I want to start off by thanking Jesse Ahmann and Pastor Michael Wainwright for inviting me as a contributor on this blog. It is an honor and a privilege. I was truly blessed when I came to Bozeman and visited their group. I expect great things coming out of Bozeman. I also hope to visit again soon.
The Power of The Gospel
There are many who preach about the Power of the Gospel yet often the gospel they preach about is not The Gospel. It seems to me often the gospel that is preached is that of a superficiality that promotes a certain powerlessness instead of offering people the Power of salvation.
Most often when I hear this other "gospel" I hear it taught as "getting saved from hell." This is not the same gospel that Jesus taught. In fact it demeans the True Gospel.
Jesus spoke of a Gospel... and taught a Gospel that seems almost lost in many churches today. This Gospel is "the gospel of the Kingdom." (Matt 4:23, 9: 35, Mat 24:14; Luke 4:24, 8:1,) This Gospel of the Kingdom is so much more than about my own personal salvation. It is bigger than my little kingdom.
If we do not look at the Gospel as more than about me, then we miss the overall glory. This Gospel is not "just" about "me". It is the gospel of the glory of Christ. It encompasses all that God is doing... meaning the regeneration or "renewal" of all things. (Matt 19:28)
Often I have heard some teach that the gospel is all about "getting saved from hell and then you get to go to heaven"... if that is all there is, then it does not seem to have that much power.
The Power is in the understanding of the magnitude that Salvation is in Christ Jesus. God has come in the Person of Jesus to set all things right... for God alone is Righteous.
The Power to save is the Power that God has to redeem and set all things right. To take back this lost world and reform it into His Son's image.
We need to turn from our little kingdoms and come the The Kingdom of God. It is that we live "in Christ" the King that we come to live in the Kingdom. We exchange out life for His and become dependant on Jesus for all things.
We have been given the keys to this Kingdom... We have been given all we need for Godliness in the Person of Jesus Christ. It is in the coming to understand how huge the Kingdom is and that all God has accomplished through Jesus that the Power of the Gospel can truly be seen. Once we see the bigger picture, we are free from the bondage of our own little kingdoms. The Power is in the surrender of our kingdom for His in all its glory.
Be blessed,
iggy
September 25, 2008 at 4:44 PM
Thanks Iggy for posting! As a conditionalist I totally agree with you.
To clarify: A conditionalist doesn't believe hell is for eternity, but for "aion" meaning age. There are no second chances, so I disagree with Mclaren in this article (http://blog.christianitytoday.com/outofur/archives/2006/05/brian_mclarens.html)conserning hell. But I agree with Mclaren's view of Universalism. "Universalism can unintentionally dis-empower the church, because it says everything’s going to be okay in the end, regardless of our responses. That can be a very pacifying answer, and lead to attitudes that are not faithful to Scripture and to Jesus. As I see it, all of Scripture affirms that yes, you can really waste your life . . ."
September 28, 2008 at 12:25 PM
Hi Iggy,
Thanks for the great post! I think you've hit on a theme that is central to the message of Christ, but often lacking in today's churches. If you're ever in town, I'd love to have you present a Bible study on this topic during our Thursday meeting.
In His Peace,
Michael
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