Sunday is for Series: Gospel Basics: What's the Gospel & Its Implications
The gospel is both one thing and many things.
It is delightfully simple, and also staggeringly profound. As Christians, we are called to know and proclaim this gospel to others. As leaders, we are called to model this truth and instruct others how to profess their faith in Christ in real and relatable way. Key to these tasks is understanding what the gospel actually is: how do we define it? How do we live it out?
In this blog, I want to present a series that focuses on gospel basics. We will look at gospel definitions, the gospel presentation, and even elements of the gospel lived out toward others.
Gospel Definition
First, we must start at the very beginning. When I initially came to faith in Christ as a young man, I knew to put my faith in Christ, to believe in Him, but it was some time before I understood the full implications of the gospel and could fully explain the gospel within the framework of a meta-narrative. The gospel is not just a telling of one specific act of God’s grace, but the recitation of what is, in fact, the focus of all of history.
In this post, Gospel Definitions, I review some very basic but also helpful definitions of the “gospel.” With the help of Acts29, Matt Chandler, D.A. Carson, and others, I end the article with my own definition of the gospel, and a challenge for you to think through what the gospel means.
Once we have an understanding of "what" the gospel is, it is helpful to think through how we can communicate the gospel with clarity. This leads me to my next post.
Clarifying the Gospel
Once we come to a clear intellectual understanding of what the gospel is and how to define it, we need to focus how to best communicate this definition to others.
In this post, Defining/Clarifying the Gospel, I shift the focus to my friend Daniel Montgomery, Pastor of Sojourn Community Church in Louisville, KY. I include a link to a video Daniel entitled called, Gospel 101. Daniel models clarity and concision in his gospel explanation.
Now, we have looked at defining the gospel, and how to explain it, I know want to draw out attention to living it out. Which leads us to our final post…
Living out the Gospel's Implications: Being a Neighbor
Often, if you look hard enough, you can find examples of gospel living where you least expect it. If we define the gospel, in part as, “love [which] is more extravagant than we can measure,” then part of living gospel out is displaying the same kind of love to others. Jesus makes it clear that we are to love God first, with our heart, soul and mind, [the gospel] and to love our neighbor as ourselves [our mission.] so how do you express this newly defined gospel?
In my post, 10 Ways to Love Your Neighbor I drew attention to an organization called Apartment Life. Apartment life seeks to effect life change in lives of people who are, appropriately enough, living in apartment complexes around the country. But these 10 methods they provide, are an effective blueprint for great commission living. For we learn from James, that a gospel without works, is no gospel at all, and our faith without works is dead.
So as Christians, it is important to know what we believe, and why we believe it. Know the basics of the gospel, be able to define it clearly if called upon, and then live that gracious love out before others, serving them in word and deed.
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