Living the Gospel.

As believers in and followers of Jesus Christ, we are to preach the gospel...we announce the good news of what Christ accomplished by His death and resurrection. He accomplished the reality of the gospel. But the gospel is not just words to verbalize as is some people's opinion who are confident that the gospel is the yelling and telling, a few going forward to repeat the "sinner's prayer' a healing here and there, etc.. the gospel is much more, it also involves practical application in our daily living of living life daily.

When we understand the gospel of grace, it not only affects the way we think and the way we speak it also impacts the way we live. When we realize that we are a people redeemed only by God’s mercy and grace, we become more patient with other people who have not accepted his offer of redemption.

When we understand of what we have been forgiven, we become more forgiving. The more we understand and appreciate His grace to us, the more gracious we become toward others.

However, Christ and the disciples not only verbalized the gospel, they also lived the gospel. Preaching not only involves verbalizing it involves living. Further more the living of the gospel will impact people's lives more than verbalizing the gospel will.

Grace not only provides us the ability to verbalize the gospel, it also provides the power to live the gospel.

If the gospel only affects what we say and does not affect the way we live we are verbalizing the wrong gospel! 

The grace gospel empowers us to be forgiving, and to be aware that forgiveness will always be a necessity in this world. Just as we need continual forgiveness from God, the people around us need continual forgiveness from us.

We are not just to know the gospel and preach the gospel...we are to be living examples of the gospel...examples of grace,faith, love, compassion and forgiveness.

We need our lives to support the gospel, to be the gospel in action. We want the words we say about Jesus Christ to be accompanied by the sweet aroma of a Christlike life.

Few things can bring the gospel into disrepute more than a believer with a corrupt life. People hear of sexual immorality within the church and devalue the gospel even before they hear it. Get your own house in order, they might say, and then we might listen to what you say.

To many pulpit preachers and television "pastars' have given the gospel a bad name. Believers who gossip and slander cause the gospel to be ridiculed. Hypocrisy undermines its verbalization. Self-righteous judgmentalism, hinders the gospel of Christ as much as do adultery and crime. The point is that our behavior affects the reputation of the message. Bad living is causing deaf ears to your verbalization!

People are persuaded of the gospel of Christ in only a few words after they have seen   gospel living by the verbalizers.

As Paul wrote, "Conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ" (Philippians 1:27). Our living should reflect the grace and faith we have in Jesus Christ.