What About the Gospel? (Part 3)

"The Gospel is not good advice to be obeyed, it is good news to be believed."  - Harry Ironside

If you have followed along on the previous installments, you should now have a workable understanding of what the gospel is. We saw that it is good news from God to man; the good news of spiritual good, forgiveness, and salvation.

But we must not be satisfied with only this knowledge. For as impressive as this might be, our view cannot be thought of as complete without considering whose gospel it is, as well. So let's begin our discussion of this topic here.

As we shall see, the gospel is not an impersonal or theoretical gospel. Neither is it the gospel of man, nor an infinite and distant God. It is the gospel of both God and man. It is specifically described in the text of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

But, in order to allow for a more meaningful conversation about this, we must first set the table, so to speak. To begin with, I'm not aware of anything in the Scriptures that is so consistently disrespected and more incompletely understood than the names and titles of the Savior.

And, even if we do acknowledge the honor and greatness of him, it is only in the general sense. In other words, with no clear concept regarding the importance of the terms we use. Indeed, this habit is quite deeply-rooted and hurtful.

I am sure we'd agree that it wouldn't hurt to occasionally remember the primary importance attached to all names. And that divine names are especially so! The names of the Redeemer were designed to be descriptive and expressive, and not ordinary, formal, and meaningless.

We find that every name is significant of a great truth or relevant feature pertaining to the person or duty of Christ, including the method of redemption. I felt it vital to my message that we clarify the points noted above. I hope that you will find it beneficial as we move forward, too.

In closing, I invite you to join me next time as we continue with our dialogue on the gospel. Until then, I wish you all a blessed week!

Scripture: Acts 4:12; Philippians 2:9-11; John 14:6; John 8:58;  Jeremiah 10:6

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, Your Son has taught us that life is eternal and love cannot die. May we always keep this in our hearts and actions, amen.

May the Lord bless!

Shawna