Chapter 2
How Does the Good News Reach Me?
A tale has been told of an epic battle between the Greeks and the Persians in 490 BC. As the Persians assembled on the plains of Marathon, awaiting the arrival of their exceptional cavalry, the Athenian army saw a golden opportunity for victory and seized it. They launched an attack, flanking the Persians and choking off their escape routes. The Greeks won the day, and the Battle of Marathon became a watershed victory in the Greco-Persian Wars. Many historians consider it a pivotal event in European history.
But there’s more to the story. You see, this major conflict took place in what amounted to the “backyard” of Athens. Had the Persians succeeded in establishing a base at Marathon and then claimed the harbor on the Aegean Sea, Athens and the mighty Greek nation would surely have fallen. There was so much at stake in this battle, and the entire city of Athens anxiously waited for word from the front lines.
As the legend goes, a courier or “day-runner” named Pheidippides was seen approaching the city one day. He had run from the city of Marathon to Athens (a less-than-surprising distance of just over twenty-five miles) to deliver the good news that the Greek army had won the battle. This human carrier pigeon entered the great city and cried out, “Nike!” (“We were victorious!”). Then his heart gave out, and he collapsed and died in a heap as the Athenians broke out in joyful celebration. The message Pheidippides delivered that day meant freedom, hope, and a future for the Greek people.
In a similar way, the message of Christ’s victory means freedom, hope, and a future for all who believe in him. And yet we would never have known about that victory and what it means if the message from the front lines had never reached us. But how, exactly, does the gospel message reach us today? How does it move from being just good news in general to good news that speaks to each of us in a very real and personal way? And if the gospel is all about what God did in Christ on our behalf, what part, if any, do we play in being saved? Let’s find out!
The Gospel Is Proclaimed
Before God’s message of grace, forgiveness, and hope in Christ can transform us, it has to reach us. We need to hear the message to believe it. And the only way that can happen is if someone shares the good news with us. The apostle Paul expressed it well:
How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? (Romans 10:14)
Paul’s point was clear: No one can turn to Christ unless the gospel is first communicated. Those who never hear the gospel won’t turn to Jesus (“call on him”) or place their faith in him (“believe in him”). Before we trusted in Christ, someone somewhere at some time had to explain the gospel to us—that “in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them” (2 Corinthians 5:19). If that message hadn’t reached us, we would have remained hopelessly lost in our sin, separated from God. In fact, the common thread in every gospel encounter is hearing about Jesus and what he did for us on the cross.
In my own gospel encounter, even though I’d grown up in the church and knew what the good news was, I didn’t have a personal encounter with Jesus until I attended that Christian camp in Pennsylvania at the age of sixteen. One night during a chapel service, the gospel message grabbed hold of my heart, and I cried out to Jesus by faith. I’d heard the gospel message many times before, but when I heard it preached that night, something clicked. The pastor proclaimed the gospel, and I finally heard it and embraced it.
Hearing the gospel message is essential for faith in Christ, and that means someone has to proclaim it. Is it any wonder that immediately after his resurrection, Jesus commanded his disciples to go throughout the world proclaiming the good news of what he had done (Matthew 28:19–20)? These marching orders, known as the Great Commission, weren’t just for the original twelve disciples. They were for all of Jesus’ disciples, past and present! It’s always been God’s plan to use his followers as messengers of the gospel. Who better to tell friends and family members about God’s gift of Jesus than those who’ve experienced that gift? A personal testimony of the gospel’s power adds great credibility to the message itself.
It’s always been God’s plan to use his followers as messengers of the gospel.
In most areas of life, a personal testimony carries a lot of weight! Take the QVC home-shopping network, for example. Do you ever watch it? I try not to, but every now and then, I’ll stumble onto something that really seems interesting (and by interesting I mean that it would completely change my life twice). If I really believed the overzealous hosts, I would jump at the opportunity to own the Little Giant Ladder or a juicer that’s guaranteed to pulverize flax seeds so I won’t need to do the difficult work of chewing them while downing my smoothie. Based on their testimonials, every product they sell is virtually guaranteed to provide joy and contentment. And let’s be honest, it’s tempting to pick up the phone, credit card in hand, and do a little impulse buying, isn’t it? But do you know how many products I’ve actually purchased from QVC? Not even one. I’m too skeptical. That knife can’t be that sharp; that device you connect to your vacuum can’t really cut your hair; that steamer doesn’t really clean floors that well. You know what they say, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!”
I have some good friends who aren’t nearly as skeptical as I am and purchase items regularly from QVC and other home-shopping networks. They tell me which products have delivered on their promises and which have failed miserably. Occasionally, they’ll even recommend a product. In fact, just recently my wife and I bought a particular as-seen-on-TV steamer that we love. But do you know what tipped the scales for us? The personal endorsement of someone who had used the product.
Sharing the gospel is a bit like that. Those who have been transformed by God’s grace through the gospel message are the very people God has “commissioned” to tell others about Jesus. They know firsthand just what kind of difference Jesus has made in their lives. They know who they used to be before they heard the good news. They remember the struggles and wounds of the past, the hopelessness and dissatisfaction they felt in life. And they know who they are today because they heard the gospel and placed their faith in Christ. They know the joy and peace Jesus has given them, and their personal testimonies move others to consider the gospel message. That’s exactly how God planned it. In fact, just before Jesus returned to the Father, he shared this very plan with his disciples:
You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. (Acts 1:8)
Jesus told his disciples that they would be witnesses of God’s saving work not only in Jerusalem but throughout the world. And as they faithfully carried that gospel message to the ends of the earth, people would be sure to hear it and respond in faith. The same happens when we, as witnesses of God’s saving work in our own lives, share the good news with those around us.
Only a week and a half after Jesus spoke those parting words to his disciples, Peter proclaimed the gospel message to the Jews in Jerusalem:
Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know—this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. . . . This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. . . . Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified. . . . Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:22–23, 32, 36, 38)
Amazingly, right there in Jerusalem, “about three thousand souls” were added to the church that day (verse 41). Can you imagine if three thousand people were added to your church this weekend? What a powerful work God did that day in Jerusalem! And from there it was only a matter of time until the gospel message reached beyond Jerusalem and began to move around the world.
The book of Acts traces the spread of the gospel as the disciples carried it from place to place:
Ÿ Peter preached the gospel to the Jews in Jerusalem (Acts 2).
Ÿ Peter and John preached the message before the council of Jewish religious leaders in Jerusalem (4:1–12).
Ÿ Peter and the other apostles preached the gospel in the temple courts and declared it again before the Jewish council in Jerusalem (5:17–32).
Ÿ Stephen (the first martyr of the church) preached the message before the Jewish council in Jerusalem (6:8—7:53).
Ÿ Persecuted believers fled from Jerusalem to Judea and Samaria, preaching the gospel wherever they went (8:1–4)
Ÿ Philip preached the gospel in Samaria (8:5) and shared it with an Ethiopian eunuch (verses 26–40).
Ÿ After his conversion, Paul immediately started preaching the gospel in the synagogues of Damascus (9:20–22).
Ÿ Peter shared the good news with Cornelius—a Roman centurion—and his family in Caesarea (10:30–48).
Ÿ Persecuted believers from Jerusalem were scattered as far as Antioch and preached the good news there (11:19–26).
Ÿ Paul preached the gospel message in the synagogues and cities he traveled to (9:19–22; 13:13—21:26).
Ÿ After his arrest, Paul presented the gospel to the Roman governor, Felix, and King Agrippa in Caesarea (24:22–25; 25:23—26:32).
Ÿ When Paul appealed to the Roman emperor, Caesar, he was taken as a prisoner to Rome, where he preached the gospel to Jews and Gentiles (28:17–31).
As followers of Christ have proclaimed, shared, preached, and taught the gospel message all over the world, the church has grown from a band of a few dozen followers in AD 33 to a vast army of the redeemed. The world has been turned upside down because God’s message was proclaimed!
The Righteousness of God Is Revealed
When the disciples proclaimed the gospel message, something powerful happened: People’s hearts were moved by what was revealed in the message, and they responded by turning away from sin (repenting) and turning to faith in Christ. The same thing happened in my heart when I heard the gospel, and it happened in yours, too, if you’re a believer. Not everyone responds in faith, but unless the gospel is preached, hearts can’t be moved by what is revealed in the message.
But what exactly is revealed in the gospel? Romans 1:16–17 gives us a hint:
[The gospel] is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” (Emphasis added)
In the gospel, we hear about God’s righteousness (his holiness and perfection) and begin to understand our own unrighteous condition. We begin to see that we can’t save ourselves through our own goodness or morality. The gift God freely offers us in the gospel is based on Jesus’ righteousness, not on our ability to keep the law and its requirements. If we haven’t already figured it out by now, the gospel tells us that we can’t reach God’s standard of perfection by our own efforts. And we’re doomed to fail if we try. But praise God! His righteousness doesn’t depend on our ability to keep the law’s demands. The apostle Paul put it this way:
The righteousness of God has been manifested [revealed] apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. (Romans 3:21–24, emphasis added)
When I read this passage, what strikes me is not just my own hopeless, sinful condition but the immeasurable beauty of God’s gift in Christ. We’ve all fallen short of God’s perfect standard, but he has made a way for every one of us to be reconciled to him. It has nothing to do with our own goodness or ability to keep his standard or to act morally. Salvation (being rescued from our sin) is a gift, free for the taking. God has given us his own righteousness. As a result, we’re “justified” in his sight, which simply means we’re made right with him, considered righteous in his sight (Galatians 3:26–27). Only in the gospel do we hear that message!
We’ve all fallen short of God’s perfect standard,
but he has made a way for every one of us to be reconciled to him.
The shocking contrast between our sinful condition and the righteousness God offers us in Christ is often overlooked in our feel-good world today, and I’m sad to say, in many of our churches as well. And yet the depth of our sin and our desperate need for a Savior are the core message of the gospel.
A number of years ago, when I was serving as the youth pastor of my church, I had a fascinating conversation with our Christian teenagers about the fate of those who have never heard the gospel. When I asked them, “What exactly is it that sends a person to hell?” the overwhelming responses were “Not believing in Jesus” or “Not asking Jesus into your heart” (which, by the way, is not how the Bible describes faith). Their answers not only shocked me but revealed a misunderstanding I have since concluded was more than an isolated issue.
These kids had grown up in the church and had been exposed to a great deal of Bible teaching, and yet they thought that people slip into a Christless eternity based on what they do with the gospel message. If people haven’t had a chance to hear or consider that message, these teens reasoned, they are still in a “neutral” position as far as their eternal destiny is concerned. The only problem with that logic is the Bible doesn’t teach any such thing.
The real issue isn’t what we do with the gospel message; it’s the condition of our hearts and our standing before God. Here’s what the Bible says about it:
Ÿ We’re dead in our trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1–2). Trespass simply means breaking God’s laws or standards. God’s law is like a Do Not Trespass sign telling us not to violate a boundary. If we do, we’re guilty of breaking the law and are subject to whatever penalty the law determines is just.
Ÿ No one is righteous or holy in God’s sight; all of us have sinned and fall short of God’s glory, or perfection (Romans 3:10, 23). God alone is holy and righteous (1 Samuel 2:2; Psalm 89:6–8, 14). He is perfect, and we are not.
Ÿ Our sinful, rebellious natures make us God’s enemies, “alienated from the life of God” (Ephesians 4:18), “hostile in mind, doing evil deeds” (Colossians 1:21).
Ÿ As God’s enemies, we fully deserve his condemnation, wrath, and punishment because we haven’t met his perfect (or righteous) standard (Ephesians 2:3).
Is it just me, or is all of this a bit alarming? Based on what the Bible has told us about ourselves, the outlook isn’t good. Compared with the complete and perfect righteousness of Jesus, we are tainted, as unrighteous as we can possibly be. We don’t stand a chance. This is why each of us has been declared guilty before a holy God, and this is what sends people to hell, separated from God for eternity. Only in the gospel message do we hear of the true condition of our hearts and the real obstacle to enjoying abundant life on earth as well as spending eternity in heaven—our unrighteousness.
Some of you may find this a bit shocking, but we don’t go to heaven because we say yes to Jesus or invite him into our hearts. Our only hope of eternal life with God and abundant life here on earth is to accept Christ’s righteousness in place of our unrighteousness. Without that exchange, we’re in serious trouble, even if we did fill out one of those salvation decision cards at youth camp or in Sunday school.
Our only hope of eternal life with God and abundant life here
on earth is
to accept Christ’s righteousness in place of our unrighteousness.
The Message Is Received
As the gospel message is proclaimed and we clearly see our sin in light of God’s sinless perfection, we begin to realize that our relationship with God is hopelessly broken, and Jesus is the only One who can restore it. God’s remedy in Christ is the only way we can be forgiven and brought back into right standing with our Creator.
Once we come to this realization, what do we do next? How can broken and imperfect people make peace with a holy and righteous God?
The answer is clearly stated in the Scripture passage we read earlier: “In [the gospel], the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith” (Romans 1:17). Faith alone, from beginning to end, is the key to laying hold of God’s righteousness. We must believe to receive it. The gospel message is like receiving an invitation to the most extravagant and luxurious ball ever given. If you simply stick the invitation to the refrigerator door but don’t RSVP, you’ll never reserve your seat with all the other guests. You may have every intention of attending the ball, but you have to accept the invitation if you want to enjoy the experience.
In the same way, when we receive God’s invitation in the gospel, we need to accept it. We can’t enjoy what God has promised us in Christ—forgiveness, a new life here on earth, and eternal life with him someday in heaven—unless we respond to his offer. But how exactly does all of this happen? It’s actually rather simple. Behind the scenes, something amazing takes place.
We can’t enjoy what God has promised us in Christ—forgiveness,
a new life here on earth, and eternal life with him someday
in heaven—unless we respond to his offer.
The Spirit of God stirs up faith in our hearts through the gospel message. He helps us understand the message and believe it. He shows us our need and the remedy for our separation from God. That’s when we ask, “What must I do to be saved?” (Acts 2:37; 16:30). At this point our faith translates into action, and we accept what Jesus did on our behalf, receive his righteousness as our own, and place our trust in him as Savior and Lord. This act of acceptance is what “believing” in Jesus or having “faith” in him means.
Perhaps this is a good time to discuss the difference between faith and belief. Have you ever noticed that the writers of the New Testament seemed to use these words interchangeably? In some places they wrote that whoever “believes” in Jesus will be saved (John 3:16 and Romans 10:4, 10–11, for example), and in other places they talked about being “saved through faith” (Ephesians 2:8–9)? I’m not sure we think of these concepts the way the New Testament writers did. In today’s world belief and faith seem to have two entirely different meanings.
This point was driven home for me during holiday celebrations with my children. In our family we have intentionally not included Santa Claus in our Christmas rituals or the Easter Bunny in our Resurrection Sunday celebrations. Don’t get me wrong! I don’t think you’re a heretic if your kid sits on Santa’s lap or leaves milk and cookies for him on Christmas Eve, or if you take your children to visit a ginormous egg-laying rabbit at the mall at Easter time. Our family has just decided to celebrate these occasions a bit differently. This, of course, has led to some stimulating family discussions when our kids hear what the other kids at their schools and our church do.
In their conversations with their friends about the holiday mascots, for example, the phrase believe in comes up a lot. Their friends “believe in” the Easter Bunny or Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy (which my kids somehow managed to believe in too, much to my chagrin). But what they mean by this isn’t what the Bible is talking about. When people today use the word believe, they’re typically referring to an opinion, assertion, or agreement about the nature of something. These kinds of beliefs are merely intellectual transactions—like believing in the Easter Bunny or Santa Claus or that the roughing-the-passer rule in the NFL is ridiculous. (Well, that last belief is more of a firm conviction.) We survey the evidence and arrive at a conclusion. We agree on an intellectual basis that something exists or is true.
If we were to ask people on the street if they believe in Jesus, they would most likely say yes. They would agree with us that Jesus was a historical figure who lived and died approximately two thousand years ago, that he was known for love and compassion, and that he had a great impact on society. But is that faith? I would say no. Simply agreeing that Jesus is real (like the Easter Bunny or Santa or the Tooth Fairy) isn’t the same as having faith. The apostle James reminds us that “even the demons believe [in God]—and shudder” (James 2:19). But demons aren’t saved through faith (they’re not saved at all!), so what does the Bible mean when it talks about faith or belief in Jesus?
Faith, my friends, is different from merely acknowledging that something exists. I can’t think of a better illustration of faith than a recent encounter I had with my two-year-old son, Noah. A couple of months ago, Noah was bounding down the stairs in our home. I was waiting for him at the bottom, chuckling to myself as he made his way from step to step, bouncing and jiggling the whole way. He stopped about five steps from the bottom, smiled from ear to ear, looked at me, and said, “Daddy, catch!”
Now, Noah is a big boy—while swimming at the community pool recently, he was playing with a five-year-old whom he literally towered over. He’s a big, thick (emphasis on thick) kid. I honestly wasn’t sure I wanted to catch him, but wisdom prevailed.
I checked with him first: “Are you sure, buddy?”
“Yeth!” he insisted.
“Okay,” I said and then waited.
When Noah made his move, I’m telling you, that kid flew! He didn’t just timidly fall into my already outstretched arms like some of my other children have done. He leaped headfirst, arms out in front like Superman, giggling and squealing as his chubby little body flew down the stairs into the loving (albeit strained) arms of his daddy. Now that’s faith!
This is what the Bible means when it talks about faith or belief. They’re both referring to the same thing: placing complete trust in the object of our faith. Noah exercised faith because he threw himself into my arms. He didn’t just see me at the bottom of the stairs and acknowledge that I was there. He actively placed his trust in me. He believed that I would catch him and wouldn’t let him fall.
I’m a Christian today not because I know the doctrines of justification by faith and salvation by grace but because, as a sixteen-year-old kid on the back side of a southeast Pennsylvania pig farm, I threw myself headlong into the merciful arms of Jesus. And do you know why I did it? Because I was convinced, persuaded, and arrested by the gospel truth that Jesus was the only way for a sinner like me to be made right with a holy and righteous God. Daddy, catch!
I’m a Christian today [because] I threw myself headlong
into the merciful arms of Jesus.
The gospel is indeed something God dreamed up, planned, and brought to life here in our midst when he sent his Son to earth. God does the saving. He gives us the gift of eternal life. As we hear the gospel message proclaimed in clarity and power, God moves in our hearts to convince us of our need for him. We see our own sinfulness in light of Jesus’ perfect righteousness and the free gift of salvation God offers us. And as we respond to his invitation through faith, we’re miraculously saved from our sin and reconciled to God. That, my friends, is a realistic look at how the good news reaches you and me. That’s how the gospel has been reaching people for thousands of years. And it’s how the gospel will continue to reach people until Jesus returns.
Insert video “GospelChapter2.mp4” here
Chapter 2 wrap up (3:15)
(If your device does not support video content, go to http://www.eciple.com/eciple-gospel to view this clip)
Discussion Questions
1. Think about how the gospel was first proclaimed to you. Who shared it with you? When? What was the message you heard? Why were you so compelled to believe it? Now think of some ways you could engage in proclaiming the good news today.
2. How is the righteousness of God revealed? What does that even mean? And how does God’s righteousness come to light through the teaching and preaching of the gospel?
3. Read Romans 3:19–23. What do the words “the righteousness of God was manifested apart from the law” mean (verse 21)?
4. When we hear the gospel message and realize that we’re sinners in need of God’s remedy for sin, what’s the next step? What do we need to do with God’s invitation before we can enjoy what God has promised us in Christ?
5. What is the difference between belief as we know it today and belief or faith as the Bible explains it? Could you relate to the story about Noah? Why or why not?