As a pastor, I am to challenge, to disciple, and to call God’s people to a sanctified life. However, as we seek to walk in sanctification, we can sometimes lose sight of the ground on which we stand. That ground for Christians is the gospel… But what exactly is the gospel?
Paul sets the stage for the gospel in Romans 3:10-18, saying:
“No one is righteous— not even one.
No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God.
All have turned away; all have become useless. No one does good, not a single one.”
“Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave. Their tongues are filled with lies.”
“Snake venom drips from their lips.”
“Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”
“They rush to commit murder.
Destruction and misery always follow them.
They don’t know where to find peace.”
“They have no fear of God at all.”
Did you get that? This is you… This is me… This is who we really are, in the present tense. Paul personally identified with these statements again just a few chapters later, saying, “The trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin… O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:14, 24) Again, in the present tense.
In Romans 3:19-20, Paul then moves on to clarify why we were given the law (i.e, rules, precepts, commands, ordinances, statutes, standards)… He says,
“Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses, and to show that the entire world is guilty before God. For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are.“
You get that? You’re guilty… I’m guilty… All are sinful… Only after setting this stage, does Paul finally lay out the gospel in Romans 3:21-24,
“But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law… We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.”
You hear that? No matter who we are…. No matter what we’ve done… God freely makes us right! And I tell ya what… That message is just as sweet to a pastor as it is to the brand-new believer. The gospel, God’s good news to us, will never become old news to the sinner.
Let’s be honest. Those in greatest danger of losing sight of the gospel are those who have followed God for years. In Jesus’ day, it was the religious who struggled most to receive this message. And today is no different. We can begin to think of the gospel as baby food, as milk for newborn believers, as something no longer necessary—or perhaps even trite—for the seasoned believer.
But consider these words of Westminster Chapel pastor R.T. Kendall,
“At the end of the day, [this sentiment] may be traceable to pride. That is what is ultimately at work when we compete with the blood of Christ. We, in our arrogance and self-righteousness, cannot bear the Lord doing everything for us graciously, so we think we must help Him out a bit. It is an abominable way to think. Our pride must be eclipsed by humility; we must let God be God and the blood of Christ do what it in fact did: remove our guilt and satisfy God’s sense of justice.”
Perhaps this is the reason Paul started this gospel thesis to the Romans with these words,
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes.” – Romans 1:16
Gang, let’s face it. We are never beyond the gospel. In it, we find our only true hope. In it, we find our only true good. In it alone is the power of God to salvation. May we, like Paul, be not ashamed of the gospel.