The Gospel of God in Christ “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because Gods love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation” (Romans 5:1-11). We all need great truths and views from the Bible that are defining and shaping and precious. We can’t remember whole books but we can remember great truths. They also form our world view. That doesn’t mean views that set us off from the rest of the church of Christ. We don’t want to be set off. We want to be arm and arm with millions of faithful followers of God’s word. Truth does divide. But it also unites. And it is the uniting power of truth that we delight in most. We are always looking back into church history. If we can’t find our interpretations there, we would be very show to preach them. Cults and sets are born in the minds of leaders who crave to be different. Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, the Unification Church, Christian Science – these were born in the minds of teachers who wanted new revelations and interpretations, and found them. They were restless with the limitation of the Bible and its historic understandings. But at the same time, admiring historical heroes like Augustine, Aquinas, Calvin, Luther, the Puritans, Edwards, Wesley, Spurgeon, Barth, Chesterton, Lewis, etc. will at least keep you from starting a sect. We want truths that have wide foundations in the Bible and deep roots in the history of God’s people. And if any of them ever deserved to be guarded from the distortion of novelty it is this, namely the gospel of Jesus Christ. The key phrase is that God in Christ is the price and the prize of the gospel. The prize of the gospel is the Person who paid the price, God in Christ. The gospel is the good news that God in Christ paid the price of suffering, so that we could have the prize of enjoying Him forever. God paid the price of his Son to give us the prize of himself. The Price and Prize of the Gospel in Romans 5 Keep in mind that the word “gospel” means good news, and in this case, it means God’s good news for the world. What is the price and the prize of the good news according to Romans 5? Here’s the price in Romans 5: 6-8: For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. The price of the gospel is the death of Christ. Verse 6: “Christ died for the ungodly.” Verse 8: “Christ died for us.” God loved us while we were sinners and paid a price so that we might have an infinite prize. That price was the death of his Son. And what was the prize that he bought for us when he paid that price? Verses 9-11: Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. [DesiringGod.org]
Posted on: Wed, 13 Nov 2013 11:08:45 +0000
Trending Topics
© 2015