What is the Gospel? - It is the Good News: Christ has died for our sins, Christ has risen from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). Is the preaching of the Gospel simply the announcement of these facts? No! It is more than that. There is also the challenge of the Gospel, the call to repentance, the call to faith (v. 21).
God is not only telling us something. He is asking us something. Will you repent? Will you believe?
God is saying something to us - 'This is My beloved Son with whom I am well pleased. This is My beloved Son. Listen to Him'. He is also asking us to say something to Him - 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner' (Luke 18:13).
This is the prayer of repentance. This is the prayer of faith. We turn from sin. We turn to God. We take our sin to Jesus. We trust Him for forgiveness.
To every one who hears the Gospel, the question is asked, 'What will your response be?'
As I look back over my own spiritual journey, I am forever grateful to those who impressed on me the need to make my personal response to Jesus Christ. It was not enough to say, 'God so loved that He gave His only Son' (John 3:16). There needed to be something more personal - 'the Son of God loved me and gave Himself for me' (Galatians 2:20). It was not enough to say, 'Jesus Christ is the Saviour of the world' (John 4:42). There needed to be the personal confession of faith - 'Jesus Christ is my Saviour'.
Paul was a faithful and fearless preacher of the Gospel. If, in our generation, we are to follow his example, we must not hesitate to impress upon the people the necessity of 'repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ' (v. 21).
Earlier this year, I had the privilege of attending a service conducted by the Rev Dr Sam Hosain who has recently retired after thirteen years of fruitful ministry at John Knox Church in Stewarton, near Kilmarnock. In his sermon, Dr Hosain directed our attention to three verses in the letter to the Hebrews:
'without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins' (9:22),
'without faith it is impossible to please God' (11:6),
'without holiness no-one will see the Lord' (12:14).
In these three statements, we have the key features of Gospel ministry:
First, we are to hear the Gospel - the Good News that Christ died for our sins;
Second, we are to believe the Gospel - 'Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be
saved' (Acts 16:31);
Third, we are to live the Gospel - Christ has died for us. Now He calls us to live for Him.
This is Gospel ministry - hearing the Gospel, believing the Gospel and living the Gospel. May God help us to be faithful to His Gospel - in our hearing, in our believing, in our living.
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