What It Means to Preach the “Gospel”
Introduction: When you think of sharing the “gospel,” what do you think of? What does that mean to you? If a friend said, “Since the gospel is ‘good news,’ tell me what that good news is,” what would you say?
“Gospel” is such a common word in religious circles that we make numerous assumptions about its meaning. We have been told that “gospel” is “good news,” and the good news is that Jesus has come to take away our sins. To preach the gospel is to tell people what they need to do to be saved.
In fact, “gospel” may be one of the most misunderstood biblical concepts, and its misunderstanding has done serious damage to God’s people and God’s cause.
In this lesson we will give an introduction to what it means to preach the gospel.
We scream, “Tell me the application!” How can we know the application when we don’t know the gospel? Without 1-3, 4-6 are empty words! They are nothing but “self-help” lifestyle changes that make us feel good, but do nothing to the praise of his glory.
In Romans, Paul spent 11 chapters debunking the formulas and plans of man in favor of “the righteousness of God revealed in the faithfulness of Jesus to all who believe.” His concluding summation says it all:
“Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor? Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.” (Romans 11:33-36)
The Difference in “Disciples”Acts 8:1-4. If you want to truly understand what it looked like to become a disciple in the first century as a result of the way the gospel was taught by the apostles, carefully consider these verses. Is that what you signed up for when you decided to follow Christ? Or, were you just interested in getting your sins off your back? How we answer that question speaks volumes on how the “gospel” was preached to us. What we are seeing is a stark contrast in the first century gospel message and today’s gospel message that is primarily and nearly exclusively directed at getting individuals saved from their sins. The “gospel” of today says precious little about a kingdom, and even less about the excited question of the apostles prior to Jesus’ ascension: “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” In fact, “our gospel preaching” has been so limited that most Christians have no idea what to do with that question. And yet, it is the foundation of the true gospel message! Hey Hebrew Christians! Did you hear your preacher warn you against “neglecting so great a salvation?” Did you hear his words in the next verse after his warning?“For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking. It has been testified somewhere, “What is man, that you are mindful of him, or the son of man, that you care for him? You made him for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor, putting everything in subjection under his feet.” (Hebrews 2:5-8)The Psalm 8 quote calls us back to Genesis 1 where God calls us image-bearers to the world. The Hebrew preacher gives us a “not yet, but soon” of God’s original intent that he would have a priestly people to whom the world to come would be subjected.He foretold that priestly nation to Israel at Sinai (Exodus 19:5-6), repeats it in Peter’s first letter (1 Pet. 2:5), and then praises God for it in the opening of the book of Revelation, “To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen” (Rev. 1:5-6).
Does that sound like the “great salvation” is just forgiveness of sins?
Hey us! Did we hear Paul’s explanation of the “gospel of our salvation” in Ephesians 1:13-14? “…hearing the word of truth the gospel of your salvation…sealed with the promised Holy Spirit…the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it…to the praise of his glory. How quickly we read over “sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.” What is the promise of the Spirit (Cf. Acts 2:39)? It is the promise to Abraham, the promise of an offspring, a kingdom, a great name, and a new Promised Land.Conclusion: “When we reduce the gospel to only personal salvation, we tear the fabric out of the story of the Bible and cease even needing a Bible!” ––Scott McKnight
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