[Now] I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, ²and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. ³For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, —1 Corinthians 15:1-3
I have been in the gospel for about 40 years, by the grace of God, and there is a thought that becomes stronger and stronger in my mind and heart: "the gospel is everything in faith, and everything in faith must be evaluated in the light of the gospel.”
Jesus said, “And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:3). Eternal life is the fruit of salvation, and it is obtained by the knowledge of God. But the text adds that we are to know Jesus Christ, as the one sent from the Father, and there is the gospel: to know God, who loved and worked on behalf of enemies to make them sons. By seriously considering this truth—with the help of the Holy Spirit—we will be broken and inevitably thrown at the feet of Christ. All that happens from that moment on is that we grow in the knowledge of the truth of the gospel. That’s why Paul insists, “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2).
When I say that, “the gospel is everything in faith,” I mean that all the revelation of God impels us to know His good purposes for men, and to glorify Him for what He is and has given us by His pure affection. Again, that is the gospel. We have heard that the whole Bible is about Christ. He is the Gospel. We will never reach a full knowledge of the gospel this side of eternity. When we come to understand the gospel by our glorified faculties, then we will be able to offer Christ supreme praise.
When I say, “everything in faith must be evaluated in the light of the gospel,” it's because I have discovered that all biblical truth, regardless of the branch of theology where we place it, must be consistent with the gospel. This is so for our ecclesiology, soteriology, eschatology, everything.
Imagine that you study the Word seriously and understand that God has enlightened you to understand a truth, but it turns out that you do not succeed in harmonizing that “truth” with the gospel. That's because you have not understood it correctly. Confusion comes from our ignorance of the gospel; every ungodly reaction comes from not living the gospel; every disappointment in the Christian life comes from forgetting what the gospel gives you.
Incorporating this benefit into my own life and the lives of others has freed me from many inconsistencies. Thinking in this way has allowed me to enjoy every doctrine, every commandment, every benefit extracted from the Word. To God be the glory.
For Reflection
Do you really know the gospel you claim to have embraced?
How often do you expose yourself to the Gospel?
How do you connect all truths about God with the glorious truths of the gospel?