What is the theology of the gospel? For a long time when I would hear the word theology I would think of deep, complex spiritual issues that required a lot of research, study, and an attempt at coming to a conclusion. Then, when hearing the word gospel I would immediately think of Jesus on the cross, dying for my sin so I could go to Heaven. In my mind, those two words didn’t really need to go together because theology was something complex and deep and the gospel was pretty simple. My how wrong I was as I’ve come to realize how theology doesn’t have to be complex, and the gospel, while simple and easy to accept, has a lot more to it than I had originally thought.
The definition of theology is a religious theory, school of thought, or system of belief. That system of belief can be incredibly simple, such as the system of belief that God is the Creator of the world. For those willing to honestly look at the facts and the science, for those who’ve ever experienced the birth of a child or the inexplicable healing of someone on their deathbed, the theology that God is the Creator of the world is really pretty simple. We all form theologies about various aspects of our faith or lack of faith in God, and I’m coming to realize that my theology of the gospel is radically changing. As I study the Scriptures and spend time with my Savior, as I watch Him completely transform the lives of people, my theology of the gospel is far bigger than what I once thought it was.
So what is the gospel?
The gospel, or good news, is not simply a history lesson or a recounting of facts. We can list out the events and circumstances surrounding the life and death of Jesus, but that’s not the whole picture. The gospel, in its simplest form, is an understanding of who God is, who we are, and how the two are reconciled to one another. God is the Loving Creator (Acts 17:24), Supreme Authority (Acts 17:24-25), and Final Judge (Acts 17:30-31). We are Willfully Ignorant (Romans 1:18-20), Passionately Rebellious (Romans 1:21-23), and Condemned to Death (Romans 2:5). Only through the justification that is received through the blood and sacrifice of Jesus (Romans 3:21-26), the greatest gift ever given to man by God (Romans 6:23), can we have the opportunity to be saved, and that’s the gospel. We can choose to repent, believe, and have life, or not. We can choose to pray for forgiveness and salvation and eternity, or not. The opportunity to choose, given to us by our God through the sacrifice of His Son, is an opportunity that we all have and we all take. Everyone chooses, everyone decides, and that decision literally changes everything, for now and for eternity.
My view of the gospel for a long time was far too long-sighted (I think that’s the opposite of short-sighted), and far less invasive than it really is. For a long time, in my mind, the gospel affected eternity and eternity only. I didn’t need to study it and understand it and apply it because once I accepted it and got my “get out of hell free” card that’s all I needed to know. Where I went wrong was that I didn’t understand what it meant for me now.
God is my Loving Creator: God formed me and made me and physically holds me together and allows me to breathe, right now. He loves me, and only by His love for me can I extend love for others. When I struggle to love, I’m struggling to remember how much I’m loved. That affects me, and those around me, now.
God is the Supreme Authority: This world pushes everyone to believe that there is no supreme authority, that what’s right or wrong is purely dependent on what I want or think is best. A life lived that way leads to pursuing every pleasure, no matter the cost to anyone around us. Understanding that God is my Supreme Authority causes me to seek to please Him, and by pleasing Him I’m doing what’s best for me, my family, and everyone I know, now.
God is the Final Judge: I am not the one in control, I’m not the one that gets to make all the final decisions, and I’m not the one that’s always right. I need that reminder often, and if I can constantly remember my humble position in the grand scheme of this world in light of eternity, that makes a big difference on who I am right now.
We are willfully ignorant: It’s one thing to just not know something; it’s a whole different situation to choose not to know something. God says that He will make himself known to men, and He has made Himself known to me. Knowing there is a God but choosing not to know Him or His Word is being willfully ignorant. When I don’t continue to pursue a relationship with God and grow deeper in my relationship with Him, that hinders my chances at further walking and being the man, dad, and husband that God designed me to be, which affects now.
We are Passionately Rebellious: Yikes. Not only do we rebel against authority – God or otherwise, we go at it with a passion. That rebellion has such devastating effects, in the past, today, and in the future. The understanding of our rebellion, which hopefully leads to repentance and change, is just as important in the light of right now as it is in the light of eternity.
We are Condemned to Death: There is so much talk about how the truth of hell shouldn’t be preached because it’s a fear tactic that plays on people’s emotions. Sometimes we need a wake-up call, and often times for me emotional times have provided that. Good emotions and bad emotions can have a very similar effect – they cause us to do something. Should the fear of hell be our only motivator to pursue Christ, absolutely not. Can the truth of the reality of a place without God cause us to reconsider and re-evaluate our life and our life choices, absolutely. If this world, in its depravity and desolation, has some of God in it, can you imagine a place with none? I can’t, and I don’t want to. The reality that, on my own and by my own power, I am condemned to hell is part of the reason why I’m a saved child of God, and it should help motivate me to share the gospel with my friends and family, now.
A proper understanding of God and a proper understanding of man must bring us to a point of decision. We can’t understand who God is in His perfection, who we are in our imperfection, and not make a choice to either change who we are through the work of the gospel or continue down the path we’re on. And, as I’ve said a million times, putting off a decision is deciding to say no today.
As my theology of the gospel has grown from an eternity-only perspective to an eternity-and-right-now-and-tomorrow-and-the-next-day perspective, it is driving me to change who I am. Now, and ask my wife for confirmation if you don’t believe me, but that transformation is a slow process, and sometimes it even feels like I’m going backwards, but it’s in those times when I rejoice that I don’t have to be perfect because my Savior is.
The gospel isn’t only about eternity, it’s about right now.
