The Gospel Truth

The “gospel truth” is a common expression used to affirm that whatever is being said is as true as true can be; it should be accepted and promoted as infallible truth. Yet in my black and white mind, truth is truth; there are no degrees of it as implied by this expression.

This morning’s verse is “So, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also” (Romans 1:15). Paul writes this to the church in Rome and to us, revealing his wholehearted commitment to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with anyone and everyone. However, as Paul found out, and as all Christians discover, many people might easily believe something called “the gospel truth” but will not believe the truth of the gospel.

My dictionary says that the gospel is the message concerning Christ, the kingdom of God, and salvation. That hardly begins to give the entire description. In fact, it takes all sixty-six books of the Bible to declare it.

The best I can say is that the gospel is God’s message to us of His grace. God the Son came to earth as a man, still fully God but also fully man. He lived and ministered for three years, doing good and healing the sick, giving much evidence that He was no mere man. Then He was crucified, buried, and after three days rose from the dead, all this to atone for our sin and redeem sinners from their bondage to sin through faith in Him. This faith puts believers into the family of God and the kingdom of God. We are saved from the penalty of sin, are being saved from the power of sin, and have His assurance of full deliverance from it in heaven. Those who believe in Christ are indwelt by Him and have His life — eternal life.

The gospel can scarcely be put in few words, yet combined with the power of the Holy Spirit to open the eyes and hearts of those in bondage to sin, the gospel is the power of God to save sinners. It reveals the very heart of God and His saving grace. It also reveals that mankind is lost in sin and without the gospel doomed to life here and life forever without God, separated from Him by sin.

I understand why the gospel offends. No one wants to be told they are sinful and unacceptable to God. No one wants to hear that they cannot do anything to please God or save themselves. We all need Jesus, but a proud heart resists needing anyone or anything, never mind a Jewish carpenter who, in their mind, is only a common cuss word.

I also understand why the gospel is the power of God, mostly because it saved me. I have been delivered from sin, not that I never sin but that God no longer holds that against me. He put my sin on Christ and I am forgiven. I sit here and marvel at the “gospel truth” and the reality of that freedom. I am free to worship and love the Lord God, not because of anything I have done but because Jesus saved me.

And I also understand why Paul was ready to give his life for the gospel. He too knew its saving power, but he also knew that no matter how many people rejected his message, or even persecuted him for delivering it, he was safe in the care of God and unconcerned. No matter what happened to him, his eternity was guaranteed — and that also is the gospel truth.