Gospel Details 2

[joseph]

Week 4 – Gospel details

Churchy words and bible verses don’t always resonate with non churchy
people at first, but when the proper words, found in relevant
scripture texts, are learned and understood, they solidify faith in a
way that generic words and bible concepts can never do. This teaching
is about a few key words and a few key scripture texts that solidify
the gospel.

So far we have talked about fallen human nature, sin, law, judgment,
and gospel. How are those words described and understood in the real
world by non churchy people?

- Lives that are screwed up
- Mistakes made
- Hurts received
- Tragedy experienced
- Loneliness, depression, sickness, discontent, failure
- Love, friendship, gifts, talking, listening


When real people find themselves in difficult real life situations,
they need real solutions. Sometimes we want to skip over churchy
solutions like the gospel and get to more ‘practical” answers.
However, knowing the gospel is the most powerful relief we can offer
if we can just communicate it properly. That takes knowing the proper
words and relevant scripture references, and then being able to
communicate them in a way that people can understand.

A few key words and verses:

1) Gospel – from the Greek word, evangelion, that means “good news.”
Where we get the word evangelical and evangelize – to announce good
news.

Rom 1:1-3
Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart
for the gospel of God- the gospel he promised beforehand through his
prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son,

Gal 1:11-12
I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not
something that man made up. I did not receive it from any man, nor was
I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.

So, what is the gospel?

The gospel is not a vague, general term describing the whole belief
system of Christianity. In Galatians 1 Paul speaks of “the gospel we
preached” and the one “you accepted” referring to a specific message.
In his letter to the Corinthian church he makes the exact same charge
about “this gospel” and then goes on to actually define what this
gospel is: “For what I received I passed on to you as of first
importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to
the Scriptures, (1 Cor 15:3-4).

This description of the gospel is repeated and explained in countless
other places throughout scripture. Here are a few:

“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ
died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous
man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God
demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners,
Christ died for us.
Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we
be saved from God's wrath through him!” Rom 5:6-9

“God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement/propitiation, through
faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in
his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished-
he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be
just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.” Rom
3:25-26

“He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life
for our justification.” Rom 4:25

“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace
with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” Rms 5:1

“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might
become the righteousness of God.” 2 Cor 5:21

Propitiation – the turning away of God’s wrath. The actual word used
in Rms. 3:25, sometimes translated as “sacrifice of atonement.” What
Romans 5:9 (above) is describing. Christ absorbed God’s wrath into
himself on our behalf.

Atonement – becoming one with God. When a relationship is broken
because of an offence, a sacrifice or offering is made to cover for
the offence. If you run over your neighbor’s dog, offering a new puppy
“covers” the offence and the relationship is restored. We offended God
and couldn’t provide a sufficient cover; God provided Christ as the
“covering” for our offence and the relationship was restored - we were
made one with him.

Justification – A legal term describing the lawful way in which we
were declared “not guilty.” Not because the judge (God) was feeling
nice one day and let us slide by, but because the legal requirements
were met by Christ for our release. He stood in our place, paid our
penalty, took our punishment and we were set free, completely forgiven
and totally righteous in God’s sight.

Righteousness – in right standing with God, justified, loved,
befriended.

Therefore, “the gospel” is the specific announcement of what God has
done through the death and resurrection of Christ to justify sinners.
Once we believe and understand this message, we can communicate it to
others in words they might understand, until, like us, they learn the
details and specific words that alone can define such a wonderful
salvation.