Remember The Gospel

The Gospel is not just for unbelievers. In fact I feel like the Gospel is much more important to believers. If we lose sight of the Gospel we have lost sight of Jesus. The Gospel is our salvation, and it's stressed all throughout the New Testament to remember our salvation and what Christ's death means for us. The Last Supper is in three of the Gospels for a reason.

Luke 22:19-20

"And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and it to them, saying, 'This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.' And likewise the cup after they had eaten saying, 'This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.'"

Jesus told us to remember him and the new covenant, because he knows we need it. We need to be reminded of so many things daily. Why would the Gospel be any different? In Luke 10:17-20 the 72 that Jesus sent out returned after performing miracles and casting out demons in his name, and Jesus' response to their excitement is so simple, and probably anti-climactic to the 72.

¹⁷ The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!" ¹⁸And he said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. ¹⁹Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. ²⁰Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."

They returned to Jesus and they were pumped, and so was Jesus. He saw Satan fall like lightning that's crazy. But verse 20 is the meat of this section. Do not rejoice that the demons are subject to you, but rejoice in your salvation. Rejoice and remember the Gospel. In Philippians 4:4 Paul tells us to "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice." How can we rejoice if we have forgotten the Gospel? How can we rejoice if we have forgotten that our names are written in heaven?

I strongly encourage anyone who reads this to go the Scriptures and read Colossians 1:21-23. Paul here summarizes the gospel in just a few verses and tells us not to shift hope from it. Also 1 Peter 1 Peter reminds us of our salvation and our call to be holy. This is something we can never hear too often. I can remember sitting in my room this summer watching Francis Chan's video "Just Stop And Think," and I just started crying when I thought about that God really loves me. It's crazy and that is the Gospel. It's defined by God's love for humanity. Just look at John 3:16.

I would definitely recommend watching the Francis Chan video. I'm going to put a hyperlink at the end of this entry, but I will warn ahead of time that it is like 15 minutes long. It's definitely worth it though. Anyways even if you don't watch remember your salvation, rejoice in it, and remember the Gospel. God loves us and we must love him back with everything that we have to offer.

http://www.crazylovebook.com/ Just Stop And Think is under the video tab.