The Expositional Gospel

Starting With the Foundation

Where should we start a conversation about teaching within the local church? There is no better place to start than the foundation of our faith. That is, we must begin with the gospel. If you are coming to read this looking for help in starting a training program for teachers, you may be asking yourself what this has to do with a training program. That is precisely what this blog post is seeking to address. Any training program that aims to raise up and equip teachers in the church that does not have at its heart a solid foundation in the gospel will inevitably end up with problems. The gospel is not just for new converts, being how new converts are made, but every Christian needs the gospel as a regular part of their life. Any teacher in the church needs to have the gospel at the center of every lesson they teach. The place for us to start is the question of what is the gospel.

Some Important Details

The gospel is the good news that Jesus Christ has paid the penalty for the sins of all who come to him in repentance in faith. This one sentence encompasses both the news and the correct response. But this sentence has some holes here. It is missing a lot of information. So, let us go a little deeper. The first thing that we need to understand is that the gospel is news. It is information. It is the introductory amount of information that a person must believe by faith to be a Christian. It is important that we understand the difference between the gospel itself and the required response. The gospel is not just news but is good news. What is it that makes it good news though? Here, we get to the starting place. We are born in sin. We are dead in our trespasses and sins, and we deserve death for even the smallest amount of sin. It is this death that we deserve that Christ died on the cross. He not only died but rose from the dead after three days, showing that death could not hold him. The truly amazing thing about the gospel is the way our understanding becomes deeper and broader as we learn more about the Lord and his word.

A Litmus Test

The gospel is amazing. It can be articulated in one sentence and, at the same time, take a whole book to really get into the details. No matter how deep we go, though, we must get the gospel right. A message that does not talk about sin is no gospel. A message that does not call the listener to repentance is no gospel. The essential elements of the gospel are sin, redemption, and response. Anyone who is under consideration for a teaching role in the church must, at a minimum, be able to articulate the gospel. In this way, it serves as a sort of litmus test. When asked what it means to be a Christian or how you know you are saved, the answer must involve the gospel. Sadly, far too many churches allow people to teach things like youth small groups or children's Sunday school without these most basic precautions. Realistically, this should be a part of becoming a church member in the first place. Before allowing someone to join the church, ensure that they know the gospel and can share it with others. If you then require your teachers to be members first, something that should go without saying, then this step should be much easier.

The Ongoing Gospel

Regular gospel focus should be part of your ongoing training for teachers in the church. If you are just starting out, make it a point to have every training session point to the gospel. Our method of regular ongoing monthly meetings to discuss a book has as a part of the discussion how the book or the message of the book relates to the gospel. We ask questions like: how does this book help us understand the gospel, or does what this book is describing fit with the gospel? Having one of the group members share the gospel with the rest of the group would also be a good idea. Teachers need to be very familiar with the gospel. They need to hear it themselves and be reminded as much as they need to share it with the people they are teaching. When we are talking about teaching in the church, every lesson is a gospel lesson.

Summary

As you consider what it means to be a teacher in the local church, whether you are an elder/pastor or just a concerned member, the gospel needs to be at the center of everything. Without the gospel, we have no church. We are Christ's church, made so by his life, death, and resurrection. There are no parts of the message we can leave out. Not the sin that made it necessary, not the virgin birth, not the sinless life, none of it. The church must stand firm on the gospel of Christ, who is very God of very God. Focusing on the gospel does not mean that nothing else matters, far from it. It is because the gospel is so important that everything else becomes important. Why is membership important? Christ purchased the church by his blood and gave instructions on how it is to be run. Why does it matter when or how we meet together? Because we are Christ by his life, death, and resurrection, he has told us how to worship him. We are Christ's people, united to him by his gospel work. Everything comes back to this. Jesus is the savior, the Messiah, the Christ, the very Son of the Living God. It is on this rock that the church is built.

Soli Deo Gloria

Resources:

Ortlund, Raymond C. Gospel - How the Church Portrays the Beauty of Christ. Crossway Books, 2014.

P.S.

If no one has ever explicitly shared the gospel with you, this is for you.

We live in a broken and fallen world. A world full of sin. We are sinners by nature. No one has to teach us how to lie or steal. Sin is when we disobey God, who created us and sustains us. Oftentimes, people like to think that people are basically good, but the Bible teaches us that no one is good and no one seeks God. This is the bad news. The good news is that we have a savior. Jesus Christ, who is God incarnate, humbled himself and took on our humanity. He was born of a virgin, humbling himself so that he might be our representative. He lived a perfect life and died the death we deserve on the cross. But death could not hold him. On the third day, he rose again. Soon after, he ascended into heaven and will one day return in glory to judge the earth.

Now What?

We must repent of our sin. This means we hate our sin. We turn away from it and turn to Christ. We must deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow him. In him, there is joy and life everlasting.