What is the Gospel? - RC Sproul

I want you all to go home happy from this conference but I'm going to do something now that may completely destroy any possibility of that I'm going to do what every student in history hates I'm going to give you a pop quiz remember when you come in the classroom the teacher would just say soon as you set that take out a piece of paper now and put your name up on the right-hand side and get ready for this unannounced examination just I hated those things now I'm going to do it to you but here's the good news you don't have to write down your answer and you don't have to put your name on the paper I'm going to give you this quiz and you take it in the quiet of your own mind which at the end of the day will condemn you what I want you to do is as succinctly and as crisply as you can answer the question right now in your own mind what is the gospel how would you answer that question if somebody said to you what is the gospel what would you say now you think about that you don't have all day to come up with the answer because if somebody comes up to you and says what's the gospel they're not going to wait the buses might wait but they're not going to let you have to tell them all right so before I try to answer that question I would like to read a couple portions of the New Testament first a brief portion from Paul's letter to the Romans in chapter 1 beginning at verse 1 with the salutation and the greeting that the apostle gives where Romans 1 begins this way Paul a bondservant to do loss a slave of Jesus Christ called to be an apostle separated to the gospel of God which he promised before through his prophets in the holy scriptures concerning his son Jesus Christ our Lord who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead through him we have received Grace and Apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for his name among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ and then later on in the first chapter beginning at verse 16 we read the thematic verse of the whole epistle for I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes to the Jew first and also for the Greek for in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith as it is written the just shall live by faith now I'm going to come back to these brief statements in Romans but first I'll read one more statement that you're all familiar with from the writings of the Apostle Paul turn over to galatians chapter 1 do you hear it it's Baptists air-conditioning alright Galatians chapter 1 beginning at verse 6 fair and trembling I do this again I marvel that you are turning away so soon from him who called you in the grace of Christ to a different gospel which is not another but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ but even if we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you let him be accursed as I've said before or so now I say again if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received let him be accursed for do I now persuade men or God do I seek to please men for if I still please men I would not be a bondservant of Christ now those few of the texts that I've read to you now that I'd like to take a few minutes to expound first of all when we go back to the beginning of Romans where Paul introduces himself in this is magnum opus identifies himself first by name second as a slave of Jesus Christ as one who has been bought by Jesus Christ purchased by Jesus Christ and is owned by Jesus Christ then he says called to be an apostle that is endowed by Christ with nothing less than the authority of Christ the authority to be an agent of Revelation to speak the word of Christ to the church called to be an apostle separated set apart ordained consecrated to what separated to the gospel of God Paul was cut out of the mass of teachers afar they selected by Jesus ordained and anointed for the gospel of God here Paul introduces the idea of the gospel and the first thing I want us to understand about the gospel here is whose gospel it is when Paul uses the phrase the gospel of God the structure here is of the possessive genitive when he speaks of the gospel of God he's not talking about a message about God but rather he's describing an announcement that belongs to God is authored by God and owned by God that's very important because if we want to play with that we're playing with something that is not ours you want to mess with the gospel you want to tinker with it you want to improve it you want to change it you're fooling around with a message that originates with God himself it is his message and his announcement well we see the word gospel here and in the New Testament there are different ways in which that word gospel is used there are three primary ways in which we encounter the term gospel you all know what the word gospel yeh one Gallion in Greek translates over into English by the words good news or good message or good announcement the prefix au EU it comes directly over to English where we speak of you phonics euphemisms you know what M euphemism is when you go to the dentist and he says you may experience a little bit of discomfort that's he makes something bad sound good right on a eulogy at a funeral was when somebody says a good word about the person who has passed away and so that prefix EU simply means good and we say the even gaily on the same route there is the route from which we get the English word angel an angel is an angel oohs because his primary function in the economy of the kingdom of God is to be an a a messenger who announces a word that comes from the throne of God and when we put the prefix in the route together we get the a1 Gailey on the good announcement or the good message now three ways it's used in one way we're all familiar with it is used to describe a particular literary genre we talk about the epistles in the New Testament but we also speak of the four Gospels and the reason why the four Gospels are called Gospels is because they have to do with teaching us about the person and work of the one who is at the very heart of the gospel Jesus himself now the second way in which the term gospel functions in the New Testament early on in the advent of the New Testament is with respect to an announcement of a kingdom so in the early stages of the use of the term gospel what is referred to here is the good news of the advent the break through the intrusion the coming of the kingdom of God a point that absolutely baffles me that there is a widespread theology out there in the evangelical world that sees the kingdom of God as something that is completely utterly in the future I mean honestly I don't know how anybody can read the New Testament and come to the conclusion that the kingdom of God is something that is in the far remote distant future beloved sure there is a future dimension of the kingdom of God certainly we look to the consummation in the kingdom of God which is not yet occurred but let us not miss one of the central points of the New Testament and that is that the kingdom of God in a very real and powerful sense has come John the Baptist is prepared to make this announcement and he comes out of the wilderness from the traditional meeting place between God and his prophets with a call to repentance and it's a call to repentance and the baptism to Jews and he calls them to the Jordan River to be baptized and we know that John Presbyterian had a reason do you understand that when John came on the scene his ministry his public ministry was nothing less than scandalous the Pharisees were horrified because he was saying to Israel you need to take a bath you need to undergo ritual cleansing which up to this point was reserved for proselytes for Gentiles who were converted to Israel because they were considered to be ceremonially ceremonially unclean so before they could join the covenant community they had to take a bath now John comes and he says to the Jews you have to take a bath why did he do that because a crisis had occurred a pregnant moment in all of history had come to pass in the fullness of time John says repent and be baptized why because the kingdom of God is coming in two or three or four thousand more years no he said because the kingdom of God is at hand there's a radical nearness to this breakthrough of the kingdom his fan is in his hand the ax is laid at the root of the tree uses these two metaphors from the agricultural environment of the day the woodsman who goes out to chop down a tree and he doesn't chop down the tree with one swing of the axe he has to chip away at it for the outer bark cuts down to the middle core where now there's only one strand left that's holding that tree upright and keeping it from collapsing and John said here's how close we are one more swing from that axé and that tree is coming down the axe is laid at the root of the tree his fan his threshing fan is in his hand the farmers not just thinking about harvesting his crops and separating the wheat from the chaff and he's not gone yet to the shed that holds his tools no he's already been to the woodshed he grabs his threshing fan he goes to the threshing floor it's in his hand he's ready to put it into that pile of chaff and wheat throw it up and let the Zephyrs in the air separate the wheat from the chaff do you get it it's a moment of crisis and the timeframe of it is immediate any second for this generation the kingdom of God is at hand and you're not ready and the people the common people heard him gladly but the religious leaders balked and resisted this teaching and then as he's baptizing one day he looks up and he sees someone approaching him he stops what he was doing and he looks at the man who's coming and he sings the the Agnes day behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world I told you that there was one who comes after me who is before me the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to loosen he must increase I must decrease here he is and at that moment Jesus begins his public ministry and when Jesus enters into the community his message initially was exactly the same as John's what does he say repent for the kingdom of God is at hand in one sense the kingdom of God has always been the Lord God always reigns in heaven but in throughout the old history Old Testament Old Testament history of redemption God promised the coming kingdom and the Jews look forward to the manifestation of the kingdom of God in this world and really what they were looking for was the coming of their king who would embody the kingdom of God who would initiate and inaugurate that Kingdom on earth and when Jesus came John says here is the kingdom starts right now and Jesus continues to preach that is a central motif when he preaches in parables what does he say the kingdom of God is like unto this the kingdom of God is like unto that it continues to talk about the characteristics of the kingdom now I know that in Matthew's Gospel it's the kingdom of heaven not because Jesus talking about two different kingdom but because Matthew is writing to Jews and he uses the common circumlocution periphrasis rather than to pronounce the sacred name of God he substitutes the name heaven for the kingdom of God this cost Jesus's life he's dragged before the authorities Pilate says I'm hearing rumors about you that they tell me that you're a king are you a king jesus said thou has said which is that being translated means you said it you better believe on the King but my kingdom is not of this world if it were I would call upon the angels and my disciples and you wouldn't be able to lay a finger on me Balan and then Jesus dies he's raised and one of the most important elements of redemptive history takes place in that event which is almost completely disregarded by historic paratus than ISM and that is the Ascension of Jesus into heaven you know when Jesus told his disciples the yet a little while I'm going away and we're on going you can't come and Peter responds Quo Vadis where are you going and Jesus explained he was going away he was going to his father's house and then he said something that they could hardly believe he said do you understand that it is better for you if I go away than if I stay churches never believed that a church is still jealous of the first century apostles we've got to live and meet Jesus in the flesh not realizing that we're in a far better position redemptive historically than they were and when the disciples were crushed with the news that Jesus was going to leave when he explained to them where he was going and why he was going there their whole perception changed so that when they want the Mount of Transfiguration and they watched the Shekinah clouds elevate Jesus into the heavens taking him to his coronation taking him to his investiture as the king of the kings and as the lord of the Lord's they realized that and they returned to Jerusalem rejoicing they finally got it you know the last question they asked him before he ascended was will you now restore the kingdom to Israel and what does he say how many times I have to tell you I'm not going through the gate no he says don't you worry about the times it's none of your business but you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem Judea Samaria the outermost parts of the earth john calvin said that the single purpose of the church is to bear witness here and now to the invisible kingdom of god because right this minute as I speak the greatest power in this world is not held by the President of the United States or the Prime Minister of Russia it's in the hands of Jesus Christ who is the king of kings and the Lord of lords right now that's why the Gospel writers talked about the good news of the kingdom of God but because the good news of the kingdom of God was so focused on the person and work of Jesus by the time we get to the epistles the idea of the gospel is said of being described as the gospel of the kingdom now is called the gospel of Jesus Christ now let's go back to the pop quiz how did you answer the question what is the gospel maybe you said something like this the gospel is the good news that God loves us and has a wonderful plan for our life the good news is that Jesus can give purpose to my seemingly chaotic personal existence the good news the gospel is that I can have a personal relationship with Jesus the good news or the gospel means that I can have my sins forgiven all of those things may be true enough but not one of them individually or collectively is the gospel the gospel has a specific content the gospel has an objective content to it as well as a subjective element added to it what the gospel is in biblical terms is the good news of the person and work of Jesus when I became a Christian the only way I could do evangelism was to tell people my testimony I would tell him how Jesus had turned my life upside down I had tell him that Jesus is alive and that he had changed me and he had forgiven me very valuable but the relevance of my personal testimony ended at the similarities between my experience and the experiences of people to whom I was teaching and again I don't mean to denigrate the value of personal testimony we see it in a New Testament the woman at the well she's I don't know who he is all I could tell you is that the guy gave me he told me everything they ever know about me and I think he must be the Messiah come and check it out she gave her testimony but don't ever think that your testimony is the gospel because it is it the gospel is a message about the Incarnation of God which incarnation was promised beforehand by the prophets you see how how Paul begins back there in Romans one separated to the gospel of God which he promised before through his prophets in the holy scripture concerning his son Jesus Christ our Lord the gospel includes the affirmation that Jesus is the Christ he's the long-awaited Messiah of Israel that's integral to the gospel Jesus is the Christ and Jesus Christ is our Lord you can't have the gospel if you eliminate the lordship of Jesus it's a truncated gospel that ignores that who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh David's son David's Lord that part of the gospel is the good news of a mediator who has come as the god man who was the incarnation of God that also is essential to the good news but not only are we excited about a message of the coming of this terrific man who reflects to us with the image of God is supposed to look like he was born of the seed of David according to the flesh and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness not just man but God and he was demonstrated to be the Son of God by the resurrection from the dead if you have a Jesus who has a wonderful earthly ministry and who dies in the toning death but stays in the grave you don't have the gospel that's why Paul would write to the Corinthians and say that if Christ is not raised we are still in our sins were false prophets of God there is no gospel there's no gospel without atonement there's no gospel without resurrection deceiving the gospel is about what who Jesus is and what Jesus did and if you're telling people about Jesus you have to tell who he is in his person and what he does in his work that fills up the essence of the objective content of the gospel but the gospel itself is endowed by God with the power of the Holy Ghost if there's any corporate sin of the 21st century Church in America it is the sin of trying to find success and power in the life of the church everywhere except where God has placed it the power of God is never found in a program it's never found Anna liturgy we read it in verse 16 I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it the gospel now about Christ is the power of God when I was a Christian I was so when I first became converted and college I wanted all my friends in the campus who weren't Christians to become converted I tried every way I knew to evangelizer and I had no idea what evangelism was and finally at this little church that was near the campus and also we're going to have a revival I didn't know that you couldn't plan revivals then I didn't know that revivals was something that God did not programs that are implemented in the church but they announced this revival and they were bringing this accomplished evangelist to the campus and I got a chance to meet with him personally and he sat me down and he said to me he looked me in the eye and he said yet and he let me be alone with any person in this world for 15 minutes and I'll get you a decision for Jesus cry when I listen to him for 15 minutes I believed him I thought anybody will do anything and say anything they get away from you after 15 minutes this maid then understand the first thing about evangelism II didn't understand the first thing about the gospel he didn't understand that you and I are powerless to bring anybody to faith we may be able to encourage people to make professions of faith and this is one of the things where we are so zealous to get people converted that we'll say to them I'm calling you now to get up out of your chair wherever you are and you come down here to this altar I'm going to call you now stand up and come or I may say to you you don't need to come to the altar but by your head and if you want to receive Christ just raise your hands oh I see that hand I see that one over there or there are cards there in front of you and they have the sinner's prayer and if you would just silently read the sinner's prayer and sign your name you can be saved now don't misunderstand what I'm saying I'm not against altar calls I'm not against raising your hand I'm not against calling people to commit their lives of Jesus god forbid here's what I'm deeply concerned about is that we mistake professions of faith for salvation anybody can make a profession of faith we are not justified by the profession of faith if we are justified we're justified by the possession of faith and if we have faith we call to profess it but Jesus warns us time and after time after time that not everybody who says to me Lord Lord is going to come into my kingdom he says this people honors me with their lips but their hearts are far from and so critical to evangelism is how the objective benefits of the atoning death and resurrected life of Jesus Christ can be appropriated by me personally in my life and what the New Testament teaches about that is that the good news is that I receive the benefits of Jesus Christ I believe I received the full measure of his perfect merit not by any work that I can ever perform because by the works of the law shall no flesh ever be justified and the good news Paul speaks here in verse 17 for in it the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith Luther was preparing his lectures on Romans at Vinton Berg and while he was poring over an ancient document from Saint Agustin Agustin commented on this verse and he said here when Paul speaks of the righteousness of God he's not talking about that righteousness by which God Himself is righteous rather he's speaking of an alien righteousness a righteousness that he freely gives to people who are not righteous a righteousness that is received by faith and by faith alone you can't earn it you can't deserve it you can't work for it you can only receive it when you receive the good news of the gospel by trusting in Christ by faith and by faith alone with no mixture of your own works now that's the gospel in its full simplicity which has been altered distorted and improved in every generation of Christian history we completely went into eclipse in the Middle Ages where a whole different system of salvation was constructed by the church which church in the 16th century condemned the gospel of justification by faith alone let's go now back quickly to Galatians with that passage I read to you involves some of the strongest language that you ever read from the pen of the Apostle Paul if you read the epistles of Paul you can't miss the fact that Paul's heart was the heart of a pastor Paul just exuded compassion for the Sheep of Jesus Christ he endured unspeakable affliction and pain for the welfare of the people into the churches Paul never manifests himself as being mean-spirited or arsh but here he gets exorcised he begins by announcing what I call apostolic astonishment in Chapter 1 of Galatians verse 6 he said I marvel I'm amazed about what that you are turning away so soon from him who called you in the grace of Christ and it wasn't just that they were turning away from something but in that turning away they were turning away to something and what it was they were turning away - the Apostle writes was to a different gospel and then he corrects himself as a work which is not another I use these words you know people think that there's another gospel they think they can improve upon the gospel they think they can edit the gospel they think that they can change the gospel and move to another gospel but there is no other gospel it's only one gospel God's gospel if there's some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ now here's where he really really turns up the heat but if we or an angel from heaven listen this if we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached you let him be on a Thema no stronger word and agree let him be anathema let him be damned let the curse of God come upon anyone who preaches any other gospel than the one that you have received from the Apostles even if it's an angel from heaven if this angel in glorious light and repulsion clothing enters into your church on Sunday morning to give you a new and improved gospel you take him by the seat of his ethereal pants and you kick him out with the curse of God on his head that's what the Apostles say and as a Jew who believes in emphasis by repetition he repeats himself in verse nine as we said before I see now again if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than that which you have received let him be anathema I was involved in a heated controversy about the nature of the gospel several years ago Ligon was involved John MacArthur was involved he was standing with me in a very unpopular position and when the fire was the hottest and I was losing friends by the bazillions I walked in the church one morning by myself and I sat in the Pew and I said I got to read this thing in Galatians 1 again and so I read everything and I've read so far to you the emphatic warning that Paul gives about another gospel and then I never realized the immediate connection between verse 9 and the next paragraph verse 10 I've never experienced this existentially experience ly until that day where I read Paul says for do I now persuade men or God do I seek to please men beloved the single most frequent reason why people compromise and negotiate the gospel of Christ is to please men Paul says do I seek to please men we got a problem with that I'd like to please men I like people to like me I don't want to be an athame here to all of them but he says if I still pleased men I wouldn't be a servant of Jesus Christ well unto you if you ever negotiate the gospel anathema be upon you if you ever play with the gospel don't ever turn the good news in the bad news because it's God's gospel and we're not allowed to tamper with that let's pray father we thank you for a message that is so good that it is impossible that we can improve upon us O Lord because the gospel is a scandal to those who are perishing because men resist the gospel we try to make it more acceptable more palatable or easy to go down and sugarcoat it forgive us for our lack of confidence in your power that you have invested in your gospel father we have been saved by that gospel and that we live not by works but by faith because of that gospel and we have received the imputation of the very righteousness of Jesus through that gospel father give us the courage and the passion to communicate that gospel in its fullness to a lost and broken world in Jesus name amen you

Channel: undefined

Views: 197,041

Rating: 4.7534127 out of 5

Keywords: science, the problem of evil, divine sovereignty, human responsibility, the exclusivity of Christ, postmodernism, The Gospel, God (Deity), Christ, Atheism (Religion), Existence Of God (Literature Subject), Debate, Jesus Christ (Deity), Richard, Dawkins, Creationism, Design, Intelligent, Truth, Logic, Proof, Theory, Reason, Belief, Evidence, Morality, Earth, Universe, Delusion, Selection, Creationist, Rational, Christianity (Religion), Reformed, Reformed Theology, Calvinism (Religion)

Id: aauTc0RUhFM

Length: 44min 3sec (2643 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 27 2013