The gospel for Christians
Like many people raised in the moralistic traditions of Christian “religion”, I have been saturated almost to the point of inoculation with the intellectual concept of the gospel. I can talk the talk, give you a quick summation of the gospel in a nutshell. But lately I’ve come to question whether I really understand the gospel. Is it really at work in my life? Is it transforming my relationships and the way I live? Do I spend more time dwelling on the do’s and don’ts of the law, the twelve steps to becoming the World’s Strongest Christian, or am I smitten, overcome and overjoyed with the simplistic sufficiency of the gospel?
- It is impossible to understand the gospel apart from understanding sin. Specifically, my own sin.
The first half of Eph. 2:1-10 is dedicated to a description of our old way of life. It is a description of humanity’s natural state of existence: dead in trespasses, caught in the course of this world, following the ruler of this broken world, caught up in the passions of our flesh and desires of our body and mind. It was our nature to sin. We knew no other way.
So apart from sin, I can’t understand the gospel. I have come to realize what a poor grasp I have had on my own sin at various times in my life.
Christian culture has made much of “great sins:” murder, sexual sins, alcohol abuse, etc. It is a subtle slip for Christians who have been liberated from those sins to develop an unnoticed sense of self-righteousness. Look at what Jesus spends most of his time addressing in the gospels: the self-righteous, religious sins of the Pharisees. Though I’ve occasionally committed the so-called “great sins,” I have discovered that I’m much more habitually guilty of these pharisaical sins of the heart: desperate striving, righteous deeds in service to the idols of approval and self-importance. All sin breaks Gods heart, but these sins of self-righteous striving were the only focus of Jesus’ deep anger.
I’ve often read Is. 64:6 to mean that our righteous deeds just aren’t good enough to satisfy God. But the meaning is not that our righteous deeds aren’t good enough, but that they reek, they are foul, they are disgusting. All of my striving is filth to a God whose definition of holiness is unadulterated purity. Attempted holiness
How do I understand my sin?
Is my definition of sin broad enough?
What sins have I been rescued from?
What sins have I committed lately?
What sins am I tempted in?
Show me my sin, show me my idols! Break my heart with the things that break Your heart!
- Properly understanding our sin shows us our need of the gospel. But what is the gospel?
For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. 2 Cor 5:21
- Salvation from sin and death –Our identity is no longer in the characteristics of the first three verses. Our identity is the same as the second member of the trinity, God the Son. In the eyes of God, we bear HIS likeness and his qualities. God looks on me, a self-righteous, people pleaser, and says “This is my Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
- Power to live – We are created for good works, motivated not by fear, condemnation or insecurity (that is religion) but by grateful joy and love.
- Hope for the future – in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace.
So this is the gospel in simple form. This is all I want to know! 1 Cor 1:17-31 I want to be washed in the gospel. I want to live in a vat of liquefied gospel. It is the power and wisdom of God. How can I become more saturated in the gospel?
A. Preach the gospel to yourself
B. Write a gospel summary in your own words
C. Use suffering, temptation and even failure as reminders of the gospel: our broken world, our broken condition, the need for the gospel, and the hope of a world made perfect
D. Mental pictures of Jesus crucified
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