The Gospel: Such GOOD News!

What makes Christianity different than Islam? Buddhism? Judaism? Mormonism? Scientology? Aren’t all religions the same? Aren’t all religions different paths which lead to the same destination? Are Christians, like Scientologists, seeking to convert people from their current beliefs to a different belief? Are we merely looking to win an argument?

The overwhelming answer to all of these questions, “NO!” Christianity is different than any other religion, in that, while there are things for us to do (and not do), the calling of Christianity is not to the doing but to the Person Who has finished what we are to do. The Gospel penetrates further into our very being than mere intellectual arguments will ever reach. The Gospel is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

The Gospel says, “you are more completely depraved, wicked, and sinful than you ever dared imagine, yet you are holistically loved and accepted by God than you ever dared dream.” It is because of Jesus Who died in our place, in that, through faith in Him, we are holistically loved and accepted by the Father.

Yes, Christianity demands that we do (and not do) things. However, the doing is done in the Gospel by the Spirit which is the Father’s will for our lives. This means that our doing is the result of the Gospel dispensing its life-giving, life-transforming, life-reconciling power in our lives. Those in whom the Gospel has begun to work, will be changed and will demonstrate Gospel-Change via good works.

Jared Wilson points out that “The full Gospel is not Christ atoning for us and then us doing good works; the full Gospel is Christ atoning for us and then reconciling us with each other.” Jared goes on to explain:

This may sound like a distinction without a difference, but it really is different. It is the difference between seeing the Sermon on the Mount as merely “stuff to do” and seeing it as “stuff to be.” The Sermon on the Mount is good news not so far as it is giving us a new law, but in so far as it announces that under this new law the poor in spirit are blessed, the meek will inherit the earth, those who hunger for righteousness will be satisfied, etc.

This is why the Gospel is news, not advice.

(HT: Transforming Sermons – Milton Stanley)

This is what sets Christianity apart from every other religion.