What is the Gospel, really?!...
I (Jimmy) was convicted about evangelism today, yes, and how terrible I am at it. In my disgust, I decided to write a Gospel outline inside my Bible. I would encourage anyone to do so if you think it might help you to share the Gospel in its entirety. I really want to commit these verses to memory, so that I can both preach the Gospel to myself more often and to not have anxiety over not having my Bible with me when the opportunity arises. **DISCLAIMER** I am no expert at this, but I do know that men are saved by rightly understanding the Gospel. Also, this is a more thorough exposition containing several verses that help to support the Bible's main idea. That being said, one might not need such detail. BUT, we must make sure we understand the Gospel ourselves. We must handle God's Word with extreme care. Sharing part of the Gospel, or worse, distorting it, is really not sharing the Gospel at all. Let's look at how serious this notion is from Jesus Christ, the Center of the Gospel, in The Sermon on the Mount:
"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." - Matthew 5:17-20
Why the Gospel Must Be Preached to Ourselves - It is natural, human sin nature and occurs far too often for us as humans to completely ERASE the Gospel from our mindset/worldview. Why is this case/Why does this happen? It seems to boil down to idolatry. How is this played out?
It is hard often to admit, but I worship at the throne of Jimmy way too much. When I lose sight of the Gospel, several bad things start (or have the potential often) to happen, i.e.,
*I completely lose sight of serving others,
*I get depressed, impatient, angry, judgemental, envious,
*I start to buy into the completely unbiblical idea of "Good People go to Heaven/Bad People go to Hell," or at least I cower away from what Scripture says:
In Christ Alone = Heaven Anything Else = Hell
*I feel unworthy/shy/ashamed to share God's truth, when I can just turn to answers like John 14:6, Romans 3:23, and Romans 1:16,
*I view salvation from a religious/moralistic/legalistic mindset
To hit on that last point, RELIGION appeals to man. All men have the desire to worship something, and everyone does. He/she just might not acknowledge it. If we all sat down and catalogued each action/reaction of an entire week, would we not be able to see where our priorities lie? Certain things require our energies and time, and, if we care about a particular X well, then X also demands our passion, dedication, persistence, etc. Life sort of just works this way, so it makes sense that we often confuse categorize the Gospel as a religious idea. This is exactly why SO many people believe that Heaven is a reward for "good" behavior, and Hell is punishment only for the absolute worst, the scum of the earth.
(side note) By the way, I probably need to get out more, but I just saw the preview to the film Religulous, hosted by religion skeptic Bill Maher. Religion in the lives of people is so obvious to Mr. Maher, that the agenda of the movie is found in the title of the film, Religulous = Religion is ridiculous.
Examples of what people say:
"Well, I believe that if I am a good person, then I will go to heaven."
"Hell is for murderers, thiefs, adulterers, like Hitler, Stalin..."
The Gospel is in direct oppostion to religion because the Gospel is not based on our performance or good behavior. That's why it makes sense to understand man's condition from the beginning, and thus the reason the following outline begins with Romans 3:23, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Sin is a curse that plagues ALL of humanity, and each person is subject to the perfect justice and wrath of a Holy God...because man, specifically Adam, wronged the previously right relationship with God.
Death in Adam, Life in Christ - read Romans 5:12-21
Based on Romans 3:23 alone, I am a sinner and rightfully condemned to an eternal separation from God. Furthermore, the book of Romans makes it clear that if I break one part of the law, I have broken the whole law. I cannot make a sacrfice that covers my sin, either.
The Gospel literally mean "Good News." The Good News is that JESUS came to be the only perfect, unblemished sacrifice that could bridge the gap caused by man's sin. This is the Substitution part of the outline. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." God came down in human form to offered His perfect holiness on behalf of our wickedness. Wow, why would God do that? Because of his love, i.e., John 3:16.
random soap box - I can do nothing but laugh at my feebleness and humbly repent when I seem to be on the opposing side of passages like Ephesians 5, which now carries even more weight since I am now married.
I could keep rambling, but I need some rest, so here's the outline:
THE GOSPEL- IN 3 PARTS
PENAL
1. Rom 3:23
2. Romans 6:23a
3. Ephesians 2:1-3
4. Romans 5:9-10
5. Romans 1:16
6. II Thes. 1:7b-9
SUBSTITUTIONARY
1. Mark 10:45
2. Romans 5:8
3. Romans 3:23-25
4. 2 Corinthians 5:21
ATONEMENT
1. Romans 5:6-11
2. John 1:12
3. Romans 8:15
"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." - Matthew 5:17-20
Why the Gospel Must Be Preached to Ourselves - It is natural, human sin nature and occurs far too often for us as humans to completely ERASE the Gospel from our mindset/worldview. Why is this case/Why does this happen? It seems to boil down to idolatry. How is this played out?
It is hard often to admit, but I worship at the throne of Jimmy way too much. When I lose sight of the Gospel, several bad things start (or have the potential often) to happen, i.e.,
*I completely lose sight of serving others,
*I get depressed, impatient, angry, judgemental, envious,
*I start to buy into the completely unbiblical idea of "Good People go to Heaven/Bad People go to Hell," or at least I cower away from what Scripture says:
In Christ Alone = Heaven Anything Else = Hell
*I feel unworthy/shy/ashamed to share God's truth, when I can just turn to answers like John 14:6, Romans 3:23, and Romans 1:16,
*I view salvation from a religious/moralistic/legalistic mindset
To hit on that last point, RELIGION appeals to man. All men have the desire to worship something, and everyone does. He/she just might not acknowledge it. If we all sat down and catalogued each action/reaction of an entire week, would we not be able to see where our priorities lie? Certain things require our energies and time, and, if we care about a particular X well, then X also demands our passion, dedication, persistence, etc. Life sort of just works this way, so it makes sense that we often confuse categorize the Gospel as a religious idea. This is exactly why SO many people believe that Heaven is a reward for "good" behavior, and Hell is punishment only for the absolute worst, the scum of the earth.
(side note) By the way, I probably need to get out more, but I just saw the preview to the film Religulous, hosted by religion skeptic Bill Maher. Religion in the lives of people is so obvious to Mr. Maher, that the agenda of the movie is found in the title of the film, Religulous = Religion is ridiculous.
Examples of what people say:
"Well, I believe that if I am a good person, then I will go to heaven."
"Hell is for murderers, thiefs, adulterers, like Hitler, Stalin..."
The Gospel is in direct oppostion to religion because the Gospel is not based on our performance or good behavior. That's why it makes sense to understand man's condition from the beginning, and thus the reason the following outline begins with Romans 3:23, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Sin is a curse that plagues ALL of humanity, and each person is subject to the perfect justice and wrath of a Holy God...because man, specifically Adam, wronged the previously right relationship with God.
Death in Adam, Life in Christ - read Romans 5:12-21
Based on Romans 3:23 alone, I am a sinner and rightfully condemned to an eternal separation from God. Furthermore, the book of Romans makes it clear that if I break one part of the law, I have broken the whole law. I cannot make a sacrfice that covers my sin, either.
The Gospel literally mean "Good News." The Good News is that JESUS came to be the only perfect, unblemished sacrifice that could bridge the gap caused by man's sin. This is the Substitution part of the outline. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." God came down in human form to offered His perfect holiness on behalf of our wickedness. Wow, why would God do that? Because of his love, i.e., John 3:16.
random soap box - I can do nothing but laugh at my feebleness and humbly repent when I seem to be on the opposing side of passages like Ephesians 5, which now carries even more weight since I am now married.
I could keep rambling, but I need some rest, so here's the outline:
THE GOSPEL- IN 3 PARTS
PENAL
1. Rom 3:23
2. Romans 6:23a
3. Ephesians 2:1-3
4. Romans 5:9-10
5. Romans 1:16
6. II Thes. 1:7b-9
SUBSTITUTIONARY
1. Mark 10:45
2. Romans 5:8
3. Romans 3:23-25
4. 2 Corinthians 5:21
ATONEMENT
1. Romans 5:6-11
2. John 1:12
3. Romans 8:15
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