At some point, most church leaders ask, Why is my congregation so complacent? There are many possible reasons for a lack of vitality in a church. It could be the structures or programs, preaching or prayerlessness, or a combination of these factors and many others.
But I’ve got another factor to throw into the mix. Many churches languish because they don’t teach the gospel with clarity.
“Well, of course,” I hear you say. “Those liberal, heretical, and suborthodox churches don’t teach the gospel. That’s why most of them are declining and dying.”
True enough, but I’m talking about solid, Bible-teaching, evangelical churches. Quite possibly yours.
“Really?” you respond. “I can’t believe that. Every other sermon at our church mentions how Jesus died for our sins and that justification is by faith alone. We sing about the gospel, and we remember it in the Lord’s Supper. Surely if there’s something we all know, it’s the gospel!”
While it’s certainly true and of prime importance that Jesus died a substitutionary death for our sins, to know and trust in this truth is not yet to have a clear grasp of the gospel in all its glory. In the New Testament, there’s another aspect of the gospel—one that remains fuzzy or out of focus for many Christians today.
Gospel of the Risen Christ
The big news flash (or gospel) of the New Testament is not just that Jesus died on the cross for your sins. It’s that the Jesus who died on the cross for sins also rose again, affirmed as the Lord and Christ of the world.
The Jesus who died on the cross for sins also rose again, affirmed as the Lord and Christ of the world.
As the risen Ruler, he offers forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life to all who in faith repent and submit to him as Lord. That’s what the apostles went around proclaiming.
Jesus has been Lord and King from before the beginning of the world (Col. 1:15–17), but the gospel speeches in Acts show the apostles’ big announcement: the crucified Jesus had been raised by God and was thus proven and declared to be the Christ, God’s promised worldwide Ruler and Judge in the line of David, the One who would reign forever over God’s kingdom.
The gospel, then, isn’t merely Jesus crucified but “Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2). The One who was crucified has now risen as God’s worldwide King and Judge. He now calls all people everywhere to repent and receive the forgiveness of sins his atoning death secured.
Would you say the members of your church have this understanding of the gospel clearly in their minds? Could they quickly explain to you how Jesus’s atoning death and his resurrection as Lord and Christ fit together? Could they tell you why the gospel calls not just for faith but for repentance that leads to obedience?
In my experience of evangelical churches, I’d say disturbingly few Christians grasp these truths with clarity. When I begin Two Ways to Live training, I ask participants to explain their understanding of the gospel, and they rarely mention the resurrection. When they do, they have only a vague understanding of how the resurrection declares Jesus as the living Ruler of the world.
Effects of Gospel Clarity
We must teach this gospel clearly and completely. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:1–5, this message about Christ’s atoning death and resurrection is the word of first importance; it’s the word in which we stand and by which we’re being saved. When we clearly grasp this gospel of the crucified and risen Christ, it penetrates our hearts, and the effects are life-changing.
This gospel has power to save and to transform because it includes not only a forgiven past but also a new repentant future lived under the rule of the living Lord.
This gospel drives us to live new lives of obedience and holiness under Christ’s lordship. We’re now raised with him, so we put off everything that belongs to our old earthly selves and put on the new life of the resurrection age (Col. 3:1–17).
This gospel gives assurance and hope because we know that the One who died to justify us by his blood now lives and reigns as God’s Christ. He will surely save us from God’s wrath on that last day (Rom. 5:6–11).
This gospel motivates evangelism and missions because if the risen Christ is the Lord and Judge of every person in the world (Acts 17:30–31), then every person needs to hear his offer of salvation and turn to him in repentance and faith.
This gospel changes our hearts to serve one another gladly in love. It brings us into fellowship and communion with all who have been saved by the living Christ and now live to obey him. Our new life in him follows his example of laying down his life for others, knowing this is the path to glory.
The gospel of the crucified and risen Christ lights a fire that melts Christian complacency.
The gospel of the crucified and risen Christ lights a fire that melts Christian complacency.
This gospel fans into flame the various marks of a flourishing Christian disciple and of a healthy church—we grow in holiness, we persevere in joy and assurance, we’re driven to reach out to the world in mission and evangelism, and we love and serve one another and all people as God has served us in his Son.
Could it be true? Could the significant factor in the lack of spiritual heat in our lives and churches be a lack of clarity about this gospel?
I suspect so.
However we do it—through sermons, seminars, small group material, or training material—we must teach the New Testament gospel with clarity.
The Gospel Coalition