The Gospel is comprehended in the life, words, and works of Jesus Christ. He stands as its great central figure, as the chief cornerstone of its superstructure. With him it begins, and he is its life, light, and power. The object of Christ is the object of the Gospel; his purpose, its purpose.
The reason for Christ’s manifestation in the flesh, is plainly declared by the Scriptures to be to save men from sin, to restore to them the innocency lost in the fall, thus bestowing upon them everlasting life and happiness. The glad tidings of great joy announced by the angels to the shepherds of Galilee were based upon the fact that unto them was born that day in the city of David a Saviour, Jesus Christ the Lord. Gabriel declared concerning Mary, “She shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus; for he shall save his people from their sins.” Paul declares in his letter to Timothy, “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” And our Lord himself declares, in his first recorded sermon, in applying to his own mission the words of the prophet, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.”
Of the work to be wrought by this Gospel of grace the apostle thus writes to Titus: “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” The Gospel is designed to take out of the nations of men a people for the Lord. Acts 15:14. This is also shown in the words of the great commission, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel [make disciples] to every creature.” Thus is the object of the Gospel plainly stated in the Scriptures of truth.
But to understand how the Gospel accomplishes this purpose, its character and the nature of its work must be studied. To every Bible student it must be evident:—
1. That the Gospel is spiritual; hence its promotion must be by spiritual means. Says the Saviour, “The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life.” Writes Paul to the Corinthians: “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.”
The Gospel pertains not to the external alone, but to the internal as well. It has to6do not only with man’s outward acts, but with the prompting motives of those acts, and with the secret thoughts of the heart. See 1 John 3:15; 2 Cor. 10:5; Col. 3:5, and other scriptures.
Being thus spiritual, only the wisdom of God can make of it a proper application, or determine when it is accomplishing its work.
It can be promoted only by spiritual means. For such promotion is the Spirit of God given. That Spirit draws men to Christ (John 12:32); reproves the world of sin, of judgment, and of righteousness (John 16:8); leads into all truth (verse 13), and takes of the deep and hidden things of God, and reveals them to the believer’s spiritual sight (1 Cor. 2:9, 10). It will thus be seen that the Gospel is spiritual. It has its application even to the smallest minutiae of life, taking into account the thoughts and intents of the heart. Only He who can discern the prompting motives of the outward actions can properly apply the spiritual truth contained in the Gospel of our Lord. For a man to attempt its application is to make himself a Saviour, and claim equality with God. God only, through the agency of his Spirit, can accomplish in the hearts of men his purpose.
2. The accomplishment of the Gospel purpose demands creative power. Redemption is recreation. The image of God in the soul, obliterated by sin, must be restored by creative energy. Says the scripture: “Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.” “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works.” “Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.” A new life, even the life of Christ, is given the child of God. Gal. 2:20. In receiving this life we become partakers of the divine nature. 2 Peter 1:4. Thus is experienced the new birth (John 3:5), or the new creation, necessary to an entrance into the kingdom of God.
It will be seen that the only power that can promote the Gospel in its object and purpose is creative power. The work can not be done by fire, or sword; by human resolution, or legal enactment. These may cause conformity in outward life, but without the accompaniment of the spiritual, creative power of God, the heart still remains unchanged and unregenerated, while the outward life at best is but hypocritical assumption. When an attempt is made by material means to accomplish that which can be wrought only by a miracle of saving grace, power of divine sacrifice is denied, and men seek by their own efforts to accomplish that which required the sacrifice of the Son of God.
There has been in the past, and there is in the world to-day, a sentiment that by legal enactment and the enforcement of law men can be made better. Not only is the accomplishment of such an object an impossibility as seen by the character of the Gospel, but the thought is also opposed to the underlying principle of salvation.
The Gospel is based upon love. Love is its impelling power: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” As love is the well-spring of the Gospel, the basic principle which calls it into existence, so love must be the constraining power in its promulgation. “The love of Christ constraineth us,” writes Paul to the Corinthians. The Gospel of love can not be a Gospel of force. Men are not compelled to accept its claims. “Whosoever will may come;” whosoever will may remain away. To force upon men the Gospel of righteousness would be to subvert the principle of free moral agency, which obtains throughout the universe of God. The Lord respects the individual right of free choice with which he has invested every individual. He regards every man’s individuality, hence the language of the Gospel is the language of beseeching, not commanding; of drawing, not driving; of love, not force.
Says Christ: “I came not to condemn the world, but to save the world.” “My kingdom is not of this world.” To Peter, on the night of the betrayal, he said, “Put up again thy sword into his place; for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.” The language of Christ’s ambassadors is, “We beseech;” “We exhort;” “We admonish;” “We pray you in Christ’s stead.” As God himself does not force the will, nor compel service, he certainly has not delegated to man the exercise of such prerogative over his fellows. Therefore, every attempt of man to seek by legal enactment, or by material means, to promote the object of the Gospel of Christ; must signally fail of its purpose. Government may secure conformity of outward action to its requirements, but it can not renew a right spirit, nor create a clean heart. It can not deal with spiritual things, nor discern the motives and intents of the soul. He who has all power in heaven and in earth has by virtue of that power commissioned his disciples to proclaim the Gospel to all men. His power and presence accompanying their efforts alone makes the Gospel effective: “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” This is the promise to every ambassador of the Lord Jesus. And, drawing power from the unlimited resources of Him who is abundantly able to do above all that may be required, the servant has no need to seek help from the arm of flesh. The King of kings and the Lord of lords has pledged to him his support and power. To turn aside and seek help from the nations of earth is to prove faithless to his Master, and deny the efficiency of that power pledged to his support. But, trusting that power, altho opposed by all the governments of earth, he can say, as did the prophet of old, “They that be with us are more than they that be with them.” This firm reliance upon God is the power of the church to-day. To turn from him and seek affiliations with the nations of men is but to deny the power of the Gospel of Christ.
