It is so important that we get this right! It is the most important thing we can do as Christians. If we want to serve Jesus, and we feel our hearts leading us to reach out to God's people, then we have to learn the Gospel message and how to present it in a way that is: 1) complete and 2) Easy to remember.
I have learned that the Gospel can be easily presented using the 4 words: God - Sin - Cross - Faith. God in His holiness and glory, Sin in it's condemnation, Cross, Jesus incarnate dying for our sins, and Faith, with repentence, the only way to salvation.
Too many churches today are only preaching Cross and Faith. An even smaller number are willing to include Sin in their teaching. But how many churches are teaching the holiness of God himself? If we fail to understand that God is perfectly holy in everything He does, we will never understand the depth of our own sin and the real need for the Cross of Christ.
When will we learn that we can't give half of the Gospel message and expect to have committed Christians who are willing to lose their lives for Jesus (Mark 8:35)??!!!! It's time to start getting the message right! I challenge myself, and anyone who reads this to be constantly growing in our understanding of the Gospel, so that when we are called upon to share the Good News we can respond with confidence as many will ask, "Why do I need Jesus?"
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2 comments:
Swizz,
I remember that we talked about this before but I wanted to bring up the idea of "grace" replacing "faith" in the sequence of the 4 part gospel. When Paul says to the Ephesians that BY grace we are saved, THROUGH faith, grace is the mode in which we are saved and faith is the means to obtain grace(not that WE obtain it). So I would stretch it to add grace before faith and keep faith in the mix and make a 5 part gospel. Practically speaking, many people feel they need to get their life straightened out before they can be saved when it is grace that does that for us. I know you wouldn't leave grace out of your message but I think we should put it in the mix. Feel me slice? What ya think?
I agree, but I don't think we need to give Grace its own part. The theme of Grace should accompany every piece of the Gospel message. In God, His Grace is greater than our Sin, and in Sin, His mercy is greater than His wrath. And in the Cross, Jesus was sent a substitution for the penalty of our Sin by GRACE, and as you say, faith in Jesus comes only by Grace. In our understanding of God and His Sovereignty, and the atoning work of Christ, Grace is something that should be the overall theme of the Gospel message, not just the 4th part.
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