"For 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." -Romans 1:16
This quote from Romans has been an inspirational one for Christians everywhere to share the message of Jesus Christ, but what is the Gospel? We know that is has power for the one who believes, but what exactly is it? I find many of the more traditional answers insufficient in capturing the idea that it is "the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes". Here are some of the more common ones.
Jesus loves you. While this is true, it is not the Gospel. As a non-Christian, I could care less if Jesus loved me. It would have the same effect as if you told me Bill from accounting loves me or even if Barney loved me (I love you... You love me...). Who is Bill from accounting and for that matter who in the world is Jesus? The Gospel has to be more than this. Simply telling someone Jesus loves you has NO significant power to bring salvation in and of itself.
You are a sinner and Christ died for your sins. I can't help but think this is a giant guilt trip. Am I supposed to feel bad that Jesus died for me? Am I now supposed to bow down and worship him? And wait... did you just call me a sinner? However true this statement is, it is still not the Gospel. Actually, it sounds like terrible news. Moreover, God has been forgiving sin way before Jesus became Immanuel. If Jesus died to simply forgive sin, he did so needlessly.
If you believe, you will go to heaven. Otherwise, you will end up in Hell. It seems we have moved from guilt tripping to threats. This is the turn or burn street preacher style gospel that for me is extremely painful to listen to. It is painful because I see how people react to this methodology of evangelism: disgust, anger, scorn, skepticism, etc. The worst part is, everyone hearing him thinks that is what the gospel is and are repulsed by it. A man sowing bad seed might occasionally get a couple plants, but his efforts are wasted. I am not saying this statement isn't true, however it is just not the gospel.
So what is it then? You would be hard pressed to find the gospel in it's entirety explicitly stated in the New Testament, but I feel like this is for a reason. The Gospel doesn't sound like any one thing. To a lonely man going through depression, it might sound like "Hey, do you want to grab some coffee?", or to the orphan it might sound like "We've found you a family!" or to the recently widowed "Your husband is with God now." It's about those timely gospel words you can share to help someone going through a tough time. The gospel isn't a verbal message at all, but it is a way of life. You preach the Gospel with how you live and through the relationships you build, relationships which have power to transform lives because they are the power of God to save everyone who believes. In order to save us, God needed to be in relationship with us, and he accomplished this through His son Jesus Christ. The Gospel to the leper, the blind, the poor, and the lame wasn't so much Jesus's death as it was his life and for us His resurrection.
This quote from Romans has been an inspirational one for Christians everywhere to share the message of Jesus Christ, but what is the Gospel? We know that is has power for the one who believes, but what exactly is it? I find many of the more traditional answers insufficient in capturing the idea that it is "the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes". Here are some of the more common ones.
Jesus loves you. While this is true, it is not the Gospel. As a non-Christian, I could care less if Jesus loved me. It would have the same effect as if you told me Bill from accounting loves me or even if Barney loved me (I love you... You love me...). Who is Bill from accounting and for that matter who in the world is Jesus? The Gospel has to be more than this. Simply telling someone Jesus loves you has NO significant power to bring salvation in and of itself.
You are a sinner and Christ died for your sins. I can't help but think this is a giant guilt trip. Am I supposed to feel bad that Jesus died for me? Am I now supposed to bow down and worship him? And wait... did you just call me a sinner? However true this statement is, it is still not the Gospel. Actually, it sounds like terrible news. Moreover, God has been forgiving sin way before Jesus became Immanuel. If Jesus died to simply forgive sin, he did so needlessly.
If you believe, you will go to heaven. Otherwise, you will end up in Hell. It seems we have moved from guilt tripping to threats. This is the turn or burn street preacher style gospel that for me is extremely painful to listen to. It is painful because I see how people react to this methodology of evangelism: disgust, anger, scorn, skepticism, etc. The worst part is, everyone hearing him thinks that is what the gospel is and are repulsed by it. A man sowing bad seed might occasionally get a couple plants, but his efforts are wasted. I am not saying this statement isn't true, however it is just not the gospel.
So what is it then? You would be hard pressed to find the gospel in it's entirety explicitly stated in the New Testament, but I feel like this is for a reason. The Gospel doesn't sound like any one thing. To a lonely man going through depression, it might sound like "Hey, do you want to grab some coffee?", or to the orphan it might sound like "We've found you a family!" or to the recently widowed "Your husband is with God now." It's about those timely gospel words you can share to help someone going through a tough time. The gospel isn't a verbal message at all, but it is a way of life. You preach the Gospel with how you live and through the relationships you build, relationships which have power to transform lives because they are the power of God to save everyone who believes. In order to save us, God needed to be in relationship with us, and he accomplished this through His son Jesus Christ. The Gospel to the leper, the blind, the poor, and the lame wasn't so much Jesus's death as it was his life and for us His resurrection.
I discovered this video of John Piper after reflecting a bit on what the "good news" was. I was delighted to see we reached the same conclusion.
In essence, the Gospel is God's promise that no matter what, He will bring us to be with Him. No matter what, he will stand by us, protect us, discipline us, love us and cherish us, to have and to hold until not even death do we part. It is God's promise and plan to save us not only from sin, but from a life of want. We are fulfilled and completed in Christ. The Gospel is now and everyday we decide to live for Christ. It is by our renewed relationships, both with God and each other, that we are saved daily. Jesus said that the Kingdom of God is near, so we should all turn from our old selfish ways of living and instead love God by loving each other and vice-versa. I think truly, that this is the way to change to entire world. This is the power of God to save.
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