The Beginning of the Gospel Journey · Looking Back on the Journey

Study Topic: Debtor to the Gospel

We can live out our faith for a long time. We can attend worship, serve, dedicate ourselves, and handle many responsibilities. All of these things are truly precious.

Yet at the center of it all, there is something that must always be present.

It is the gospel.

If the gospel is missing from our faith, no matter how much we know or how earnestly we live, we can miss the most vital essence.

The gospel is not a rudimentary story that we hear just once when we first believe in Jesus and then move on from. The gospel is God's eternal truth that we must know, meditate on, rejoice in, and live by throughout our entire lives.

Who Jesus Christ is,
what he accomplished on the cross,
why he rose from the dead,
and how we have been born again and given eternal life.

This gospel runs through the entire Bible.

And God has entrusted this wondrous gospel to us.

Knowing and Delighting in the Gospel

What Does It Mean to Know the Gospel?

We often say with ease:

"I know the gospel."

Yet whether we truly know the gospel is revealed when we stand before a single soul.

When someone beside you has not yet met the Lord, does this question rise up within your heart as you look at them?

"Has this soul truly received salvation?"

When you realize they have not yet been saved, does an aching desire stir within you:

"How can I share the gospel with this person?"
"What truth does this soul need right now?"

A person who knows the gospel develops a deep concern for the spiritual condition of a soul.

Just as a skilled physician does not simply look at outward symptoms when a sick person comes, but finds the root cause of the illness and provides the proper prescription, so one who has been entrusted with the gospel must be able to discern what truth is truly needed for a soul.

Over many years of faith, we have heard countless words of Scripture.

Now those words must come alive within us as the life-giving gospel that saves a soul.

The work of saving souls is not entrusted only to a special few.

God has entrusted the eternal gospel to us.

The Gospel Is Not Merely Head Knowledge

The gospel does not end with simple intellectual understanding.

We may know about the cross.
We may be able to explain the resurrection.
We may also be familiar with the term "born again."

Yet God must open our hearts so that the essence of that gospel is truly realized within us.

What salvation is,
what the Son of God did to save me,
what the cross is,
and what the resurrection is.

It must not remain mere doctrine or information, but must become a living confession:

"This very gospel has saved me."

At that moment, the gospel becomes power, not just knowledge.

The glory of the gospel begins to come into view, the love of the cross penetrates deeply into the heart, and the life of the resurrection becomes real.

And before that gospel, we experience true joy.

Because the gospel is, by its very nature, good news.

We Must Recover the Wonder of the Gospel

When we experience something truly good, we naturally talk about it with others.

When we taste good food, we want to share it; when we discover a good path, we want to point it out.

Yet if we possess the gospel that transferred us from eternal death into life, and yet have no joy or wonder regarding that gospel, nor any desire to share it with anyone, we must stand before the gospel once again.

Do I truly know this gospel?
Do I truly know that this gospel has saved me?

When we deeply comprehend the gospel, a confession wells up from the depths of our heart:

"This has saved my life."

And then the next desire rises within us:

"I want to share this gospel with others as well."

The overwhelming wonder of the gospel ultimately flows outward as a heart of love for a single soul.

The Entire Bible Shows Us the Gospel

The gospel is not so small a story that it can be briefly summarized in a few sentences and passed over.

The Bible unceasingly testifies to Jesus.

It speaks of the cross of Jesus,
it speaks of the resurrection,
it speaks of salvation,
and it speaks of new life.

The entire Bible is filled with the glory of the gospel.

Yet at times, we pass by the gospel far too quickly.

"That's a story I already know."

"I already believed in Jesus, so that's enough."

Yet the gospel of the cross and resurrection is far too vast and deep to be passed by like that.

What the Bible emphasizes greatly, we must also view with great weight.

What the Bible shows repeatedly, we must also engrave deeply upon our hearts.

At the center of our faith, the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ must stand firm once again.

The Life and Mission of Those Indebted to the Gospel

Living as One in Debt to the Gospel

A person who has received the gospel does not remain merely in the place of enjoying its benefits.

In the heart of one who has received the gospel, a sacred sense of debt arises—a debt to proclaim the gospel.

Because we, too, heard and received this gospel through someone else's service and tears.

We did not receive the gospel because we were worthy. We received life solely by God's grace.

If so, this gospel must not stop with us.

"Lord, let this gospel flow through me to another person."

This becomes the sincere prayer of one who has received the gospel.

We are recipients of the gospel and, at the same time, debtors to the gospel.

We cannot live keeping to ourselves this message of life that God has entrusted to us.

When the Gospel Grasps a Person, the Word Moves

The work of the gospel is not accomplished merely by human talent or eloquence.

When the Word enters a person's heart and completely captures them, that person becomes a living channel of the Word.

When the gospel is realized within me,
when the gospel is experienced in my life,
and when that experienced gospel is proclaimed through my lips,

the Word begins to move alive.

The Bible testifies in Acts 19:20 that the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed.

Power resides in the Word itself.

Therefore, what matters is not how great our own ability is.

It is how clearly the gospel has taken root within us, and how deeply we are gripped by that gospel.

When a person captivated by the gospel becomes a conduit of the Word, God himself works through that Word.

The Gospel Moves Alive in the Holy Spirit

Yet holding the gospel merely as knowledge does not automatically produce the work of life.

We must always abide within the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Just as an electric appliance must be plugged into a power source to operate, our souls must be deeply connected to the Holy Spirit.

When our hearts are full of worldly anxieties and busyness, and caught up in the thoughts of the flesh, even the Word we already know may fail to exert its full power.

That is why prayer is essential.

"Holy Spirit, open my heart.
Enable me to deeply understand this gospel.
Let this gospel move alive within me."

In Romans 8:14, Scripture tells us that all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

The truth of the gospel and the work of the Holy Spirit are never separated.

When the Holy Spirit opens our hearts, we fully behold the glory of the gospel, and that gospel flows through us to another soul.

Compassion for a soul wells up, love deepens, and an aching heart that longs for that soul to be brought to life takes hold of us.

When the gospel is held within us and we begin serving a soul with that gospel, God's heart is poured into us.

This is the greatest joy enjoyed by one who proclaims the gospel.

The Greatest Glory Is Being Used to Save Life

We can accomplish many achievements in this world.

Yet if a single soul hears the gospel through us and receives eternal life, what could be more precious and blessed than that?

We are not the ones who save people.

The One who works the miracle of salvation is God alone.

Yet if God entrusts that noble gospel to our lips and calls us as coworkers in the sacred work of saving lives, that is an unspeakable glory.

Therefore, let us hold this holy desire in our hearts:

"Lord, let me bear true fruit while I live.
Let this gospel of eternal life flow through me.
Use me so that even one soul may hear this gospel and be brought to life."

This is not a heavy burden or a forced obligation.

It is a confession of love that flows naturally from the heart of someone who has truly tasted the grace of the gospel.

Living Prepared by the Gospel

I Must First Be Prepared with the Gospel

Where, then, should we begin?

Before seeking out whom to evangelize, we must quietly reflect and ask ourselves:

"Am I prepared with the gospel?"

Is the meaning of the cross clear within you?

Is the power of the resurrection real in your life?

Can you gently guide a soul step by step through the grace of being born again and receiving salvation?

Above all, are thanksgiving and joy overflowing in your heart because of this gospel?

Do you have an aching heart that desires to share the gospel as you look upon a soul?

When we are prepared with the gospel and awake in prayer, God will lead us to the precious souls we are called to serve.

Therefore, kneel in humility and pray first:

"Lord, let me know the gospel more deeply.
Fill me completely with the truth of the gospel.
And send me a soul with whom I can share this gospel."

Understanding the Gospel as Strung Pearls

We may already know various themes of faith.

We know the cross,
we know the resurrection,
we know being born again,
we know faith,
and we know salvation.

Yet knowing each piece of knowledge separately is not enough.

Just as scattered pearls become a beautiful necklace only when strung together on a single thread, all the truths we know must be fully connected into one centered on the gospel.

Only then does the whole picture begin to appear clearly.

"Ah, this is what the cross was truly about."

"Ah, this is what the resurrection means for my life."

"Ah, being born again was the beginning of true life."

And finally, we deeply realize that all of this is the unified gospel harmonious in Jesus Christ.

Learning the gospel is not merely accumulating lots of new knowledge.

It is having the words we have heard woven together into one within the gospel, having that truth firmly established within us, and having it actively move in our daily lives.

We Are Debtors to the Gospel

What saved us is the gospel alone.

The gospel of the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ has given us eternal life.

Therefore, we can never treat this gospel lightly.

We cannot indifferently pass it by, assuming we already know it all.

Stand before the gospel once again.

Carry a thirst to know the depth of the gospel more.

Look upon the glory of the gospel.

Recover your first love and wonder of the gospel.

And quietly kneel down and pray:

"Lord, let not this gospel stop with me."

To see the gospel held in our hearts flow to a soul, and to see that soul brought back to life through the gospel—

what greater joy could there be than that?

What greater eternal value could there be than that?

We received the gospel freely without cost.

And now we have been called to proclaim this gospel of life.

As debtors to the gospel,
holding in our hearts this gospel of life that saved us,
and warmly stepping forward toward a single soul.

That is our sincere response to the grace we have received, and the most blessed and eternal joy God has granted us.