The nature of this post is different from most of my blog posts-I am beginning with questions instead of answers!
(See my post on “Starting with Stop.”)
May I ask you to do three things:
- Watch the above video that previews a new series in our church about how people change.
- List specific “substitutes” that we settle for in place of the Gospel of Jesus Christ that changes not only our future but our PRESENT.
- Respond to this post with your Biblically-based, Holy Spirit-clarified thoughts.
I look forward to your responses and discussing in a follow up post what the Lord is teaching me about closing this “Gospel Gap” through a Savior named Immanuel, “God WITH us.”
Below is the link to the sermon that launched this study in our church:
Week One, The Division
harleysnode 
Sounds interesting, but I am unclear in what you mean by the gospel. The gospel is the death, burial & resurrection of Christ, the good news that we can be saved by grace through faith. To me a replacement of the gospel is a false gospel and therefore doesn’t bring salvation. I think I know what you mean but I think the terminology needs to be precise when it comes to the gospel itself. Anyway you asked for input so I thought I’d drop my two cents. 🙂 Have a great Lord’s day.
Thank you for your “two cents” 🙂 and providing clarity with a very BIblical definition of the word “gospel.” The direction of this discussion is not intending to neglect salvation but focused more on the progressive sanctification aspects of our relationship with Christ. I give you few examples of the types of the “substitutes” made by believers after salvation: activism, legalism, etc. In relation to the Gospel, we tend to focus on what Jesus accomplished for our past and future without also appreciating His significance to the “here and now.” May the Lord bless you tomorrow as well.
Pastor Snode,
I finally got around to watching your video today. I really appreciate the topic that you will be addressing in your church. Without knowing exactly how you will be handling it, I can mention two areas in particular where my thinking, practice, and preaching have had to expand to be faithful to scripture.
The gospel and consequently salvation have much broader implications than I ever realized. I think if we are not careful we reduce the impact of the gospel to only an invitation to the lost. That is neither consistent with the message of the New Testament nor the recorded sermons of the New Testament.
Bound within the Gospel is the assured hope of so many things.
* The restoration of creation (Rom. 8:18ff)
* The assurance that past sufferings will be used for our good and His glory (Rom. 8:18ff)
* A divine dynasty visibly ruling (“gospel of the kingdom” language in Matthew taken in context with the kingdom theology of the NT)
* The defeat of death and sin itself (1 Cor. 15:50)
And that is merely the tip of the iceberg. While I think I know what Pastor Rasbeary is getting at, the gospel is more than just so I can be saved from my sins. It is NOT less than that, but it is much more. I think herein lies one of the greatest gaps in our application of the gospel to our lives. To paraphrase other writers, we see the gospel as the gateway to the Christian life that we can move beyond once we are saved, but that is not the testimony of the New Testament. The examples that come to my mind are primarily Pauline, but the gospel themselves are filled with these allusions.
Paul’s doxology at the close of Romans includes this:
16:25 Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ,
Our establishment and strengthening in Christianity flows out of the preaching of Christ and the Gospel. Romans 1:17 flows out of Paul’s resounding boldness in the gospel. He there shows us (quoting the OT even) that the gospel is the means of living not just rescue from judgement.
Finally, I would be remiss to not mention Paul’s tour de force against limiting the gospel’s scope–Gal. 2:20-3:5. As the Galatians sought to serve the Lord, they attempted to do it on their own–through works. Paul said it was stupid. God uses the gospel to save us (Rom. 1:16), to sanctify us (this passage in Galatians), and even to keep us (Col. 1:23).
Wow. That was a long comment, but I love where you are headed with this, and I believe it will be a great help to your people!
In Christ,
John Grasty
Bro. John, Thank you for biblical-based thought on the BROAD implications of Gospel not just in our past and future but also in the present. I did post a link on this blog to the introduction message that I preached this past Sunday. I truly appreciate your encouragement and help fleshing out these thoughts in my own mind. Have a blessed day!
Oh, I see the link to the sermon now. I will check it out. I just got off the phone with Bro. Schlegel, so you’ll be seeing my missionary information packet at some point. I didn’t realize until this morning when I was working through my todo list that I hadn’t called Northpointe yet. I had made a note to reply to this post, and then I thought to check my call-log. So please don’t think I’m working you for a meeting through blog post comment. 😀
I look forward to receiving your packet. No matter what your motives :), I enjoyed your response.
Bro. Harley, where should we begin? There have been so many areas of the Christian life where the Gospel has been eclipsed by some other man-centered work.
I suppose one that immediately comes to mind is the issue of Christian parenting. Through the Gospel, the Lord intends to transform us from the inside-out, changing our hearts to beat with nothing but love for him and his glory. But in parenting, we are too often tempted to paint a picture of what we want our children to be and then attempt to apply the necessary pressure to conform them to that image. Unfortunately, the church has not always been helpful in this arena. Youth pastors and camp speakers attack the low-hanging fruit of behavioral issues, well-meaning senior pastors establish their personal preferences as “standards” for what Christian young people should look like, and parents end up operating under the unspoken expectations of what a “good family” acts like. If we’re not careful, it can all be external, and parents think that they must lead by decree (after all, children are commanded to “obey their parents”) instead of allowing their children to observe the sanctifying work of the Lord’s grace upon their own lives.
There really is so much more to be said here. A while ago, on my blog, I mentioned 7 other issues that I think are prominent. If you wish, I can post the link.
Thank you for your response and thoughts. Would you please post the link to the other 7 issues? Thank you, Brother.
Here it is: http://ow.ly/m2UnE
You need to read a bit to get to the 7, but it’s only to establish the necessity of the Gospel.