| By :
Roger Himes
Gospel Tips by Roger Himes, The Gospel Coach The gospel of the New Testament is the greatest life-changing, personal development and personal growth system ever seen. It is the gospel that Jesus came preaching. The time everyone had been waiting for was fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God was at hand. Thus, the first sermon of Jesus was, "Repent and believe the gospel" (Mark 1:14-15). AN UNBELIEVABLE STATEMENT This was a monumental statement Jesus made. Every preacher, prophet and Pharisee preached, "Repent from sin." This was still the message of John the Baptist, the predecessor to Jesus (see Mark 1:4). But Jesus totally changed the focus from repenting from sin — to repenting from wrong belief. Everything begins with belief. If you want to experience true spiritual growth, you will begin with gospel belief. Throw everything else out. This is what 'repent' means: totally change your mind. The gospel is all about God. Paul refers to it as 'The testimony of God.' It's all about positive believing. Paul calls it "being transformed by the renewing of your mind" (Rom 12:2). THE OLD VS. THE NEW The Old Testament was a behavior code, but not the New. NO one could live by the impossible dictates of the Old (Acts 15:10). God gave those dictates and laws so that we would learn that we could NOT live by them. Instead, we should turn to the power of living life in the gospel that Jesus was to bring — the abundant life of Christ (John 10:10). Religion, in the form of the Old Testament, demands that we live life right, but the gospel is the power of God that enables us to live life right (Rom 1:16). This is why Jesus came preaching it. The gospel produces and abundant, empowered life. Haven't you ever wondered why Jesus says, "My way is easy"? (Matt 11:28). And it's a life of being victors, not victims — of being overcomers not overcome. I have been living a gospel-charged life since 1990. I'm celebrating my 20th anniversary this year, so I know it works. The Old Testament was dominated by The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Bad — followed by the law of God that wiped everyone out, thus producing an IMPOSSIBLE life. People could not possibly do all the good they should, and refrain from all the bad they should. The gospel changed all things. This is why Hebrews calls this total 'Reformation.' Paul says, "Old things have passed away; behold, ALL things are new" (II Cor 5:17). This is why he calls us NCICs (I pronounce it 'Nick') — new creations in Christ. It as being a GodMan — a mixture of God and man. The gospel makes us into a whole new SPECIES. OUR UNCTION IS TO FALL BACK Jesus says it: "Many will say the Old is better." Today, too many Christians still try to live by the Old Testament, or by mixing the New with the Old. This spells total wipe-out. Jesus also warns us: "Don't pour New wine into Old bottles." But the mind and heart of man does it anyway. What can I say? We call it 'theology' — man's ideas about God. When you finish reading this. . . click here to DIG DEEPER into all of this, and see what happens inside of us. Religion focuses on behavior. The gospel focuses on belief: "Repent of all other beliefs, and believe the gospel"(that's my paraphrase). Religious people never learn that good behavior will never produce correct belief, — but correct belief will eventually produce good behavior. If you will keep reading these Gospel Snapshots, you will discover that the power of gospel belief will totally transform your life in every way for the better. It produces good roots in us that in turn produce good fruit (good behavior) in everyday life (Col 1:5-6).
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