The Gospel’s Daily Provision - Pastor Dan Cravillion

The Gospel’s Daily Provision

Romans 6:5-14

5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions. 13  Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. 14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

‘Gospel’ is phrase Christians often use without fully understanding it’s significance.

• In the Greek, “gospel” (ev-angelion), was associated with the news of a great historical event that changed a listeners’ condition & required a response.
• Gospel is literally “good news”: God is holy, mankind are hopeless sinners; Jesus, the eternal Son of God, became man, lived a sinless life under Law, He then died and was resurrected for sinners. Salvation comes only thru faith in Jesus the Christ.
• The “good news” is that the righteousness God demands from us, He gives to us in the person & work of Christ.
• Called “Gospel of Jesus Christ” in the Word: Rom 15:19; 1 Cor 9:12; 2 Cor 2:12; 9:13; 10:14; Gal 1:7

Many Christians only see the Gospel as a door INTO God’s kingdom. 

• But the Gospel converts & transforms (sanctifies) individuals. Rom 1:16-17, 6:6-8, 14, 22-23, 7:22-23
• It Provides freedom from sin’s penalty & release from sin’s power.

Christians still experience sinful desires but because of the Gospel (inc. indwelling Holy Spirit) we no longer have to give into it. 

• The flesh with its desires is dead in the sense that we no longer live under sin's power or control.  Rom 6:11, 8:2, Gal 5:16-18, 2 Pet 1:3-4
• Like deer shot thru the heart & lungs continue to run until the last nerve is stilled, flesh also is dealt with a death blow but it continues to fight. 

Our fleshly desire to sin lessens as we increasingly see God as He actually is & how we actually are. diagram

• God is not becoming MORE holy nor are you becoming MORE sinful, but your AWARENESS of both is growing. 
• honestly acknowledging sinfulness is a sign of spiritual maturity.

We are more sinful than we ever dared believe, yet more loved & accepted than we ever dared to hope at the same time.

• This truth causes joy, amazement, tears, and obedience.
• Obedience not our of duty, but out of an overflow from thanksgiving for what Jesus has done, is doing, & will do for me in spite of who I am.
• Charles Spurgeon & Timothy Keller quotes
• “The Christian gospel is that I am so flawed that Jesus had to die for me, yet I am so loved and valued that Jesus was glad to die for me. This leads to deep humility and deep confidence at the same time. It undermines both swaggering and sniveling. I cannot feel superior to anyone, and yet I have nothing to prove to anyone. I do not think more of myself nor less of myself. Instead, I think of myself less.” — Timothy Keller

• “When I thought God was hard, I found it easy to sin; but when I found God so kind, so good, so overflowing with compassion, I beat my breast to think I could ever have rebelled against One who loved me so and sought my good.” Charles Spurgeon
•  

When we minimize the Gospel or shrink the cross when we think of God as less holy than He is, or think of ourselves better than we really are. diagram

• The Bible is a story of God meeting us in our rebellion with His rescue; our failure with His victory; our guilt with His grace; our badness with His goodness.
• Because of what Jesus did for us on the cross, we need not fear seeing God as He really is or admitting how broken & sinful we really are.
• Our hope is not in our own goodness….”Law abiding”
• We rest in Christ as our perfect Redeemer…the One who is our righteousness & holiness. 1 Cor 1:27-30, Rom 8:1-4

The Gospel or the “good news” is the dynamic for all heart-change & life-change.

• Jesus purchased our right standing (justification/salvation) before God & He is our foundation for right living (sanctification) before God.  

• We need the Gospel day-by-day, hour-by-hour, as the instrument of God's power in our lives.
• Be relieved, encouraged, & empowered by Gospel daily.