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"What is your understanding of the gospel? How has it changed your life?"
The gospel is the good
news declaration of what God in Christ has done for undeserving sinners (2 Cor.5:18-21). According to Scripture, the
gospel is “the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes” (Rom. 1:16). As
such the free offer of grace should be extended to anyone who will listen (Rom.
1:17; 10:12-17).
When presenting the
gospel I sometimes use the familiar God/Sin/Christ/Our Response structure in order to
highlight the complete gospel message. A) God:
Who He is. B) Man: His universal problem (sin). C) Jesus Christ: God’s gracious solution. D) Our Response: repent and believe. Every gospel presentation needs to clearly
communicate that salvation is by grace alone,
through faith alone, in Christ alone (Eph. 2:1-10).
In Dr. Sinclair Ferguson’s
fine chapter in From Heaven He Came and
Sought Her, he explains the gospel in four statements. “In Christ,
believers are delivered from the guilt of
sin (which secures our justification). Romans 3:18-25; Psalm 32:1-5. In Christ, we are delivered from the wrath of God (which secures our reconciliation).
Rom. 5:6-11. In Christ, we are delivered from the dominion of sin
(which secures our freedom from sins reign but not yet its presence). Rom. 6:18-7:14. In Christ, we are delivered from the oppression of the powers of darkness. 1 John 3:8; Col. 2:13-15; Heb. 2:14-15.”
One of the best summations of the gospel is found in 1 Cor. 15:3-4. “For I delivered to you as of first rate 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.”
I love the straightforward testimony of Paul in1 Timothy 1:15-17. “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all.” This is my story, this is my song!”
In light of our so
great a salvation Paul charges us to “walk in a manner worthy of the calling
with which you have been called." In Eph.
4-6 Paul highlights the practical
implications of the doctrines of grace that are gloriously presented in
chapters 1-3. I trust that the gospel influences
my conduct (Rom. 12:1-3) as I seek to honor Christ each and every day.
This connection between the gospel and gospel-centered living is also a prominent theme in the book of Colossians. In light of the Lordship of Christ (Col. 1-2) every area of my life is under Jesus’ sovereign supremacy. Including my thought life (Col. 3:2); my daily pursuit of Christ-likeness (Col. 3:2-14); my worship and church commitments (Col. 3:16-17); my home life and my duties as a husband and father (Col. 3:19; 21); my workplace relationships (Col 3:22-4:1); my prayer life (Col. 4:2-4); my evangelism commitments and my tongue (Col. 3:5-6). In short, the gospel of grace should make me a grateful worshiper (Rom. 11:36; John 4:23-24) and should help me to be a faithful witness (1 Peter 2:10-11).
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me (1 Cor. 15:10). Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus (Phil. 3:12).
This connection between the gospel and gospel-centered living is also a prominent theme in the book of Colossians. In light of the Lordship of Christ (Col. 1-2) every area of my life is under Jesus’ sovereign supremacy. Including my thought life (Col. 3:2); my daily pursuit of Christ-likeness (Col. 3:2-14); my worship and church commitments (Col. 3:16-17); my home life and my duties as a husband and father (Col. 3:19; 21); my workplace relationships (Col 3:22-4:1); my prayer life (Col. 4:2-4); my evangelism commitments and my tongue (Col. 3:5-6). In short, the gospel of grace should make me a grateful worshiper (Rom. 11:36; John 4:23-24) and should help me to be a faithful witness (1 Peter 2:10-11).
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me (1 Cor. 15:10). Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus (Phil. 3:12).
