Gospel.

Christ died for our sins and rose from the dead so that we can be justified (declared righteous) in the presence of a holy God. This is the gospel. This is the message the Church must preach/teach/live. The gospel (and nothing else) is the power of God that brings salvation. The gospel (and nothing else) is our message.

>If you have your Bible (and I hope you do), please turn with me to 1 Timothy 1:

1 Timothy 1:3–11 NIV

3 As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer 4 or to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. Such things promote controversial speculations rather than advancing God’s work—which is by faith. 5 The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. 6 Some have departed from these and have turned to meaningless talk. 7 They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm. 8 We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. 9 We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, 10 for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine 11 that conforms to the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me.

Before anything else happens, before Timothy does anything else, Paul urges him to:

Guard the Gospel

Paul gets right to the meat of the letter, right to the issue at hand. He jumps right into Timothy’s pastoral assignment. Timothy is a young pastor serving in Ephesus—a large city with a bunch of different issues facing the church there—gnosticism, paganism, pluralism. The biggest issue facing the believers in Ephesus is false teaching, the promotion of false doctrine.

Paul is preoccupied with making sure the gospel—the good news about Jesus—is preached and that all other teaching, every different teaching (heterodidaskaleo) is guarded against.

The word there at the end of verse 3 (heterodidaskaleo) some think Paul might have coined. He likely invented this compound word and used it to describe any teaching other than the gospel of Jesus Christ. To translate it literally, it’s different teaching. And any teaching in the church that is not the biblical gospel is false teaching. So whether your Bible translation reads false doctrines, different doctrine, no other doctrine, or strange doctrine, the point is clear: any teaching that isn’t the gospel (be it gospel-lite or gospel-plus)—any teaching that isn’t the gospel is false.

In the church, there need to be different methods used throughout the ages, but the teaching must be consistent, unchanged, un-tampered with; the teaching—the only teaching—that belongs in the church is the gospel.

There’s so much teaching that can easily creep into the church without our noticing. It might not seem like that big of a deal, but when we let our guard down, we pave the way for a lot of false teaching.

About 5-6 years ago, some of the curriculum that we ordered for our Sunday School classes turned out to be little more than moralism: “Be nice to your sister.” “Share your toys.” “Don’t lie.” All of those are fine lessons, but divorced from the gospel, it’s merely behavior modification and works-based, savior-less theology.

So we trashed that curriculum (the only place for it) and started using The Gospel Project where every lesson is tied to and finds its application in the Crucified and Risen Lord.

We’ve had to scratch some special-event guest speakers due to theological liberalism and lack of Biblical orthodoxy. The elders make sure that people who have no business speaking in our church and from our pulpit don’t. Because the gospel’s at stake.

We have dis-invited and/or kept people from coming to speak/preach/teach here and we’ll do it again, because the gospel is too precious and because we love you too much to let you listen to garbage, to let you listen to teaching that’s different from (and therefore contrary to) the gospel. It won’t happen. Over our dead bodies.

When Paul writes his second letter to Timothy, he anticipates a time coming when:

2 Timothy 4:3–4 NIV

3 For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

This is true in every time, but certainly in ours. There’s no end to the stories of churches who have started to cater their teaching to the culture around them, capitulating on key doctrines, vacillating between truth and error. And boy, do they draw a crowd. Tell people what they want to hear, eliminate any mention of sin and depravity, throw in a few programs for children and teens, and you might just end up with 15,000-20,000 people attending every week and get to build yourself an 80 million dollar sanctuary (that’s a real thing, less than 70 miles from here).

It’s so important for the pastor/elder to guard the gospel because people are so tempted turn away from the gospel. The Church needs pastors and elders who are committed to this task.

Mark Dever (a pastor in Washington, D.C.), when asked to describe the pastor’s responsibilities, responded: “Teach and pray, love and stay.”

That’s a good summation of the pastor/elder’s calling. Paul urges Timothy (v. 3) to stay there in Ephesus, hard as it is, as many issues as the church has, stay there and teach, commanding certain persons to stop teaching different/false doctrine.

Paul knows the church needs someone (or a group of someones) to help keep it on the right track, because false doctrines, myths, and genealogies do not advance God’s work; only the gospel does that. If it’s not the gospel, all it amounts to meaningless talk.

The summons is clear, as David Platt puts it: “Address anything and everything that pulls people away from the gospel.”

There is so much that pulls people away from the gospel. It can even look and sound religious.

In Timothy’s day, false teachers in Ephesus were taking extrabiblical writings (writings not in Scripture)—stories and myths about different Old Testament figures, and they were using them to add to God’s Word. When we reach 1 Timothy 4, we’ll see that the same false teachers were teaching that you shouldn’t get married and that you shouldn’t eat certain foods.

They were putting rules and regulations on God’s people that are not found in God’s Word. That’s always a problem.

I could point a finger at my childhood friends from fundamentalist Baptist churches and their “No dancing. No card games. Don’t drink, smoke, or chew or go with girls who do.” But we aren’t without our extrabiblical rules and regulations, are we?

It’s a really good practice to sit down and list out all your beliefs, all the religious rules and regulations you observe and then open your Bible to see if there’s any biblical basis for what you believe and for how you operate. If there’s not, stop it.

What we must never do is add to God’s law (extrabiblical myths, stories, rules, regulations) or believe that the law saves.

False teachers in Ephesus, along with others in the first century, were teaching that obedience to the law, even some extrabiblical laws, could help someone earn the favor of God. This kind of teaching has been going on since the first century and it’s proclamation is loud and proud today.

The idea is that by doing certain works—following certain rules or certain laws—you can earn God’s favor. This runs completely counter to the biblical gospel. Any time we try to add to God’s gracious work in the gospel, we pervert it.

You’re not saved by grace through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ AND your obedience and good works. You’re saved by grace through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, period. It’s not “Gospel+”; it’s “Gospel.”

The law of God is good if one uses it properly; the law of God has a purpose: the law restrains sin (like speed limit signs; they don’t keep everyone from speeding, but they keep most people from speeding out of control most of the time). The law is a boundary. The law also shows God’s condemnation of the sinner; when we break the law, it becomes a testimony against us. And the law shows God’s will for the saved, shows us how to honor God with our lives—how to love Him and our neighbor.

More than anything, though, the law, when used properly shows us that we are all in desperate need of the gospel. The law can’t save us; in fact, it reveals how poor we truly are. We need the gospel—the good news of what God has done in Christ. We must guard the gospel with all we have.

1 Timothy 1:12–14 NIV

12 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service. 13 Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. 14 The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

We must also, alongside our guarding the gospel, take time to:

Celebrate the Gospel

Paul shares his testimony, his personal encounter with the gospel. His is an incredible story, though no more incredible than yours. He tells his story, what God has done in Christ, and it wells-up to triumphant praise, to a beautiful doxology.

The man who blasphemed the God of grace was met with grace from God; the persecutor of the faith was gifted faith from God; the man who was marked by violence, God showered with love.

There is something unbelievably poetic about Paul’s life. He was this (blasphemer, persecutor, a violent man), and now, by the transforming power of the gospel, he is this (made new, redeemed, an apostle, a pastor/elder).

There’s a similar poetry to your life, Christian. By God’s grace and mercy, you heard the gospel of Jesus Christ (the only way anyone becomes a Christian); the Holy Spirit drew you to the Lord, convicted you of sin. You once were this; now, you are this. There’s a very clear before-and-after in each Christian’s life. It’s unmissable. You have been brought from death to life.

Like Paul, you could say: The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

Paul realizes he’s a sinner and celebrates the truth that Jesus saves sinners. In one of the most succinct gospel explanations, worthy of our reflection and memorization, Paul celebrates:

1 Timothy 1:15 NIV

15 Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.

Jesus came to live the life we could not live, to die the death we deserved to die, to rise in victory over enemies we could not conquer—sin and death.

There is no greater or mind-bending wonder in all of history, and yet Paul tells us this is true; it’s trustworthy and it deserves full acceptance.

There are many people who think there’s no way God would ever save them. They say, “I’ve done too much wrong. I’ve hated Him. I’ve turned against Him. I’ve fought against Him at every point in my life.”

If you think you’re beyond the mercy of God, just look at Paul: persecutor turned pastor, murderer turned missionary.

God loves you and He beckons sinners like you to believe in Him for eternal life. No matter who you are or what you’ve done, these words are true: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.

When’s the last time we celebrated the gospel? Like really celebrated? We jump up and down when the Chiefs win or when the Royals win (not a lot of jumping for the Royals this year, though).

When’s the last time you celebrated the gospel, that Jesus came to save you, a sinner? Celebrating what God has done isn’t hyper-religious; celebrating what God has done in Christ for each one of us is what it is to be a Christian.

I don’t think we necessarily need to throw a party to celebrate, but we do need to share with others the wonder of our salvation and the praise we owe our Savior.

Paul knows why he was shown mercy:

1 Timothy 1:16 NIV

16 But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life.

Paul’s an example of God’s great patience. We are, each one, an example of God’s grace and mercy, His love and patience, so that the glory of Christ would be displayed through us to those who would believe. Our stories differ, but they have the same bottom line: Christ’s work, saving this sinner, is meant to be an example of Christ’s mercy and grace to a lost and dying world.

We must leverage our stories, our personal examples, into praise and celebration. We celebrate Him, as Paul does—

1 Timothy 1:17 NIV

17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Paul has urged Timothy (in person and now in writing) to guard the gospel. Paul has shared with Timothy (and with us) part of his testimony, celebrating the gospel. And now Paul gives young Timothy this charge:

1 Timothy 1:18–20 NIV

18 Timothy, my son, I am giving you this command in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by recalling them you may fight the battle well, 19 holding on to faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and so have suffered shipwreck with regard to the faith. 20 Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme.

Fight for the Gospel

Timothy must engage in battle for the sake of the truth. This is what Paul wants for his son in the faith, his dear friend and fellow-worker, Timothy.

Paul gives him this command; in military contexts this word conveys a sense of urgent obligation. It was urgent in Timothy’s day to fight for the gospel. It’s just as urgent today, here and now, in Rich Hill, Missouri to fight for the gospel.

What is the good fight? A defense of the revealed truth of God against those who would deny it or distort it, and to demolish strongholds of error. It’s to engage in a dangerous and difficult fight, which demands spiritual weapons, especially the sword of the the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Ephesians 6:11–17 NIV

11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

There are people—men and women—who, as Paul has already warned about, teach a different doctrine. They are false teachers. Paul names a few of them here in 1 Timothy: Hymenaeus and Alexander. What they are teaching is not the gospel. They have turned away to a different teaching.

Part of fighting for the gospel is holding onto faith and a good conscience personally. The other part of fighting for the gospel is standing for the truth in our churches.

When Paul says that he has handed over [Hymenaeus and Alexander] to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme, it’s a clear picture of church discipline and excommunication.

These two men were cast out of the church to show the severity of false teaching and false doctrine; they were thrown out with the hope and prayer that they would realize their error and turn to Christ.

Paul is telling Timothy (and by the preservation and inspiration of this word by the Holy Spirit, telling us): “You and the church must take drastic measures as you fight for the gospel.”

Whatever we do, in everything we do, we must hold onto the gospel. It’s the only message that unites the church, and it alone will sustain God’s people in difficult days.

Guard the Gospel. Celebrate the Gospel. Fight for the Gospel.

The gospel is worth guarding, worth celebrating, worth fighting for. And so we stand, shoulder-to-shoulder, fitted in the armor of God, and we fight. We don’t shrink back. We don’t run from the church when it’s hard, but neither do we remain silent in the face of teaching contrary to the gospel.

It’s each of our task, to guard, to celebrate, to fight for the gospel. This is our message. This is is our song. This is what we proclaim—Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.