The What Who Why and How of the Gospel
As I thought about where to begin, I decided I would like to speak to you this morning concerning one of my favorite verses in all of Scripture. To me it is a section of Scripture that I use as a plumb line for ministry. It is one of those verses that every time I read it I am inspired and excited. Anytime I feel run down or at a loss for words to share and messages to give, these verses are like an adrenaline shot that gives me an instant boost. Those verses that when you share them, you know without doubt you are in the presence of the very words of God. The verses were authored by the Apostle Paul in the book of Romans. But before we turn there, let me share with you some of my perspective on this amazing servant of Jesus Christ.
If you had looked at the life of Saul of Tarsus, later to call himself Paul, you would have seen someone who was the envy of all his peers and classmates. Paul had it all. He would have been the guy in your class who has his picture scattered throughout the yearbook. Every page you turn to, this guy is in it. He has prestige, influence, and is the honor student in the class. He is an expert in his religious studies in a culture that holds religion above all else. A Pharisee of Pharisees and student of the famous Gamaliel. In fact, Saul would have been one of those guys that if the class were to vote on the most likely to succeed, his name would have soared to the top of the list. Friends, followers, and in a culture that exalted honor and influence, Saul would have had it all.
Yet years later, I doubt you would recognize him from the man he used to be. Instead of fine robes and tassels, he is dressed in dirty and worn rags. No longer is his hair tidy and well groomed. It is wild and matted from his rugged lifestyle. His face and skin is no longer smooth and clean, but ruddy, worn and scarred. He would be the person that people would look at in the yearbook and say, “What a waste. What a shame. He had so much going for him, but look at him now.” I had a friend in high school who had it all going for him. Popular, intelligent, and athletic, he had great plans for his future. Yet he made some foolish decisions and lost his drive and direction in life. He just didn’t seem to go much of anywhere in life. Then he became ill, and his health has slowly deteriorated. I sought to keep in contact with him and would call him from time to time to see if he wanted to get together, but rarely would he return my calls and always acted too busy to see me. I don’t know for sure, but I think the real reason was a bit of shame. Maybe you have been there. That school reunion comes around and you look at where your life has taken you and inside you maybe feel a bit embarrassed to answer those questions, “So what have you done with your life?”
Yet this is not at all true with the Apostle Paul. Although he lost so much, and had become an embarrassment to so many, Paul holds his head up high and declares, “I am not ashamed.” He has lost popularity and prestige, but he is not ashamed. He has lost wealth and honor, but he is not ashamed. He has lost respect and a comfortable life, but he is not ashamed. His back looks like a roadmap from the scars from public beatings and he has frequented local prisons. Their culture, like ours would look at the life of such a person, losing so much and consider them a tragic waste. But Paul boasts, “I am not ashamed!” As Christians we look at the life of Paul and try to figure out what made him so different. I believe Paul would respond with five words. The Gospel of Jesus Christ. Listen to his proclamation in Romans 1:16-18.
STAND!
Romans 1:16-17 16For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”(ESV)
For Paul, the thing that changed his life and made this radical transformation in him was the Gospel. And here he gives us what I like to call the Why, Who, What and How of the Gospel.
1. The Why of the Gospel.
Why? Why wasn’t Paul ashamed? What drove him to give up so much and filled him with zeal and passion to preach the Gospel in hostility and hunger? Because Paul says, “Don’t you understand? It is the power of God!” Paul gave it all up for the Gospel, and the reason he declares is because it is the power of God! Often when we think of the power of God we think of creation…we think of the plagues…we think of Samson. We may think of the resurrection or the miracles of Jesus and the Disciples. Yet the thing that motivates Paul today, the thing that gets him out of bed in the morning to tackle another day of angry mobs and uncertain travels is because he declares that what he holds is the power of God. Can you see why this is such a powerful verse? Forget what you know, forget peoples response, forget how well you speak or what talents you do or do not have. The gospel, Paul clearly says, is the power of God!
Yet, it has been estimated that probably 95% of all church members have never led anyone to Christ.[1] And such facts cause us often times to feel pressured or guilty so we feel like evangelism is some begrudging duty. But when we think like that it is because we have lost track of the WHY of the Gospel. Paul’s proclamation calls us to remember that it is the power of God. That is WHY Paul proclaimed it and the reason for his great confidence in it. I love what Mounce has to say in the New American Commentary:
The gospel is God telling of his love to wayward people. It is not a lifeless message but a vibrant encounter for everyone who responds in faith. Much religious discourse is little more than words and ideas about religious subjects. Not so the gospel. The gospel is God at work. He lives and breathes through the declaration of his redemptive love for people. To really hear the gospel is to experience the presence of God. The late evangelist Dwight L. Moody commented that the gospel is like a lion. All the preacher has to do is to open the door of the cage and get out of the way![2]
The gospel is the power of God! Consider Paul’s prayer to the Ephesian church,
Ephesians 1:15-20 15For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, 16I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, 17that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,(ESV)[3]
Paul’s view is pretty clear. Why is he not ashamed? Why does go out again and again in good times and bad to share the gospel? It is because the WHY of the gospel for Paul is that the cross of Jesus Christ is the power of God and his speaking unleashed it on a dark and dying world. That is WHY we are to preach the Gospel.
2. The Who of the Gospel.
Paul went all over, preaching everywhere this “good news” because he so believed this message was relevant to everyone, everywhere, in every situation. If you are rich, healthy, wealthy and wise with everything in the world going for you, you are in desperate need for the gospel. If you are poor, broken, lonely, and afraid, you are in desperate need for the gospel. No matter you situation or background, the who of the gospel is you, and you, and you. Paul says the gospel is the salvation of everyone who believes, first for the Jew and then the Gentile. The message started in Jerusalem, then Judea, and finally was dispatched to the utter most parts of the world. And wherever the gospel goes, it is like a river flowing through a desert wasteland. All people, everywhere, at all times need the gospel.
A young prostitute barges in on a invitation-only meal with Simon the Pharisee hosting Jesus. She falls at his feet crying, cleaning them with her tears and wiping them with her hair. Simon is indignant. He doesn’t believe Jesus is there for her. This is invitation-only lady. This man isn’t here for you, he thinks to himself. But to his surprise, Jesus doesn’t push her away. He doesn’t recoil at her touch. Maybe Jesus really isn’t a prophet. Maybe he really isn’t who he claims to be after all. Then Jesus turns to Simon and says,
Luke 7:41-47 41“A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” 43Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” 44Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. 46You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. 47Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.”(ESV)[4]”
What Simon could not see is everyone has a debt that is beyond their ability to pay. As Haddon Robinson put it with regards to the pride of the Pharisees, “he had a bad eye on his neighbor, a good eye on himself, and no eye on God.” He had lost sight of God so he couldn’t see the chasm that exists between his goodness and God’s. He despised her debt, but could not see his own. Jesus makes it clear, there is no one who does not need him, and there is no one out of his reach.
I recall my first ministry in Fredonia, KS. I was being toured around town and the elder of the church was pointing out buildings and who owned them and a bit about their lives. He drove past one building and said, “And that, that belongs to Mary (I don’t remember her name).” He said, “She really needs the Gospel.” I said, “Arnold, we all need the gospel.” He replied, “Oh, but she, she REALLY needs the gospel.” And began to share with me about her bad reputation in the neighborhood.
This is not Paul’s perspective. For Paul, the WHO of the gospel is all of humanity. We all REALLY need it. We are lost without it. Our debt to God spills over the bounds of eternity. We can NEVER atone for our sins. We can NEVER in endless make things right with God on our own. But the gospel is salvation for everyone, everyone who believes. There is no person in your grocery line who does not need it. There is no one in this church, or in the bar or in the frat house who needs it less than another. Without it we are lost. Who is the Gospel for? Jesus said, If anyone is thirsty, let him come and drink. There is only one fountain of life and it is available to all.
3. The What of the Gospel.
What is the good news? I love Paul’s definition of the Gospel in this passage. Every time I read this passage it excites me and encourages me. Paul says, the reason it is so powerful and the reason it reaches all people is because in the gospel (good news) a righteousness from God has been made known. Stop and consider the weight of that statement. A righteousness from God has been made known. It is not a righteousness from you, from your acts, your efforts, your diligence. Rather, it is a righteousness from God. Righteousness comes from God to you through the message of the gospel. The Gospel makes a person “right”, “approved”, “not guilty” in God’s eyes.
A visitor asked an old, bedridden woman who said she was trying to be a Christian: “Are you trying to be Mrs. Whyte? “
“No, I am Mrs. Whyte.”
“How long have you been Mrs. Whyte? “
“Ever since this ring was put on my finger.”
“That is how it is with me. I do not try to be a Christian. I have been one ever since I put out my empty hand and received Christ as my Saviour.”[5]
I remember trying to share the gospel to a relative of mine. They said, “I can’t become a Christian because I don’t think I live that kind of life.” He was talking about his struggles with sin and not wanting to disappoint God. But people who think such things do not understand the WHAT of the Gospel. It is not what you can do for God, but what God has done for you! A righteousness from God has been made known. God’s approval is available for you and your friends today. There is no condemnation in Christ Jesus because a righteousness from God is now known. It was this fact displayed in this very verse that transformed Martin Luther from an angry, bitter, self-condemned monk to one of the most dynamic preachers of grace the world has ever seen. John Wesley went to be a missionary because of an “ought to” attitude. He came back from his missionary trip saying, “I went to America to save sinners, but who will save me?” Then he heard this verse and Luther’s commentary on it and became a dynamic force in reaching thousands with the saving message of God’s imputed righteousness.
John Wesley averaged three sermons a day for fifty-four years preaching all-told more than 44,000 times. In doing this he traveled by horseback and carriage more than 200,000 miles, or about 5,000 miles a year. [6]
What was his motivation? What transformed men like Paul, Luther and Wesley? They understood what of the Gospel! My debt is paid in full! That is what is at the heart of the Gospel.
4. The How of the Gospel.
Paul concludes the most amazing aspect of this “good news” he proclaims. It is all available by faith. How is this power and righteousness actualized? The simple answer Paul provides is faith. Only believe.
The Greek “out of faith into faith” has been taken in many ways: “from the faith of the OT to the faith of the NT,” “from God’s faithfulness to man’s faith,” “from one degree of faith to another,” and so on. Most probably it points to faith as the origin of righteousness and the direction in which it leads.[7]
Ultimately the essence of what Paul is saying is how you receive the righteousness presented in the gospel is entirely by faith. There is no part of this righteousness that comes any other way than faith. Righteousness is born from faith and proceeds out of faith. It doesn’t start with faith and end with works. It doesn’t start with works and end with faith. Righteousness is given by faith and is upheld through faith.
Faith is a popular word today. There is a lot of confusion out there when it comes to faith. We hear things like, if only I had more faith. Word of faith. The Faith movement. I wont go into all that now except to say that faith is never intended to be the object of our pursuit. We can get so discouraged because there is this intangible faith that everyone is trying to get more of. It is not faith we are after, but Christ and the good news of his grace! Faith is how we receive it and faith is how we cling to it with white-knuckled grip. That God likes you. God loves you. He sent his son to become a curse for you that you might become the righteousness of God. Do you believe God loves you that much? Do you have faith that the good news of Jesus is true? How do you become a new creation, trust in the gospel. How do you become right in God’s eyes, faith in his taking your sin upon the cross. How do you become a child of God? Faith that when there was no way, God made a way by sending his only Son to take your punishment and raise from the dead to give you the promise of eternal and indestructible life.
Conclusion: Boy and squirrel in Sunday school class.
I probably haven’t shared anything new with many of you here. As Christians, a lot of times we know the right answers, but let us not allow the gospel to be a series of facts tumbling around in our brains only to be let out in Bible Trivia or Sunday School class. Paul discovered the gospel and became a changed man. He devoted his life to declaring this good news everywhere he went. Abused but unashamed, because he put all his hope in the power of God to save people by revealing an imputed righteousness from God in the gospel.
Video = As we head out into the week I want to encourage you to do two things. 1) Do not be ashamed of the Gospel. Ask God for opportunities to share this great news because everyone…everyone needs it. 2) Just give him praise and glory this week. When you get a free moment, lift up a prayer or a song or a simple thank you as you consider the greatness of the gospel.
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[1]Tan, P. L. (1996, c1979). Encyclopedia of 7700 illustrations : A treasury of illustrations, anecdotes, facts and quotations for pastors, teachers and Christian workers. Garland TX: Bible Communications.
[2]Mounce, R. H. (2001, c1995). Vol. 27: Romans (electronic ed.). Logos Library System; The New American Commentary (70). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
[3] The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
[4] The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
[5]Tan, P. L. (1996, c1979). Encyclopedia of 7700 illustrations : A treasury of illustrations, anecdotes, facts and quotations for pastors, teachers and Christian workers. Garland TX: Bible Communications.
[6]Tan, P. L. (1996, c1979). Encyclopedia of 7700 illustrations : A treasury of illustrations, anecdotes, facts and quotations for pastors, teachers and Christian workers. Garland TX: Bible Communications.
[7]Mounce, R. H. (2001, c1995). Vol. 27: Romans (electronic ed.). Logos Library System; The New American Commentary (73). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.