West Main

THE GOSPEL:  MORE THAN SALVATION

A question that often and repeatedly comes up concerns what the gospel is about primarily. Typically, the question is stated as, “What is the heart of the gospel?” This question about the heart of the gospel goes to what we are to regard as most important, or what is fundamentally essential to share when teaching the gospel. Not uncommonly, we associate the well-known “Great Commission” for what it means to communicate the essentials (Matthew 28:19-20):

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

What troubles me most in the above statement is the phrase, “teaching them to obey everything I have commanded.” How can we possibly teach everything? What is essential when everything is essential? Are not some truths concerning the gospel more important than others? Is there not a central core teaching about the gospel that could encompass other aspects of what Jesus taught? Over the years I have had members ask, “What do you have to know and believe in order to be a Christian?” What are the bare essentials in becoming a Christian? Human nature is like water that always seeks the path of least resistance. The question about what we have to know is often borne out of intellectual, emotional, and psychological laziness.

How much will the gospel demand of me? What does the gospel compel me to learn? Jesus says, “Everything I have commanded.” There are no shortcuts to salvation. But what happens when we try to boil the complexity of the gospel down to some sort of essentials? What is lost in reducing the scope of “everything” Jesus taught? If you declare a shallow gospel, then will you not make shallow Christians?

One way we short-change the vast richness of the gospel is by focusing only or almost exclusively on our being justified by faith in Christ. In other words, we tend to think the gospel is primarily about our forgiveness of sins. Now before you call me a heretic, hear me out. Justification by faith is the Protestant mantra since the Reformation. Now as we look at the New Testament, is the central or essential message about the Gospel our justification by faith? How often does, say, the Apostle Paul, speak of justification by faith? Depending on how you regard certain texts, Paul uses the phrase “justified by faith” only six times (Romans 3:28; 5:1; 10:10; Galatians 2:16; 3:11; 3:24). As you can see from the previous texts the statements concerning justification by faith come from just two letters: Romans and Galatians. Can such scant verses really form the center of the gospel?

Consider this. What is often overlooked in the Great Commission is Jesus’ opening words: “Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me’” (Matthew 28:18). In other words, Jesus is King of Kings, Lord of Lords. What we will see in our coming sermons in Ephesians is how the Kingship of Jesus is more “central” to Paul’s gospel than being justified by faith for the forgiveness of sins. This does not mean forgiveness of sins is not important, but rather forgiveness of sins is under a much larger truth, or I should say, Person: Jesus Christ. Jesus is more than a Savior, he saves because he has absolute authority even over sin and death. Salvation is but one of Jesus’ domains of power! If we are to teach everything Jesus commanded, then certainly we must start with the One who starts and ends it all: Jesus our King!

    – Terry

Vacation Bible School is scheduled for July 13-17 this year. We will have our next planning meeting on Sunday, March 15,at 2:00 p.m. in the Fireside Room. If you would like to help in any way,please plan to come to the meeting. If you need more information, please contact Denise Beeks.

Teacher Needed  --  We need a teacher for our 2^nd and 3^rd grade classfor Sunday morning. If you can help, please contact Denise Beeks.