Yesterday we examined three of Paul’s characteristics of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Today I want to finish with the final three characteristics.
4. The scope of the gospel is all nations. Romans 1:5 reads, “We have received grace and apostleship through Him to bring about the obedience of faith among all nations” (HCSB).
In Paul’s understanding, to be committed to the nations is to be blind to race, gender, status, title, etc. The gospel is for everyone without exception and without distinction. (cf. Romans 1:14-16)
5. The purpose of the gospel is the obedience of the faith. As you just read in verse 5 above, the obedience of the faith is the response the gospel demands. Paul is not referring to obedience to a creed or a set of doctrines. He is talking about full commitment to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, which is the believer’s appropriate response to the gospel of God.
6. Finally, the goal of the gospel is to honor Christ’s name. Verse five concludes that all of this effort is “on behalf of His name.” Paul wanted to preach the gospel to the nations to bring glory to Christ’s name. The highest missionary motive is passionate zeal for the glory of Jesus Christ.
So what do we do with this tidy analysis of the gospel? Paul wrote in verse 5 that “we have received grace and apostleship.” That sounds like fancy preacher talk, but when you break it down, it is important. Grace speaks of unmerited favor, of receiving something undeserved. Apostleship in its generic form speaks of being “a sent one.” If you mash that up, we have received the undeserved privilege of being sent to share God’s good news about Jesus Christ. That was true of Paul, and its true of you as well.
