The Fundamental Blog

Before we can ask about whether or not the Gospel is sufficient for it’s purpose it may be necessary to first ask, “What is the Gospel of Jesus Christ?” Is it simply that we are all sinners? No, that message has been around a very long time, since the days of Moses. The Gospel, or, “Good News,” is the announcement of the dawning of the age of grace. The covenant of grace was established to replace the bad news of the Mosaic law. The whole purpose of the law was to show us that we are all guilty before God, to shine the light upon our failings and to point us toward our need for a saviour. But make no mistake, the law was decidedly bad news!

Through the law we were convicted, condemned to one day face the wrath of God. The law made provision for atonement through the sacrifices of animals and other first-fruits, but the law always was, and remains, an incredibly heavy burden to bear.The good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is that a new covenant has been established between God and all who would believe. The Gospel is the announcement that we are now living under God’s covenant of grace! Sure, there is a lot of information and theological discourse that can aptly be applied to this message, but the core issue is simple and straight-forward. No longer need we fear for our salvation because of our inability to keep the law; we need only believe that Jesus Christ can save us from our sin and that He will save us in exchange for our belief that He can do it. That’s it! “He that believeth on him is not judged: he that believeth not hath been judged already because he hath not believed on the name of the only begotten Son of God.” John 3:18 ASV.

The joy that comes from the realization that the curse is lifted, that eternal life with Christ is now ours, is a joy so immense that it can barely be contained within the new believer. Once a person matures in their faith, too often the fire starts to subside, the confidence of a sure salvation still remains but the zeal isn’t what it once was. We need to see our faith, each day, as through the eyes of one who has just been converted. For the new believer, the freedom of the faith is like a dam at the point of collapse, they feel as though they must share it or explode! And to share the message of the Gospel is exactly what we are told to do in Matthew 28:19, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations…” NIV. It is this sharing of the word, the sharing of the assurance, of Jesus which is the very thing that we want, more than anything, to do. We wish that the whole world could revel in the peace and comfort of a divine promise so freely bestowed.

Alright, we want to share the good news, our intention is solid, but how do we do it? There are many ways of showing ourselves to be the new creations that we have become but there are two primary ways. First, we can share the message as it is given to us in Scripture. We have four factual accounts of the life and ministry of Jesus and within them, is all of the material we could ever need to convey the meaning of the message. Secondly, we can share the message by example. We can live the faith daily to show the world that there is something different, something attractive, in living as those who have been set free. The tendency of the new believer is to want to convert people. You may want to convert your friends, your family, the paper boy, the old man on the bus… everyone, and all of them at once. It feels like the whole world needs the thing that you’ve found, (which is true), and that you have the divine mission to drag each and every person on the face of the earth to the cross of Christ. Zeal without temperance can appear to be a very scary thing and the possibility exists that you might end up putting off the very ones that you are trying to reach. We must remember that to focus all of our efforts on converting people, as if were possible by our own power, is to be swimming continually upstream.

Can you remember what you were like before your own conversion? Wasn’t there a time when, no matter what you were told, you were stuck in your ways, your habits, your sin and no one was going to sway you from you position? What was it that changed, what allowed you to really listen to what you had been hearing all along? By the providence of God, your ears were opened, your heart was softened just enough for the Holy Spirit to get His foot in the door and begin waking you up. Then came the day when you heard the message, the same message that you had heard countless times before, only this time it sounded different, it made sense! It came as a message that was being given directly to YOU! We should carry the word in our mouths and freely give it out as God opens doors to allow us to give it out, as it is written, “How then shall they call on him whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except they be sent?” Romans 10:14-15 KJV. Perhaps the person that hears you speaking, though they have heard the message a million times before, will suddenly hear it as the voice of God speaking directly to them through you, the same way that you did when it happened to you; then again, perhaps not.

The other primary way to carry the Gospel to the ends of the earth is by example. The unbeliever who hears the word may say, “That’s fine.” and go on their way. The unbeliever who sees the Gospel, alive and active and overflowing in our lives will be forced to admit that they are witnessing something extraordinary. If a picture speaks a thousand words, then surely an action speaks a million. Our goal needs to be, that we allow the love of Christ to show through us so that those around us might say, “I don’t know what it is that you’ve got, but I want some!”

Just as a single action can speak a million words, a single action can destroy the testimony of a million words just as effectively. I heard on the radio that a poll conducted by George Gallup found that although 92% of American households had at least one Bible, only 37% said that they read their Bibles, even once a week. So then it seems that sadly, most of our Bibles are rarely ever read or used to teach our children. I have books on my shelf that teach you to recognize the poisonous plants in my area but I have never really studied them. I did find them useful, after it was too late, in identifying that woody vine as poison ivy, which really does itch as bad as they say it does. The point is that having the book doesn’t help in the least if you don’t study the content. In order to gain any type of benefit from the information in a book, you have to open it, dig in and really apply yourself to learning the material. The Bible is no different.

Now then, we may be the only Bibles that the nonbeliever ever reads. The words of the Gospel of Christ must be displayed through us in order for the message to become relevant to anyone else. If we are going to be the only Bible that most people ever read then we have to make it worth something, when they do! Even then, we can not expect to have a steady stream of converts appearing everywhere we go. We may share the word, we may live our lives well before the world and still never see the fruit of our efforts. We are told, “… always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” 1Peter 3:15 NIV. It doesn’t promise that we will get to see the Gospel’s effectiveness in the lives of others, in fact if we did see the influence that comes from sharing the Gospel we might begin to think that the message was effective because of how expert we are at giving it out. Our job it to be faithful in the giving out of to Gospel. God’s job is to be faithful in bringing the conviction of the Holy Spirit to those whom He has prepared to receive it. Even though we know the truth of Jesus Christ we have to remember that no matter how tenderly the blow is laid, we can not win a love for Christ in others by beating them with the truth. No one is converted by loosing a debate and no one is argued into the Kingdom of Heaven.

The beauty of the Gospel is that the effectiveness of the message lies with the Holy Spirit. We can scatter seed but unless God makes the ear of the hearer attentive and the heart of the unbeliever fertile, there can be no growth. Even so, as we move through life sowing seed, we may be well beyond the fields, and therefore never see, the seedling emerge and take root; but God does. Jesus said, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.” John 6:44 NIV. Even though we plant the seed, and should we stay to tend and water the seed, no one but God has the ability to cause the growth.

Are you one who has not yet accepted Christ as your personal Lord and Saviour? Do you hear God’s call? Can you recognize that you are a sinner? That is God’s call. Do you feel shame in your life and feel the need to repent? You are feeling the conviction of the Holy Spirit as directed by God. Does the message of Jesus Christ weigh heavily on your soul? It is God calling you to Christ, that you might be saved. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is all sufficient. Are you already in Christ? Rejoice! We can be given no better seed. Let us be faithful in scattering the seed that we have been given without worry about the fertility of the ground upon which it may fall. God will take care of it. Treasure the Gospel message and freely share it as it has been freely shared to you. “He that believeth on Him is not judged: he that believeth not has been judged already…”

All for the Glory of Christ

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