What is the fruit of your gospel?

Good news

The greek word euaggelion is translated in english translations of the Bible as the gospel or the good news. The word is used to describe the good news: of the kingdom (Mt 24:24), about Jesus Christ (Mk 1:1), of God's grace (Acts 20:24), of God (Ro 15:16), of the glory of Christ (2 Cor 4:4), of your salvation (Eph 1:13), of peace (Acts 10:36), about the Lord (Acts 11:20), etc.

The Kingdom of God

"Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 'The time has come,' he said. 'The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!'" Mk 1:14,15

Jesus' primary message was of the good news of the kingdom of God. For 40 days, before He ascended to heaven, Jesus taught on the kingdom (see Acts 1:3). Most of Jesus' parables were about the reality of the kingdom of God. His purpose in sharing the good news of the kingdom was that people would believe in the reality of God's kingdom and enter into it (see Jn 3:1-8).

Christ crucified

The apostle Paul's primary message was the good news of Christ's death and resurrection. He writes, "I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified" (1 Cor 2:2). The purpose of Paul's message was to bring people into right standing with God through continuing dependence on Christ's righteousness (1 Cor 1:30).

Eternal life

The apostle John's primary message was of the good news of eternal life in Christ. He writes, "And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life" (1 Jn 5:11,12).

The purpose of the gospel

Clearly, the message or the gospel has different forms but its purpose is always the same. This is very important. Unless we understand the purpose of the gospel, we will seek to lead people to believ

e a message rather than help them enter the Kingdom of God! 

Preaching the gospel is not the goal. 

Leading people to complete and ongoing dependence upon Christ and devotion to Him is. 

Aquaintance or disciple?

We are called to make disciples (Mt 28:18). A disciple is not an aquaintance of Christ. A disciple is married to Christ. Do sinners understand that we are leading them to be married to Christ when they say "I do" to Christ?

Whatever happened to unconditional commitment?

The sad truth is that the principle of unconditional commitment is leaving the gospel and consequently the church. Many preach a gospel that says, "Come to Jesus and receive everything you need. All you have to do is pray the sinner's prayer and you're in." There is a huge difference between receiving Jesus and surrendering one's life to Jesus. The first does not require any commitment, the second costs you your life. Unless people are led to commit their lives to Christ and to enter a covenant relationship with Him, they will also treat His Body, the Church, like an aquaintance rather than the Bride of Christ.

The fruit of the gospel

When I look at the book of Acts, I see a people who were cut to the heart by the Holy Spirit, who repented of their sinful, independent lives, who were baptised because they truly believed, who depended on Christ to be right with God and who devoted their lives to Christ and His bride (see Acts 2:42-47). That is and should always be the fruit of the gospel.Anything less and we're preaching an incomplete or at worst a different gospel!

The bride of Christ

Saying "I do" to Jesus is entering into a relationship with Him that ever depends on Him and is ever devoted to Him and His people. We leave our single status and enter into a covenant relationship with Him and His people. We live our lives as those who belong to Christ and belong to His Body. Paul says, we are not our own any longer. We belong to God and one another. Christian, does your life reflect that you belong to Jesus and His bride?

Jesus will return for His Bride - not an aquaintance. He will present those who depend on Him and who are devoted to Him to Himself, "as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless" (Eph 5:27). Hallelujah!

Conclusion

Let us be sure to preach the true gospel in the Spirit's power to lead people to make a proper and considered decision for Christ. Let us not be hasty in getting people to pray a quick prayer (for our sake). Let us help others make a genuine, unconditional commitment to Christ that will lead them to live a life dependent on and devoted to Christ and to His people.

Where is the promised land?

"For God, who was at work in the ministry of Peter as an apostle to the Jews, was also at work in my ministry as an apostle to the Gentiles." Galatians 2:8

Peter was a messenger of Christ to Israel, the chosen people of God. His ministry was focused on reaching the Jewish people with the gospel. He so identified with his people that Paul even had to correct him for returning to Jewish customs whilst in Antioch (see Gal. 2:11-14). Reading Peter's letters, therefore, gives us a glimpse of his heart for the Jewish people and God's purposes for Israel and the Church.

God's message to His people 

The Good News that "Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God" (1 Peter 3:18) was Peter's message to the Jewish people. He was greatly concerned about the outcome for "those who do not obey the Gospel" (1 Peter 4:17). In Peter's mind, "the end of all things" was near (1 Peter 4:7) and so his letters carry a sense of urgency about Christ's return and the Church's readiness to meet her Master.

Strangers in the world

It is interesting to note how James and Peter address their letters to "the twelve tribes scattered among the nations" and "God's elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia" (James 1:1; 1 Peter 1:1). It seems that both writers primarily have their Jewish brothers in mind who have come to faith in Christ through the Gospel. Rather than calling their Jewish brothers to return to Jerusalem or "the promised land," the believers are encouraged "as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul" and to "live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us" (1 Peter 2:11,12). God's purpose for His people is that they live as members and citizens of His Kingdom in this world wherever they are. He is not gathering His people to one place but has scattered His people among the nations to be salt and light for His glory (see Matthew 5:13-16)!

Where is the "promised land"?

God's people are not to live for the seen but for the unseen real. Abraham lived by faith in the unseen reality of God's land, promised to him and his ancestors. 

"All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country - a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them" (Hebrews 11:13-16).

Even Moses "regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king's anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible" (Heb.11:26,27).

The message of the writer to the Hebrews, the Jewish people, is that Christ is the fulfillment of all that was forshadowed in the old covenant. "The copies of the heavenly things" (Heb. 9:23) all pointed to the reality of the invisible Kingdom that is found in Christ. God's people are not supposed to be returning to a physical land but are to be waiting in great expectation for the new heavens and the new earth, "to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God" (Heb. 12:22). Jew and Gentile believers eagerly await a "better country" and the city God has prepared for them!

Let us live godly lives as aliens and strangers in this world as we eagerly await the glorious appearing of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ and the revelation of our heavenly home!