We live in a time of great pressure,
both externally from the world
and internally in our churches,
to be anything but
gospel-centered
Externally we are undergoing a culture-shift away
from Christian values and ideals.
This is to be expected and is not unique in world history.
Much more troubling, however, is the
downplaying of
the gospel -
it’s necessity, centrality, and power -
within our churches,
especially our sermons.
In the name of church growth, churches hire expert communicators who work hard each week to encourage the masses, hopefully share something about Jesus, but above all to keep them coming back the following week.
Rather than asking,
“How can we best honor and worship Christ?”
we have become obsessed with technique and presentation.
As pastors, leaders, and
proclaimers of God’s Word, there is a great need
for gospel-centered preaching in every sermon
from every passage of Holy Scripture.
Here are seven reasons why
gospel-centered preaching
is necessary for the church today:
1. Gospel-centered preaching focuses on Jesus.
First and foremost, gospel-centered preaching is necessary because it focuses on that which the entire Bible, as well as the universe itself, focuses on - Jesus. Emphasizing the preeminence of Christ over all things, Paul wrote to the Colossians, “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Col. 1:16,17). After his resurrection, Jesus did a Bible study with two disciples during a seven-mile walk to Emmaus. Luke tells us that, “beginning with Moses and all the Prophets (what we call the Old Testament), he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself” (Lk. 24:27). To the Pharisees Jesus said, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me…” (Jn. 5:39). In other words, in every single passage of the Old and New Testaments, Christ can and should be preached. Or as Tim Keller puts it, “To preach the gospel every time is to preach Christ every time, from every passage.”
2. Gospel-centered preaching is empowered by the Holy Spirit.
Apart from the work of the Holy Spirit, our preaching will be ineffectual in bringing any spiritual and lasting transformation in the lives of the hearers. Therefore, it is imperative that we make much of Jesus and his gospel in our preaching since this is the very thing the Spirit loves to do (Jn. 16:14). We implore the Spirit throughout the whole process of sermon preparation, practice, and preaching, asking the Spirit, “to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in Jesus” (Acts 26:18).
3. Gospel-centered preaching is necessary for salvation.
At first glance, this point seems so obvious as to be unnecessarily included in this list. Yet we live in a time in which many churches have redefined the gospel or the gospel is merely assumed (and therefore missing). We need gospel-centered preaching because it is the only hope for lost people to hear, believe, and be saved (Romans 10:14-15). While our good works and our acts of love and compassion in our outreach events are good and worthy pursuits that may provide the opportunity to preach the gospel, in and of themselves they are insufficient means to nourish spiritually thirsty and hungry people. We can live in light of the gospel (and must), but we can’t “preach the gospel at all times and when necessary use words,” as words are indeed always necessary.
4. Gospel-centered preaching is necessary for the believer.
The gospel is not just for the unbeliever’s salvation, but the gospel is necessary for our sanctification and perseverance as believers. Have you ever noticed that in Paul’s letters to the various New Testament churches, he proclaims the gospel to people who have already received, believed, and have been transformed by the gospel? After thanking God for the world-renowned faith in Jesus of the church at Rome (Rom. 1:8), Paul writes, “So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome” (1:15). Likewise, to the Corinthians he writes, “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and which you are being saved…" (1 Cor. 15:1-2). The message and hope of the gospel is a constant call to both non-believers and believers in our churches to repent, believe, and remember the good news of Christ for our salvation—past (justification), present (sanctification), and future (glorification).
5. Gospel-centered preaching motivates the believer
towards holy living.
Preaching devoid of gospel power and gospel motivation drifts toward what Christian Smith has called “moral therapeutic deism” - a type of religion that asks people to be moral, focuses on building up self-esteem, and essentially denies the reality of a holy and just God who is both transcendent and immanent. Pastors may enthusiastically call their people to live morally upright lives, which may have the appearance of godliness, but without gospel motivation will only produce self-righteous people who look down on others. Jesus often harshly confronted the Pharisees for such motivation, both through direct rebuke (see Mt. 23) and indirectly through parables (see Lk. 15:11-32). The gospel reminds us of who we were, who we are, and who we are becoming. We were dead in our sins (Eph. 2:1), yet saved by grace alone, through faith alone (Eph. 2:8-9). The gospel humbles our prideful hearts by reminding us of the truth that our only righteousness is His righteousness, and our only power to live a holy life is His power in us (Php. 3:12-13). Through gospel-centered preaching we are reminded that the same power and grace that forgives our sins is also the power and grace that can keep us from continuing to sin. Our motivation for holy living shifts from duty to being motivated by love and gratitude toward God.
6. Gospel-centered preaching leads to acts of love and compassion.
Not only are we motivated to turn from sin through gospel-centered preaching, we are also motivated and empowered to be Jesus’ hands and feet as we love the world. We’re reminded that we were once blind, broken, hungry, and thirsty. Gospel-centered preaching gives us a lens through which to see the world’s brokenness and respond with the love of Christ. Indeed, we can love difficult people, needy people, selfish people, and the ‘least of these,’ because we know that we are actually loving Christ (Mt. 10:42) who first loved us (1 Jn. 4:19).
7. Gospel-centered preaching equips and sends us out on mission.
Gospel-centered preaching is God-centered preaching
that aligns us with
God’s priorities and God’s purposes.
The gospel does not end with our salvation alone.
Incredibly, we have been invited by God to be a part of
His global purposes in reconciling
all things and all people to the
Sovereign King of the Universe.
As rescued saints,
we have received a great commission
(Mt. 28:18-20) and
great power to be his witnesses amongst
our families, friends, neighbors, co-workers, cities, country,
and to all people all over the world
(Acts 1:8).
Therefore gospel-centered preaching constantly
reminds Christ followers
that God will rescue and redeem people
from every nation, tribe, and tongue
(Rev. 7:9)
and equips them to be Christ’s ambassadors
throughout the world to that end
(2 Cor. 5:20).
From the fruit of his mouth a
man’s belly is filled;
with the harvest from his lips he is satisfied.
21Life and death
are in the
power of the tongue,
and those
who love it will eat its fruit.
He who finds a wife finds a good thing and
obtains favor from the LORD.…
The apostle Paul refers to the
law of sin and death in Romans 8:1–2:
“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those
who are in Christ Jesus, because through
Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life
has set you free from the law of sin and death.”
What is the “law of sin and death”?
In these verses, Paul
contrasts two laws:
the law of the Spirit
and the
law of sin and death.
The law of the Spirit is the gospel or
good news of Jesus,
the message of
new life through faith in the
resurrected Christ.
The law of sin and death is the
Old Testament Law of God.
The Law is holy, just and good
(Romans 7:12),
but, because we cannot keep God’s Law on our own,
the result is only
sin and death for those under the Law.
Romans 7:5 explains Paul’s
focus on the Law as leading to sin and death:
“For when we were in the realm of the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in us, so that we bore fruit for death.” In contrast, the “way” or law of the Spirit is noted in Romans 7:6:
“But now, by dying to what once bound us,
we have been released from the law so that we serve
in the new way of the Spirit,
and not in the old way of the written code.”
The Law itself is not sinful (Romans 7:7).
However, the Law defined sin and stirred up our
natural rebellion against
God’s rules, resulting in sin and death.
Romans 7:10–11 speaks of how sin, death, and the Law are connected: “I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death.” This death refers to spiritual separation from God. Shackled by our depraved nature, we naturally opposed the Law, and we found that God’s life-giving Word served only to sentence us to death. It is because of this that Paul can refer to the Law as the “law of sin and death.”
The conclusion of Romans 7 shows
the need
of the gospel to deliver us
from the
consequences of sin
under the Law:
“For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am!
Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?
Thanks be to God, who delivers me through
Jesus Christ our Lord!
” (Romans 7:22–25).
The next chapter, Romans 8, begins by
declaring there is no
longer any condemnation
or judgment
for those who are in Christ.
We have been released from the law of sin and death.
Paul’s argument from Romans 7 transitions in Romans 8
to a
rejoicing over the change
the gospel makes
in the lives of those who
believe in Jesus.
The chapter concludes by confirming, in the
strongest terms possible,
that believers
can never
be separated from
God’s love:
“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth,
nor anything else in all creation,
will be able to separate us from the love of God
that is in
Christ Jesus our Lord”
(Romans 8:38–39).
We have come to the fourth part of a
five part series of messages
dealing with aspects of biblical truth
which I think we need to know if we are to live the Christian life.
First, we talked about the essence of sin: "Whatever is not from faith is sin"
(Romans 14:23).
Second, we talked about final judgment: who will be judged,
on what basis, and what the alternatives are
(eternal life versus wrath and fury). And third, we talked about
the foundation of the
good news.
The good news is that God
acquits the guilty
He justifies the ungodly
The foundation of this good news is the
death of our Lord Jesus,
whose suffering and humiliation for
the glory of his Father so honored God
that God is shown to be righteous,
even though he passes over the sins which
belittled and defamed God's glory.
No Condemnation
But now we must take another crucial step. I would like to take
this step with you in the first part of Romans 8.
Justification is an act of God not man.
It is a divine decision to acquit the guilty,
to give all the benefits of the children of God to us who deserve hell.
It is based on a transaction that happens outside of ourselves,
namely, the
death of Jesus Christ in our place.
Nevertheless, even though
justification is God's act and not ours,
and its foundation happens outside ourselves,
something must happen in our life,
if we are to benefit from these things.
Not every sinner is justified.
The death of Christ does not turn away the wrath of God from all people. In order to benefit from the work that God has done outside of us, we must now experience the work that he does within us by the Holy Spirit. What is this work and how is it related to the gift of justification?
Romans 8:1: "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." No condemnation! I wonder what you would say if I asked you to make a list of the things that cause the most tension and pressure and anxiety and depression in your life—the things that make days look like they are not worth getting up for; the things that make the going on of life as it is now a very unexciting prospect. I do not know what that list would look like for each of you, but I know this: if you were to add to that list a constant or repeated sense of guilt before God and fear of his displeasure, then life would indeed become almost unlivable. Guilt paralyzes us with depression and creates suicidal tendencies.
If that is true, then I tell you the words
"No condemnation!"
are the most beautiful words in the world.
Come in off the ledge, there's no condemnation! Rise up off your bed of dismay, there's no condemnation! Take a deep breath of clean autumn air and give to the winds your fears, there's no condemnation! O, how I want those words for this church and my family and myself. But are they addressed to me? Are they addressed to you?
In Christ Jesus"There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus." It can be said of no one else:
only "to those who are in Christ Jesus."
Who are they?
Verses 9 and 10 begin to answer the question what it
means to be "in Christ Jesus."
Notice as we read these verses that
the "Spirit," the "Spirit of God," the "Spirit of Christ,"
and simply "Christ" are all interchangeable:
You are not in the flesh,
you are in the Spirit,
if the
Spirit of God really dwells in you.
Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
But if Christ is in you, although
your bodies
are dead because of sin,
your spirits are alive
because of
righteousness
It is evident from these verses that
the Spirit of God
is one
with the Spirit of Christ.
There are not two Spirits,
there is one and he is the
Spirit of the Father and the Son.
Therefore, when we have the Holy Spirit we may be said to
have both the Father and the Son dwelling in us by the Spirit.
But Romans 8:1 refers to those
who are "in Christ"
unlike verse 10 which
refers to those in whom Christ is.
In verse 1 Christ enfolds us; in verse 10 we enfold Christ.
But the very point of verse 9 is to explain that there
is no substantial difference between these
two ways of describing our relation to Christ.
It says,
"You are in the
Spirit if the Spirit of God really dwells in you."
It would follow then that
you are in Christ,
if the Spirit of Christ really
dwells in you.
Therefore, the first thing we can say about those in Romans 8:1
for whom there is no condemnation
is that they are people in
whom the Spirit really dwells.
To be "in Christ Jesus"
is to
be so related to him
that the
acquittal he purchased
is now ours.
And only those who have the Spirit of Christ dwelling in them are thus freed from condemnation. "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus," that is, there is no condemnation for those in whom Christ lives by the Holy Spirit.
This understanding of verse 1 is confirmed by verses 13 and 14. Verse 13 says,
"If you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live."
The life and death spoken of in these verses are eternal life and eternal death. But eternal death is the same as condemnation, and eternal life is the same as "no condemnation." Therefore, verse 13 teaches that to experience "no condemnation" from God, the Holy Spirit must be at work in our lives overcoming our sinful tendencies. This confirms that verse 1 means there is "no condemnation" for those in whom Christ lives by the Spirit.
Similarly, verse 14 gives additional support for this understanding: "For all who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God." Verse 9 says, "Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him." Now verse 14 gives the positive counterpart of this: "All who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God." To be adopted into God's family as a son is to pass from death to life, from condemnation to "no condemnation." But the means by which we are adopted and the seal of our belonging to God is that he gives us the Spirit of sonship, as verse 15 says, by which we cry, "Abba (daddy), Father." Therefore, it is clear from verses 9, 10, 13, and 14 that those for whom it can be said, "You will experience no condemnation," are only those in whom the Spirit of God dwells, or, to be more specific, with verses 13 and 14, those who by the Spirit are putting to death their sinful tendencies and by the Holy Spirit are being led. Our freedom from final condemnation depends on the sin-killing presence of the Spirit in our lives.
Freed from the Law of Sin and Death by the Spirit
Now we are ready to hear verse 2 for all it is worth and to understand its logical relationship to verse 1. Paul signals with the little word "for" at the beginning of verse 2 that he means to give the basis or foundation of verse 1.
He is answering the question
why those in
Christ Jesus shall experience "no condemnation."
His answer is,
"Because the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death." The liberating law of the life-giving Spirit has freed us from the enslaving law of death-giving sin.
The term law in verse 2 does not refer primarily to any written code, but mainly to authority or power. The law of the Spirit is the authority and power of the Spirit; the law of sin is the authority and power of sin. We can see more clearly what Paul means if we look back at Romans 7:21–25:
So I find it to be a law that even when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin which dwells in my members.
We can see from this section that the "law of sin" is the power and authority that sin has in Paul's body, rather than any written law. He continues with a holy rebellion against his own remaining sinful tendencies.
Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
I conclude, therefore, that the "law of sin and death" in verse 2 of chapter 8 is the power and authority of sin which rules in a life where God does not have the upper hand but where flesh is dominant. Flesh is the old nature which refuses to rely on God and delight in his ways. And verse 13, you recall, says, "if you live according to the flesh you will die." That is why the "law of sin" is called in verse 2 the "law of sin and death." The person whose flesh dominates his life is ruled by the law of sin and will die. There will be condemnation for those who walk according to their old nature ruled by the law of sin and death.
But there need not be. For as verse 2 says, the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus frees from the law of sin and death. God is omnipotent and his Spirit is a Spirit of power and authority, transforming and renewing the mind, sanctifying the heart, putting to death the evil deeds of the body, and liberating us from the law of sin and death. But the relationship of verse 2 to verse 1 shows that without this liberating work of the Spirit in our lives, there will be condemnation.
Notice how Romans 6:20–22 makes the same point: "When you were slaves of sin you were free in regard to righteousness. But then what return did you get from these things of which you are now ashamed? The end of those things is death." (That's a description of our former bondage to the law of sin and death.) "But now that you have been set free from sin" (that's the same word as in Romans 8:2, so here we have the liberating law of the Spirit of life)—"But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God"
(which is another way of saying "are led by the Spirit")
"the return you get is sanctification and its end, eternal life."
Or to paraphrase:
the return you get from
being freed from the law of sin and death
and being ruled by the Spirit of life
is sanctification and its end,
"No condemnation."
The logic of Romans 8:1, 2 is exactly the same as 6:22. Those who can count on eternal life, those who can say of themselves, "No condemnation," are those whose slave master is no longer sin but the Spirit of God. "As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God." These are the ones from whom condemnation has been removed.
Justifying and Sanctifying Faith
Now I want to stop and make sure that you are hearing what I believe the Scripture is saying, because it is not commonly said, but our lives hang on it. There is a real sense in which our
justification depends on our sanctification.
There is a sense in which whether we are acquitted before God
depends on whether the law of
the Spirit of life has freed us from the law of sin and death.
But how can this be? For Romans 5:1 says, "We have been justified by faith." The sentence of "not guilty" has already been given, and it was given to those who have faith. How then can I say that the past sentence of "not guilty" is dependent on the present process of sanctification?
And how can I say that to experience justification one must not only have faith but also be freed by the Spirit from the power of sin?
The answer to these questions will be found, I think, if we look at two observations from Scripture.
1) The faith to which justification is promised is not merely a single decision to acknowledge Christ's lordship and accept him as Savior. The faith by which we are justified is an ongoing life of faith.
When we read Romans 4 and James 2carefully we see that Abraham believed God's promise and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. He was justified by his faith. But then we notice that the illustrations of this faith in Romans 4 and James 2 are not merely its first act in Genesis 12 that caused Abraham to leave the land of Ur and follow God to Canaan, but also Abraham's faith in God's later promise in Genesis 15 to make his own son his heir, and the faith in Genesis 22 that enabled him to almost sacrifice his only son, Isaac. In other words, when Paul and James think of the faith by which Abraham was justified they think not merely of his initial belief but of his ongoing life of faith. Therefore Paul says in Colossians 1:21–23,
And you who once were estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death in order to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him, if indeed you remain in faith stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel.
Or as he says in 1 Corinthians 15:1, 2:
I preached to you the gospel which you received, in which you stand, by which you are saved, if you hold it fast—unless you believed in vain.
We are justified not merely by that initial reception of the gospel but by an ongoing life of faith. That is the first observation from Scripture.
2) Second, the coming of the Holy Spirit into a person's life and the working of the Spirit to liberate that life from the law of sin and death always accompany genuine faith and there is no other way to have it. We learn this from Galatians 3:2–5. Paul asks a series of questions and expects the answers to be obvious:
Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun with the Spirit are you now ending with the flesh? Did you experience so many things in vain—if it really is in vain. Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law or by hearing with faith?It is by faith that we receive the Holy Spirit, and it is by faith that the Spirit works within us. Wherever you find a person who is putting his daily confidence in the promises of the gospel, there is a person in whom the law of the Spirit of life is at work freeing him from the law of sin and death. To live by faith and to live in the power of the Holy Spirit are the same thing, viewed from two different angles.
Paul says in Romans 8:14,
"As many as are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God."
John says in John 1:12, "As many as received Christ, to them he gave the right to become sons of God, to those who believed on his name." One must believe in Christ to be God's child; one must be led by the Spirit to be God's child. And these are not two conditions but one, for it is by faith that God supplies to us the Spirit, and it is by a life of faith he works miracles among us. That is the second observation from Scripture.
Now with these two insights I think we can solve our earlier problem. On the one hand Romans 5:1 says we have been justified by faith. On the other hand Romans 8:1, 2 say that there is no condemnation to those in Christ Jesus for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has freed me from the law of sin and death.
Freedom from condemnation
is made conditional upon the
work of the
Holy Spirit freeing me from sin.
These two truths
come together in one coherent and
powerful truth
by means of the two observations we have just made.
First, the faith which justifies is not a single decision but an ongoing reliance upon the promises of God. And, second,
it is by this faith that God supplies to us the Spirit
and by which the Spirit frees us from the
power of sin and death. So we can see that
these are not two conditions for
justification but only one condition.
O, I hope you grasp what the Word is saying. For I want so much not to be misunderstood in either of the two possible ways. May no one react and say, O, that cannot be. All you have to do is believe in Christ as Savior; you don't have to overcome sin by the power of the Spirit. That error distorts and cheapens faith, contradicts the teaching of Romans 8:1, 2, and runs the risk of hearing Jesus say on the judgment day: Depart from me, you evildoers, I never knew you.
But there is another equally serious error. Someone may say, O, no, not another legalistic load to carry. I cannot bear any more burdens of dos and don'ts. I give up. The Christian life is impossible. But wait a minute. You don't want to believe in a Christ who makes no difference in your life, do you? Who wants a Jesus who is so nothing that all he can produce is a people who mouth religious platitudes but think, feel, and act just like the world? We don't want that. Yet we know we are imperfect people and we still sin. And we want the Holy Spirit to reign more fully in our lives. But we despair. Do not let Satan overcome you with counsels of despair.
God does not call you to earn your justification but to
rest in his promises.
Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law
or by hearing with faith?
Having begun with the
Spirit are you now ending with the flesh?
Remember this: the law of the Spirit of
life in Christ Jesus
liberates us from the power of sin and death
not by works of the law but by faith,
by trusting
daily in the promises of God.