What is the Gospel Part 3
Part 3
So how do we preach the gospel?
We saw in Part 1 that the gospel was based on God’s love for mankind and is a gift from Him. So God’s motivation must be our motivation. We must preach that God loves people, that He wants all men to be saved, that He wants no one to perish in the fires of Hell. Now there is no one way to put this across to people but this must be the emphasis.
There are essential elements of the gospel that must be conveyed to the seeker in order that they have all the information necessary to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. So as we have discovered they must be told, and believe, that:-
- Jesus fulfilled all Old Testament prophecies regarding His first coming.
- A baby was born in Bethlehem, a human being
- A descendant of King David
- Who would be a Saviour
- And would be called Christ (Anointed) the Lord (Kurios, title given to God the Messiah)
- He had an earthly mother but a heavenly Father
- His mother was a virgin, so the birth, or rather conception, was supernatural
- He would save (deliver) people from their sins
- He has the title “God with us”
- He will have many names including The mighty God and The everlasting Father
- Jesus was (and remains) God manifest in the flesh
- Jesus led a perfect sinless life, and was therefore the perfect sacrifice without spot or blemish
- Jesus laid down His life for us, no one took it from Him
- Paul tells us that God raised Him from the dead;
- He died
- Was buried and
- Rose again
- He will set up and govern a kingdom of peace
- Upon the throne of David (that is on the earth)
- Salvation is by the grace of God not through the works of the Law
- It is a gift of God because of His love for mankind
Now this looks like a long list to try to convey to someone who is seeking God, but remember how you were saved. Did you get saved the first time someone told you about Jesus or was it a road of discovery that lead you to Jesus. Was it as we read in 1 Cor 3:6, “I (Paul) planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase”. There may be many people involved in bringing a soul to the point where God can give the increase and the soul cries out to God to be saved. So don’t worry if you forget some essential part, another saint will come along and fill in what is missing.
There is no one correct way of telling people the good news.
One of the best ways of witnessing (or evangelising) is to tell your testimony; you know that off by heart – after all you were there when it happened. Practice giving your testimony to other saints so that you can convey the essential, the most important parts, in a simple manner that anyone can understand. Also bear in mind that in this day and age people’s attention spans are very limited so if you can keep it short and to the point then all the better. If a soul is interested then there will be time to put flesh on the bones and answer all their questions. If they are not interested (at that stage) then you will at least given them enough to believe on Jesus should they continue to ponder things in their heart.
Nowadays, on the whole, you will be talking to people with no Biblical background at all. So some of the aspects of the gospel that where plain and simple a generation ago may not be so now. For instance when I grew up we had a form of Christian assembly at school where the Bible would be read and hymns sung.
There would be special times at Easter and Christmas and whilst we may not have understood all the soteriological impact, we did know Jesus was born of a virgin at Christmas and died on a cross for us at Easter. We also knew that God raised Him from the dead 3 days later on what we knew as Easter Sunday and He could raise us from the dead as well. We may not have known what it meant to be born again or how sin came into the world and its impact. We may have believed evolution rather than creation. We may have been taught about other religions and not been shown the uniqueness of Christianity, but we did have some understanding that is lacking today.
So what I am saying is that to get me from unbelief to belief was a shorter journey than it will be for people you speak to today. So be patient, don’t overload people at first just give them enough that, if they did seek Jesus that day, they would have enough to believe on Him.
Try to avoid clever tactics that seem to be all the rage nowadays and make sure you have the right gospel. For instance I see on Facebook and on the street banners saying, “Repent, and believe the Gospel” Mark 1:15. Nothing wrong with that, it is scripture, but it is a gospel behind and therefore has no power to save.
I see people attacking those who wish to have, quite legally, an abortion. Is this any worse than gluttony? Do we see banners saying, “Fat people repent or face the fires of hell”. No, because a lot of us are still in that particular sin even after being saved!
A Christian may see abortion as a sin or even murder but what about the poor woman having to make the decision. It is not a “sin” to her, it is a heart-breaking decision. And it is legal. But we don’t even need to worry about the baby as it will go straight into the arms of Jesus. What would have happened if it had grown up in today’s world? Chances are it would be unsaved and destined for hell.
Be very careful that you do not condemn the unsaved – Jesus did not come to condemn (John 3:17) he came to save; if we follow Him then we follow His example.
God knows we are sinners; He died for us even while we were still in our sins. And He knows you will continue to sin and that is why it is all about His love and grace. Can you stop sinning? No. You may sin less as the Holy Spirit leads you from glory to glory and you become more like Jesus. But remember there was only one sinless and that was the Lord Himself – it will not be you!
Yes we need to tell people that Jesus died to pay the price for our sin, and that we are all sinners (you will almost certainly have to go back to the garden of Eden to explain this but keep it simple) but remember it is only our belief that will keep us from heaven or open the door to go in. If sin kept us from heaven then none of us would ever enter in, because we all sin.
There is nothing we can do about the sins we have committed in the past, all we can do is cast ourselves on the Lord, believe on Jesus and He will forgive your sins – and that will include all your future sins. When we are saved we will want to ask the Lord to forgive us for specific sins in our lives and we will repent of these, turn away from them, and when we sin again we will ask the Lord to forgive us and He will because He is just and faithful. Calvary covered it all.
But we can only repent with God’s help we cannot do it in our own strength so to ask someone to repent and then believe is putting the gospel back to front. You find it so hard to repent, turn away, even though you are saved and have the Comforter with you! How can an unsaved person possibly repent without the Holy Spirit?
Jesus’ message of repentance was to the Jews. If you read Mark 1 you will see that Jesus was preaching the gospel of the kingdom and the full quote is “Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel.’” So the gospel related to the kingdom of God, the Messianic kingdom being offered to the Jews by their Messiah. Can this gospel be preached to a gentile? Of course not, so why do people try to do it?
What did the Jews need to repent of? Their rejection of God. It is like you being convicted by the Holy Spirit of some sin after you are saved to bring you back into a correct relationship with God. The Jews were in relationship with God but they had, on the whole, backslidden. They had rejected God in many ways:-
- The temple was a den of iniquity instead of a house of prayer
- Money was being made from the buying and selling of sacrificial animals
- Usury was being practiced
- The clergy were lording it over the laity
- The commandments of men were being taught as if there were from God
Compare this with the state of the church today; do you think God is calling the church to repent of its wickedness?
So the gospel is very simple “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved”. Do not confuse the church with Israel. Do not confuse the Old covenant with the New Covenant. Do not confuse God’s dealing with the Jews and His dealing with the Church. There are many differences but here we are only dealing with the gospel, and you can see that it is very easy to get into a mess with just this subject.
Preaching the gospel in Acts
Peter, the holding gospel
Acts 2:38, repent, be baptized in the name of Jesus for the remission of sins, and receive the Holy Spirit
Acts 3:12, to the men of Israel, v 19 repent and be converted
Acts 5:31, to the high priest et al, Jesus died now resurrected to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins plus the Holy Spirit to those who obey Him
Philip, the gospel in transition
Acts 8:5, Christ preached to the Samaritans
Acts 8:12, preached the things concerning the kingdom and the name of Jesus and men and women believed and were baptized
Acts 8:17, Peter arrives and they received the gift of the Holy Spirit
Acts 8:30-40, Philip preached Christ from the OT scriptures, Eunuch told to believe that Jesus is the Son of God and be baptized
Ananias, Saul’s conversion
Acts 9:1-19, v17 receive your sight (cf John 9:41), be filled with the Holy Spirit and be baptized
Paul, first preaching
Acts 9:20, preached to the Jews that Jesus is the Son of God
Peter, Cornelius’ salvation
Acts 10:34-48, first preaching to the Gentiles, Christ crucified, died, resurrected, whoever believes in Him receives remission of sin and the Holy Spirit, be baptized
Barnabas
Acts 11:21,23, great numbers believed and turned to the Lord, Barnabas saw the grace of God
Paul, in the synagogue at Antioch
Acts 13:15-41, God has raised up a Saviour – Jesus, crucified, died raised from the dead, good news, revealed as God’s Son, through Jesus is the forgiveness of sins, by Him all that believe are justified
Peter at the Jerusalem council, getting there
Acts 15:11, we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved
Paul to the Philippian jailer
Acts 16:31, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved
Paul in Athens
Acts 17:18, he preached to them Jesus and the resurrection, some men joined him and believed
Apollos at Achaia
Acts 18:27, he helped those who had believed through grace
Paul at Ephesus
Acts 19:4, believe on Him that would come after him (John), that is on Christ Jesus
Acts 20:24, the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of God, v 27 I have declared to you the whole counsel of God
Current evangelism
Now let’s look at a current method of evangelism and see if it is biblical or not. If you type RCCR in Google you will get:-
Acronym finder: What does RCCR stand for? RCCR stands for Relate, Create, Convict, Reveal (sales methodology)
This is a secular website and the acronym is explained and where it is used – it is a sales technique. When I was in banking we used this all the time when selling loans and adding PPI to the loan. We would relate to the customer to put them at ease, talk about how nice it will be to drive that brand new car. We would then create an opening to discuss PPI by asking how they would cope with repayment if they were made redundant for instance. Then we would convict them of their need for a product to help in this situation by telling them it would be irresponsible not to. We then reveal the product PPI and get their agreement to it.
This sales technique has been copied and used to evangelise the lost. Strangely a sales technique is being used to give something away, a free gift. You don’t normally need to sell a free gift!
The main proponent of this in relation to Biblical evangelism states the following:-
“Now, it’s my observation that often the world unwittingly stumbles upon biblical principles. One area I’ve noticed this in is the area of selling. So what we’re going to do is look at the way of a salesman using the RCCR principle:
Relate, Create, Convict, Reveal, as related to us in John, chapter 4.”
By his own admission this methodology comes from the world! The method is used by salesman all over the world to gain more sales. I have used it (before I was saved) to great effect. But can the Christian learn from the world? What has the world to offer us? Are we trying to sell something or telling people about a free gift?
In discussing Biblical evangelism he states the following;
“If we aren’t aware that those who fail to repent are strangers to conversion, we are liable to think that simply “praying a sinner’s prayer” or responding to an altar call will save someone. We can ensure that we are not bringing false converts into the church by preaching biblically. That means using the Law to bring the knowledge of sin.”
Notice that his gospel is one of repentance not belief. This is an out of date gospel and has no power to save. Furthermore the Bible asks us to make disciples not converts. But more importantly we cannot bring anyone into the body of Christ – only God can give the increase.
The implication also is that anyone saying a “sinner’s prayer” or “responding to an altar call” will be a false convert. Well, I for one said a sinner’s prayer.
My heart was prepared by the preaching of the gospel, by some brave souls planting and others watering and when my heart was ready God brought me to my knees and I confessed with my mouth the Lord Jesus and I believed in my heart that God has raised Him from the dead and I was saved. I had said a simple prayer of belief in Jesus. If this is a sinner’s prayer then I said it and was saved.
But the biggest problem with this gospel is the final phrase “using the Law to bring the knowledge of sin”. Why Law with a capital L? Because it is referring to the Mosaic Law and in particular the 10 commandments. So let’s go back to the origins of the Mosaic Law in Exodus and see if we can answer some basic questions regarding the Law;
To whom was God speaking? Ex 19:3 “tell the children of Israel”
Which nation was to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation? Ex 19:6 “... speak these words to the children of Israel”
Who did God bring out of the land of Egypt? Ex 19:1 “... after the children of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt...”
Who are the “you” in Ex 20:2? The nation that God brought out of Egypt – Israel?
Who are the “you” in Ex 20:3-17? Those referred to in verse 2 – Israel
Who are the 10 commandments for? Israel
Are they for the gentiles? No
Clearly the 10 commandments and the rest of the Law were given to, and were for, Israel. The Law was not for the gentiles. The gentiles never had YHWH as the “LORD your God”, they had Baal and many others but only Israel had YHWH.
Now let us look at how the proponent of this gospel uses the Law.
“For what purpose was God’s Law designed? The following verse tells us ‘(quotes 1 Tim 1:9)’, it also lists the sinners for us (lists the sinners), the Law’s main design is not for the saved, but for the unsaved. It was given as a “schoolmaster” to bring us to Christ (Galatians 3:24)””
In 1 Tim Paul is dealing with a heresy where “... some having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk, desiring to be teachers of the (Mosaic) law ...” Paul then states that the law is good when used lawfully. What Paul is saying is that if there was not a law against murder then we could all do this with impunity, but there is a law and so we don’t do it. Israel was given the law to keep them in God’s will. It had no power to save.
This table may help to put things in perspective:
Old Covenant New Covenant
Israel Church
Old Testament (2Cor 3:14) New Testament ( 2Cor 3:6)
A good covenant Rom 3:14 A better covenant Heb 8:6
Came by Moses John 1:17 Came by Jesus Heb 8:6
Ended by Jesus Rom 10:4 Begun by Jesus Heb 10:9
Many sacrifices Heb 9;12 One sacrifice Heb 10:12
Yoke of bondage Gal 5:1 Liberty that frees Gal 5:1
Not of faith Gal 3:12 The just live by faith Gal 3:11
Could not redeem Heb 10:4 Redeems Gal 3:13
No power to save Heb 10:4 Saves to the uttermost Heb 7:25
Many priests Heb 7:23 One High Priest Heb 7:26
Levitical priesthood Heb 7:11 Melchisedec order Heb 7:11
Under law Rom 6:14 Under grace Rom 6:14
Cannot give life Gal 3:21 Gives life John 3:36
Cannot make perfect Heb 7:19 Makes perfect Heb 7:19
No inheritance Rom 4:13 Eternal inheritance Heb 9:15
For Israel Deut 5:3 For all men Matt 26:28
[To see how the law works in an unbelieving gentile (or unbelieving Jew for that matter) we need to look at Romans chapter 2:14,15;
“...for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them”
So clearly the gentile does not have the law, in the sense of the OT Mosaic law, but they do have the law, of God, written in their hearts. It is then the gentiles “conscience” that either accuses or excuses their behaviour. God made us and He put certain things in our hearts such as eternity (Eccl 3:11), the law as we have just seen, but also we have God in our knowledge (Romans 1:28). He has given everyone “light” (John 1:9) and He has given us the creation (Romans 1:20) through which his invisible attributes are clearly seen.
With all that God has given us we can, and do, know the truth, but our conscience will, on the whole, excuse our conduct rather than accuse us of it, and why? Because we love sin. Now that we are saved sin is an anathema to us but while we were sinners it was our lifestyle.]
Then we move to Gal 3:24 and we need to see who the schoolmaster was in charge of, was it the Jew or the gentile?
The actual purpose of the law is given in Gal 3:19 where Paul tells us that “it was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come”. The law came after the promise to Abraham (430 years later) and could not alter the promise (to Abraham (Genesis 12)) but because the children of Abraham (Israel) transgressed the law was added.
In verse 23 Paul says that “before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law”, who are the “we”? It can only be Israel as the law was only given to Israel, it was Israel that transgressed. The gentiles couldn’t transgress because they weren’t given the promise; the promise was to Abraham and his seed. Abraham was the sixth from Eber, the father of the Hebrews. So logically in verse 24 who is the “our” and “we”? The Jews. So who is the schoolmaster for? The Jews. Is the schoolmaster for the gentiles? No.
Gal 3 is all about Paul trying to stop the Judaizers corrupting the simplicity of the gospel and bringing the Galatians back under the Law of Moses. He tells them that they first believed by faith just as Abraham did (verse 6), but those that were under the law were under a curse (v 10) and no one could be justified by the law. He then enters into a dialogue explaining why the law came (V 19) and why it was to keep Israel until “faith came” (v23). This dialogue is to show them that salvation can only be of faith and cannot be of works.
Unfortunately this popular evangelist uses the law to convict gentiles of their sin. But if the law is not for the gentile what good can it do to show them that they have transgressed it? The Law is not their schoolmaster. And again we need to be careful that we do not condemn the lost, remember Jesus came to save not condemn. According to John 3:17 all the unsaved are condemned already i.e. they have been judged and found guilty and are just waiting for God to carry out the death sentence upon them
He also describes salvation as a “legal transaction. You broke God’s Law (the 10 Commandments), and Jesus paid your fine. That means that God can legally dismiss your case.” Is salvation a legal case in a court of law or is it God’s love manifest through His grace? A few sentences later he admits, “I can’t point to a Bible verse that uses this exact language, but I can say that legality is the essence of the cross”, I thought the essence of the cross was “Love”.
What we end up with, sadly, is a works gospel. Rather than believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, people are made to see that they are sinners and must repent of their sin to be saved. God knows we are sinners that’s why Jesus died for us while we were still sinners. It is no good getting an unsaved gentile believing in a works based gospel that was originally designed for Israel.
Instead of people believing on Jesus you end up with converts running away from hell. If the gospel was repent or you will go to hell then it would work. But the gospel is believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.
One more thing with this gospel method. After you have gone through the relate and create stages if you then cannot get conviction of sin you do not proceed to the reveal. This is leaving people out to dry and withholding the truth from them.
Is this what Jesus wants?
© Copyright Bob Christmas