February 11, 2025 PARTICIPATION IN THE GOSPEL
Philippians 1:3-6 “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all, in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now. For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”
The gospel is active; it is something to be lived out; it is to be what guides us through life; as Paul said, we are to be ‘participants in the gospel.’ Our salvation is the first step, our introduction to the gospel-the beginning point of a life-long journey. I remember that in my younger days, I thought that if I went to church on Sunday, the rest of the week was mine to do as I please-by going to church, I had done my good deed. Once we come to know Christ as our Savior, the Holy Spirit comes to live in us and His primary function in us is to transform us into the image of God-to make us like Him. Through this transformation process, God does not take away our power of choice. The transformation that He is bringing about is that our hearts are changed whereby we want to love Him and want to walk in His ways and to please Him in all we do. That is an amazing miracle because the natural heart of man is opposed to God. We participate in the gospel by embracing the message of the gospel and by enthusiastically obeying the gospel massage. Living out the gospel is a journey. When we are loving one another, caring for one another, giving to meet pressing needs, praying for one another, exercising our spiritual gift, being evolved in the body of Christ (the church), when we are expressions of the gifts of the Spirit-and the list could go on. Some may view the gospel as a book of theology or a book of good ‘suggestions’ and miss the point that the gospel is the way of life. You may be thinking all of this sounds good-but in reality, it’s beyond your reach. If that’s you, there’s good news for you and for all of us. First, it’s a good beginning to realize that it is impossible for us to live out the gospel in our own strength-and God knows that. However, God has given us the Holy Spirit to enable us to live according to the gospel. At the point of salvation, God makes us new creations-He is not about refurbishing us. This is radical-to be made new creations! We have been given new minds, new hearts and a new nature. God has not annihilated our old nature-but He has given us the power to lay aside the old nature and the power to put on the new nature. God has not made us as robots; the great work that God is up to is having a people who are choosing to love Him and to walk according to His ways. So-let us be active participants in the wonderful gospel that God has given to us. More good news; He will complete the work He has begun in us.
Matthew 7:24 “Everyone then who hears these words of Mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”
Blessings, Buddy
Philippians 1:3-6 “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all, in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now. For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”
The gospel is active; it is something to be lived out; it is to be what guides us through life; as Paul said, we are to be ‘participants in the gospel.’ Our salvation is the first step, our introduction to the gospel-the beginning point of a life-long journey. I remember that in my younger days, I thought that if I went to church on Sunday, the rest of the week was mine to do as I please-by going to church, I had done my good deed. Once we come to know Christ as our Savior, the Holy Spirit comes to live in us and His primary function in us is to transform us into the image of God-to make us like Him. Through this transformation process, God does not take away our power of choice. The transformation that He is bringing about is that our hearts are changed whereby we want to love Him and want to walk in His ways and to please Him in all we do. That is an amazing miracle because the natural heart of man is opposed to God. We participate in the gospel by embracing the message of the gospel and by enthusiastically obeying the gospel massage. Living out the gospel is a journey. When we are loving one another, caring for one another, giving to meet pressing needs, praying for one another, exercising our spiritual gift, being evolved in the body of Christ (the church), when we are expressions of the gifts of the Spirit-and the list could go on. Some may view the gospel as a book of theology or a book of good ‘suggestions’ and miss the point that the gospel is the way of life. You may be thinking all of this sounds good-but in reality, it’s beyond your reach. If that’s you, there’s good news for you and for all of us. First, it’s a good beginning to realize that it is impossible for us to live out the gospel in our own strength-and God knows that. However, God has given us the Holy Spirit to enable us to live according to the gospel. At the point of salvation, God makes us new creations-He is not about refurbishing us. This is radical-to be made new creations! We have been given new minds, new hearts and a new nature. God has not annihilated our old nature-but He has given us the power to lay aside the old nature and the power to put on the new nature. God has not made us as robots; the great work that God is up to is having a people who are choosing to love Him and to walk according to His ways. So-let us be active participants in the wonderful gospel that God has given to us. More good news; He will complete the work He has begun in us.
Matthew 7:24 “Everyone then who hears these words of Mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”
Blessings, Buddy
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