The gospel has at least as many variations as Baskin Robbins has flavors of Ice Cream. Some churchgoers simply choose which one they like the best or the one that suits them. But is that how it works? Can we just choose which theory of the gospel we like or prefer?

Jesus exhorted His disciples and His followers today to, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” Mark 16:15  Such a command would warrant that we carry to the world the right gospel. Every creature would include the intellectual as well as the child, so the right gospel must be given in such clear and simple language that even a child can understand. The gospel means good news. What is the good news that we are to proclaim to the world in simple and straightforward terms? The gospel or good news of salvation is that God saves us from sin.

“And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.” Matt 1:21

In order to understand the gospel, we need to understand what we are saved from. We need to understand sin and the role it plays in our lives from an very early age.

In his epistle, the disciple John defines sin as transgression of the law.

“Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.” 1 John 3:4

To commit a sin is to act contrary to the law but which law is being spoken of here? The Ten Commandments? Yes, The Ten Commandments but one must understand the depth of the principles upon which the commandments hang.

“ Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” Matt 22:37-40

The principle under girding the Commandments is love. Love toward God and Love toward our fellow man. The principles of the law and therefore the law itself are eternal because they are based upon the character of God.

“Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.” 1 John 4:7-8

The law is therefore anything that is contrary to His Character, the principle of love. The law is also anything or any action that is contrary to His will.


“I delight to do thy will, O my God:
yea, thy law is within my heart.” Psalm 40:8

 

God’s law is His will and His will is that we should Love Him supremely and love our neighbor as our self. All of this is to be “within our hearts”. This is God’s will not only for us but for all of His universe.

The idea of Jesus saving His people “from their sins”implies that we must not have love for God or love for our neighbor, we must not be in harmony with God’s will, and we must not have the Character of God “in our hearts”. This is where the gospel comes in. The gospel is the good news that in the Son of God, all of these things can be restored in man. How is it restored?

 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.” Rom 1:16

The “gospel” or “the power of God” restores something that man does not have. For answers to these questions we turn to Romans chapters 5-8.

Romans Chapters 5-8 contain some of the most difficult passages of scripture to understand and it has resulted in a lot of debates. Some of the difficulties in these chapters should be cleared up when we identify some common themes.

Simply put, the gospel provides something that we lack.

“For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.”Romans 5:6

Paul says that at one time we were without strength. We were without the power of God. The result is that we transgress the law and we act contrary to the will and character of God. This is why the preaching of the gospel is so important. It is the means of giving to others the thing that we lack, which is the power of God needed to fulfill the law.

Paul states the same thing a couple verses later but uses different terminology. Notice the similarities!

“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

It’s clear to see here that when we compare the two verses, sinners are the same as those who are “without strength” and are“ungodly”.  A sinner is a person who lacks the power of God and is therefore ungodly or unlike God.

Paul takes it a step further and calls sinners the enemies of God.

“For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.” Rom 5:10

Every human born into this world finds himself or herself in a condition of lacking the power of God. This inevitably results in a life that is contrary to God’s will, law and character.

Christ, The only begotten Son of God, is the only human that ever lived a perfect life in harmony with the will, law and character of God (Hebrews 7:26; 1:9; 1 John 3:5; 2 Corinthians 5:21). He was able to do this because He was connected to the source of power, the Father (Matthew 1:20; John 3:34).

While Christ is the only one to live a perfectly victorious life, Paul says concerning everyone else that “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” Rom 3:23.

All sin which reveals that we are sinners that are “without strength”.  While all fall short of the standard we are not automatically condemned or guilty for simply being born into a fallen world. In His mercy God has place man upon a probation in this life so that while the sentence of death is upon us, we can choose life in Christ. Man will be condemned to death because he does not choose Christ and he rejects Christ because he loves this world of darkness more.  

“ And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” John 3:18-19

The next question that Paul answers is who is responsible for bringing the darkness into the world.

For the answer to that question, Paul points us to one man, Adam. Contrary to Gods will Adam disobeyed the command of God and introduced sin and death into the world. The sin and death of the human race was not God’s will. Everything was perfect in creation.

“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:” Rom 5:12

Adam’s sin caused the whole human race to fall and be separated from God because iniquities and sins cause a separation from God.

“But your iniquities have separated between you and your God,
and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.” Isaiah 52:2

To be separated from God is to be in darkness because God is light.

“This then is the message….. God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” 1 John 1:5

God the Father is light and the fallen world is darkness. In the same way that light and darkness cannot co-exist, The Father and this present evil world are separated.

Adam’s sin plunged the world in darkness and separation from God. Satan, the enemy of God, desires to keep men in darkness but God had a plan. He would send His Son into the world to take mans penalty and reveal the light of the Father’s character.

Speaking of Jesus, John states:“That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” John 1:9

While God is working to save every man there is an enemy that desires to blind mens eyes to the light of the gospel.

“But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”2 Corinthians 4:4

God has given His Son to be a shining light in this dark world. He is the “image of God” the Father. The light is the light of His life. The light of His character. The light of love. The very principles of the law and the thing that mankind lacks.

All of humanity without any choice of their own is affected by the sin of Adam and the consequences of it but God has provided a way for man to be redeemed from the darkness.

“Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.” Romans 518-19

We have already seen that when we compare Romans 5 vs. 6, 8, & 10 to be a sinner is to be “without strength” or power and this is the characterization of all who are the enemies of God. They are in darkness. But it’s not as though they are not without any power in an absolute sense. They are without the power of God but to be without the power of God is to be under the power of another.

The power that controls all the enemies of God is the power of sin. Some would also label it as selfishness.

In Romans chapters 6-7, Paul highlights some of the characteristics of sin and in doing so he highlights the problem of every human being. Before Christ, we are lost in darkness and there is no way for us to get out of it on our own.

Notice the power that sin has to hold us in a condition of darkness.

Before Christ we lived in sin.

“God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” Rom 6:2

Before Christ we served sin.

“Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.” Rom 6:6

Before Christ we were bound by sin.

“For he that is dead is freed from sin.”Rom 6:7

Before Christ, sin reigned in us and we obeyed it

“Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.” Rom 6:12

Before Christ we were under the dominion, power, and authority of sin.

“For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.” Rom 6:14

Once again, before Christ we were the servants of sin.

“But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.” Rom 6:17

Before Christ we were the servants of uncleanness and iniquity.

“…for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.” Rom 6:19

Once more, before Christ we were the servants of sin.

“For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.” Rom 6:20

And again, before Christ we were bound by sin.

“But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.” Rom 6:22

If we were bound by sin before Christ then we were also bound to death.

“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”Rom 6:23

Before Christ, sin worked in us to bring forth “fruit”or unrighteous actions.

“For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.” Rom 7:5

Sin can deceive.

“For sin……….deceived me, and by it slew me.” Romans 7:11

It’s clear to see that Paul uses the term sin in some unconventional ways. That is, he refers to sin as something other than an action. The point of these chapters is to illustrate the helpless condition that we are in before we receive Christ into our hearts.

Every human without Christ is in this helpless condition of being under the dominion, power, and control of sin. In every human it will work out its “fruit” in his or her life.

Two things then become apparent:

#1. The power of sin is more powerful than the power of every individual human being since every human except Christ is under its control. That is to say that we have no power in and of ourselves over sin.

 

#2 We need a power outside of ourselves that is more powerful than the power that binds us and is in control of us.

 

Moving forward, Paul points us to where the problem is. The power, authority, and dominion of sin is within us.

“ But sin… working… in me”Rom 7:13

“… sin that dwelleth in me.” Rom 7:17

“For I know that in me….. dwelleth no good thing:” Rom 7:18

“.… sin that dwelleth in me.”Rom 7:20

“evil is present with me.” Rom 7:21

“But I see another law in my members, …..the law of sin which is in my members.” Rom 7:23

“…with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin…” Rom 7:25

According to Paul in Romans chapters 6-7,  before Christ,  sin is a controlling, dominating, authoritative power that binds us and holds us captive and will eventually lead us to an eternal death. This power is not an outside force, but is present within each sinner.

While the will of man plays an important role in salvation, even it cannot be enough to save us. Paul, in Romans 7, clearly reveals that the power of sin is more powerful than the human will. Notice that he says that the mind desires to follow the law of God or to do the right thing.

“I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.” Rom 7:25

Many Christians will take this to mean that we can follow the lust of the flesh as long as we mentally consent to the truth and the law of God. This cannot be for Christ Himself said:

“No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” Matt 6:24

We can only serve one master at a time. We have already seen that before Christ, Sin is a master and we are its servant. So, what is Paul trying to illustrate when he says that “with the mind I myself serve the law of God?”and that he delights “in the law of God after the inward man”v. 22?

I believe the mind that serves the law of God is the part of the mind dealing with conscience, reason, and judgment. God has given to every person these faculties but they cannot give us the power we need.  This is clear when Paul says:

“For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.” Rom 7:15-16

The part that consents to the goodness of the law is the conscience, reason and judgment. These are a good and useful things that God uses to communicate with us but as illustrated by Paul in vs 15-16, they are not enough.

Let me illustrate it in a modern context for sake of clarity.

I used to smoke and I have been a part of a number of stop smoking programs. Smoking is a clear violation of the 6th commandment that says thou shalt not kill. Someone who is smoking is violating their temple and is killing themselves. They are guilty even if they are doing it slowly.

Now, a person who smokes can conscientiously know that it is a violation of the law of God. They may be convicted that they need to stop. Perhaps their mind is awakened with a desire to stop. They can reason out all the reasons to stop. They will feel better, be healthier, and look younger. Their judgment dictates that they need to stop right away.

But do they stop? No! Why not?

There is a power that has a hold of them that is greater than the conscience, reason, and judgment. Here these things submit to another power.

I believe that this illustrates Paul’s words when he states that his mind serves the law of God but his flesh serves the law of sin. It is in this sense that the mind serves the law of God but it is not true obedience to God’s commands. He is speaking of  only a recognition of what is right and what the law requires.

What the law requires is holy and just and good.

“Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.” Rom 7:12

“It is good.” Rom 7:16

The problem is not the requirements of the law. The problem is that the law can only reveal the problem but it can never give us the power that is needed. We can recognize the righteousness of God’s commands but that, in and of itself, does not make us righteous.

The law of ten commandments, when understood in the light of the principles upholding them, does a good job of revealing the problem within us.

“What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.” Rom 7:7

But man needs a power outside of himself to come in and deal with the sin problem within him.  That power must be a power more powerful than the power of sin in him.

Is there a power that is offered to us that is more powerful than the power of sin in us?

“But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.” 1 Cor 1:24

How do we know that Christ is more powerful than the power of sin?

“For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.  Rom 8:2-4

We know that Christ is more powerful than the power of sin because He condemned it. In other words he was victorious and triumphed over it. He took on the body of sin, with its power, and yet it did not have the mastery over Him. Not even once.

This was only possible because He was controlled by another power, the Spirit of God. The reason He was controlled by the Spirit of God was because as the Son of God He loved His Father and as the Son of Man He completely surrendered to the will of His Father.

“I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.” John 5:30

And what the law cannot do for us in that it does not have power over sin, Christ can do when we do not seek our will but surrender it completely to God.

Christ’s victory over the power of sin in man’s flesh guarantees two things:

#1 There is a power greater than the power of sin that controls the sinner.

#2 The person who receives that power will also overcome the power of sin within them.

This is really good news! The next question should be, “How do I receive this power?”

“But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.” 1 Cor. 1:24

We receive this power when we receive Christ. The experience of receiving Christ into the heart is called conversion or being born again. We can go to church, know a lot about the Bible and even do many “good works” but if we have not been  born again we will not go to heaven.

“Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” John 3:3

A person who has just been born has begun a new life and in a similar way, the Christian who is born again has begun a new life. What is this new life?

“For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.” Romans 8:2

This new life is completely different from the old life. The old life is a life that is controlled by the power of sin and is a servant to it. The new life is one in which Christ makes that person free from sin. The key is the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus. In other words, the Spirit that was in Christ is the Spirit that can make us free from our old life.

“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Romans 8:1

When we have this Spirit, we are not under the condemnation of death but have passed from death to life. This is what it means to be “in Christ”. So, to be in Christ is to have the Spirit of Christ in us and this is exactly what Paul emphasizes next.

“.… the Spirit of God dwell in you……”Rom 8:9

“And if Christ be in you,….” Rom 8:10

“…the Spirit of him …… dwell in you, ….” Rom 8:11

“… by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.” Rom 8:11

“…the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us…” Rom 8:4

The problem of every man is that there is a controlling power within him. That controlling power is called sin. God in His mercy has provided a solution to the problem. He has given His Son to the human race to conquer the power of sin for man.

When we surrender our lives to Christ and are born again we receive the Spirit of the Christ and He will live the same victorious life in us. His Spirit is a power that is greater than the power of sin that is in us by nature and by cultivation. God does not force Christ upon us but His life can be ours when we choose to forsake the darkness of this world and surrender ourselves completely to God.

All who have experienced this belong to the Father and Son.

 “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” Rom 8:14

Christ commanded His disciples and also His followers in every age to preach the gospel.

“And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” Matthew 24:14

While there are many theories about the gospel, God’s people at the end of time will not only “declare” the gospel but the gospel will be “witnessed” in them. They will reveal in their lives that Christ is the righteousness of God and is the only way that our lives could be in harmony with the law of God.

“While the law is holy, the Jews could not attain righteousness by their own efforts to keep the law. The disciples of Christ must obtain righteousness of a different character from that of the Pharisees, if they would enter the kingdom of heaven. God offered them, in His Son, the perfect righteousness of the law. If they would open their hearts fully to receive Christ, then the very life of God, His love, would dwell in them, transforming them into His own likeness; and thus through God’s free gift they would possess the righteousness which the law requires.” MB 54