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Join Wayne Burger each week as he explores various topics and scriptures and challenges listeners to meditate on God's Word more deeply.
The world in which we live is filled with bad news. Every day we hear something bad. This is because we live in a fallen, sinful world.
But this sinful world has some good news in it somewhere.
The Greek word for gospel literally means good news. It is good news about how one can escape this fallen world and enjoy the blessings God offers. This is the lesson that I want us to think about today saying summed up with the title, the gospel.
We have a need for the gospel, the good news, because when Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden, he introduced sin into the world. His sin was not inherited by every individual as some people teach. That's the reason many people teach that children, infants need to be baptized because they were contaminated with Adam's sin.
No, that's not the way this works. Adam introduced sin into the world. And then we as individuals in the world, when we reach that age of knowing right from wrong, participate in sin, and now then we are condemned.
We don't inherit sin. It's something that we do for ourselves. I want to talk for a few minutes about Romans 5 verse 12 because that is a passage that so many people use to teach that we inherit sin.
Let's read it and see what it says. Therefore, just as the one man sin entered into the world and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned. Let's notice what that says.
Quite often, as I study with individuals who believe that we inherit sin, I'll say, "What did that verse say?" And they will say, "Well, we inherit sin." Well, let's read it again and see if that's what it says. Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned, notice that sin was introduced into the world.
And then when we become participants in sin, then we die. It's not because we inherited it, but because we participated in it. Read it one more time and talk about it a little bit more.
Therefore, just as through one man, Adam, sin entered into the world. He introduced sin into the world. It's now available to all people.
And death through sin, when one involves himself in sin, he or she dies spiritually. It doesn't necessarily cause physical death, but it always calls spiritual death. And so he said it was death that passed upon all men.
Not sin that was passed upon all men, but it was death that was passed upon all men because they participated in sin. And when they participated in sin, then they're going to die spiritually. That's how sin came into the world, and that's how sin is here today, that creates really all the problems we have.
All of our problems in this world relate back directly or indirectly to sin being in the world. And that fallen nature that we have, this fallen world, is that bad news. But the gospel is the good news.
It's the good news because it brings us back to life. You see, Paul said in Romans 6, verse 23, that the wages of sin is death. The word gospel and obeying the gospel, obeying that good news and hearing about that good news brings us back to life.
How does the gospel do that? First, the gospel, God calls us through the gospel. In 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 14, Paul wrote and said, they were called by his gospel. What does that mean? Well, the gospel is preached throughout the world.
And as the gospel is preached somewhere, that is God calling people. It's not that God has made a selection and said, I'm going to call you, but I'm going to condemn him. God is not partial.
God does not show partiality. But there are people who teach that God does that. That before the world was ever formed, God, as it were, said, you people are going to be lost and you people are going to be saved.
No, God doesn't operate that way. God does not show partiality. But God does call people, not by whispering in their ear, not by laying a burden on their heart, not by appearing to them in some magical sign, some mystical form.
Paul said that God calls us by the gospel. And that's the reason, in Matthew 22:14, Jesus said "many are called, but few are chosen." The idea is the gospel message goes into all the world.
And those people who accept it and obey it become God's chosen people. The call is there for everybody. Many are called, but few become the chosen except that call.
And so it is an amazing story as to how God saves us. He gave his son to die for us. He prepared a message called the gospel to preach to everyone.
He told the apostles that it's to go into all the world and preach this gospel. And yet at the same time, as the gospel is preached, God says, I let you make the decision. Do you want to accept the gospel or do you want to reject the gospel? God lets us determine if we want to obey or not obey.
So first off, the gospel calls us. The second thing, and this is the King James version, in 1 Corinthians 4:15, Paul said, I begat you through the gospel. Well, the idea there is that was the planted seed.
Other versions have, I'm your father through the gospel. You see, in real life, there is a physical begatting of the seed, planting of the seed in the womb of the woman. And then after nine months, there is a birth that takes place.
The begettal and the birth are two different events. And Paul said in 1 Corinthians 4, 15, I have begotten you through the gospel. You see, the gospel is the seed of the kingdom.
That seed is sown in our mind, which is our spiritual womb. And as that word settles into our minds and it affects us, we begin to trust in it and believe in it, then a birth can take place. That's the reason Paul says in Romans 1, 16, the gospel is the power of God to save to everyone that believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
So the gospel calls us, the gospel begats us or fathers us, and the gospel saves us if we're obedient to it. Paul also said in Colossians 1, 23, that the gospel gives us hope. It's spoken of as being the hope of the gospel.
Then I also wanted to read 2 Timothy 1, verse 8 through 10, as we talk about what the gospel does for us. He said, therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me, his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God. The gospel according to the power of God.
Now, notice what it goes on. Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to its own purpose and grace, which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. Now, let's go back and look at it again and think about the message that it conveys here.
Paul was telling Timothy, do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me, his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God. And notice he says, who, that's God, the Father, has saved us and called us, how? By the gospel, with a holy calling. And he says, it's not according to our works, but according to his own purpose.
You see, when we obey the gospel, we're not working out our own salvation in terms of earning it. We're not accomplishing anything, whereby God owes us salvation. But these are simply works of faith that manifest that we believe what God has said, and we're being obedient to it.
So it says, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity. Notice where that grace is found in Christ Jesus from all eternity. The grace that we have comes when we get into Jesus Christ.
Grace is that which we do not deserve or earn, but it's something that God gives us. But it's not the fact that we don't have to do anything. We have to manifest works by faith.
James says, faith without works is dead. And so if we want the grace of God, we have to believe and trust in Him, and we have to get that grace in Christ. And that's the reason the Scriptures teach us that we're baptized into Christ.
That's where we reach the grace of Christ. And then he goes on to explain something else about the benefits that we receive. But now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death, who brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
You see, he abolished spiritual death. He conquered physical death. And he brought us life.
Jesus said, I came to give life, and that more abundantly. And not only that, but immortality to light. He gave us this possibility of living eternally, and it's all because of and by the power of the gospel of Christ.
And that's the reason Paul could speak of it in Colossians 1.23 as the hope of the gospel. There's also a great warning about the gospel. In 2 Thessalonians 2, verses 6 through 10, there is this tremendous warning that we ought to pay attention to.
In that chapter, he's talking about the return of Christ. And he begins in verse 6 saying, for after all, it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you. And to give relief to you who are afflicted, and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing at retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of Lord Jesus.
These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power. Again, let's think about what this passage said. He said, when people afflict us, it's only right for God to punish them.
And he says that Jesus is going to come back in flaming fire, rendering vengeance on those that know not God and that obey not the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice that phrase, to obey not the gospel. How does one obey the gospel? Because he said, if you have not obeyed the gospel, you're going to suffer the eternal destruction from the presence of God.
Well, of course, 1 Corinthians 15, 1 through 4, tell us about the fundamental facts of the gospel. The fundamental facts of the gospel are the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. That is the heart of the good news.
It's because Jesus died to pay for our sins. He was buried, went into the Hadrian realm, came up out of the Hadrian realm when he was resurrected, and this destroyed the power of Satan who had the power of death, Hebrews 2, verse 14. And so Jesus, when he died, was buried and rose, gave us the very foundation.
That's the good news. That's the hope that we have. That's the power of God to save those who are willing to obey the gospel.
So how does one obey the gospel? Let me read to you a couple of passages in the book of Romans that explains what they did and we would do the same thing. In Romans 6, beginning in verse 16, he said, "Do you not know that when you present yourself to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you serve or obey, either of sin resulting in death or obedience resulting in righteousness? But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of doctrine which was delivered. Having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness."
Notice what he said about them. He said, we're going to be a slave to whomever we serve. If we serve sin, we're a slave of sin.
If we serve righteousness, we're a slave of righteousness. And so he reminds them, "Do you not know that when you present yourself to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves to the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death or obedience resulting in righteousness? But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient to that form of doctrine that was delivered you." What was the doctrine that was delivered? Paul said, I delivered to you of first importance, the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
In this chapter, back up in chapter six of Romans verses three and four, he reminds these people when and how they obeyed the gospel. He said beginning in verse four, "therefore we are buried with him through baptism into death. So that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life."
Let's notice what he said. Therefore we have been buried with him through baptism. That tells us that baptism is an immersion in water, not a sprinkling or pouring.
And he says therefore we have been buried with him through baptism into death. We buried our old man so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. We died of sins just like Jesus died physically.
We are buried in the watery grave just like he was buried in an earthly grave. And we're raised out of that watery grave to walk in new life. We've been born again.
And so he goes on to say in verse six, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with him in order that our body of sin might be done away with so that we would no longer be slaves to sin. You see, that's what the gospel can do. And that's how one obeys the gospel of Christ.
The greatest question that we need to ask ourselves is, "Have I obeyed the gospel?" Have you obeyed the gospel? One does not obey the gospel by saying the sinner's prayer. There is no sinner's prayer in the Bible. The gospel has not been obeyed just because one has been baptized.
It must be done for the correct reason, not because one is already saved, but in order that he may be saved. And so our baptism has to be in the right form, immersion, for the right purpose, to obtain forgiveness of sins. Even with one being immersed in water, it's not salvation by works, but it's salvation by faith.
Paul said in Galatians 2:26, that we're all children of God by faith in Christ Jesus, for as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. Let me encourage each of you to examine the gospel in your life. Have you obeyed the gospel according to the way the Bible describes it? You see, our world is filled with lots of wickedness, lots of bad news, but God has good news, and that good news is we can get out of this old sinful world into that place, the paradise, where God and the faithful will be, and that there will no longer be death or tears or pain or any of those things, but we can live in eternity with all those righteous people.
If we can assist you in obeying the gospel, please contact us, and we'll do what we can to help you.
Thanks for joining us this week and spending time in God's Word. Special thanks to Mac Graham, John Kachelman, and LightWay Media for recording, producing, and making this podcast possible.
If you're ever in the Littleton, New Hampshire area, we'd love to have you join us for worship and Bible study on Sunday afternoons at 4 at the Senior Center. You're always welcome. For more information about this podcast, visit lightweightmedia.com/meditatingontheword and find the link there to email me to subscribe to my free weekly newsletter with more information you can use in your personal Bible study.
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Until next week, keep meditating on the Word.