How important is the gospel to you
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.Romans 1:16
How important is the gospel to you? Is it worth dying for? Is it for living for? Is it worth your finances, your time, yea, even your heart?
The Greek word “euangelion” translated gospel means “good news.” The Apostle Paul makes it clear that the gospel or good news of salvation is based upon the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-3). The heart of the gospel consists of four words: “Christ died for you!” “For” (Greek “huper”) means “in place of.” In other words, His death is a substitutionary death…the innocent dies for the guilty, the righteous dies for the unrighteous and in so doing gives His own righteousness to the sinner, thereby converting the sinner into a holy saint that meets the righteous demands of a holy God (2 Corinthians 5:21).
That is shouting ground for even we modern day Christians! “That I could still go free! What kind of man would reach down His hand and do this for me?” That is why we call it “gospel” or GOOD NEWS. Indeed, it is the best news anyone can ever hear.
The Bible translator and preacher William Tyndale (1494-1536) expresses his own feelings toward the gospel in the preface to his English translation of the Holy Scriptures. Tyndale writes that the word “gospel” “signifies “good, merry, glad and joyful tidings, that makes a person’s heart glad, and makes him sing, dance and leap for joy.” I get that, how about you?
Tyndale lived and preached the gospel. He died defending the gospel at the young age of forty-two. In Tyndale’s eyes the gospel is worth living for and dying for. What do you think?
Tom Swartzwelder was born again at the age of nine in an old-fashioned revival meeting. Tom received his B.A. from Tennessee Temple University and his M. Div from Luther Rice Seminary. He has pastored for nearly forty years in both bi-vocational and full-time roles. He provides practical how-to-do-ministry resources for the disciples of Jesus Christ at http://www.godsgreenhouse.net. Tom’s latest book is “God Speaks–Today!”
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