The Gospel Conference

My home church was treated to something very special early this week. Two very gifted young preachers - Timothy Haupt of Buffalo, Missouri and Joshua Hedger of Bolivar, Missouri - came and presented the gospel over the course of two evenings. When I say presented the gospel I mean unapologetically. There were absolutely no holds barred. Just as Paul proclaimed it - by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone to the glory of the Father alone - so did they. The reaction has been overwhelming.

Do American Christians have any idea what Paul is talking about when he announces in Romans 1:16 that he is not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God for salvation? The number one comment I heard was that the preaching was powerful. I think that Tim and Josh would both agree that the power behind the preaching is not their education or talent as public speakers. The power is the gospel itself. Any one of us, having the boldness to preach an unadulterated gospel of justification by the blood of Christ and nothing else, can wield the same power. So why don't we?

I honestly believe it is because we don't know it. We haven't been taught nor have we wrapped our heads around the idea that our salvation is completely of God. In fact, for many of us, the initial invitation we heard was not to obey the powerful gospel but a plea to make a 'decision for Christ'. As a result, we have lived a life devoid of the power that the gospel supplies while struggling to make good on that 'decision'. Far from being set free in Christ we have been imprisoned in the worst sort of self-imposed morality that dooms us to failure and disappointment year after year. Having become awakened to our nature as sinners, we lock horns with ourselves in an attempt to muster the righteousness that we know a Holy God demands. Like Paul's Jewish contemporaries we are ignorant of the righteousness of God in Christ and go about seeking to establish our own (Romans 10:1-4). When the real gospel comes, the vastness of grace that it conveys is shocking to us. It is both exhilarating and bewildering.

Can we hold on to that sense of awe? Can we be continually exhilarated and bewildered by the gospel truth? The answer is yes. But there is a key, of which I was reminded through listening to several hours of pure gospel preaching; faith comes by hearing. If we neglect the hearing of the gospel, our faith grows stale very quickly. If we approach the scripture without our 'gospel goggles' on, it becomes a series of impossible demands. The only way I know to continue in awe of the gospel is to be keenly aware of and reminded of the gospel of grace every day. To preach it to yourself and to others, and to allow them to preach it to you. That is the gospel truth.