The Gospel Of Jesus Christ

The historic gospel is what God has disclosed of Himself in history, and climactically in Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection.

Galatians 1:8 But should we, or an angel from Heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed.

The fact that the apostle Paul issued this condemnation with the strongest words possible and then repeated it for emphasis makes this one of the harshest statements in the entire New Testament. It does not sit well on modern ears, accustomed to tolerance at any price and a doctrine of God, devoid of the notions of judgment and wrath.

1 Corinthians 15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the Gospel which I preached unto you, which you also have received, and wherein you stand, 3b For how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He arose again the third day according to the Scriptures.

The “different gospel” of Galatians 1:6–9 and 2 Corinthians 11:4 is not another gospel about Jesus, but a message about “another Jesus” not the real Jesus—one who exists only in the minds and the message of its advocates.
The proclamation of the gospel is an intellectual exercise; a truth-conveying exercise. There is a battle for the minds of men and women. It is through the Spirit empowered proclamation of the whole counsel of God that men and women escape conformity to this world and are trans-formed by the renewing of their minds. Romans 12:2

Paul asserted that the Galatians had embraced a drastically different gospel in kind from that which they had received from him, because there was/is, no other genuine gospel to be placed alongside the real thing.

The Gospel & Conversion

John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, “Verily, verily I say unto you, unless a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.”

The inward experience of conversion is sometimes referred to as the new birth (John 3:3–8). New birth refers to a change so radical that it can be described only by the figure of birth into a new life. Just as an infant enters the physical world with a totally new existence, so conversion is a new spiritual beginning in a person’s relationship to God.

Conversion involves turning away from evil deeds and false worship and turning toward serving and worshiping the Lord. Conversion marks a person’s entrance into a new relationship with God, forgiveness of sins, and new life as a part of the fellowship of the people of God.

Proverbs 23:7 for as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.

A man’s temperament is not changed when he is convert-ed. The fundamental elements of who we are, are not changed by conversion and by re-birth. However, at con-version our thinking has changed concerning sin, God, and our responsibility to live according to His desire for us.

Philippians 2:12b Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

1 Timothy 4:7 But reject those and train yourself for godliness.

Paul does not mean work for your salvation; but that you let your conversion to Christ affect the way you live—exercise it. One must discipline him or herself in order to live that new life-style resulting from the change that Jesus brings to the heart.

The Gospel, Conversion & Evangelism

Matthew 28:19a Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing

Evangelism is man doing his part, going and sharing the gospel, talking and explaining, not just giving food.

If we believe strongly in the perversity of human nature, then we know it takes nothing less than the power of God to bring about conversion in the first place. Unless God is going to work, there’s not much point in sharing the gospel. Paul finds even election is an incentive to get on with the task. Acts 18

If God is sovereign in the sense that all we do is just in the class of the robotic, there’s not much point in Jesus dying for sin, and no moral significance in what we do. But, if we understand the cross is at the very heart of God’s redemptive purposes, everything changes.

God is absolutely sovereign, but His sovereignty never functions to mitigate human responsibility.

He allows us to choose, to respond.

Human beings are morally responsible creatures. We believe, disbelieve, we obey and disobey, we choose, we rebel, we submit, and our actions in this regard are morally significant. We are morally responsible creatures, but in Scripture, this never functions so as to make God absolutely contingent. It never
functions so as to make God less than sovereign.

We are responsible beings with moral significance attached to the steps we take in our lives. Still, that does not mean God becomes contingent.

God does what only He can do, but we are responsible to share and to respond to the gospel.