This Is Good News

LESSON TWO

"Obeying The Gospel"

Instructions:

1. Read the four (4) "This Is Good News" lessons.

2. Go to the question & answer index, select the appropriate question & answer form, answer the questions and complete the Student Information.

3. Submit the completed form by clicking on the submit button at the bottom of the form. Your Study Helper will review your lesson and send you the next lesson in the series if you qualify.

2.1.i OBEYING THE GOSPEL

The Good News announces that Jesus Christ has come. It also promises that He will come back again! The Bible clearly shows what will happen at His return. We shall all see Jesus for ourselves (1 John 3:2; Revelation 1:7). He will bring rest and reward to His own people. He will condemn others. Here is how 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9 describes Christ's second coming:

(He will) give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with His powerful angels. He will punish those  who do not know God and do not obey the Gospel of our Lord  Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and  shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of  His power . . . .

The proofs of God and His Gospel are so great that all people must prepare for meeting Jesus. The unprepared are those who "do not know God and do not obey the Gospel."

1 Peter 4:17 says something similar.

For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God;  and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those  who do not obey the Gospel of God?

There is "the family of God." Then there are those who "do not obey the Gospel of God." In which one of these different groups are you? Clearly, obeying the Gospel is of the greatest importance. To be prepared for meeting the Lord Jesus, one must "obey the Gospel."

2.1.1 WHAT IS THE GOOD NEWS?

By now you know that the word "Gospel" means "Good News." But "news" must be about something that really happened. For example, in any newspaper many events are reported. The report is not the event. The report was written after the event took place. In the same way, the Gospel has to do with an event. The New Testament is the inspired report of this event. Paul, an apostle of Christ, tells us the main event of the Gospel:

Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the Gospel I preached
to you, which you received and on which you have taken your
stand. By this Gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the
word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance:
that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that
He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according
to the Scriptures...(1 Corinthians 15:1-4).

Notice the importance of believing that the event is true. "By this Gospel you are saved, if . . . ." The "if" shows that there is a condition. The condition is that one must continue to believe the Gospel message. The Corinthians had not seen the Gospel event. They had only heard of it from an eyewitness, Paul. Therefore they had to keep believing in the truth and importance of what they had heard. And what had they heard about the Gospel event? That Christ truly died for our sins, just as the Scriptures foretold! That Christ was actually buried! That Christ really returned to life on the third day! (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). This is the Good News!

2.1.2 THE GOOD NEWS FOR TODAY

How is the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus "Good News" for us today? The answer has to do with solving our worst problem, sin. Sin is breaking God's law and failing to do what we know is right (1 John 3:4; James 4:17). God is so pure and holy that He cannot live with sin (Psalm 5:4; Habakkuk 1:13; 1 John 1:5). Therefore our "iniquities" -- our wicked acts -- cut us off from God.

Your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have
hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear (Isaiah 59:2).

To be separated from God, the Giver of life, must mean death for us. That is why we see disease, destruction and death throughout the world. Worse, when we have gone through the pain of physical death, there can only be spiritual death for us in eternity.

The soul who sins is the one who will die (Ezekiel 18:20).
Death came to all men, because all sinned (Romans 5:12).
For the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins
(Ephesians 2:1).
Their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is
the second death (Revelation 21:8).

SIN and DEATH are our greatest enemies. Death comes in two different forms: the death of the fleshly body, and the death of the soul (separation from God). The Gospel event defeated both kinds of death. 1 Corinthians 15:3 plainly says that Jesus died for our sins. Not only did His flesh suffer and die. His soul also was torn by the cruelest pain because "God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us" (2 Corinthians 5:21). This means that Jesus took the sins of all of us into Himself. He suffered in our place (Isaiah 53; 1 Peter 2). Since sin's terrible penalties, both fleshly and spiritual, have been fully paid, all of us can be free from sin's guilt and punishment. Our spirits can be whole and healthy again right now. More than that, Christ will raise our dead bodies from the grave when He returns.

(Christ) will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be
like His glorious body (Philippians 3:21).

For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the
dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so
in Christ all will be made alive (1 Corinthians 15:21-22).

If we are in Christ, we can live a life of peace, purpose and fullness now. Then, after death, we shall rise to new and far greater glory, never to die again! We shall share in the joy-filled home called heaven. We shall share in eternal life with our loving Creator and Savior. This is Good News!

We have answered the first question that 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9 poses, "What is the Gospel?" Now we must move toward an answer for the second question, "How can one obey the Gospel?"

2.2.1 HOW DO WE OBEY THE GOOD NEWS?

The New Testament book called Romans tells us much about the Gospel. There Paul shows that we are made right with God ("justified") by God's grace or kindness. All people can be "justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus" (Romans 3:24).

Christ lived the perfect life and died the perfect death that bought us back (redeemed us) from death. Since He did it all for us, the way for us to respond is by trusting in this amazing deed of mercy. The Bible calls this trust "believing the Gospel." How insulting it is to God when people work at earning that for which He has already paid in full! If we tried to work our way into heaven we could never succeed, for we are too weak and sinful. That is why Paul says that we are saved, not by works, but by placing our faith in Jesus' death, burial and resurrection. In Paul's time some were trying to go back to old rules from the Law of Moses. By these old "works" they were trying to earn favor with God. To such false thinking Paul replied,

For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from
observing the law (Romans 3:28). Therefore, since we have
been justified through faith, we have peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1).

FAITH THAT SAVES

"Faith" that saves is deeper than merely agreeing to certain facts about God or Christ. Even Satan's demons believe those facts (Mark 1:24; 3:11; Acts 19:15; James 2:19). True faith tells others that "Jesus is Lord."

If you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in
your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it
is with your mouth that you confess and are saved
(Romans 10:9-10).

Real faith also "repents" (Luke 13:3; Acts 2:38; 3:19). That is, it firmly turns away from sinful living. It makes up its mind to give full obedience to God. The person who has truly made that decision is ready and eager to "obey the Gospel!"

That brings us face to face with the question, "How does one obey an event?" For at its heart the Gospel is Jesus' death, burial and resurrection (1 Corinthians 15). This event is Good News about our spiritual death problem; Jesus died for our sins. The Gospel event is Good News about our physical death problem; in Christ we will be raised from death. As you read the New Testament, you see that these solutions are found "in Christ." How does one come into Christ? How does one come into contact with the blood that cleanses sin away? That blood was poured out at a time and place of history. That death took place far away and many hundreds of years ago. How, then, does one connect with it? In other words, how must one obey the Gospel event of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus?

Paul continues to give the answer in the book of Romans. (In chapters one, two and three Paul has proved that all of us sinners are under the sentence of death. In Romans chapters four and five Paul has proved that salvation comes through faith, not through earning God's favor or by keeping the laws of Moses.) In Romans 5:9-10 Paul again reminded his readers, the Christians in Rome, of the central truth of the Good News. They were "justified" (made right with God) and "reconciled" (made friends with God) by the Gospel event:

Since we have now been justified by His blood, how much
more shall we be saved from God's wrath through Him! For if,
when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to Him
through the death of His Son, how much more, having been
reconciled, shall we be saved through His life! (Romans 5:9 10).

Notice that salvation is through Christ, and specifically through His blood, His death and His resurrection. Now, as Paul begins Romans chapter six, he reminds the Christians in Rome how they entered "into Christ." He is making the point that God's people should be dead to sinful living. So he reminds the Christian readers how they first entered into Christ's death. He wants them to keep living a new kind of life. So he reminds them how they came to share in Christ's resurrection.

Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into
Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were
therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in
order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through
the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we
have been united with Him like this in His death, we will
certainly also be united with Him in His resurrection. For
we know that our old self was crucified with Him so that
the body of sin might be done away with, that we should
no longer be slaves to sin (Romans 6:3-6).

Jesus died near Jerusalem. He died almost two thousand years ago. Yet Paul plainly teaches how one enters into and shares in that Good News, that saving death!
"All of us. . were baptized into His death."
"We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death."

There were no exceptions (see "all" or "every" also in Mark 16:15-16; Acts 2:38; 1 Corinthians 12:13; Galatians 3:26-27). All who had come into union with Christ did so through baptism, which placed them into Christ's death. They joined in Christ's burial through baptism. Clearly, baptism is vitally important because it shares in the Gospel event itself!

We need, therefore, to look more closely at this word "baptism." This word is borrowed from Greek, the language in which the New Testament was written. What did it mean in that language? To "be baptized" meant to be dipped, plunged under or immersed. This is the meaning in all dictionaries of New Testament Greek. More importantly, it is also clear from reading the New Testament for yourself.

Jesus was baptized "in the Jordan" (Mark 1:9-10). John chose to baptize people at a place near Salem "because there was plenty of water" (John 3:23). Both Philip and the Ethiopian official "went down into the water and Philip baptized him"  (Acts 8:38). Here, in Romans 6:4, baptism has to do with a burial. Just as Jesus was placed in a grave, we are "buried with Him through baptism."

Immersion also has a coming up.

" . . . Jesus was coming up out of the water" (Mark 1:10).
" . . . They came up out of the water" (Acts 8:39).

Here, in Romans 6:4, baptism has to do with coming up.
"Just as Christ was raised" we too rise up to a "new life."

Where does this "new life," this new birth, this spiritual resurrection, take place? In or through baptism, says the inspired apostle. Notice the importance of believing what God is doing at baptism:

. . . having been buried with Him in baptism and raised
with Him through your faith in the power [more
literally: the working, operation] of God, who raised Him
from the dead (Colossians 2:12).

Those who are buried "in baptism" are raised "through faith"! How wrong it is to separate faith from baptism, even when sincerely thinking it may help others. Some remove faith from baptism by trying to 'baptize' those showing no desire to change or to treat Jesus as Lord. Some try to 'baptize' those who are not old enough to have faith. Others claim to defend 'salvation by faith' by trying to separate baptism from that faith. (See Study Notes at the end.) Justification is by faith, and here the Holy Spirit clearly shows where faith meets the death and resurrection of Jesus. It is "in baptism" that by faith our sinful self is crucified and buried, and we are raised with Christ to new life. But is this baptism really water baptism? 1 Peter 3:20-21 says concerning "water," . . . baptism . . . now saves you also -- not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

This baptism in water is the very same as the baptism Paul discusses in Romans and Colossians, for it too is tied to inner salvation and "the resurrection of Jesus Christ."

The death of Jesus removes every sin from God's record about us. That is why we are able to make a completely fresh beginning in life! Do not think that this new start depends on our own feeble strength (which would later end in failure). We are raised with the resurrection of God's Son. This means that our strength for new life comes from God (Who never fails). Here is Good News indeed -- a really new beginning! And with it, God promises all the power needed for continued success (Philippians 1:6; 1 Thessalonians 5:23; 2 Timothy 4:18; Hebrews 7:25)!

Look again at the wording showing the purpose of burial by baptism:

We were therefore buried with Him
through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ
was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father,
we too may live a new life (Romans 6:4).

It is through biblical baptism that "new life" begins. What is another way of speaking about "new life"? Birth! Jesus said in John 3:3-5 that it would be impossible to enter God's kingdom unless one had been born again of water and the Spirit. As we shall see in a moment, this was how Paul himself became a Christian.

ARE YOU READY TO OBEY THE GOOD NEWS?

Some see what Jesus has done for them. They see how they should respond by faith. Yet they feel, "I'm not ready. I am not good enough yet." Do you remember Titus 3:5? "He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy." Receiving salvation does not depend on being 'good enough.' Christ died for us because we are not good enough! Do you realize how sinful and unworthy you are? That is when you are most ready to come for forgiveness (Luke 18:9-14).

Consider the apostle Paul. When he was still called Saul, he used to hunt and kill God's people. Yet God wanted to use him as "an example" of how grace can rescue even "the worst" of sinners (1 Timothy 1:13-16). Jesus reached out to Saul in a direct and startling way (Acts 9, 22, 26). Saul came to realize that the Gospel was true. He realized how great were his crimes against God and God's people. Then Christ sent to him a messenger who demanded, And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on His name (Acts 22:16).

How can physical water wash away spiritual sins? Obviously, water has no power of its own. But in baptism Saul would be coming "into Christ's death." That death would take Saul's sins away. In baptism Saul would be "raised with Him." That resurrection would give Saul a completely new start, which changed wicked Saul into the apostle Paul. (Good News Lesson 4 traces how Acts 22:16 fits into the amazing events of Saul's conversion.)

Saul had been a murdering enemy. If God reached down to help Saul, then God also reaches sinners like you and me. No matter how far we have fallen, no matter how ugly our sin, no matter how little we love ourselves, Jesus still loves us. He cares so much that He died for each of us personally -- He "loved me and gave His life for me" (Galatians 2:20). His blood cleanses away every sin (1 John 1:7). His resurrection is so powerful that it gives a fresh start, an entirely new life. This is truly Good News!

We have seen the importance of trusting and obeying the Gospel. We have seen that this includes immersion into Christ. We are not surprised then to see our Lord fitting it right into His "Great Commission," His command to spread the Gospel.

Make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name
of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. . .
(Matthew 28:19).

Go into all the world and preach the Good
News to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will
be saved . . .(Mark 16:15).

Jesus' apostles obeyed this Great Commission. They spoke first to crowds that included the murderers of Christ. Realizing their terrible sin, these people asked Peter what they should do. Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." . . . Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day (Acts 2:38, 41).

Do you see how eager they were to obey the Gospel? They obeyed "that day." This same kind of immediate obedience is seen again and again (Acts 8, 9, 10, 16, 19). The person who is serious about honoring God is not slow about obeying Him. The person who understands the shame of sin does not want to stay in it one moment longer. The person who realizes how much God reaches out to him in love, does not keep God waiting. The person whose heart is deeply thankful for the sacrifice at the cross, is not ashamed of the Gospel (nor of obeying the Gospel).

I am not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is the power of
God for the salvation of everyone who believes . . .
(Romans 1:16).

The person who truly believes the Gospel, wants to obey the Gospel, being baptized "into His death" (Romans 6:3). The person who hungers for the new life in Christ, is eager to be "raised with Him through . . . faith in the power of God" (Colossians 2:12). This is why, in New Testament times, those who accepted the Gospel message were baptized immediately.

Remember that forgiveness and eternal life are "in Christ" (Romans 3:24; Colossians 1:14; 1 John 5:11). Remember that Romans 6:3 states that we are "baptized into Christ." The conclusion is clear. In order to enjoy the new life that Jesus gives, we must be baptized into Him.

Do you trust in Jesus and His word? Do you believe the Gospel event? Have you responded to the Gospel by immersion into Jesus' death, burial and resurrection?

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