January 30, 2015

The Missing Gospel

Main image for The Missing Gospel

[intro]As I grow older, I am ever being challenged to intentionally allow the Gospel, the Good News, to continue to permeate my life through my thoughts, attitudes and actions.[/intro]

Recently I was reading again through the book of Romans, and chapter 1:16-17 caught my attention. It tells us:

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of Go is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”—Romans 1:16-17

As I was thinking about this truth and desiring it to continue to grow in my understanding and application in my life, I was reminded of the following excerpt from JD Greear’s Gospel: Recovering the Power that Made Christianity. As Christ followers, his thoughts will challenge us to have its truth captivate our souls and live in the reality of God’s gracious acceptance of us in Christ.

GospelGreearIs the gospel really missing? If so, where did it go?

Most Christians have the facts straight: Jesus was born of a virgin, lived a perfect life, died on the cross in our place, and was raised from the dead. All those who place their faith in Him will be forgiven and have everlasting life. So, the gospel is not missing.

Not so fast.

Being able to articulate the gospel with accuracy is one thing: having its truth captivate your soul is quite another.

The gospel is not just supposed to be our ticket into heaven; it is to be an entirely new basis for how we relate to God, ourselves, and others. It is to be the source from which everything else flows.

I believe evangelicalism needs a recovery of the gospel as the center of Christianity. Even in conservative denominations, the gospel has been eclipsed by any number of secondary stimuli for growth.

I don’t mean that we have corrupted the gospel—no, we’ve still got those facts right. But the goal of the gospel is not just that we pass some kind of test by accurately recounting the importance of Jesus. The goal of the gospel is to produce a type of people consumed with passion for God and love for others. We certainly don’t seem to have that right.

A Christianity that does not have as its primary focus the deepening of passions for God is a false Christianity, no matter how zealously it seeks conversions or how forcefully it advocates righteous behavior. Being converted to Jesus is not just about learning to obey some rules. Being converted to Jesus is learning to so adore God that we would gladly renounce everything we have to follow Him.

In graduate school my roommate kept a dog named Max in our house. Because poor Max was crippled in his back legs, his life consisted of lying on our doorstep and staring up at us when we walked by. I remember looking at him one day and thinking, “Based on how most people see Christianity, Max would make a fine Christian: he doesn’t drink; he doesn’t smoke; he doesn’t cuss; he doesn’t get angry; we’ve had him neutered so this thought-life is under control.”

Jesus’ disciples are not supposed to be merely compliant, neutered dogs. Jesus’ followers are to be alive with a love for God. When you love God and love others, Jesus said, all the rest of the Christian life fall naturally into place (Matthew 22:37-39).

May we continue to grow in allowing Biblical truth to captivate our hearts and souls as we seek to share and live out the gospel in our lives. What Jesus has accomplished for us—what Jesus has already done for us through His work alone—is the reality of our lives in Christ. My desire is that my life will grow to reflect to others the love God has for me.

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