the Gospel matures us by dedicating ourselves to the Apostles teachings
as the primary reason for gathering - Acts 2:42
Current Blog Series : Biblical Vision Explanation
“We desperately need to explore
how much of our understanding of the gospel is American and how much is
biblical.” ― David Platt
Ph.D.
Because of the Gospel we are permitted to be in Community
(1 Pt. 1-2). We must always be Gospel preachers, and learners. If we focus off the
Gospel then we lose the context for the whole of Scripture. The “Apostles
teaching” is the New Testament books that we now poses. Little do people
realize, that most of these New Testament teachings are explanations of Old
Testament texts. The Glory of the New Testament is the realization that the
Gentile has just as much a right to be saved as the Jew. So, how do we
reconcile studying the Gospel weekly without becoming so fixated on the day we
prayed “the sinners prayer?” We preach the intricacies of the Gospel.
“The modern-day gospel says, 'God loves
you and has a wonderful plan for your life. Therefore, follow these steps, and
you can be saved.' Meanwhile, the biblical gospel says, 'You are an enemy of
God, dead in your sin, & in your present state of rebellion, you are not
even able to see that you need life, much less to cause yourself to come to
life. Therefore, you are radically dependent on God to do something in your
life that you could never do.” ― David Platt,
Radical.
The purpose of
gathering to focus on the Word is like the purpose of being connected to a
ventilator, it keeps you alive. The gospel is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who
believes, and it is the only way for sinful people to be reconciled to a holy
God. Sadly
most people attend church for the sake of “fellowship” or obligation. The
reason we should dedicate to the Word is because it is the “wonderful words of
life.”
Everything in a church flows from an understanding of the gospel,
whether preaching, counseling, discipleship, music, evangelism, and missions.
Through proper preaching and teaching of the Gospel, there will be
transformation in the believer’s lives, and the congregation will grow to being
a body more Christ like. Then and only then will the people of God desire to
invite their friends to be a part of their local church body.
