The Gospel Centered Life

A Gospel centered life is a Christ centered life because the Lord Jesus Christ and His accomplishment is the focus of the Gospel. Therefore, a Gospel centered life is one in which the person involved is focused on and driven by the Gospel in personal application as well as in sharing opportunities following the mandate of the Great Commission.

Matthew 28:18–20 (ESV) — 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

A person who is Gospel centered will first apply the words of Jesus in the great commission to him or herself, following the mandate upon the authority of the One Who has been given all authority. That means that we, as Peter reminds us, need to be always ready to give a reason for our hope.

1 Peter 3:15 (ESV) — 15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,

Not only submit to the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ, but go forward under His authority, knowing that the One to Whom all creation submits (viz. the wind and the waves immediately became calm upon His command) also holds the heart of all with whom we come in contact so we need not be intimidated or fear any person because the King has promised to be with us.

Hebrews 13:5–6 (ESV) — 5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” 6 So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”

Going forward in the great commission we are ready to make disciples. That means we have a need to be discipled to disciple others. Most Christians have not been discipled as most churches leave the discipling to a class or small group setting but real discipleship takes place in a one-on-one situation. The call for people to disciple others falls on deaf ears mainly because Christians have not been discipled and the result is the person needing discipling, and we all do, end up searching the internet for help, which can be an open door for those who would lead the sheep in to false doctrine. Hence, the call for discipleship to lead and teach from the church body and under the authority of the local church is great because in submitting to the oversight of the local church body one is submitting to the teaching and authority of the Lord Jesus Christ, or should be.

Matthew 28:19 (ESV) — 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

A Gospel centered life is a discipled life, a life that is submissive to the authority of Scripture and the authority placed upon the local church body as they submit to Christ. A Gospel centered life is also one that is prepared to share that Gospel with others as a witness as one who has experienced the goodness of God in the Gospel declaration. Notice how Paul gave witness to the Gospel as something he experienced for Himself and something for which he was willing to risk life and limb to share with others.

1 Corinthians 2:2 (ESV) — 2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

1 Corinthians 15:3–4 (ESV) — 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,

Romans 1:16 (ESV) — 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

Going back to the “Great Commission” we see the reason as to how a Gospel centered person can be so bold. Not only because they operate under the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ as they seek to be a witness for Him, but also because the same One who has all authority has promised to be with them.

Is your life Gospel centered or Gospel driven? It’s easy to pass off the clear directive of the Lord Jesus Christ but that means you are missing the mark. This Gospel centered life is by no means a channel by which we assess our lives by results. All results are in God’s hand. We are called to be witnesses to the grace of God in Jesus Christ. Even as Paul stated, the results are up to God. We are called to be faithful.

1 Corinthians 3:5–7 (ESV) — 5 What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.

1 Corinthians 4:1–2 (ESV) — 1 This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2 Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.

As Paul, who was a Gospel centered man, lived so should we count ourselves as stewards of what God has provided in our lives and seek to live by what He has given. Of course, that means we seek to be faithful. Faithful to His call for discipleship – not only seeking to disciple but be discipled so we can be a more effective disciple maker. If you haven’t been or aren’t being discipled, I recommend you talk to your pastor and your elders about your desire.

One other point of being Gospel centered is that a Gospel centered life always sees the purpose in life as not being a passive recipient who just receives and sits on what he or she has received, but an active participant who has been blessed richly by God’s grace in receiving the Gospel and now seeks to be a good steward in passing it on to others as a witness of the grace of God.

May God bless you in being Gospel Centered.

Godspeed,

Bob Brubaker, Pastor

Christ Community Presbyterian Church

Clearwater, FL