By: Mike Hall Executive Editor InQuest Ministries, Inc.

The gospel is something that is often spoken but rarely understood and even more rarely practiced in many evangelical churches. This is by and large resulting from the fact that there is much confusion about what exactly is the gospel. If we are to live according to the gospel, then we must know what the gospel is.

The gospel is an objective reality that calls for a subjective response. It is the
account of how God who is perfect and holy created man and woman in His image, but instead of obeying Him they chose to sin. That sin has passed from
generation to generation and has cursed all humanity. In His mercy, God did not
allow mankind to remain hopeless. He sent His son Jesus Christ to live a
sinless life, and to die a cruel death taking on himself God’s wrath so that
those who place their faith in Him might be forgiven of sin and reconciled to
God. Jesus, however, did not remain dead. He was raised again on the third day
to prove once for all that He was victorious over sin and death. He then
ascended back to God to intercede for those who, by the gift of faith, will
place their trust in Him to forgive their sin.

In a nutshell, this is the gospel. It is that simple and yet it is strikingly
profound. If we believe this gospel, then we must also be willing to examine
what the gospel requires and what should be our response.  What does the gospel require?

1.  The gospel requires the work of the Holy Spirit – John 6:49-68

Since the gospel requires a work of the Holy Spirit we must commit
to:

• Sacrifice whatever personal comforts that stand between us and truly treasuring Christ and obeying Him.
• Take as many opportunities as possible to demonstrate in our own lives a commitment to suffer and sacrifice for the sake of the gospel.

• Teach our students that the gospel requires sacrifice and suffering and labor with their parents to provide them as many opportunities as possible to sacrifice and suffer for the sake of the gospel.

• Deny ourselves of anything that robs us of time that we should be spending with the Lord, our families, or each other.
• Alter our personal and our family schedules to reflect a primary commitment to Christ’s bride the church.
• Challenge our parents and their students to forsake any activities or events that would hinder their ability to commit to corporate worship, accountability, service of, and fellowship with their brothers and sisters in Christ.

There is no half measure when it comes to the gospel. It is the good news. It is, in fact, the greatest news that mankind will ever receive. It is not passive. It requires something of us. What we are willing to do to live according to it will reveal much about how much we truly value the gospel.