In Western culture, we tend to be compartmentalists, which explains why we take our religion and put it in a box all week and take it out only when we engage in some kind of ritual such as attending church weekly, or maybe annually. We live on the mistaken assumption that the gospel is all about an event that happened a couple thousand years ago to a man named Jesus who is somewhat irrelevant to our modern technological age.
The gospel revealed in the Bible, however, is a gospel that transcends time and culture and transforms us at every level, in every area of our lives. When Paul wrote to the Colossian church about the good news of Jesus, he said, “It is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the day you first heard and understood the truth about God’s wonderful grace.” And he went on to say, “We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit.”
The gospel is changing lives… Understanding it affects how you live… The gospel allows us to bear fruit in life… The Bible is pretty clear that the good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection for the forgiveness of our sins not only makes us right with God but also makes us live differently. The truth and grace of God give us a new ethical and moral foundation, but more importantly, a new heart.
So let the gospel convince you. And let it convert you. And let it change your life from the inside out.
