The Gospel

Up until this point in all of my posts I have discussed controversial topics in the Christian church, but in my final post I hope to focus on one thing that the Body of Christ can agree on, and that is the Gospel.

Titus 2:11-14
11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

Titus 3:4-74 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died for you. He died to bring you salvation. He made himself uncomfortable, so that you can be comfortable for eternity. If you are a Christian you have heard this more times than you can count, and if you're a non-Christian I'm sure that your skull has been bashed in by many well-meaning, but rather untactful, Christians with verses like John 3:16 a multitude of times.

If you are a Christian, then I have one warning for you. The gospel is not the abc's of Christianity. No, it is the a-z's. Everything hinges upon Jesus Christ and his death burial and resurrection. All of the theology that I have discussed up until this point mean absolutely nothing if Christ was not raised from the dead. The importance of modesty, the Holy Spirit, judgment and predestination are only found in light of the gospel, and it is under that light that they must be seen. Do not raise the importance of what you believe about any of those things to the level of the gospel, because it is only in the gospel's light that they have any value or precedence.

If you are not a Christian I do not ask anything from you, only God can. I do not believe in my wildest imaginations that any weak and whimsical words I may write could change your mind. I do not believe that you will be persuaded to believe in God because someone tries to warn you with fire and brimstone.

What I want you to realize though, is that while you may not believe in God, something or someone is the object of your worship. Whatever it is you worship, whether it be money, a significant other or sex, they will let you down. There is only one person in existence that truly deserves your worship, and he died for you. He died so that you would see the false idols that you cling to for what they really are, and that you would desire the living God.

Has God changed your life through the gospel? Feel free to share your thoughts or testimonies in the comments below.