What is not the Gospel?
Some Examples:
a)Personal experience or personal relationship.
b)Personal testimony.
c)Arguing from subjective experience –vs.- objective historical truth.
We must be careful with how we define “the Gospel”. When our definition of the Gospel is explained in terms of personal relationship or in a manner that is abstracted; in other words if our answer to “what is the Gospel” focuses on our experience, our relationship, our obedience and our explanation of “what is the Gospel” does not get you to blood, cross, and resurrection in about 2” it is not a Biblical explanation of “the Gospel”. The Gospel stands outside of us, the Gospel does not need us in order to be the Gospel – therefore our personal experience or personal testimony is not the Gospel. Our testimony should be Christ and Him crucified and resurrected. “Asking Jesus into your heart” as an answer for what is the Gospel does the Gospel no justice and really trivializes a biblical understanding of faith which we will discuss later. “Following Jesus” was not the Gospel message of the 1st century church. They preached “the Gospel” knowing this message would transform their hearers which in turn would create in them a desire to follow Jesus. The good news was they could be saved from the wrath of God, not that they could follow Jesus and be persecuted – that is part of dying to self and living the crucified life.
Your personal testimony is not the power…
(Rom 1:16) For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
Your personal testimony does not create faith…
(Rom 10:17) So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
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