Twenty-six essential benefits of the gospel of Christ
Cal Thomas Quotation - The most syndicated journalist in the U.S.A., Cal Thomas, was asked why is there not more improvement in the character, conditions and general well being of Americans? "I believe many people talk about the problems in the country but without the gospel there will be no "fundamental change in America". Unless people are changed from the inside out there will be little hope of renovating the economy, culture or the morality in our land.
Paul the apostle wrote, "Romans 1:16-17
Amplified Bible (AMP)
16 For I am not ashamed of the Gospel (good news) of Christ, for it is God’s power working unto salvation [for deliverance from eternal death] to everyone who believes with a personal trust and a confident surrender and firm reliance, to the Jew first and also to the Greek,
17 For in the Gospel a righteousness which God ascribes is revealed, both springing from faith and leading to faith [disclosed through the way of faith that arouses to more faith]. As it is written, The man who through faith is just and upright shall live and shall live by faith.
Some Benefits of the Gospel of Christ:
1. Glorifies God - I Cor 10:31 - Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. The gospel allows us to turn our hearts and minds toward glorifying God in every thought, word, and deed.
2. Grace is Sufficient - 2 Cor. 12:9,10 - My grace is sufficient for my power is made perfect in your weakness. The gospel gives us the supernatural enabling to do the things that exhibit God’s power in our greatest time of weakness, infirmity or suffering.
3. Gladdens the heart - 2 Cor. 12:9,10 - Most gladly therefore will I boast in my weaknesses that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For when I am weak then I am made strong. The less I have the more I depend on Him. The gospel gives us plenty of reasons to find that the joy of the Lord is our strength, health and help in the times of greatest need.
4. Greatness of God - I Chron. 29:11 - Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. The gospel empowers us with the fact that God is greater than any problem, person or predicament we face. He makes us more than conquerors through Christ who loves us and gave Himself for us.
5. Gifts Given Freely - Matthew. 10:8 - "Freely we have received therefore freely we give." Let us give freely in all ways as the Savior has freely given us all things to enjoy.
6. Goodness of God - Nahum 1:7 - The LORD is good, a strong refuge when trouble comes. He is close to those who trust in him. John 10:14- "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me. Psalm 23 - Surely His goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." The gospel gives us all of God’s required righteousness, commendable virtues and the essential benefits that are an expression of the goodness of God in our lives.
7. Guarantees - I John 5:11-13 - And this is that testimony (that evidence): God gave us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
12 He who possesses the Son has that life; he who does not possess the Son of God does not have that life.
13 I write this to you who believe in (adhere to, trust in, and rely on) the name of the Son of God [in [a]the peculiar services and blessings conferred by Him on men], so that you may know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that you [already] have life, yes, eternal life.
When we have the assurance of salvation we can rest secure in the foundation that we are already a child of God and are on our way to heaven because of what Christ’s substitutionary payment for the forgiveness of sin has done for us in the atonement found in the gospel.
8. Guidance - John 16:13 - But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. Thank God that the Holy Spirit guides us into all truth regardless of the deceit, deception and the delusional people around us are saying.
9. Guards - I Samuel 2:9 - He will guard the feet of his saints, but the wicked will be silenced in darkness. "It is not by strength that one prevails. God not only protects us from danger but prevents us from walking into precarious situations. The gospel teaches us that His ways always provide us with a way of escape so that we can bear up under any situation.
10. Godliness - I Tim. 6:8 - But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world and we can carry nothing out. As we therefore have food and clothing let us therewith be content. "Godliness is profitable for all things not only in this life but also in the age to come."
11. "Go into all the world." - Matt. 28:19,20 - Jesus said, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” The gospel gives us God’s priority for our ministry, message and method. Many people think that the gospel is limiting to their small circle. Acts 1:8 says, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Remember, God so loved the world not just the 3.5% of the population on the planet living in the borders of the USA
12. Generosity - Romans 8:32 says, "He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? When we have the gospel we are enlightened by the fact that God will supply us with all that we need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. (Phil. 4:19)
13. Growth - Eph. 4:15,16- Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. The gospel gives us the raw elements by which we are able to grow in maturity mentally, emotionally, socially, culturally, ministerially, spiritually, morally and practically.
14. Group Provider - Eph. 4:16 - From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. The gospel connects us to other members of the body of Christ that fortify and supplement our weaknesses helping us to connect to others in ways that are meaningful and eternal.
15. Grader - Romans 2:16 - This will take place on the day when God will judge men’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares. The gospel will judge all men according to the righteousness of Christ Jesus.
16. Grandmaster Over All - Acts 10:42 He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. The gospel is the sovereign expression of God who determines the outcome of each person and their performance
17. Grocery Provider - Psalm 145:16 - When you open your hand, you satisfy the hunger and thirst of every living thing. The gospel of redemption always lifts people up and meets their needs.
18. Gardener - John 15:2 - He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.
19. Gainful Employer - Matt. 9:36-38 - When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” There is no unemployment problems for those who are sharing the gospel and serving the Lord of the harvest.
20. Spares us From the Grapes of Wrath - Revelation 14:17-20
Another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle.
Still another angel, who had charge of the fire, came from the altar and called in a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, "Take your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the earth’s vine, because its grapes are ripe."
The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God’s wrath.
They were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses’ bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia.
In all of these examples the grapes represent people or nations being destroyed or judged by God because of their wickedness. In our Revelation passage we see that there will be a final harvest of "grapes" (the wicked).
21. Graduates - Psalm 75:6,7 - For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. For it God who sets up one and puts down another. The gospel makes it clear that we are only exalted by the righteousness of Christ and not by ourselves
22. Gold Crown Giver - 2 Tim. 4:8 - Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
23. Genial - Gal. 5:22,23 - But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
24. Galaxy Creator - Romans 1:20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
25. Gain Giver - Philippians 3:7-8- But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ.
26. Greatest Transformation - 2 Cor. 5:17 - If any one is in Christ they are a new creation. The old things are passed away behold all things are become new. The gospel transforms people from children of the devil to sons and daughters of God. Only the gospel can transfer a person from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of His beloved Son in whom we have redemption even the forgiveness of our sins. (Col. 1:11-15)
Conclusion - Praise, thank and proclaim the wonderful benefits of the gospel to all people so that you can please the Lord in all respects and bear fruit in every good work as you increase in the knowledge of God. (Col. 1:9-11)
Illustration - During the 1840’s in the Fiji Islands of the Pacific, a man was worth $7. You could buy a man for a musket. After you bought him, you could starve him, work him to death, whip him or eat him. (Cannibalism was very popular in those regions.) But if you visited the Fiji Islands 40 years later, you could not buy a man for 7 million dollars. What had made the difference? Heroic missionaries had brought the Christian gospel. 1200 chapels were scattered across the islands. The people had fallen under the spell of the love of God.
Today we worry about the killings that happen routinely in our city. The only way to stop the killing is to teach all people to see others through the eyes of Jesus Christ. As we put on Christian lenses and focus them on all other persons, killing will stop and God’s kingdom will draw nearer.
("Just a Thought," 11/10/03, Bill Bouknight)
