Work of the Gospel

I am sure you may know what the “gospel” (Good News) of Jesus Christ is. If not, the Apostle Paul gives a great “short” telling of the essence of what the gospel is:

“By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. Whether, then, it is I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.”

1 Corinthians 15:2-11 NIV

By this, what we can see is the essence of the gospel is the life, death, resurrection, ascension of Jesus Christ. It is in the proclaiming of Christ that we experience the good news. This good news leads to salvation, wholeness, reconciliation, holiness with God. This good news leads us to life. 

This looks at “gospel” being a “noun.” In other words something tangible. But thee gospel is also a verb. How? When someone is being gospeled, they are being formed into the likeness and image of the message being proclaimed. When this happens, the mind is changed and the person is no formed into the good news.

So, whenever we proclaim the gospel, we are also witnessing the Holy Spirit do the gospel work within a person. The person’s mind is being transformed by the message of Jesus and the person’s life (spirit, emotions, etc.) is being gospeled by the presence of the Holy Spirit.

This is the reality when we proclaim Christ. The message of his life, death, resurrection, and ascension is what holds the power for life change to bring healing, reconciliation, wholeness (holiness), for the person who is open to hearing the truth of Jesus.

So here’s the challenge: Who can you share the gospel with? Who will you invite, and pray for, so the Holy Spirit can do the gospel in work within the person?

The power and presence of Jesus is incredible. It’s too good not to share with the world!

I’d love to hear your stories of sharing the gospel message to others.