I love the word gospel.
I got to witness to a lady today, last name Taylor, and just free-verse flowed.
I think God was in it.
I mentioned there’s five parts to the gospel.
Number one, we all agree, is God.
The gospel is crystal clear.
There are only five thoughts.
- God
- Me
- Separation
- Solution
- Activation
We recognize truth by its simplicity.
The nature of truth is simple.
Confusion and complexity are normally indicators that something is not quite true.
The gospel core is simple.
We cannot overstate the simplicity.
None of these five core concepts can be removed or replaced.
Otherwise, the result … is not the gospel.
There is a God.
That’s number one.
God is the foundation of why the gospel exists.
Without Him, nothing exists.
Second, I.
Why am I in the gospel?
Because I’m a sinner.
Proverbs 20 verse 9.
“Who can say, I have made my heart clean?
I am pure from my sin?”
Question mark.
Long pause.
There’s no answer.
There is a massive difference of distance between me and God.
That’s what makes Him God.
This distance is called sin.
Any shortcoming; we all fall short.
Any falling-short of complete 100% full glory of God is sin.
I cannot be or become God.
That would shortchange the equation and “fix it all”.
It’s just not possible.
That fact means I must be different than God.
Because I am different than God, I then qualify as a sinner, which means a non-God.
[If you’re God, you need no solution, no salvation.]
However, sin is a defect.
I am naturally defective.
I am not naturally 100% holy like God.
I am not naturally 100% pure.
I am not naturally 100% fearless.
I am not naturally 100% God.
There are imperfections in my nature.
These become more abundantly obvious the longer I stare into the face of the One true God.
As I recognize His attributes, I see a glaring difference between Him and myself.
When Isaiah fully got a vision of the Lord in chapter 6 of his book, he said, “I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up.
Then said I, Woe is me, for I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips.
For mine eyes have seen the King, [he realized, I’m not the King.]
Mine eyes have seen the Lord of hosts, [which, that’s not me.]
This world loves confusing God with self …
to eliminate the need for the gospel.
We need no gospel if we are God.
We need no rescue plan if we are the rescuer.
A self-savior is no story.
There’s no headline.
That’s no movie.
Where is the great news in me saving myself?
Pause.
Why are you harping on the gospel?
Well, sir, …
You have your own harp.
You get to play your own notes.
Strum your own guitar.
This guy thinks the gospel is phenomenal enough to think about it every day.
Should a whole day go by without me thanking God?
And what should I thank Him for then?
… if not the gospel.
Let’s back it up and run from the top.
The gospel is simple.
And from simplicity grows beauty.
We could summarize the gospel down to just
One word: Savior.
We could fit the gospel into
Two words: Jesus saves!
We could say the gospel neatly inside
Three words: Believe on Christ.
What are the core elements of this gospel?
The gospel must contain God.
If no God, then no good news.
The Gospel next includes a nemesis:
Me.
The arch enemy.
The one diametrically opposed to the Hero.
I am that problem child.
The prodigal.
The wanderer.
The sheep gone astray.
The lost one.
The self-centered zero.
The Fearful and Unbelieving.
If there was no problem, there could be no solution.
The good news is most appreciated when bad news is most probable.
And I am that bad news.
Here’s the elements of the gospel in order.
- God (complete purity)
- Me (quite impure)
- Separation (reasonable consequence)
Two things that are not the same deserve to be separated.
God and I are separated.
We start off different.
We each have different natures, unique identities.
We are not unified from the start.
We have fallen short of divine expectations.
But God planned for that and provided a Solution.
See, God is God.
This is the gospel.
I am not God.
This is the gospel.
This presents a problem.
A glorious dilemma.
This distance separates us.
There’s a cataclysmic chasm between us.
There’s a massive canyon gap separating me from Him.
We have unresolvable differences.
See, God is most pure in His attitude, His approach, His spirit, His understanding, His actions.
Everything is a hundred percent awesome.
That’s not me.
I simply cannot achieve God-level status.
And if you think you can, let’s talk to your family.
So God … me = separation.
Number four: Solution (Savior)
Someone’s got to fix the problem, right?
So we like to skip ahead to point number four, don’t we?
Because we’re all humans.
We like the finish line.
Just tell me how it turns out.
Okay.
The Savior is not so great if He’s not saving us from something cataclysmic.
The Savior’s not a hero unless there’s pending peril.
The Savior must be selfless.
He must be willing.
He must be capable.
The Savior must be honorable; willing to follow through.
He must be qualified to do the thing.
He must be clean Himself to rescue the filthy.
He must be strong.
He must endure opposition.
He must overcome insurmountable odds.
He must do something magnificent.
He must exert proper power.
He must do the unimaginable.
He must become altogether … us, to pay our way.
Why Calvary?
To magnify the magnificence of the salvation effort.
It took a lot of effort.
Why Eternal Damnation and the Lake of Fire?
Because that’s the measure of God’s love for me.
God loves me through hell and back.
God’s love is timeless, everlasting.
God’s love knows no boundaries.
God loves me to the utmost measure.
God loves me beyond words.
“How much do you love me, dear God?”
And He said, “Crucifixion.”
“Prove that you really love me enough to save me, God.”
And He responds, “My soul will be dipped into the deepest hell on your behalf.
I will experience everything you deserve for your sin because I want to be your Savior.”
And that’s what a Savior does.
That’s pretty powerful.
Leaves me speechless, spiritually and romantically overwhelmed.
Then, number five, Do something about it!
Good news not acted upon is stale, dusty, pointless, boring.
Receive and believe this good news.
Intake the oxygen and the light into your system.
Take a scooping huge spoonful of faith in the gospel.
You see it, you know it, you can smell it, now taste it.
Intake.
Embrace.
Bible says, “With the heart man believeth unto [exchanging] righteousness.”
It’s implied.
I’m exchanging my garbage and I receive His glory.
That’s an impossible exchange.
Only possible through the best news ever.
I am totally unworthy, but …
through a transformational transaction, I receive worthiness in the eyes of God.
That’s a deal.
You get to unshoulder your burdened backpack at the cross and let Christ hug you.
You must activate personally the gospel.
You have free will, you have choice, you have intellect, you understand the truth, now just make it yours.
Let’s finish the gospel.
Allow the gospel to matter.
Finish the movie.
You know God already.
You know enough about God, right?
You know yourself.
That’s a problem.
You know you and God are different, and that difference has consequences.
The consequences are massive, and you know the rescue plan.
Now receive Him gladly.
Mark 12:37 said, “And the common people heard Him [Jesus] gladly.”
How did you hear Him?
Were you glad?
Those who have the gospel then herald the gospel.
Those who have truly received the gospel deliver the same gospel almost daily.
Do something about it!
That’s point five.
Do you have Christ inside?
Is He bursting forth on the outside?
Do you have the glow of God all over your face?
If you’re happy and you know it, can anyone tell?
Is the gospel part of you?
There are many “four-point people”.
They only have the first four points.
Four-point people walking around on earth.
They know all of the first four points, but they refuse to press the activation button.
They rebel against simple faith in God.
See, faith in the gospel … unlocks the door.
Faith opens the gate to all that God has to offer.
Faith is the entrance into eternal life.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved.
Doesn’t that sound amazing?
Don’t you want that?
Once you got it, it gets you.
Once you know Him, you show Him, you glow Him.
“If any man love God, the same [fact] is known of Him.”
What does this mean?
You cannot hide your hatred, disdain, or love for God.
Everybody knows you know Him.
How well you know Him?
How often you talk about Him?
See, our intake equals outflow.
Intake … outflow.
We cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.
The gospel is simply what God did for me and how I received it.
How I received it.
I activated it.
Point five.
Calvinism is corruption.
You activate God in the gospel.
You embrace the truth.
You do it.
You don’t wait for some magical bonk on the head.
You don’t have Unavoidable Indwelling.
God asks you kindly to believe.
That’s an act of your will.
It’s super simple.
It’s harder to avoid God than it is to just say, okay.
What are the five parts of the gospel?
- You got to have the right God.
- A proper view of myself as a sinner,
- Acknowledging the obvious consequence that my sin rightly deserves,
- Recognizing only one possible Savior exists.
There’s no other solution for this equation.
God set it up so that He’s the exclusive Resolution for this puzzle.
- Then number five, activate the plan.
Believe and receive.
Do not stop short with knowledge.
Let your heart act.
Do not add or subtract anything to the simple four-point message.
Do not procrastinate.
Receive.
And then you’ll breathe, you’ll experience the new birth, and then you’ll have to tell somebody.
That’s all.
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