What the Gospel Demands

In a few recent posts (found here and here), I attempted to describe the core message of Christianity and what it teaches, especially with a view to those who are confused or unsure of what Christianity teaches. I wrote about and defined the “facts” of Christianity, so to speak. But there is more to Christianity than just facts and history. There is on our part a very real response to make in light of what Christianity teaches. The fact of the matter is that everyone on the Earth must necessarily make a response to Christianity: to accept it and act accordingly or to reject it outright (which, as we shall soon see, is the same as accepting and acting on just some of it). So in this post, I hope to write about and clarify how one must go about the business of believing, accepting, acting, and responding to the message of the gospel, given that one has accepted the message of Christianity and Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

For those seeking to commit themselves to Jesus, the gospel demands two things. The first thing is a turn away from the world, sins, idols, and all its glory. This is commonly called “repentance.” The second thing is a turn towards Jesus Christ and a centering of our lives upon Him. This is commonly referred to as “faith.” Together, the Christian gospel demands two things from the believer: repentance and faith. This is the response necessary to gain eternal life.

So what is repentance? Well first of all, it requires a new birth (see John chapter 3). We believe that we are all sinners and that we love to sin (keep in mind that sin is much more comprehensive than just murdering and stealing…we’re talking sins of the heart like lust and hate too), and because of that sin, we cannot possibly desire to get rid of it. We love sin too much. Therefore, the first step in repentance is for the Holy Spirit to open our eyes to see our sin. And then we have to turn from it. This is something we cannot do by ourselves, but something we have to rely on God to do.

Turning from sin requires a full change of heart. What we once loved (the things of this world, etc) we now hate. What we once hated (God), we now love. We are to turn away from sin, desire it no longer, and do it no longer. Here’s the catch, however. Our turn from sin must be a total and absolute one. There is no going back. This doesn’t mean that we will never sin again or that we will be perfect people (see Romans chapter 7). Rather, it means that we will always in a very real way be fighting a struggle against sin. It doesn’t mean that we will be victorious all the time or even good. But it does mean that we will continually “by the Spirit, put to death the deeds of the body, you will live” (Romans 8:13, ESV). Repentance is an abandonment of all else in order to gain God. It is like the man who found a treasure in a field and who sold all he had in order to buy that field and gain the treasure (see Matthew 13:44). Why is repentance important? Well because it is the first step in a long process of changing our hearts back to they way they were supposed to be: they were meant to love God most of all. You see, Christianity is not a battle to make people act right or do good things; rather, it is a battle for the heart of people, seeking to change their hearts to love God. Plus, the God commands repentance:

“The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”(Acts 17:30-31, ESV).

Repentance, however, is only the first part of the require response to Christianity. The second response is a turning towards Christ that we like to call “faith.” What is faith in Jesus? Certainly it includes mere belief in the facts of Christianity: that Jesus was the Son of God but yet a man, that He died on a cross 2,000 years ago, and that He is coming again). But it is also more than that. It is a trust that Christ is all we need to save us. Because we love so many things that are not God (sex, money, drugs, self-control, attention, etc) we become worshippers of those things. And when we become worshippers of those things, we also put our trust in them to save us. Now that seems strange, but it is very true. And we can put our trust in almost anything. We may not think we trust in, let’s say, premarital sex to save us, but when we commit that sin, it is because we think that sex gives us meaning, happiness, worth, and peace. In that sense, we trust in sex to save us. But the reality is that only Christ can give us meaning, happiness, worth, and peace. What a Christian does when they place their faith in Christ is to say “This world has nothing for me, nor can it really fulfill me! Instead, I lean on Christ and Christ alone to save me, fulfill me, and make me whole. I trust in His work on the cross to save me from God’s wrath and my love for the unfulfilling and evil things of this world and to make me whole!” In this instance, a person puts their trust in Christ’s sacrifice to be the only thing that can save them from God’s judgment and their sin. But you see as in repentance, there is no room for compromise in faith. We can’t trust in anything but Jesus. We cannot save ourselves and sin cannot save us. Only Christ can. Nothing else can make us justified before God or free us from the power of sin but Him. Trust in anything else but Jesus (or Jesus + anything else) means that we are relying on our own good works or merits and not Him. The Christian relies on Jesus and nothing else.

A final word about faith and repentance. First, they are not acts that we do that save us. God doesn’t save us on the goodness or adequacy of our faith and repentance; otherwise we’d be placing our trust in things other than Jesus (namely ourselves). Meeting the demands of the gospel are simply the proper response to seeing Christ for who He really is: they do not have merits of their own that save us. Second, the proper response to the gospel is absolute. There is no turning back. We must commit ourselves to hate and fight sin while at the same time committing ourselves to trust, love, and worship only God.

So what does the gospel demand? It demands submission and Lordship. It demands us to give up sin and commit our whole lives (and not just part of them) to doing the work and will of Jesus on Earth. Every part of your life has to be in the process of submitting to Jesus and becoming more like him. This is a commitment of your whole life, being, and existence to serve the only thing in the world that is worth serving. This may seem like a huge commitment that you might not want to make, but the only way we can find the fullest joy in life, the greatest peace and purpose in life, and eternal salvation and union with God is in that we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. I believe that you will find that in accepting the demands of the gospel, you will find more joy, peace, and wonder in giving your life totally to Christ than in keeping your own control and freedom. He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. We would do well to remember that.