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"Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the Gospel which I preached
unto you, which also you have received and wherein you stand; by which
also you are saved, if you keep in memory what I preached unto you,
unless you have believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all
that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according
to the scriptures; and that He was buried, and that He rose again the
third day according to scriptures." (1 Cor. 15:1-4)
After any Celebration it always "dawns" on me what a serious thing we
do there and at the same time how much we tease and kid around with one
another over those three days; however, we are well aware that really
important things happen during our fundraising. We get a little caught
up in being "cheerful givers" I suppose, but there's a lot of serious
reflection done during those times as well. During those three days, we
get to share the Gospel with our listeners and I'm always "impressed"
by the universal belief all of us in the studio have about the Love of
God and the "over-whelming" power and meaningfulness of our experience
over the years as Believers.
I always come away from Celebrations "re-filled" with a new sensitivity
and re-newed hope after talking about the Father so often during those
three days. It also "re-freshes" some of the "why we came to share the
Gospel in this specific way" over WBVN. We've been encouraged in the
scripture "not to be ashamed of the Gospel." We've always expressed to
people that scripture doesn't have anything to do with "blushing" about
the Gospel; rather, we are aware of the need to not be ashamed to rely
on it and it alone as the cornerstone of our Christian Faith. The
simple Gospel is the starting point of understanding all of God's
purpose and the rest of His Word.
Many times I think it helps to remember what the Gospel is not so we
discover what the Gospel really is. For me, it's not easy enough just
to say that the Bible is the Gospel. The Bible is the Word of God but
it contains a great deal of information that is not specifically the
Gospel. All the things revealed in the Bible are truly stated about the
Gospel but the specific Gospel message itself is to be "found" in the
Bible by "rightly dividing the Word of Truth." By rightly "dividing" we
discover there's only one Gospel and there's not any contradictions;
contradictions that sometimes appear "among" the Gospel.
Firstly, the Gospel means "good tiding" or good news and it truly is
good news for sinner and Believer alike! Found with the Gospel are many
messages telling how we can live and how we should behave. But, no one
has been able to "live right yet," so that can't be the Gospel in
itself. If behaving all the time was possible surely some man, someone
would be able to be "right" all the time; however, we know from
scripture that "No! Not one" is able to do that, for all have sinned.
The Ten Commandments tell us a great deal about what it would take to
be "self-righteous," but can live them? Who is not guilty of them? In
fact self-righteousness is the exact opposite of the Gospel. The
prophet Isaiah specifically enlightens us that our righteousness, if
perfect, would be as filthy rags to God. No, the Law cannot contain all
that is about the Gospel. In fact, according to Paul the Law was given
to show offense, to reveal our very need of the Gospel.
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Logically, if just following the Law of God was what was required, we
could all repent, obey the Law and not need a Christ. That promise to
do better in the future is not the Gospel in itself because the Gospel
is not good advice to be obeyed, but rather is Good News to be
delivered. Surely, there are "religions" that offer more discipline and
rules than Christianity. Ours is not the most constraining or most
difficult to follow! However, there are university studies of
Comparative Religions that show, for the most part, all religions are
very much alike. Common to all is the effort to make all men earn their
own way, "provide for their own salvation" if you will. They may vary
the rules but all make rules to find favor with God, or god, and save
their own souls and make their own way to God. The only comparison to
be made between religion and the Gospel is the stark contrast between
earning our own way and the Word of God, which shows us that God has
already made a paid the way for us. Certainly, we can do no better than
Nicodemus, only the Spirit of God can give us acceptance with the
Father. We are powerless to do that in ourselves. The Spirit of God
does that for us not our improved behavior. Culture and education do
not change people's hearts, only the Spirit of God found in the Gospel
of God can do that.
The universality of religion proves no man could have thought of
something so unique as the Gospel. Imagine another religion that
suggests that God sent His one and only to make sinners righteousness.
God is careful to let us know that His Gospel can't be mixed with any
law or ordinance. He paid too much of a price for it to be part God and
part man. If we don't exalt Jesus in what we say about this Grace, we
don't talk of the Gospel. It's His and His alone to supply. The Gospel
is linked to nothing else but Christ! It leaves no room for human
merit! In fact it is not only not "by merit," but is strongly opposed
to "merit." Merit cannot be mixed with faith and the gift of
Righteousness to yield the Gospel. If it could, it would no longer be
Grace!
I love the writings of Paul. (My suggestion for new believers is start
with the book of Colossians, reading Romans, Galatians, Ephesians,
Philippians, and Hebrews (in that order) in order to build a foundation
of teaching about the Gospel as expressed by the Apostle given the
Gospel message to the Gentiles. For the most part, if we misunderstand
these scriptures we will probably misunderstand the rest.) For most of
Paul's adult life he had hated Christ and his followers; however, on
the road to Damascus Paul was changed by Someone. Someone he considered
dead and buried. From that moment on Paul fully expected the same thing
to happen to anyone who would "hear Him." From Damascus on, Paul
believed that Jesus died for our sins and was raised from the dead. The
Gospel first revealed in Eden, in the Tabernacle, in the Temple and in
Isaiah's "he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our
iniquities, and the chastisement of our peace was upon Him…" David
proclaimed that same Gospel in Psalm 32. Jeremiah called him the "Lord
of Righteousness."
The Gospel is a Person. We are to remember that it's always linked to
Christ Jesus. It's more powerful than Law. It's mixed with no other
portion (leaven) or the whole portion is ruined. It's available from
only on source. Believe in Christ. We must permit the Cross and the
Resurrection to be large in our lives. We have to give up on any
thought of ever being "good enough" in ourselves, only relying on gifts
or Holiness and Righteousness. We need to yield to the Grace of God and
accept access to God only through the blood of One. It's only that
Gospel that we have to put our trust in, our faith in. We can trust in
nothing else. Accept what Jesus did through God and what God did
through Jesus. It's Their covenant we enter into, not our own. The
Father and the Son have set the rules. No man could have thought of it,
no religion can provide it. They have the whole deal in one life, in
one death. We enter into their Grace, not by our ability, but by the
ability of the Gospel of Peace and the Gospel of Grace to offer that to
us. This Gospel is so profoundly "un-religious" it could only have been
imaged by God. It is so powerful it could only be worthy of the
Creator's hand. |
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