The Gospel—the good news—of Jesus Christ is the source of our passion to make disciples.
but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8, ESV)
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6, ESV)
The Gospel is so clearly recorded, you would think it hardly needed explaining. We can believe a lot of things about God… we can even say we believe in God. Yet, there is only one door into the eternal kingdom of God: Jesus Christ, God the Son. “I am the way” was not the boasting of a lunatic… it was simply God Incarnate stating the facts.
He came to die…
in fulfillment of prophecy: “he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities.” (Isaiah 53:5, ESV)
for our sake: "For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God" (1 Peter 3:18, NKJV)
once for all time: "sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." (Hebrews 10:10, NKJV)
The root of the matter? Ask yourself the same question Pontius Pilate wrestled with…
What shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ? (Matthew 27:22, ESV)
Why?
Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. (John 3:18, ESV)
Vicarious sacrifice… the offer of forgiveness… the grace of restoration… the joy of his presence… the assurance of a life worth living, both now and forever… wow!
And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise. (Galatians 3:29, ESV)
The Gospel is absolute… clear… universally needed… and it’s accessible!
This post should be the easiest of any to write… and without surprises. There’s no room to get cute with the Gospel. Still, it is worth considering: Is our fruitfulness hampered by our constricted take on preaching? Doing the bulk of our Gospel preaching inside of church buildings feels a little self-serving… potentially stagnating… and to some degree, irresponsible.
I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. (Acts 20:20-21, ESV)
Sharing thoughts about “sobremesa” (table-talk) before introducing this Gospel post was intentional. What if we were more prone to “declaring” like the Apostle Paul did? If we were, any setting would do… even mealtime!