Defining the Good News

Many Christians will define the Gospel in various ways. Our church leadership came up with about 20 definitions of the Good News. They were theologically sound and technically correct but they did not really resonate with my heart. Something was missing and I didn't quite know what.

Towards the end of 2021 I realized that I had a firm intellectual grasp of the Gospel. But it was not changing me as much as it should be doing. After all if it is the power of God for salvation (Rom 1:16), then why was I not feeling that it was saving me from besetting sins of pride, unbelief, anger, anxiety and self-pity. I realized that what I really needed was for the good news to come alive inside of me again. I needed my will, desires and emotions to be impacted by the Good News again.

Thankfully Jesus saw it fit to do that very work in me, during the end of 2021 and into January of 2022. Therefore, I would like to propose a definition of the Gospel that has resonated with me based on the work the Holy Spirit has been doing in me.

A Legalistic Law-Based Self-Righteous Pharisee

Paul was a legalistic law-based, self-righteous Pharisee before he encountered the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus. This also sums up who I am. I have been a Christian for about 28 years now. I have particularly grown in my understanding of the Good News and its implications, in the last decade or so.

But the one thing that the last 2 years of planting Pulse Church has done for me is to highlight that I am still a legalist at heart. I still live by the law, and I have self-righteousness deeply entrenched in my heart. When I preached through Galatians in 2021, it opened my eyes to this fact. I’ve realized that even though I don’t come across as a legalist or self-righteous, deep down I view myself and people that way.

Instead of seeing myself the way God sees me, I am hard on myself. Instead of seeing others the way God sees them, I expect them to behave according to the law. And if they don’t, I become self-righteous and judgmental. Hence pride when I’m doing well, self-pity when I’m not. Legalism when I want to do well, and a form of licentiousness when I am overwhelmed by trying to keep up my “good” behavior in the sight of God.

The Holy Spirit has used this season to open my eyes to the wonders of his grace again. If I am to sum up the heart of the Good News it would be what Paul said in 1 Timothy 1:15 “This saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them.” Paul wrote this several years after God’s grace upended him.

The longer Paul walked with Jesus the more he realised how depraved and undeserving he was of the grace of God. This has been my experience too. We deserve God’s righteous judgement and wrath. But instead we get eternal life and salvation. We deserve God’s condemnation. But instead we get his mercy.

We deserve God’s righteous judgement and wrath. But instead we get eternal life and salvation. We deserve God’s condemnation. But instead we get his mercy.

God’s grace continues to highlight how desperately I am in need of it every single day. I am far worse than I ever imagined to be. That is why grace has started to become more and more amazing to me. This is the grace that truly changes our hearts and makes us become increasingly humble, dependent, grateful, and sacrificial.

It’s All About Grace

When the Apostle Paul summarized his ministry in Acts 20:24 he said “…I consider my life of no value to myself; my purpose is to finish my course and the ministry I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of God’s grace.” So, Paul’s ministry was primarily about testifying to the Gospel of God’s grace.

Paul more than anyone else would have understood grace. He always knew that he didn’t deserve to be saved. He defines how we are saved in Ephesians 2:8-9 “For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— not from works, so that no one can boast.”

It is because of God’s extravagant grace that we are saved. Nothing more nothing less. God’s grace goes above and beyond what we deserve. In fact, we deserve the opposite. We deserve God’s wrath, judgement, hell and eternal damnation. But we get eternal life. Not just eternal life, but we are adopted into God’s family, given spiritual authority as sons and daughters of God and enjoy the spiritual treasures of Christ for all eternity. God’s grace truly is extravagant!

Grace Changes Us

Grace not only saves us but it also changes us. Grace is what transforms us into the image of Jesus. It also enables us to live godly and holy lives. Paul puts it this way in Titus 2:11-12 “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, instructing us to deny godlessness and worldly lusts and to live in a sensible, righteous, and godly way in the present age”. To put it in another way: It is the grace of God that sanctifies us. It isn’t the law that makes us live holy lives, it is God’s grace and our understanding of it. The law only makes us more legalistic and self-righteous. Grace sets us free to live lives pleasing to God. When we truly get God’s grace, it changes us.

It isn’t the law that makes us live holy lives, it is God’s grace and our understanding of it. The law only makes us more legalistic and self-righteous. Grace sets us free to live lives pleasing to God. When we truly get God’s grace, it changes us.

As Christians, we have the propensity to want to live godly, holy, and righteous lives out of our own strength. In other words, we push ourselves to try harder, and do the same with others. We egg each other on and whilst this is good, we eventually run out of steam. Without being motivated by God’s extravagant grace towards us, we are subconsciously doing these things to achieve an identity instead of living from the identity that has already been freely given to us by God’s grace.

Grace through Jesus

God’s grace was costly. It cost Jesus everything in order for God to be able to extend his grace towards us. Without Jesus we can never experience the grace of God. The perfect life, substitutionary death, and all conquering resurrection is what affords us the grace of God.

Any definition of the Good News therefore has to have the price that Jesus paid, embedded in it. Jesus lived the perfect life on our behalf so that his righteousness could be gifted to us. In dying at the cross he was our wrath bearing sacrifice as payment for our sins. His resurrection guarantees us eternal life and gives us immense hope in the midst of living in a fallen body.

The Good News

I would therefore define the Good News as “God’s Extravagant Grace towards Undeserving Sinners which Cost Jesus Everything.” I believe this definition captures the heart of the Good News. Because good news truly is good news when we realise how bad we are, and how good God is to us, through his Son Jesus.