The power of the Gospel of Christ

 Baptism is in the design of the death, burial and the resurrection
of Jesus Christ

What is the gospel of Christ?

I have learned with a lot of people on the topic the gospel of Christ. When I asked some of my prospects what the gospel of Christ is, the answers they gave me always are that the gospel of Christ in the Bible. The gospel is not actually the entire Bible but something definite in the Bible.

Vines Expository Dictionary defines gospel as “good tidings of the kingdom of God and of the salvation through Jesus Christ to be received by faith on the basis of His expiatory death, burial and resurrection”. The Greek word for gospel is euangelion.

So the gospel of Christ means glad tidings, good message or good news. The foundation of the gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

(1Co 15:3-4) For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.

The power of the gospel of Christ

The power of the gospel lies in its very foundation, the death, burial and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Through that He has sacrificed and paid for our sins, He has overcome death and holds its keys; He has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. The apostle Paul did not hesitate to tell the Christians at Rome that the gospel is God’s power to save.

(Rom 1:16) For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

The gospel is the medium through which God exerts His power to the salvation of sinners who believed. By the atoning sacrifice of Jesus through His death, Christ has brought reconciliation between God and mankind.

Who can obey the gospel of Christ?

Obedience to the gospel of Christ is not limited to a particular place, tribe, language, sex, complexion, nation or continent. The gospel is intended by God to be preached to wherever there is mankind, he who believes and is baptized shall be saved and he who does not would be condemned (Matt.28:18-20, Mark 16:15-116).

If the gospel message is preached to you and you received it wholeheartedly and believed, then you can proceed to repentance. It is commanded everywhere by God for everyone to come to repentance to receive the gift of life because there will be a day of judgment (Acts 17:30). After you confess that Jesus Christ is the son of the living God then you are ready to obey the gospel through baptism. The gospel is what brings us together as one family.

Read also: Who is qualified to baptize?

How the gospel of Christ could be obeyed

In the book of 1Thessalonians chapter 1 the verses 7 to 9, it says that those who did not obey the gospel would be punished everlastingly. The word obey is a verb, which demands that we take action; faith through obedience. The gospel is obeyed through baptism. In the book of Romans 6:3-4, baptism is matched up to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ (the gospel). Baptism has a particular reference to the death of Jesus Christ. 

In fact, baptism is in the design of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Through His death, He has become insensitive to the things of the world. In baptism, the believer in like manner is dead to sin, he is made in the reference and resemblance of the death of Christ; he is spiritually connected to the death of Christ and shares in it too. 

Again, the believer is buried with Jesus Christ and raised to life in similitude to that of Christ. The gospel (the death, burial and the resurrection of Jesus Christ) is re-enacted spiritually through baptism; this is how the Holy Scriptures informed us to obey the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Read also:

How many times should a person be immersed in baptism?

Where should baptism be done?

The types of baptism and their meanings

The consequence of not obeying the gospel of Christ

The consequence of not obeying the gospel of Christ is eternal separation from God. Not only would the person who did not obey the gospel would not go to heaven but also would be punished everlastingly on the day of judgment.

(2Th 1:7-9) And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them, that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power.

Rejecting the gospel of Christ is to reject the power of God to the salvation of the believer and choosing darkness over the light. It means a disregard for the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, who is the procuring cause of salvation and its author. If you refuse to obey the gospel, then you must be prepared to pay the debt brought by sin. Have you obeyed the Gospel of Christ?
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