One of the
Devil’s favorite tactics is to create confusion by manipulating the definitions
of words so that they are no longer clear. When language becomes muddy so does
our ability to understand the thoughts the words represent. One of the things that
weigh most heavy on my heart is when I encounter people who are convinced they
are trusting in the Gospel, but what they believe is a mixture of confusion and
is not what the Bible teaches. I have had a couple of these experiences this
week and it got me thinking about the various confusions I have come across or
heard about regarding this.
In just a
few minutes I was able to list 30 things just off the top of my head that are
not the Gospel but that I have heard presented as such. Some of these are blatant
falsehoods while others are connected to, flow from, or are related to the
Gospel. It is also true that some of these are connected to our salvation and
are biblical but none of these is
the Gospel.
The Gospel is NOT:
- A feeling
- A portal to magical power
- Following the example of Jesus
- Living a moral or good life or being nice
- Opposition to homosexuality
- A promise of physical healing
- A promise of wealth
- Conservative politics
- Liberal politics
- Your testimony
- Social compassion
- Environmental consciousness
- Opposition to abortion
- A system of philosophy
- A religious system
- Unfinished, incomplete or waiting for you to
finalize it
- A method of ministry
- Raising a Christian family
- Prayer
- Keeping the 10 commandments
- Church attendance
- Being at peace with your “inner self”
- A membership card
- A
relationship
- Having a purpose filled life
- Engaging the culture
- God responding to us
- A set of rules
- Evangelism
- A life we
live
The Gospel
is not something we do. It is not a set of rules or standards. It is not a
process or an experience. We contribute nothing to it. The word Gospel means
“good news” and it is the good news about something that God has done. It is the
message of a theological and historical fact of something already completed.
The bad
news is that all people are sinners and will stand in judgment before a holy
God. All of us are guilty and deserve to be convicted and punished. The good
news of the Gospel, however, is that Jesus Christ, the righteous One, sent by
God the Father, lived a perfect life in the flesh, not for His own sake but for
His people. He did what we by nature could not do for ourselves. Having lived a
life of perfect obedience, He offered Himself as a perfect sacrifice to satisfy
the justice and the righteousness of God. God accepts this sacrifice on behalf
of those united to Christ though faith.
The Gospel
is something God has done. We either accept it in faith or reject it. Once we
accept it, many things will flow from it but it remains nevertheless the
objective work of God in Christ. When we share or preach the Gospel, we share or preach what God has done in Christ.
