"Worthy of the Gospel"

How we love the Good News about Jesus! Where would we be if God had not loved the world so much that he sent his Son to live and die for us? What would have happened to the human race of God had not taken the initiative to rescue and restore us?

However, sometimes it seems as though we are conflicted when it comes to our communication of the Gospel message. I remember sharing the Gospel with a friend in DC. After a good conversation he asked the $64,000 questions: “What do I have to give up in order to follow Jesus?” I appreciated his honesty; that question reflects common views of the Gospel, both inside and outside of the church. My answer probably didn’t help his decision: “Nothing . . . and everything.” We can’t do anything to earn our salvation, to add to our salvation. It is a free, undeserved gift. However, once we receive that gift, we turn from our old, self-centered life to a new life with Christ at the center.

Some Jesus followers really don’t understand the essence and power of God’s grace. On the one hand, there are those who instinctively seek a religious solution to their need for salvation, attempting to contribute to their salvation, to earn favor with God. They really don’t get it! God didn’t send Jesus to empower us to be more religious, to piously pile up religious deeds that will build a bridge back to God. Jesus came to restore us to a right relationship with the Father, to show us how to love the Father and receive all that the Father has purposed for our lives.

On the other hand, some think of “grace” as a cheap get-out-of-jail card, as permission to sin freely without consequences. For them, grace is entirely about forgiveness, freely given, no matter how many times we go our own way and do our own thing. It’s the “Fat Tuesday” idea – we need to get all of our sinning out of the way before Ash Wednesday when we have to be good. Dietrich Bonhoeffer called this “cheap grace.” I like to think of it as greasy grace (and it’s a slippery slope). In “Renovation of the Heart,” Dallas Willard defines grace this way: “God’s action in your life to accomplish what you cannot accomplish on your own.” In this way, “growing in grace” is growing “in the amount of God’s action in your life.” God’s grace is a gift, but it is also God’s power. God’s grace liberates us, then empowers us to live a surrendered, Christ-centered life.

That’s why the apostle Paul uses the mysterious phrase, “worthy of the Gospel.” It would seem as though “worthiness” and “Gospel” are not ideas that belong together. So what was this Gospel life Paul was thinking about? In one place, Paul said that the Gospel “is the power of God,” bringing salvation, deliverance, wholeness, to everyone who believes (Romans 1:16). Paul talked about being established “in accordance to the gospel,” referring “to the obedience that comes from faith” (Romans 16:25-26). Paul corrected those he saw “were not acting in line with the truth of the Gospel” (Galatians 2:14). And then we read this statement: “Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ” (Philippians 1:27). For Paul, the truth of the Gospel provided an introduction into a Gospel lifestyle, a life under the cross, a resurrection life, that even at times included suffering for the sake of the Gospel. Now that’s not cheap grace!

To the Colossian believers Paul held out the hope of reconciliation, of the possibility of being presented to God “holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel” (1:22-23). That sounds like more than just an initial expression of faith resulting in forgiveness. Indeed, salvation is a whole-life issue. For that to be true, the Gospel message must enter deeply into the heart of a person. In another place Paul testified, “our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction” (1 Thessalonians 1:5). It almost seems extreme and unloving for Paul to say that God “will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus” (2 Thessalonians 1:8). When writing to Timothy Paul refers to sinful behavior that is “is contrary to the sound doctrine that conforms to the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God” (1 Timothy 1:10-11).

Why point out all these verses from Paul? The apostle is the source of so much of our teaching about the “gospel of grace.” However, Paul understood the rich depths of grace and of the Gospel life Jesus came to make possible, a life “worthy of the Gospel.” Even today, God is offering his free gift of salvation, a gift that will open the door to the abundant, Christ-centered, Spirit-led life under the yoke, on the Way with Jesus. What will it cost you to accept his gift? Nothing . . . and everything! Everyone is welcome!