The Gospel/ Evangelism
Seems like I need to clarify the Biblical Christian Gospel and
the work of Evangelism .
The Gospel is the message, Evangelism is the methods of
spreading the Gospel.
Shall I identify the scam gospels – they are many, rife in the
churches as well as in the world -- not yet. I would rather like to sound loud and
clear the true Bible Gospel.
The Gospel of Isaiah prophesied the LORD God drawing near in
the person of the Messiah - a child born named Immanuel, a servant whose
soul would be made an offering for sin, a Saviour who would embrace Jew and
Gentile and so much more good news.
The Gospel of Matthew beginns with a child (Immanuel – God with us). A child so special
the wise men from the east (likely including Chinese), bowed down to worship
Him.
The Gospel of Mark opens with the words of this Lord Jesus - “Repent and believe the Gospel” That meant that the King had arrived – no better
news could be heard. The message was clear
“repent” – turn away from sin and selflove to give total allegiance to
the King of the universe, the Son of God!.
The King was rejected! (“We have no king but Caesar” they said
– John 19) And so the risen Saviour changed to embrace of the message. Quote of
the Lord Jesus Christ:
“Thus it is written, that Christ should suffer and on the
third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins
should be proclaimed in His Name to all nations beginning from Jerusalem”. (Luke 24).
From then on, by the power of the Holy Spirit they proclaimed
the word of the Lord to Jews and Gentiles. If I had space I would trace each of
the Gospel messages in the book of ‘Acts’.
In summary –
Peter preached to the Gentiles about Jesus Christ with this
conclusion :
“To Him give all the prophet witness, that everyone who believes
in HIM receives forgiveness of sins through HIS Name” (Acts 10).
Paul summarised His Gospel:
“Repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.”
(Acts 20)
Paul reflected on the Gospel he effectively preached at
Corinth:
“…of first importance, that Christ died for our sins, in
accordance with the scriptures, that He was buried, and that He was raised on
the third day in accordance with the scriptures” 1 Corinthians 15.
Philip preached the Gospel about the once crucified Jesus from
Isaiah 53 (Acts 8).
Several threads run through these important references:
1
The problem of sin as seen by God and must be
repented of.
2
The gospel focuses on the Lord Jesus Christ and
the vital need to believe in/on Him
3
The outcomes of this Gospel are many eg Forgiveness of sins, The gift of the Holy
Spirit, the assurance of eternal life in heaven, and so much more.
The Gospel exposes the real human condition as lost and gives glory to God as the light shining
in the face of Jesus Christ.(2 Corinthians 4)
A message that misses Jesus is false!
A message that smooths
over sin is false.
A message that presents self help to find
happiness is deception.
A message that promotes
good works as a means to eternal life is false.
And so it goes on – instead of accountability before God is
promoted affluence as a sign of blessing! – false. Rather salvation by God’s
grace through faith in Jesus Christ the Lord, is the genuine motivator to Christian commitment.
Sadly so many are made happy on the way to hell. Hell? O wait
they say. The good news is that a loving God would not punish a person in hell!
Some try to fix it up by saying that perish means to ‘cease being’ instead of ‘well being’.
False Gospels are an insult to the Name and character of God.
False Gospels are an
insult to the need for and sufficiency of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ in His
death.
False gospels give false hope and prove cruel to the ones
deceived.
How good it is to know and receive the true Gospel
of the Son of God, once crucified for our sins, now risen and willing to save
all who turn to HIM in faith.
And to think it is for all people everywhere!;
“God so loved the world , that He gave His only Son, so that
everyone that believes in HIM, will not perish but have everlasting life.” (John
3:16).
