Romans 1:16-17, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.”
What is the purpose of the gospel? The Bible student’s answer to this question gives revelation to many scriptural conclusions they hold. My daily prayer is that every child of God would understand that the benefits of the gospel are for the born-again child of God right now, right here in this world. The Bible teaches us that every child of God will enjoy a heavenly home without the loss of one, but not every child of God understands the purpose of the gospel message, and by not understanding, they lose much joy that could be found in this life. According to the Bible, the purposes of the gospel are:
(1) Glorification of Jesus Christ. Every sermon preached should be focused on giving Jesus Christ the glory for His finished work and His promise of Glory. It is His gospel and He should be glorified in it. The first and foremost purpose of the gospel is to Glorify Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4, Gal 1:11-12, Phil 1:20, Matt 5:16).
(2) Information/Conversion. The purpose of the gospel is not to bring life (eternal salvation), but light (understanding, salvation here in time) to those who have been made alive (eternally saved) by the grace of God. With this understanding, the child of God should turn from his/her wicked ways unto the Lord of Glory, and live a life of obedience to God’s word (2 Timothy 1:10, Acts 26:17-18, Matt 11:28-30).
(3) Experiential Consolation. There is a precious comfort to the troubled child of God in the Gospel. The good news from a far country (Proverbs 25:25) is able to bring peace to the child of God concerning his or her after life, the resurrection of the dead and even the end of the world (Isa 40:1, 1 Thess 4:18, Col 1:5).
(4) Spiritual Guidance to the child of God. The children of God are in need of guidance in this world concerning how they should live. The gospel gives that wonderful instruction by teaching the child of God a better way (Acts 8:31, 2 Tim 3:16, Matt 28:19).
(5) Spiritual Maturity. Every child of God needs to be fed the Spiritual things of God that they may grow in knowledge. When a child of God is hungering for Spiritual nourishment, it’s the word of God and the preaching of the word that will feed their hungry soul (Jer 3:15, Matt 5:6, 2 Pet 3:18, Eph 4:8-15).
(6) Encouragement to the faint. Very often in this world, the child of God becomes discouraged. What a wonderful encouragement it is to hear their warfare is accomplished. The message of the gospel declares the war has already been won. The gospel declares that Jesus has won the war for us and in our stead so that we should be encouraged, knowing the He overcame the world and if He has overcome, so have we in Him. Many times, in my life, that information has encouraged me to get back on my feet and fight the good fight of faith while here in this world (Rev 5:9, Rev 12:10-11, Jn 16:33).
(7) Assurance to the troubled. The Bible teaches us that the wicked are not troubled about the afterlife (Ps 73:5), but a born-again child of God can and often is troubled about being saved or not. So many times I’ve talked with people who have so little assurance that they are convinced that they are not children of God. “How could God love a sinner like me” or “I’m such a sinner, God could not love me” would be the words that come from their lips. I very much enjoy the smile I see when I tell them that the very fear they have is a great evidence of the work of grace. The precious truth found in the gospel concerning the evidences of grace brings such sweet assurance to the child of God. My daddy used to say, “When I hear the gospel preached and feel the presence of the Spirit of God, I could swing over hell on a rotten grape vine singing Amazing Grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.” A good preacher friend of mine said “He could storm the gates of hell with two water pistols.” How precious that assurance is. I pray for you dear child of God, that you, by hearing and obeying the gospel, will enjoy the same.
Amen!