“The Simple Gospel”

“I will rejoice in the simple gospel, I will rejoice in YOU LORD…” When Patty and I were back in Colorado we took a drive to our favorite lake in the mountains. As we traversed through the majestic Rockies Patty put in an old CD-yes that gives our age away 🙂

We listened several times to “The Simple Gospel” by United Pursuit. And those words, “I will rejoice in the simple gospel” hit a cord in my spirit. I had just returned from a men’s retreat where the power of the Gospel to expose and heal hearts manifested itself.

Surrounded by God’s creative beauty I said to Patty, “that’s it-we need to get back to the simple Gospel. What Africa needs, the US needs, our world needs, and what I need is the life changing power of the Gospel.”

As we sang along I thought about the theme verses for the book of Romans, where Paul boldly states:

“I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes…For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith.’” (1:16-17).

 From these verses Paul lays out the gift of the powerful Gospel and how it is received and how those who are transformed by it bring Christ’s saving message to the world. Here is the heart of the Gospel:

Sin – The gift of coming to see your sin and the death it brings (Rom. 3:23, 6:23)

Salvation – The gift of saving faith that sees Jesus taking all our sins and punishment we deserve with Him on the cross, and receiving His perfection as our own making us a child of God (Rom. 3:21 – 5:1-21).

Sanctified Son’s & Daughters of the King – The gift of the Holy Spirit living in us helping us to battle our flesh and live in the Spirit as children who know their “Abba Father!” (Rom. 6-8).

Sacrificial Living – Giving the gift of His transforming love away to those around us (Rom. 12-16).

It is this the power of this Simple Gospel that the Father has graciously given to heal the darkest dirtiest soul and transform them into His radiant sons and daughters. For the next few blogs I want to dwell in the POWER of this Simple Gospel. Daily our enemy is seeking to flood the world with bad news in order to drown our souls with despair. We overcome his lies and find hope and victory in living in the Good News of the Gospel!

 The chorus of the song “Simple Gospel” states:

“So I’m laying down all my religion – I’m laying down – I want to know You Lord…”

 This was the secret to the Apostle Paul’s life. He was rescued from a religious spirit that blinded him and he made it his life goal to KNOW and LIVE the Simple Gospel:

“I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord for whose sake I have lost all things…I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in death, and so somehow to attain to the resurrection from the dead.” (Phil. 3:8-11).

May you find hope and rejoice in the “Simple Gospel!”