A Holistic Gospel Presentation

Introduction

How many of us have forced the gospel into a conversation and, as we were doing it thought, “this feels inauthentic.” It feels like your trying to jam a square peg through a round hole half the size—like you are putting something into a conversation that it does not belong in.

This could be happening because we don’t understand sin well enough. If that’s the case, you need to go back to Owen’s sermon two weeks ago on 1 Thess 1:9-10 and think more on the depth of idolatry in the human heart.

If we don’t understand the holistic effects of sin and the extent of the law in shutting every mouth then we are going to limit our opportunity in preaching the gospel.

In short, you can’t provide an answer for a problem you don’t know exists.

So, to be good evangelists we need to be good at seeing idols.

Such a large view of sin and the law prevents us from always needing to force people immediately into a box of adultery and murder before preaching the gospel to them. If you listen carefully to your friends, with a Biblical worldview, they admit their sins to you all the time, whether or not they even recognize what they’re doing is sin.

On the other side, it could be that we don’t understand the holistic nature of the gospel. If we only know the gospel as the answer to a boxed in view of the 10 commandments then we are going to have a hard time bringing it into most conversations.

You’re friend is most likely not going to come admit murder to you tomorrow, but your coworker might tell you about the struggle he’s having with his girlfriend. If you know the gospel well enough from constant practice of applying it to every area of sin you have in your life and from discipling others out of sin through the glory of the cross, then a whole new, authentic, loving, door of giving an answer for the hope that is in you is opened.

We need to abandon the idea that there are secular answers to sin and actually believe, for ourselves and others that the gospel is sufficient like Paul does. Thus, we appeal to people to lay their problems, burdens and sins upon Christ whose yoke is easy and burden is light.

To say it another way: I’m suggesting that alot of the inauthenticity in gospel preaching stems from a sin issue within us. Not a sin of cowardice, necessarily, but the all-the-more prevalent sin of trying to bring the law back into a covenant of grace. Our flesh still believes that we can conquer sins by things other than the cross of Christ, so it feels inauthentic and not genuine when we try to give hurting people the gospel as the answer to their problems.

Paul believes that sin is invasive and the gospel is the answer for sinners. Because of this, he appeals to them with straightforward and simple language as he shows the love of Christ in his words and actions.

This gospel appeal, we will see, is not a lording over, but an affectionate desire that lays down ones own life and time for the benefit of the listener.