Gospel Vision, Part 1

The word gospel appears 98 times in the New Testament and its mystery still defies our carnal understanding. How could our Creator love us in spite of our rebellion? It is almost incomprehensible, but it’s absolutely true. Many still feel they are undeserving of forgiveness, which is understandable for a person who is first beginning to understand the riches of Christ, but it’s also a work of Satan’s deception. It is my intent to demonstrate the incredible impact the gospel has on a believer’s life. In fact, life is only understood through the lens of the gospel. The gospel is everything to a believer and its implications pertain to everything we do and every thought we have. But it means nothing if a person has never truly believed upon the gospel message of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection for the forgiveness of their sins. Their mind and heart will never be set free to understand the glory of the gospel upon their life. You see, “the gospel is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16). It’s the gospel’s supernatural message that transforms the hearts and minds of believers. It’s the inconceivable gratitude filling a believer’s heart that compels them to obey everything Christ has commanded (Matthew 28:20). The gospel enables believers to surrender to the Lordship of Christ. It’s what empowers us to submit to God and offer our lives as living sacrifices. Its belief in the gospel that seals us with the Holy Spirit as He begins teaching and convicting us of truth and sin. It’s because of the gospel that every believer first understands God’s grace. Our faith in the gospel declares us not guilty (justified) before God, setting us free to a life without condemnation.

Paul preached passionately that believers are not be ashamed of the gospel but to stand upon its message as the foundation of their life and to share it clearly and unapologetically. In Galatians 2 Paul wrote about the antagonistic false Christians who were opposing the gospel. He exhorted the Galatian church to defend the gospel, because it was certainly worth dying for. To further encourage them Paul wrote “…that the truth of the gospel might continue with you” (Galatians 2:5). Paul knew the gospel of Jesus Christ would be challenged, altered, and hated by many, however he expected the Galatians to stand firm and never compromise or yield to anyone attempting to pollute the purity of gospel by adding human works to it. Paul knew that if “the truth of the gospel continued with them,” they would have the courage to accomplish all God needed them to do, to include defending Christ.

At the beginning of our salvation, the gospel saves and then it’s established as the foundation of our lives. When the supernatural events that occurred on Calvary are understood and alive in a our daily life, confidence fills our hearts with truth.