What does it mean to live the life of the gospel? The good news of the gospel lets us know that through the blood of Jesus Christ that was shed on the cross, his death by crucifixion is the ultimate sacrifice for the redemption of humanity. We are washed clean of our sins by the blood of Jesus Christ that was shed on the cross. This gives us direct access to God the Father. So no matter how great or small our sins are, if we truly repent of our sins and ask God for forgiveness and invite Jesus to come into our heart and life, then we are forgiven and given salvation and eternal life and we are filled with the Holy Spirit of God.
So living the life of the gospel means to strive to become more like Jesus in our thoughts, words and deeds. We must first and foremost love God before anyone or anything else and we must love our neighbours, who are everyone else.
Mark 12:30-31 (CSB)
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is, Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other command greater than these.”
Jesus showed compassion towards people, so being compassionate towards others is important.
Mark 6:34 (CSB)
When he went ashore, he saw a large crowd and had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. Then he began to teach them many things.
Jesus was sinless, so we must also stay away from sin and if we do sin then we must repent. We need to always be faithful to God and trust in Jesus and let the Holy Spirit guide us in our lives. If we are led by the Holy Spirit to help someone or to talk to someone then we should follow His lead and do those things. Sometimes the Holy Spirit leads us away from certain things or people, if those things or people are going to harm us or cause us problems. The Holy Spirit will let us know by giving us a feeling deep inside of ourselves not to go there, or do that.
Living the life of the gospel includes doing good deeds. This could be serving others through our work or volunteering to help. It also includes sharing our faith with others and letting them know what Jesus has done for us all and how we can be saved.
John 3:16 (CSB)
“For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”
The Bible tells us that to receive forgiveness from God we must forgive others. Forgiveness is important in leading a life of the gospel.
Matthew 6:14-15 (CSB)
“For if you forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will forgive you as well. But if you don’t forgive others, your Father will not forgive your offenses.”
Jesus showed kindness to the poor, the sick, widows, orphans and the marginalized in society. We must also show kindness to others.
Proverbs 14:31 (CSB)
The one who oppresses the poor person insults his Maker, but one who is kind to the needy honors him.
Matthew 25:40 (CSB)
“And the King will answer them, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”
We need to look to Jesus every day of our lives and ask Him to reveal to us where in our lives we are falling short of living the life of the gospel. There are sins we often overlook, such as being angry or impatient. We need to be reminded on a daily basis how we can improve our walk with God and become more like Jesus. None of us are perfect but we can ask God to reveal to us where we are falling short of living the life He wants us to live.
God is forever faithful, merciful and gracious.
Psalm 103:8 (CSB)
The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love.
James 4:8 (CSB)
Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.
God will guide you to walk a righteous life, you just need to ask Him for His help and guidance.
Onward Christian Soldiers 