies.
Such things have no power to bring about the 'impossible' conversion of
men." Only the Holy Spirit can
transform the hearts of men, and He can only do this through the biblical
message of the gospel.
“But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should
preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be
accursed! As we have said before, so I
say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you
received, he is to be accursed!”
Galatians
1:8-9
Paul pronounced a curse upon anyone who
would present a gospel different than the one from Scripture, and I have had to
pray for forgiveness for my man-centered presentation of the gospel. Jesus
Christ is the message of the Biblical gospel; however, modern preaching is obsessed
with prosperity and having "your best life now." Mark 8:36
says, "For what does it
profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?"
The focus of our preaching should be on glorifying God through the gospel
message and on saving people's souls.
“You hear people urging others to come
to Christ: come to Christ so that you can get forgiveness, come to Christ so
that you can get heaven, come to Christ so that you can get satisfaction, come
to Christ so that you can get success, come to Christ so that you can get your
best life, come to Christ so that you can get all the things you’ve ever
dreamed of. Blasphemy! You come to Christ to get God! We have taken God Himself out of the gospel
and given His gifts instead! You say,
“What do you mean?” Ladies and
gentlemen, do you think it’s possible in our day to be more satisfied with the
things of God than we are with God Himself? To be more consumed with the things of God
than we are with God Himself? We have
taken God, Himself, out of the gospel and rejoiced in His gifts. This is wrong! Ladies and gentlemen, you will not go to
heaven if you don’t want God! God is the
gift of the gospel! He gives us
Himself!”
David Platt
The gospel and the world are in direct
opposition to one another. We cannot
hold onto both, we must choose one and reject the other. 1 John 2:15 says, "Do not love the world
or the things of the world. If anyone
loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him." Those who love the world are not of God, and
the worldly gospel they preach is no gospel at all.
Spurgeon said in the quote at the
beginning of the post: there are too many people today who "deny the doctrines they profess to teach,
and undermine the faith they are pledged to maintain," and
we are to declare the foundational truths of the gospel. This
series of posts is written specifically to declare these foundational truths.
We preach the importance of fundamentals
as coaches, but I have been guilty of neglecting this important focus on the gospel
in our Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) huddle. I used to spend too
much time teaching on "being a better teammate" and things like that,
but I changed the focus of our study and we really got into the fundamentals of
the Christian faith: the gospel message itself. This took most of the
school year to complete and it was an awesome learning experience, but I must
warn you that it will offend many people.
I had a student who said, "That sounds pretty harsh," when we
began to study the attributes of God and he stopped coming to FCA. We must not beat around the bush: God is extremely harsh when it comes to sin,
and we cannot understand God’s gospel and plan of salvation without that fundamental
truth.
Preachers cannot be more concerned with
numbers than with preaching the truth. Man's
greatest need is not prosperity, it is to be saved from the eternal
condemnation that his sins deserve. The
things of this world are nothing in comparison to this gospel message of Jesus
Christ, and we are accursed if we fail to preach this gospel faithfully and biblically. We are accursed if we add to it, leave
anything out, or attempt to modify it in any way.
It
is important to realize that the Holy Spirit cannot do His work of convicting
people of sin and regenerating hearts unless we preach the true gospel message
given to us from Scripture. Romans 10:17 says that, "Faith comes
from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ." It is only through the preaching of the
gospel that saving faith can be produced.
The Holy Spirit has nothing to do with today's worldly and false
gospel—it is devoid of the power of God to transform men and is useless. Jesus commands us in Mark 16:15 to "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation,"
so let's do that and make sure that they hear the true gospel that can
save them, not some watered-down version of it that will deceive them into
thinking they are okay, but damn their souls to hell.
The gospel message will be broken up
into seven parts:
The Gospel
7 - Salvation
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