What does it mean to be unashamed? Well to best understand that, we must know what it means to be ashamed. Being ashamed is being closed off, acting with guilt or embarrassment. So naturally unashamed is just the opposite: “Expressed or acting openly & without guilt or embarrassment.”
Often times we as Christians won’t say we are ashamed of the gospel of Christ, but the lives we live tell a different story. We act boldly in the comfort of our pews each Sunday because we are among like-minded people. But when we step out into the real world, we freeze up, tense up, and act embarrassed about our faith.
We are called to live with confidence in the face of opposition but most of us are living in fear and shame, apologizing for our beliefs. But the gospel gives us the ability to live with boldness in a world that opposes everything about God. Today, I want to look at the first of four responses to the gospel, which give us confident hope and assurance in Christ.
1. KNOW IT
Before we can act we must have knowledge. We must know the truths of the gospel because we cannot afford ignorance about our faith and recognize there is a difference in simply knowing and allowing it to become who we are. But what is the gospel?
Romans 3:21-26 KJV
In the simplest terms, the Gospel is the good news (message) of Jesus Christ. But more specifically the Gospel consists of three elements:
a. We all stand as sinners before a holy God.
As we just discussed, the gospel literally means good news. But what about the above state sounds good? "We are all sinners..." Doesn't sound so great. Well think of a jeweler presenting a beautiful diamond and white gold necklace. What type of backdrop does the jeweler use to enhance the beauty of the necklace? Black velvet. The beautiful diamonds look great alone, but even better against the dark background. Similarly God tells us the bad news first to show how great the good news of Gospel really is. The bad news being we have all sinned, sometimes in ignorance, but often knowingly.
But here comes the good news. Seeing our weakness & inability to alleviate our condition, God did the ultimate for us. “6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. 8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:6–8).
Because there was no other way to satisfy the righteous demands of God, because of our inability to improve ourselves (much less save ourselves), because we faced a future in hell because of our sin, God, in His great love, sent His own Son to come down from heaven and to die on the cross in our very place. Paul personalized this by saying, "[Christ] loved me and gave Himself for me"(Galatians 2:20).
b. Jesus Christ is the only way to the Father
The gospel is not about what you or I did to please or reach God. Rather, the gospel is about how God reconciled Himself to us through Jesus Christ. Jesus Himself said "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6). The apostle Peter echoed those words in Acts 4:12 saying "Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." Paul also says the same thing "For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 2:5).
If we, as Christians, were to say that God could be reached through any other means, we would be guilty of misrepresenting the gospel. For on that cross, some 2000 years ago, all the sin of the world was poured upon Jesus Christ as He became the sin sacrifice for us. "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Corinthians 5:21).
c. The Cornerstone of the Gospel is Christ's Death & Resurrection
Jesus' final words on the cross were "It is finished!" These three words are so simple yet pack so much meaning. Those three words can be translated/interpreted to mean several things.
1. It is made an end of. An end of our sins & the guilt that accompanied them.
2. It is paid. The price of redemption.
3. It is performed. The righteous requirements of the law.
4. It is accomplished. The work that God had given Jesus to do.
5. It is finished. Satan's stronghold on humanity.
Paul puts the gospel in a nutshell: Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, He was buried, and He rose again the third day (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). But to fully understand the Gospel we must be aware of the false gospels. Most of which fall into one of two categories:
The Watered-Down Gospel
- It offers God's forgiveness, telling you that all you must do is believe, without any mention of repentance.
- It presents Jesus Christ as though He were some mere additives to make one's life a little better.
- It tells you about heaven, but leaves out the message of hell.
The Rule-Laden/Overly Complex Gospel
- It strips the true gospel of its simplicity and power.
- It comes laden with rules & regulations that we must keep to find forgiveness.
- It is so complex that no one can unravel it.
It's extremely important to know the Gospel of Christ so we can discern the true Gospel from the false gospels. But's there's more to being unashamed, we can't just simply know the Gospel, we must allow it to become part of who we are.
Next week we will look at the second response to the Gospel of Christ, EMBRACE IT.
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