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As we begin a new month and start to delve into topics on living the Christian life, I wanted to take the opportunity to start at square one of Christian life. It is important to start at the beginning, the foundation, and build from there.
Living lives of obedience and faith is a never-ending process. We will never achieve perfect sinlessness in this life. Yet the Scriptures tell us, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:16) So how do we reconcile those two things? We are called to be something that we know we will never fully achieve. Knowing we are called to a ‘task’ that will never be completed isn’t exactly motivating. But the truth of the matter is that day by day, moment by moment, the Lord, in His grace and through His Spirit, is molding and shaping us, conforming us to Christ, and preparing us for the glory of eternal life.
This is where it is important to remember the foundation.
What keeps us going, focused, and purposeful in our calling?
The Gospel.
The gospel? But isn’t that for unbelievers? Isn’t that what we proclaim to the lost world around us so that they can come to know Christ and surrender to Him? Jenn, I am already a believer – the gospel is for those who don’t know Him.
Consciously or unconsciously, that is how many believers view the gospel. It is the way to salvation, the first step, the entry point. Once we have confessed, repented and believed – we put the gospel on the shelf and pull it down when we need to evangelize the lost.
That couldn’t be further from the truth of what the gospel is, and the role it plays in our lives as Christians.
Christian author and teacher, Jerry Bridges, often emphasized that believers never move beyond their need for the gospel, but must continually return to it and apply it to their daily lives. Another way of looking at it would be to say we need to preach the gospel to ourselves every day.
As I said, this post is intended to build the foundation. There are two components to this process – the What and the Why? So, we are going to delve into what the Gospel is, and why we, as believers, need the gospel every day.
What is the Gospel?
This may sound like a very elementary, no brainer question for Christians. But in all reality, many professed believers in Christ cannot fully articulate the full gospel. We may have bits and pieces of it, but the importance lies in understanding the whole gospel. All too often, when we “preach” the gospel, it tends to focus on us first (who we were before Christ, how Christ impacted and changed our lives). It turns into a personal testimony rather than the true Gospel. The Gospel is rooted first and foremost in who God is. That is fundamental to our understanding of the gospel and why it is so important to our daily lives.
The book, A Gospel Primer for Christians – Learning to See the Glories of God’s Love, by Milton Vincent lays out the gospel in a clear and concise manner. He also lays out 31 reasons to preach the gospel to yourself every day. I highly recommend this treasure of a book to everyone. I use it as a daily devotional type of reading and have been immensely blessed by it.
I have used his headings and have paraphrased his narrative prose in my own words. I cannot do it full justice in this post. The full list of Scripture references is also in the book, but I will reference a few of them as we go.
The Glory of God
God is infinitely glorious, holy, righteous, and sovereign. He is the Creator and rightful ruler of all things and does all that He pleases. Everything and everyone exists for His glory, and His purposes are always good and just. God is not accountable to man, nor does He exist to serve human desires. Rather, all of life finds its meaning in relation to who He is.
Isaiah 40:12; Deuteronomy 32:3-4; 1 Timothy 6:17; Acts 14:17
My Sin Against God
I have sinned against this holy God. My sin is a violation of God’s law and a rebellion against His authority. Because God is perfectly righteous and just, my sin declares me guilty before Him and deserving of judgment. I am unable to remove this guilt or restore myself to God through any amount of obedience or effort.
Romans 1; Romans 3:23; Colossians 3:5; Titus 3:3
God’s Work on My Behalf
In love and grace, God acted to save me – a sinner. He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, who lived in perfect obedience to God’s law on my behalf because I am unable to do so. On the cross, Christ bore the full penalty for my sin as a substitute in my place, satisfying God’s justice on my behalf completely and perfectly. His death fully paid my debt of sin, and His resurrection confirmed the sufficiency of His saving work.
Romans 5:7-8; John 3:16; Romans 8:32; Ephesians 1:20-21
My Salvation
By grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone, I am united to Him and receive the benefits of His work. God forgives all my sins and credits Christ’s righteousness to me, declaring me righteous in His sight. This salvation is entirely the work of God from beginning to end and is secure because it rests on Christ’s finished work, not on my own performance. From this standing before God, flows a life of faith, obedience, and hope.
Colossians 2:13; Ephesians 1:5; Romans 5:1-5; 1 Peter 5:12; Colossians 1:23
So, there is the gospel. The foundation of everything in the Christian life. Now, let’s discuss why we need it every day.
Why we need the gospel everyday
1. The gospel reorients us to God.
God is not just some supporting character in the movie of our lives. He isn’t a means of self-fulfillment. The gospel reminds us of His True character – His holiness, justice, and righteousness. His sovereignty and authority over all of creation – and His grace, mercy and steadfast love.
2 Corinthians 4:6 reminds us,
For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
The gospel reorients our hearts and reminds us that we live before a holy and righteous God.
2. The gospel keeps our sin and need in clear view.
When we let the gospel fade from our minds, we are prone to self-deception. We can forget the sinfulness of our sin, justify and minimize ongoing sin, and lose sight of our utter dependence upon Christ. We can also begin to rely on our own efforts rather than His grace. We begin to become self-righteous and prideful.
Psalm 51:3-4 is a great reminder of our sin and our need,
For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you may be justified in your words
and blameless in your judgment.
3. The gospel grounds our identity and assurance in Christ alone.
At salvation, in Christ we received full forgiveness of our sins – all of them. We received His righteousness in place of our former guilt. We were made alive in Christ when before we were spiritually dead. And we were released from the condemnation of our sin.
Romans 8:1 says,
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
The gospel reminds us that our assurance of salvation is secure in Christ, not ourselves, and that because of that union with Christ, we are free from the power and penalty of sin.
4. The gospel fuels obedience without legalism and guards against complacency.
When we preach the gospel to ourselves every day and reminded of God’s grace and love for us, our desire for obedience doesn’t come from a place of trying to earn it, but rather out of love for Him. Also, complacency has no place in the heart of a believer when we are motivated by the truth of the gospel.
Titus 2:11-12 says,
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age
The gospel reminds us that we are empowered by His grace for obedience, not our own efforts.
5. The gospel anchors us in hope for the present and for the future.
Rehearsing the truths of the gospel daily reminds us of our hope in present and in the future because it reminds us that God’s promises are based in who He is and not on circumstances or situations. It reminds us that we can have confidence in those promises and the hope of future glory. It provides the strength and endurance for suffering because our joy is rooted in that which is secure in Him.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 tells us,
So we do not lose heart. Though our outer selfis wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
I cannot stress this enough. The gospel—rooted in who God is, what He has done, and who we now are in Christ—cannot be something we think we can outgrow or set aside. It is not simply the doorway into the Christian life, but the foundation on which the Christian life is lived every day.
So, dear sisters, immerse yourselves in the beauty and truth of the gospel daily. It is the anchor that sustains us through hardship, keeps us humble in times of ease and abundance, and reminds us of the great love our Father in heaven has for us—a love not dependent on us, but firmly rooted in who He is.
As we move forward in our discussions of what it looks like to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which we have been called, we must continually return to this anchoring truth. Without the gospel, nothing else makes sense.