Is the Gospel the Whole Deal?

By Hazel Holland

Ever since leaving Adventism I am compelled by the Spirit to place every teaching from the Bible through the litmus test of the new covenant gospel. The gospel has become the plumb line by which I test all my beliefs. That means that if a teaching is assumed to be biblical, but no direct Scripture evidence can be found, then it must be studied further in order to see if it agrees with God’s already revealed will, or if it is just a popular teaching that is held by some, but has no basis in Scripture. Beliefs or teachings that are assumed to be biblical, but actually have no biblical foundation must be discarded as man's doctrines—not God’s witness through Scripture.

Is the Gospel Just the Beginning?

I became aware over the last few months that some people are teaching that the gospel that brings us salvation is only the first part of the message of Gospel of the Kingdom? They believe that the rest of the message of the Kingdom has to do with transformation—God’s plan to use the church to impact our world by changing our neighborhoods, restoring our cities and transforming our world. In other words, is the gospel that brings salvation just the beginning of the restorative process? Is it what gets the ball rolling towards the larger goal…restoration?

I’m sure many of us at times have felt like there was a “great divide” between hearing the truths of the Kingdom, and actually experiencing the freedom that comes from letting those Kingdom truths change our lives. Perhaps we wonder why we see no clear and measurable impact of a community living out such Kingdom principles as we see recorded in the early church.

If it’s because we have not been doing the right things, how do we do the right things? What do we need to do in order for Kingdom truths to change our lives and transform our world?

Acts 1:8 says that when the Holy Spirit comes upon us we will receive power to become God’s witnesses… to the ends of the earth. So why then are we seeing so little of God’s power displayed by our witness… at least here in the western world?

Looking Inward instead of Outward

I believe the reason we are seeing such little power in our witness is because many of us coming from an evangelical or charismatic background are far better at looking inward than we are at looking outward. We are often more focused on our own inner feelings and experience than we are on looking outward toward the cross. As a result we often allow our feelings to guide our thinking so that our feelings become vested with final authority that should only be reserved for God’s Word.

As I read the Scriptures I believe that God is calling us to look outward (beyond ourselves) to the work of Jesus Christ on our behalf (justification)—not inward at His work in us (sanctification). True biblical faith is never directed to what has happened in us as believers, but rather to what has happened for us as believers. Paul says in the following verses that faith looks outward not inward.

“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” Colossians 3:1-3 (NIV)

We are called to live our lives by focusing all of our attention on the Person of Jesus Christ who willingly gave His life on the cross in order to redeem us from our sins so that we can be restored back to intimate fellowship with the Father. This is the heart of the gospel—the objective truth that is never-changing and constant—that is perfectly reliable and completely true.

The gospel is a powerful proclamation from the Father’s heart of what He has already done for us in Jesus Christ for all the inhabitants of planet earth. The gospel is an announcement of pardon from sin that Christ’s good work alone has accomplished for all mankind. But this Good News demands a response from us.

What will our response be? There is really only one choice. To repent of our pride and release our "good" works at the foot of the cross. Then we can be free from our bondage to enter into the joy of His "good" work. As a result of our choice to believe the gospel, the Holy Spirit empowers us to share Christ’s work of victory for us with the rest of His children, and enter into His glorious rest. People will be transformed into Christ’s image by the Holy Spirit as they behold the glory of His finished work in the new covenant gospel.

The Gospel Is the Whole Deal

Is the gospel that brings us salvation only the first part of the message of Gospel of the Kingdom? Is the gospel only the “beginning of the story” because transformation is the desired end result? Is the gospel only the beginning of the whole deal—not the whole deal itself?

If we answered “yes” to these questions I believe we are minimizing what God alone has done for us in the gospel, while maximizing what the Holy Spirit does in us by transformation. In essence, we are taking the fruit of the gospel (transformation) and elevating it over the root, the gospel itself. In doing this we are robbing Christ of His glory by putting the Spirit's work in us above what Christ has done for us in His doing and dying on the cross. Christ’s doing and dying becomes subordinate to the inner life of the Spirit, and the reconciliation of the sinner is nothing more than just the “beginning of the story”.

Is the greatest news in the whole world what happens in us as believers at the new birth and the resulting transformation? Or is the greatest news in the whole world what God did for us on the cross in the doing and dying of Jesus Christ for our sins? By focusing on the transformation of ourselves and our communities aren’t we actually teaching that a good thing is the best thing—that the work of the Spirit is greater than the work of the Son?

This emphasis suddenly shifts our attention away from the glory of God seen in the face of Jesus Christ to ourselves (2 Corinthians 4:6). We have moved away from the objective truth of the gospel that Paul is describing in 2 Corinthians 3:12-17 to the subjective truth of what God does in us as we are being transformed into His image by the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:18). Transformation (sanctification) then becomes more important than justification. What God does in us then becomes greater than what He has already done for us on the cross. We become the objects of God’s glory instead of Jesus Christ who died for our sins.

Since God is the One who sanctifies us and transforms us as we are being led by His Spirit to believe on His Son, we can take no credit for any of this. It is all of God and not of us. He is the One who deserves all glory and praise and honor for coming up with this wonderful plan to restore us to fellowship with Himself before the creation of the world.

Paul is not teaching us in 2 Corinthians 3:18 to strive to attain some higher level of glory and blessing beyond the cross as if we are climbing some sort of spiritual ladder. Being transformed into Christ’s likeness as we reflect the Lord’s glory is not an achievement that we are to strive to attain. It happens as a natural result of being in an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ and resting in His finished work. We can’t get any higher or go beyond “finished”. We can only go deeper into the heart of the Father as we behold the cross and experience the ever-increasing glory that shines forth from the face of Jesus Christ.

Why so little Transformation?

The sad truth is that dangling these “glory” carrots in front of believers often works, because our sinful human natures are very works oriented. Perhaps we strive to reach the next level of glory because we've heard there's a greater anointing there. We want to have something to do to confirm our salvation. Our proud hearts want to add to what Jesus has already finished for us on the cross. We often feel better about our lives when we see ourselves as having accomplished something for God. The trouble is that when we start to look within ourselves for confirmation that we are on the right path (going from glory to glory) instead of keeping our eyes on Him, there's a danger that we have actually gotten off the right path.

I believe that the reason we see so little transformation in people’s hearts when we try to share the gospel is because many of us do not know the gospel—all we know is the fruit that we see in people’s lives and we think that is the gospel. Consequently we cannot be led by the Spirit to share what we have not experienced ourselves. So we share some watered-down, man-made formula that has no power behind it, and wonder why it doesn’t change people’s hearts or cause them to turn away from their sins.

The Unshakable Gospel

Since the gospel exists independently of us, it cannot be affected by how we feel about ourselves or what is going on in our changing circumstances or daily lives. It is the one objective Truth in a swirling sea of subjectivism. But this one objective truth can change and transform our lives forever if we will choose to believe what God has done for us in Jesus Christ.

Therefore it is vital that we come to know what the Good News of the gospel is so that we can enter into an intimate relationship with the Father and the Son through the work of the Holy Spirit who continually points us to the flame of God’s love—the cross. The cross then becomes my theme and my song as I am drawn by agape love into the very heart and presence of the Father.

As I obediently lift up the cross of Jesus Christ, and share the true gospel message, the power of the Holy Spirit will come upon me as Jesus promised in order to bring conviction of truth that will transform people’s hearts.

The Gospel Equips the Saints

What will bring conviction of truth and transform people’s hearts? Hearing the true gospel. Then after people have responded to the gospel message, how does the Holy Spirit begin transforming people’s lives? How does He equip us for works of service “so that the body of Christ can be built up until we reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God”? Ephesians 4:12-13

I remember being troubled after hearing a pastor say one time that he would not be preaching a gospel sermon on most Sundays, because that time was going to be spent for the “equipping of the saints for the work of service.” He went on to explain that the place for the gospel to be shared was by members during the week as they met together in various small, cell group settings in people’s homes. His words perplexed me because I thought, "What if an unbeliever comes to church that day and leaves without hearing the plan of salvation offered to them in the preaching of the gospel?

After mulling over his words in my mind for several weeks, it finally dawned on me why his words concerned me. It is the hearing and sharing and praying of the gospel that equips us saints for the work of ministry! Jesus is our very great reward! Lifting Him up draws us to the Source of Life and agape Love from which we receive our strength. Lifting Him up draws us to continue to trust in His righteousness alone and release our own filthy rags at the foot of the cross.

I, as a saint, need to hear the gospel message just as much as those who have never heard it. Why? So that I don’t fall back into trusting in what the Holy Spirit does in me instead of what God has already completed for me in the Person of Jesus Christ. The gospel equips us to keep first things first. It empowers us to bring our priorities into order as we choose to depend on His righteousness alone. It reminds us that we must leave all of our spiritual trophies on the other side, because they won’t fit through the Narrow Gate. Jesus plus anything is simply not Jesus!

Therefore, I can never compare what Jesus did for me on the cross with what He does in me through His Spirit. They are not even in the same ball park. Good works that He has prepared in advance for me to do still give me no advantage as far as salvation is concerned. They are only the natural outcome of living a spirit-filled life.

Conclusion

The transformation that the Good News works in our hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit is the result of believing the gospel, but it isn’t the gospel—it’s still the fruit of the gospel. The Holy Spirit continually points us to Jesus who is the Source of Life—the Living Water. The Holy Spirit never draws our attention away from the Source in order to cause us to inspect the fruit of what He is doing in our lives.

Ultimately, the Good News of the Kingdom proclaims that Jesus Christ’s “good work” trumps our good works. In view of the fact that even our “good works” fall into the category of filthy rags, we must focus all of our attention on His saving work on the cross that will inevitably equip us for good works. Since our hope is built on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ alone let this one defining truth direct our thoughts every day—we can never move beyond the glorious work of the gospel. His “good work” must take center stage as we proclaim the good news of His death and resurrection until He comes.