After Jesus had died for our sins, was resurrected and just
before he ascended into heaven, he commanded his apostles in Mark
16:15-16, "And he said to them, Go into all the
world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is
baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned."
Our Lord wanted the gospel preached to everyone. The word "gospel"
literally means good news or good tidings.
In Romans
1:16 the apostle Paul says, "For I am not ashamed
of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation for
everyone who believes; for the Jew first, and also for the Greek."
So we see that the gospel of Christ is Godís only power unto salvation. It is
by the gospel or good news that God saves us.
What does the Bible say that the gospel is that saves us? In I
Corinthians 15:1-4, Paul is reminding the church at Corinth
about the gospel when he says, "Moreover, brethren,
I declare unto you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you
received, and in which you stand; by which also you are saved, if you hold
fast that word I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I
delivered to you first of all that which I also received; that Christ died
for our sins according to the scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He
rose again the third day according to the scriptures."
Here we see that Paul was reminding them of the gospel in which Christ died,
and was buried, and was raised again on the third day. Also notice, they were
saved by the gospel. So the good news of the gospel is the death, burial, and
resurrection of our Lord.
Why then is the death of Christ good news? The good news of the death of Christ
is that Christ has died for us, taking our punishment, and now God can be
just in saving us. Without his death we would all be doomed for eternal
punishment and no one could be saved. Even though the death of Christ is a
terrible thing to have to happen, it is good news to us. We read in I
John 4:10, "In this is love, not that we loved
God, but that He loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our
sins." Christ had to be buried since he died. Then after
three days, Christ was raised up from the dead. We read in I
Corinthians 6:14, "And God both raised
up the Lord, and will also raise up us by His own power."
So why is the resurrection of Christ, the gospel or good news? The good news
of the resurrection of Christ is that since God was able to raise up Christ,
He will also raise us up from the dead. Jesus says in John
11:25, "I am the resurrection, and the life. He who
believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live." So the
gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is
certainly good news.
In II
Thessalonians 1:7-9 we read that, "When the Lord Jesus
is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking
vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey not the
gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting
destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his
power." Here we see that vengeance will be taken on those
who obey not the gospel of Christ. The gospel as we have seen is the death,
burial, and, resurrection of our Lord. How do we obey the death, burial and
resurrection of our Lord so that vengeance will not be taken on us?
We are given the answer of how to obey the gospel in Romans
6:3-5 which says, "Or do you not know,
that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His
death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death: that
just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so
we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together
in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of
His resurrection." So here we see that we are baptized
into His death, we are buried with Him through baptism, and then just as
Christ was raised up from the dead, we also are raised to walk in newness of
life after baptism. There must be a death, burial, and resurrection
before this new life is possible. Only in baptism does our old sinful
person die and our new person rises free from sin. We are transformed
from death to life. We become a new creation.
Illustration by Robert Swain
The chart above illustrates how that in baptism we obey the gospel. That is
we obey a form of His death, burial, and resurrection when we are baptized,
so that vengeance will not be taken on us. Continuing in this sixth chapter
of Romans we read in verses 17-18 (KJV), "But God be thanked,
that you were the servants of sin, but you have obeyed from the heart that
form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, you
became the servants of righteousness." So, we see that
when people obey that form of doctrine that is a form of the Lordís death,
burial, and resurrection when they are baptized, they are at that point then
made free from the sin and become the servants of righteousness.
Have you obeyed the gospel by being baptized into His death,being buried in
baptism with him and then being raised with Him up out of the watery grave of
baptism to walk in newness of life? If your baptism was not for the purpose
of making you free from sin so that you can be saved, then you havenít obeyed
the gospel of Christ. You havenít been made free from sin. As we have already
seen, the Lord will take vengeance on all those who obey not the gospel of
Christ. If you haven't why don't you correct your situation and make things
right? Donít put it off. Satan wants you to put off making it right.
The reason that so much time and detail has been spent on the subject of
baptism in this course is because of all the different perversions and
distortions of baptism that men have come up with which are different from
what God has said in the Bible. The tragedy is that this will cause people to
be lost in eternally. The gospel is being perverted today just as it was
perverted in the first century. Paul says in Galatians 1:6-8,
"I
marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace
of Christ to a different gospel: which is not another; but there be some who
trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an
angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached
to you, let him be accursed."
People pervert the gospel of Christ today when they attempt to make changes
in Godís plan to save man to suit themselves. We have been discussing these
perversions throughout this course. It is a serious matter with God to have
his gospel perverted and it will not go unnoticed. That person will be
accursed by God. The person who perverts the gospel of Christ will be
eternally lost and also cause others to be lost by believing a perverted
gospel.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Questions
Lesson 18 Obedience To The Gospel
1) (Mark 16:15-16) Jesus wanted the gospel preached To
only a few people. To every creature. To
just good people.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2) The gospel means good news.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
3) (Romans 1:16) The gospel is The power God uses to save
everyone who believes. Optional
since we can be saved without it. Something
all people like to hear.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
4) Paul was ashamed of the gospel of Christ.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
5) (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) The gospel is the good news That
all men are going to be saved. That
no one is going to be saved. Of the death, burial, and
resurrection of Christ.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
6) We are saved by the gospel.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
7) (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9) Vengeance will be taken on Those who do not obey the
gospel. Everyone. On
no one.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
8) One will still go to Heaven if he does not obey the gospel.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
9) (Romans 6:3-5) We obey the gospel which is the death, burial, and
resurrection of Jesus Christ when we Say
the sinners prayer. Accept
Jesus as our personal saviour. Are baptized.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
10) When we are baptized we are raised as a new person free from sin.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
11) (Romans 6:17-18) When we obey the form of the death, burial, and
resurrection of Christ when we are baptized, We
are not saved. We
are not made free from sin. We are then made free from
sin.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
12) We obey a form of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ
when we are baptized.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
13) (Galatians 1:6-8) If a gospel is preached other than what we find
in the Bible then It is a perverted gospel. It
is pleasing to God. It
is all right.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
14) There are many perverted gospels being taught today.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
15) (Galatians 1:6-8) One who preaches a perverted gospel Is
doing God's will. Will be accursed and lost
eternally. Will
be saved if he is sincere.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
16) One who preaches a perverted gospel will cause no one to be lost.