"Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you--unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve."
1 Corinthians 15:1-5
Since we are entering into Easter season, it is a good time for us to be thinking about the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the proclamation of it called the gospel. John Piper recently preached at the Resurgence Conference a message on Distinguishing Between True and False Gospels. We are living in a time where there is a tremendous lack of understanding in the Gospel. Much of contemporary understanding is inadequate, unbiblical, or incomplete. It is important in focusing on the death and resurrection of Christ that we understand all the implications of the glorious work done at Calvary.
John Piper describes six aspects of the gospel—the good news about Jesus based upon 1 Corinthians 15:1-4. It is well worth reflecting on. It is thorough and solid. What I really like is how Piper begins the gospel with God and ends with God. God Himself plans the Gospel and the end or goal of the Gospel is God Himself. 1 Peter 3:18, "For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit."
6 Aspects of the Gospel Without Which There Is No Gospel
1. The gospel was planned by God beforehand (verses 3, 4: “according to the scriptures”)
2. The gospel is an objective physical event in history (verses 3-5: “Christ died . . . he was buried . . . he was raised . . . he appeared”).
3. The gospel is an objective accomplishment—the purchase or obtaining of redemption for all who would believe (verse 3: “Christ died for our sins”—the debt was paid)
4. The gospel is an offer to be made to all that what Christ accomplished is free and my be had only by faith in him (verse 2: “by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you--unless you believed in vain.”)
5. The gospel is an application through faith to specific people of what Christ accomplished (verse 2: “and by which you are being saved”).
6. The gospel is an eternal and infinitely happy future destiny (verse 1-3: implied in the word “gospel” and “saved” and “sins born by another”)
To make it easy to remember Piper simplifies it like this:
Plan
Event
Accomplishment
Offer
Application
A supremely happy future
I would encourage you to go listen to his message: http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/ConferenceMessages/ByDate/2008/2637_How_I_Distinguish_Between_the_Gospel_and_False_Gospels/
If you have the time, read Piper's books God is the Gospel or The Passion of Jesus Christ. My three all time favorites are John Murray's Redemption Accomplished and Applied and Leon Morris's The Atonement and The Apostolic Preaching of the Cross.
Savoring the depth of the Gospel,
Pastor Bill
No comments:
Post a Comment