DAVID DECLARES IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS Devotion 15 of 28 When Jesus is not preached, salvation is pushed beyond the reach of the people. Dependency upon God, which is imperative to the maintenance of spiritual life, is not possible apart from believing on the Son. Further, believing on the Son is not possible unless the sound of the Gospel remains in our ears. Do not imagine that you can continue to believe on the Son without hearing the proclamation and exposition of the Gospel. Such a thought is a delusion, and leads to condemnation. NOT THE GOSPEL OF THE SPIRIT The power of God is not a gospel of the Spirit Whether men like to hear it or not, the Holy Spirit did not humble and empty Himself for us. He did not die for us. This in no way demeans the Spirit. His exclusive ministry is in the behalf of Jesus Christ, and were it not for Christ, He would have nothing whatsoever to do with us! He is "the Spirit of Christ" (Rom 8:9), the "Spirit" of God's Son" (Gal 4:6), and "the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus" (Rom 8:2). When He convicts men of sin, Jesus said it is because "they believe not on Me (John 16:9). He also said the Spirit's conviction of righteousness was "because I go to My Father" (John 16:10). That is precisely why the Gospel was "preached to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven" (1 Pet 1:12). – Tomorrow:
"But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works: 'Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, And whose sins are covered; Blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin." (Romans 4:5-8, NKJV)
When the Gospel of Christ is replaced with a gospel of the church, a great disservice has occurred. Jesus, and Jesus alone, has accomplished what God required to justify you. Your faith in God is directly proportionate to your acceptance of and reliance upon the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Subject of the Gospel. The Gospel announces neither health nor wealth, but a Savior who has taken away the sins of the world.
There are a number of accounts in which holy men preached the Gospel. They include the day of Pentecost (Acts 2), Peter's message after healing the lame man (Acts 3), Philip in Samaria (Acts 8:1-25), Philip to the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:26-40), Peter at the house of Cornelius (Acts 10), Paul in Antioch of Pisidia (Acts 13), etc. Not a single one of those proclamations focused on the church, earthly prosperity, or healing – not a single one!
There are also frequent proclamations of the Gospel in the Epistles, letters written to those who are in Christ Jesus. Those glorious declarations include the following.
01. The announcement of a righteousness from God through faith (Rom 1:16-17).
02. Justification through the blood of Christ (Rom 3:22-25).
03. That God is both just and the Justifier of the one who believes in Jesus (Rom 3:26).
04. We have peace with God through Jesus (Rom 5:1).
05. We have access by faith into the grace of God (Rom 5:2).
06. By one man sin entered into the world, and by one Man it was taken away (Rom 5:12-19).
07. We have died, been buried, and raised with Christ (Rom 6).
08. We are dead to the condemning Law through the body of Christ (Rom 7:4).
09. There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus (Rom 8:1).
10. We have been made free from the law of sin and death (Rom 8:2).
11. Christ died, is risen, is at the right hand of God, and is making intercession for us (Rom 8:34).
12. Nothing can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus (Rom 8:35-39).
13. Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness (Rom 10:4).
14. God has put us into Christ, making Him to be our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption (1 Cor 1:30).
15. In Christ, we are washed, sanctified, and justified (1 Cor 6:11).
16. The veil of ignorance is done away in Christ (2 Cor 3:14).
17. In Christ we become a new creation, with old things passing away, and all things becoming new (2 Cor 5:17).
18. God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them (2 Cor 5:18-20).
19. God made Jesus to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor 5:21).
20. Christ redeemed us form the curse of the Law, being made a curse for us (Gal 3:10-13).
21. Because we are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His son into our hearts crying Abba, Father (Gal 4:6).
22. Christ has made us free (Gal 5:1).
23. God has made us alive, forgiving our sins, and raising us to sit together with Christ in heavenly places (Eph 2:1-6).
24. In Christ, we have been brought close to God by His blood, becoming fellow citizens with the saints (Eph 2:12-19).
25. Christ emptied Himself in order to fulfill the will of God and bring us to Him, enabling God to work in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure (Phil 2:5-13).
26. In Christ, the whole body of sin is circumcised from us, we are raised through the operation of God, and freed from what held us captive (Col 2:11-15).
This is only a sampling of the consistent and repeated references to the Gospel of Christ that is declared to the churches. Over and over, it was expounded to believers, showing them the utter unreasonableness of sin, and the abundant access to God that is realized in Jesus. The Gospel is the heart and core of Apostolic exposition, and is brought to bear upon every conceivable circumstance found among believers. The Gospel fostered hope, revealed the folly of sin, and strengthened and refurbished the people of God.
The tragedy is that the Gospel is rarely declared in many churches. Supposedly great Christian conventions often have more motivators, psychologists, and church-builders, than proclaimers of the Gospel. The truth of the matter is that it is not fashionable in the contemporary church to declare the Gospel. People are crying out for answers instead of the Gospel. They want to hear about the family, the home, the local congregation, and other such matters.
All the while, the church is plagued with sin in all of its heinous forms. Immortality is found in the church. Divorce is now common among its members. Various forms of, what the flesh calls "addictions," are found within the churches. Why have all these things arisen? Is it merely because of the pressure of the godless times? Perhaps in some measure this is true. But more than that, it is because the life-giving message of the Gospel has taken a back seat to other things. If God's "power unto salvation" is not being declared consistently and powerfully, sin gains the upper hand.
This is not meant to be a negative diatribe against present day religion. Rather, it is an alert to the cause of the sad conditions everyone knows exist. Many believers are regularly subjected to a Christ-less gospel. The issues presented to them focus more on country and family than on God and Christ. It should not surprise us to find a lack of faith in such assemblies. This lack of Gospel preaching and exposition is the cause for the ails of the church.
PRAYER POINT: Father, in the name of Jesus, raise up powerful proclaimers of the Gospel of Christ! Strengthen them to preach it with power and insight.