WHY WE STILL NEED THE GOSPEL - Part 1

There is a belief within the church that the gospel is only a message to unbelievers, but This is far from the truth. The gospel is, in simple terms, "the good news." It is the good news Jesus has come into this world, strapped with heavenly holiness and divine deity, which He possesses in Himself, to save a wayward humanity, gone rogue in our rebellion of sin. The gospel is the love of God the Father displayed in the life of the Son of God who, in substitutionary willingness, gave that life in death so that our deserved death might be reversed to the gift of life. That is the gospel, in a nutshell.

But its implications are numerous.

One man wrote some time ago that Christians never grow out of the need for the gospel but, instead, grow in need of its deeper implications for the whole of life. Yes, the gospel is the good news to sinners that a ransom has been paid for sin for those who would repent and trust Christ alone. Yet, it is also the good news that Christians, those who have trusted in Christ but are still impacted by the remaining effects of sin, have a hope that points away from their sin and exceeds their feeble righteousness.

None of us are near perfect and yet the Lord demands perfection - from all of humanity. Christians know that perfection is not possible and, yet perfection is nonetheless demanded. Those in Christ still fall short of this mark and, therefore, those in Christ still need the gospel - the good news that our hope is not our righteousness but Christ's alone. At the root of the gospel is not simply the idea of heaven, but the fact of empowering hope. The gospel is our hope that we, though frail by the vestiges of sin, will reign with Christ exclusively because of His obedience in life and on the cross.

If we think the gospel is for unbelievers only then we must also think that after salvation we are responsible for getting home. This is what plunges so many into despair because they see the inconsistency of their holiness and devotion to the Lord and fear that they will never measure up or be good enough. In truth, we never will be good enough, but Jesus is! But if we think that Jesus merely makes us acceptable to God but that we, on our own, have to remain acceptable to the Lord, we are practicing what is known as works righteousness. This way of thinking is best summarized by Paul as he was puzzled by the Galatians departure from the gospel. He said,

1 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was

publicly portrayed as crucified. 2 Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works

of the law or by hearing with faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you

now being perfected by the flesh? (Galatians 3:1–3)

Verse three speaks to the point at hand. Paul is asking, in essence, "Are you really telling me that you believe that you, mere humans, are strong enough, holy enough and wise enough to finish the salvation work that the Father, Himself, started?"

The Galatians made the mistake that so many are making in these days. They believed that God merely opened the door of salvation but that they had to finish it. This way of thinking and behaving is as wrongheaded as it is damnable. Those who will live by works of the flesh will be judged by the same. Those who choose to live as if they can finish what God started will be judged, when they stand before the Lord, on their own merit. This judgment will not only not be good, but it will be quick! If we believe that we can achieve one work -any work - that, outside of Christ, would honor the Lord we will be eternally mistaken. This is why we still need the gospel.

The gospel reminds us that we are not only saved by grace, but we are sanctified by grace as well. I will write on this point of sanctification on Friday. But, for now, let this point marinate in your soul for a minute. The gospel that invaded and introduced your soul to the lavish, amazing and wonderfully transformative grace of the Lord is the very same grace that empowers your obedience, holiness and daily righteousness. Nothing within us is able to rise to the level of "worthy" before the Lord which is precisely why He needed to invade our souls with His presence (the Holy Spirit) to enable us to live the life He calls us to live.

In other words, from beginning to end it is ALL GRACE! To put it another way, from start to finish - from justification to glorification - it is always and only the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is good news. This is the truth, that our faith in Jesus Christ has united us to His perfection such that, even in my own failures and failings the gospel reminds me that “It is finished.” My sin has been crushed and my eternity secured because of His life, not mine.

Believers never graduate from the school of grace. We just continue matriculating until our specific day of graduation when He calls us home. But guess what, even life in heaven is an eternal grace experience! PREACH THE GOSPEL TO YOURSELF DAILY!