“OBEY THE GOSPEL”
INTRODUCTION
A. I remember on one occasion many years ago, arguing with someone about gospel obedience. I now realize he probably understood what that meant better than I did.
B. (Rom.10:16; 2Thess.1:8; 1Pet.4:17) These expressions are synonymous with the expression “obeying the truth” (Gal.5:7; 1Pet.1:22).
C. I am persuaded that many people have a distorted view of what the Bible means when it says, “obey the gospel.”
D. This study will examine what is the gospel, how it is obeyed, & God’s warning about a perverted gospel.
I. WHAT IS THE GOSPEL?
A. While the expression “obey the gospel” occurs in one of Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians and one of Peter’s letters to scattered Christians in what is now Asiatic Turkey, it is Paul’s letter to the Corinthians that specifically tells us WHAT the gospel is (1Cor.15:1-4).
a. Jesus lived righteously, died for our sins, was buried, & resurrected
b. this is good news (gospel means “good news”)
c. gospel is to be preached to everyone (Mr.16:15)
d. gospel only is what saves & must be believed (Mr.16:16)
B. Even the Old Covenant Scriptures explain in vivid form what the gospel is. Observe that when Paul used the
expression in his letter to the Romans, he wrote, “But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?” The “report” that Paul referenced from Isaiah tells us what the gospel is.
a. prophecy is about what the suffering servant did (Isa.52:13-53:12)
a. this is not what is preached by many preachers when they say they are preaching the gospel (their message is all about what we do)
b. they think “the report” is that Jesus came down to bring a plan, when the Bible plainly says He is the plan (“by His knowledge My righteous servant
shall justify many””)
b. God’s suffering servant would live, be rejected, be horribly punished & die for man’s sins, be buried, & resurrected
II. HOW DOES A PERSON OBEY THE GOSPEL?
A. The answer to the question, “how does a person “obey the gospel”/”the report?” is explained in Paul’s letter to the Romans.
a. chapters 1-3 reveals the unrighteousness of all humanity
b. chapter 3-7 reveals the futility of law righteousness
c. chapters 8-11 reveals righteousness is the result of grace, not works
d. chapters 12-16 practical applications
B. It is in the 6th chapter that Paul explains what obeying the gospel is.
a. in answering the question of why Christians do not live a sin-dominated life, Paul explains that it has to do with our identifying ourselves with Jesus’ death, burial, & resurrection (Rom.6:1-15)
b. to further explain it, Paul used the illustration of a slave to master relationship (Rom.6:16-23)
c. notice the expression “form of doctrine” in verse 17 (form – “resemblance”)
a. verses 3-6 reveals the “form” as being when we united with Christ’s death & resurrection by being baptized
b. it is our giving our death we owe to Jesus & letting His death stand in its place as our payment.
c. obeying the gospel is when we accept Jesus’ death [His obedience Phil.2:8] & resurrection as our way to win over sin (Rom.4:25)
d. it is when we give up trying to work our way to heaven & trust His righteousness alone
e. we have put our fleshly efforts to death (Rom.4:4,5; 11:6; Gal.3:3NIV; Eph.1:6; 1Cor.1:30,31)
III. THE “ANOTHER GOSPEL” IS DECEPTIVE
A. (2Cor.11:12-21) Listen to what Paul is telling us in these verses.
a. preachers you may think are gospel preachers may have a false gospel
b. signs of a false preacher
a. their confidence is in one’s own obedience to commands for salvation
b. gladly received by brethren because of temptation to want to earn one’s own way
c. their message puts one into legalistic bondage, robbing people of freedom & joy
e. their message is Jesus pointing us to a “plan” instead of Scripture pointing to Jesus
B. Whenever anyone is preaching faith, repentance, confession, baptism, & works as the gospel, instead of Jesus, the gospel is being perverted.
a. faith expressed in repentance & baptism is our response to Christ, who is the gospel
b. preaching that constantly stresses man’s obedience, instead of Christ’s obedience, is not apostolic preaching & results in causing man to trust in what he does, instead of what Jesus did (Rom.5:19; Eph.1:6; Gal.3:3)
c. making the gospel a set of commands makes it not of faith, but of law
C. Please do not confuse the role of what we do with what Jesus did! Who is the Savior? Are we by our obedience or Jesus by his obedience? The Bible teaches Jesus is (2Cor.10:3-5).