The gospel’s power to save us from our sins is well-documented. The apostle Paul, in writing to the church at Rome explaining his ardent desire to preach the gospel to them, says, “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” (Rom. 1:16). As powerful as is the gospel’s ability to save, it is conditioned on faithful continuance in its teachings. Paul writes the brethren in Corinth, saying, “Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain” (1 Cor. 15:1-2). Make no mistake about it – the gospel’s power to save is conditioned on our faithfulness to its teachings.
The gospel also has the power to shape the lives of Christians into conformity with the image of Christ. Please notice that in the aforementioned passage, the gospel is used interchangeably with the word. The word of God is divinely powerful, not only to save souls, but to transform lives. In Christ, we are not powerless to resist the world’s pressure to conform to its likeness. Instead, we can pursue transformation “by the renewing of [our] mind, so that [we] may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect” (Rom. 12:2). As we behold “as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, [we] are…transformed into the same image…” (2 Cor. 3:18). But, again, the gospel’s power to change lives is conditioned on our willingness to make the necessary changes revealed therein. James says that we must “prove [ourselves] to be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves” (Jas. 1:22). We will not be blessed by the gospel’s power to transform unless we “abide by it” and become “an effectual doer” (vs. 25).
The gospel of Jesus Christ has never been more accessible. We have, at our finger tips, God’s power to save and transform our lives. Why, then, is there such a famine of God’s word in our land? (Amos 8:11). As long as we are content to give the gospel mere lip service, souls will not the saved and lives will not be transformed. A radically different approach to the gospel is required.
— Glen Elliott —