Early this morning during a haircut, my barber asked me what my plans were for the day. I told him that I'd be studying most of the morning, and I had counseling appointments throughout the afternoon. When he asked me what I was studying, I said, "The book of Jonah. You know the story of Jonah, right?" He said, "No." I said, "You're kidding me. I thought everybody knew the story of Jonah -- you know, the prophet of God that got swallowed by a huge fish." At that point my barber said, "Oh, yeah, I think maybe I heard a story like that." He then yelled over to one of his colleagues and said, "Have you ever heard the story of Jonah?" "Nope," she said.
At that point a customer broke in and said to them, "You know the story of Moby Dick? It's basically the same thing."
Jonah is one of the most famous stories in the Bible. So I naturally thought that most people had heard about it, even non-religious folks. But, clearly, I was mistaken.
We can make the same mistake when it comes to the term "gospel." Many folks have probably never heard of the term. And many who have don't know its meaning. So it's important to clarify exactly what the gospel is. That's what Mark Dever does in his book, The Gospel & Personal Evangelism.
The word "gospel" literally means "good message" or "good news." So the term itself conveys something positive and encouraging! The problem is that many people are confused about what the "good news" is, even when they hear the expression "the good news of Jesus Christ." For this reason, Dever explains what the gospel is not:
- The Good News is not simply that we are okay. The Bible teaches that our first parents, Adam and Eve, disobeyed God -- and they passed on that sin nature to us, as well as the consequences of sin: death. Not just physical death (the separation of soul and body), but also spiritual death (the separation of us from God). We are sinners by nature and by choice. To "sin" means literally "to miss the mark" or "to transgress." The fact is, none of us measure up to God's standard of perfection. We have all rebelled against him and transgressed his commands. Our sins separate us from God, who is utterly holy. Therefore, we are not okay!
- The Good News is not simply that God is love. The statement "God is love" is certainly true. The problem is that many people have a distorted view of God's love, and they ignore his other attributes, such as his holiness, righteousness, justice, etc. In fact, Scripture says, "Without holiness, no one will see the Lord" (Heb. 12:14). The fact is, God requires holiness of all who would be in a loving relationship with him. So, yes, God is love -- but he's also a whole lot more.
- The Good News is not simply that we should live rightly. The gospel is not about cleaning up our lives. It's not about mere moral reform. The fact is, we can never be good enough to get to heaven. Because we are by our very nature sinners, we are unable to satisfy God's righteous demands. Only one human ever did that: Jesus Christ. He lived the perfect life we never could. He was punished in our place. He rose from the dead, thus proving that God the Father had accepted his sacrifice for all who would repent and rely on Christ alone for salvation. The following stanza from Augustus Toplady's hymn Rock of Ages sums up the matter well: "Not the labor of my hands can fulfill Thy law's demands. Could my zeal no respite know, could my tears forever flow, all for sin could not atone. Thou must save, and Thou alone."
- The Good News is not simply that Jesus wants to be our friend. His earthly mission was to rescue us, not merely to befriend us. Speaking in reference to himself, Jesus declared, "The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45). We are born to live; Jesus was born to die. "For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God" (1 Peter 3:18). "So," as Mark Dever plainly states,
Christ isn't just our friend. To call him supremely that is to damn him with faint praise. He is our friend, but he is so much more! By his death on the cross Christ has become the lamb that was slain for us, our redeemer, the one who has made peace between us and God, who has taken our built on himself, who has conquered our most deadly enemies and has assuaged the personal, just wrath of God.
As you can see, it's important that we're clear on what the gospel is, and what it is not.
If you were to summarize the gospel in a minute or less, what would you say? This is a question I typically ask people who want to become members of our church. Their answer says a lot about their understanding of the gospel. If I were asked that question, I'd say something like this:
The word gospel means "good news" -- a message that God has made known to us through Scripture. In fact, in a very real sense, the Bible is God's love letter to humanity. The Bible tells us everything we need to know about God and about ourselves. God, who is holy, made us in his image so that we could truly know and love him. But we sinned against God and became separated from him as a result. Yet because of his great love, God sent his one and only Son Jesus to rescue us from our sin. Jesus, as the God-man, is the one great mediator between God and man. He lived a perfect life and died on the cross for our sins, taking the punishment we deserved. He then rose from the dead, showing that God accepted his sacrifice for all who would repent and trust in him alone for salvation. Those who do so are forgiven of their sins and granted eternal life. By trusting in Christ, they become born again and begin a new life-giving relationship with God that will never end.
Try to summarize the gospel in your own words -- simple statements that take no more than a minute to say. Repeat it to yourself often so that (1) you are reminded of your great salvation, and (2) you're ready to share it with others when opportunities arise.
Now that we know what the gospel is, tomorrow we'll consider how to present it.