What is the gospel to you? Would you say you believe in it? Chances are pretty good that, if you’re reading this, you would say you do. But let me ask you a few questions:
- Do you find yourself feeling anxious about your life events, both big and small?
- Do you often fixate on what others think of you and act in a way to gain their approval?
- Do you compare yourself with others, thinking they are either better or worse than you?
If you answered “yes” to any of the above questions, you may not believe the gospel in the way you ought to. It starts with seeing the gospel as much more than the doctrine of salvation. The gospel tells us that, through faith in Jesus Christ, we are made right with God through the death and resurrection of Jesus, and are given an inheritance to his eternal kingdom. If we stop there though, we fail to understand the gospel for all that it truly is.
The power of the Gospel does not stop at salvation for our eternal life, but extends to the salvation of our entire life. Belief in this gospel is not a one-time decision we make to give us eternal security; rather, it is an ongoing expression of our persistent need for Jesus.
So, what do the three questions have to do with this?
In his book You Can Change, Tim Chester makes the claim that beneath every sinful behavior or negative emotion is a failure to believe a truth about God and the gospel. To better understand what he means, let’s use the first question as an example.
In many cases, feeling anxious about our life circumstances is a failure to believe the truth that 1) God is all powerful 2) he is loving or 3) both. Our false belief may be that God can’t control the struggles we are facing (God is not powerful). Or, if he is powerful, he doesn’t care enough about us to act on our behalf (God is not loving).
However, those beliefs stand in stark contrast with what the gospel says. The Gospel at its most basic level relays these truths about God which are that Jesus came down and received the punishment we deserve so that he could have a relationship with us (God is loving). It also tells that, in doing so, Jesus overcame Satan, defeated sin, and conquered death (God is powerful).
When we allow this good news to inform our beliefs, it will then affect the way in which we live our lives. Our job in all this is to believe. Believe God is who he says he is. Believe that the gospel is not only the good news for your future, but good news for your past and present.
So, I’ll ask you again, what is the gospel to you?
