Three Things People Believe About the Gospel
by Kim Findlay
Tuesday - 6.1.21
A friend died this week.
He was healthy, kind, compassionate, and loved Jesus with his entire being. He not only loved Jesus, but he also took everything Jesus said seriously and lived it out. He died while on a mission trip in Brazil, doing what he wanted to do and what he was called to do.
We met while working at a church in the Midwest back in the early 2000s. I came from education; he came from missions. I learned a lot from him —not only through our conversations and working together but by watching him. I watched as he lived out his life proclaiming the good news about Jesus to the literal ends of the earth.
Maybe you know someone like this —someone you look at and witness the depth of love they not only have for Jesus but for people. They seem to ooze the gospel as they take seriously the command Jesus made to make disciples of all nations.
So, what do they know?
First, they know we have a problem —and it’s real. The Bible calls this problem sin and describes what happens in the book of Genesis soon after God created everything. Sin infected people and the world and destroyed people and people’s relationship to God (Isaiah 59:2).
We can try to minimize sin’s effect or pretend it doesn’t exist or isn’t as bad as it’s made out to be (that’s the issue Paul was addressing at the beginning of Romans 3) —but we’re wrong. Paul writes, “For everyone has sinned, we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.” (Romans 3:23)
God, as Creator, set the standard for living. God, as Creator, gets to make the rules and guidelines. Scripture is clear that we fall short. Take a few minutes to page through the Old Testament, and you will see story after story of God’s chosen people falling short of holy living.
But there’s good news —the gospel proclaims that while we were still sinners, God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to take the punishment for sin that we deserved (Romans 5:8). What is that punishment? Paul tells us in Romans 6:23 that the punishment is death, but that’s not the end.
This is the good news my friend knew and proclaimed —through God’s kindness and faithfulness, He made a way to accomplish what His justice demands: through Jesus. “Yet God, in underserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sin. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin.” (Romans 3:24-25a)
God set the standard for holiness and righteous living, and then, because He is kind and compassionate yet fair and just, He met that standard through Jesus, and there’s not a single thing we can do to deserve it nor earn it.
Now that’s good news!
There used to be an analogy describing the chasm that divides us and God where someone was told to imagine a person standing at the edge of the Atlantic wanting to get to England. The analogy goes on to say that we can try to jump, run, even swim, but we’d never make it to the other side.
The problem with this is that the reality of our state isn’t that we can’t do enough but that we’re dead. (Ephesians 2:1) And dead people can’t do anything. Only God can bring life from death.
This is what people like my friend understood about the gospel —and this is what people believed…by faith.
This is the part that challenges me —I don’t fully know how God did this. I don’t fully understand the specifics of what happened when Jesus hung on the cross and paid the penalty I deserve. I don’t fully understand how, in my sinful state, God sees not my lack of righteousness but because I believe in His Son —He sees Jesus’ righteousness.
I don’t know how it works; God doesn’t ask us to understand how. He calls me and you to believe. (Romans 3:25b) What Paul writes about in Romans 3 is true. By faith, I can choose to believe that God loves me and He loves you. We sin and cannot fix the problem of sin on our own. By faith, we believe that God, through His grace and mercy, made a way for us to be rescued from the penalty we actually deserve. By faith, we believe that Jesus paid the ultimate price reconciling us to His Father.
And this, as my friend’s life declared, is definitely good news!
Call to Action
Pray, read and reflect on these scriptures this week:
Reflections
What is your understanding of sin? Do you ever downplay its effect in your life?
Have you ever put your faith in Jesus, believing He paid the price for your sin? Why or why not?
What is your response to this statement: We are saved by grace alone, through Christ alone, by faith alone.
How would you describe the gospel to someone who doesn’t go to church? How is it good news for them?
