So, if someone were to walk up to you today and ask you, “Hey friend, tell me the gospel and how I must respond in order to be saved” would you be prepared to answer?
Okay so the odds of someone actually asking that question are pretty slim, but we are still commanded to be prepared (Colossians 4:5-6; 1 Peter 3:15).
Over the past several weeks I have tried to give a compact yet comprehensive understanding of the gospel and the proper biblical response to it. I know it is not perfect, but I hope it is beneficial. I think it is helpful to outline our understanding of the gospel with the five words: God. Man. Sin. Christ. Faith.
But I also think it is helpful to have an understanding of the gospel that we can fit into a short paragraph that is easy to state to someone in a brief encounter. I have worked on one for a while now that I like, but I still want to tweak it a bit. It is 111 words. I offer it to you now with the hope that you will be able to improve on it and share with me an even better summary statement of the gospel that we can share with others in a short conversation.
* God created us for His glory.
* We have all sinned and fallen short of that Glory.
* God in his mercy sent his only Son to take on flesh, live out his Father’s righteous requirements, die on a cross as a substitute for our death, taking away our sin and God’s wrath, and giving us his own righteousness.
* On the third day He rose from the dead and now reigns in heaven.
* In doing this He made the ONLY way for us to see and savor the glory of God through a relationship with Him.
* This He offers freely by his grace if we would repent and place our faith in Him.
A few final reminders about the gospel and evangelism…
1. The gospel is a means to an end. The ‘end’ being God Himself. Jesus died to bring us to God (1 Peter 3:18). So when we share the gospel and call people to respond, we are calling them to love God supremely and fully. We are not peddling forgiveness in order to assuage their guilty conscience or to promise them their “best life now.” We are offering the gospel in order to redeem God-worshipers who will live for his glory alone. If our gospel presentations fall short of that lofty goal then we are undercutting the gospel’s power.
2. We are ALL commanded to fulfill the great commission. I know the vast majority of us feel some serious trepidation in evangelism and missions. It’s not our personality. It’s not our gift. It’s… always something that keeps us from being obedient.
But, dear Christian, I lovingly tell you now that evangelism is commanded by our LORD. If we do not commit our lives to his mission, his great commission, then we are sinning. He knows your fears, insecurities and anxieties. Yet He still commands you to go. Why? Because He wants you to live the faith you expressed at your conversion. He wants to be your strength that sustains you. He wants the glory that comes from his provision during our weakness. When the gospel is preached by weak, failing sinners redeemed by his blood who are only able to speak by his grace, THEN the glory of the LORD is proclaimed not only in our words but in our lives as well.
Christian, preach the gospel!
3. The gospel is not just for evangelism. Ironically, one of the reasons that we do not share the gospel as we should is because we do not understand the gospel is for our entire Christian lives, not just our conversion. We really need to appropriate the truth of Colossians 2:6 “As you received Christ Jesus as the LORD, so walk in him.”
It is the old problem of thinking we are saved by grace but then live by our own works. NO. We are saved by the gospel of grace and we live by the gospel of grace.
You should preach the gospel to yourself every day. Every day when you wake, submit yourself to Him again, to his forgiveness, to his LORDship, to his acceptance, to his blessing. Receive your portion of grace for that day and allow your sanctified self to commit to display his glory that day.
My prayer for all of us is that we will be changed by the gospel, we will love God fully and supremely and will gladly obey our King by taking the good news of Jesus Christ with us into all our relationships and encounters for his glory!!
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