Gospel-centered Preaching: March 2005 Archives

“Preaching predestination, or creation, or the new birth, or the baptism of the Spirit is not preaching the gospel. All these things are related to the gospel and are necessary for the working of the gospel, but they are not the essential message to be believed for salvation. Furthermore, unlike the gospel message, they do not directly address the matter of our justification and assurance of salvation. Only the message that another true and obedient human being has come on our behalf, that he has lived for us the kind of life we should live but can’t, that he has paid fully the penalty we deserve for the life we do live but shouldn’t—only this message can give assurance that we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Graeme Goldsworthy, Preaching the Whole Bible as Christian Scripture, pp. 83-84).

“By referring to the gospel as the hermeneutical key I mean that proper interpretation of any part of the Bible requires us to relate it to the person and work of Jesus. This was recognized in Article III of the Chicago Statement on Biblical Hermeneutics, which says, ‘We affirm that the Person and work of Jesus Christ are the central focus of the entire Bible.’ We have already considered some of the ramifications of Jesus’ post-resurrection claims that all the Scriptures are about him. This is another way of saying that Jesus is the sole mediator of the truth of God. This mediatorial role has great significance for how we understand the Bible.

For there is one God; there is also one mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus, himself human who gave himself a ransom for all (1 Timothy 2:5-6).

The Jesus who mediates the word of God to us is the Jesus who is defined in terms of his historic saving act. The meaning of the Bible, in that case, is tied to the saving work of Jesus (Graeme Goldsworthy, Preaching the Whole Bible as Christian Scripture, p. 84).

What is a Gospel-centered church? Is it a church that believes that God has made Christ to be its wisdom, even its righteousness, sanctification, and glorification (1 Corinthians 1:30)? In other words, is what constitutes a Gospel-centered church the cherished belief and conviction that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, that no one comes to the Father except through him (John 14:6)? Or is there more to a Gospel-centered church than just what it believes and preaches concerning Jesus? On what criteria can we consider our churches to be or not to be Gospel-centered? That is the question.

Around A.D. 60 Paul wrote “to the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae.” In his letter to them he thanks God for their faith in Christ Jesus and for the love that they had for all of God’s people (Colossians 1:4). Colossae was clearly a city where the Gospel was bearing fruit and growing since many of its people had heard and understood the Gospel of God’s grace in Christ (Colossians 1:6). The church at Colossae was plainly a Christian assembly brought into existence through the Gospel-centered preaching of Epaphras (Colossians 1:7). God was accomplishing great things in this city located in the Lycus River Valley in ancient Phrygia.

But though the Gospel was bearing much fruit there, false teaching was present having the potential of doing this new little church great harm. Evidently these false teachers “thought that Christ was no more than a beginning; to go on to spiritual maturity, it was necessary to follow their rules and practices” (Carson, Moo, and Morris, An Introduction to the New Testament, p. 335). So what does Paul do in his letter to address this problem? He puts a strong emphasis on the supremacy of Christ over all creation, visible or invisible, “whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities” (Colossians 1:15ff). He tells the Colossian church that Jesus is the first to rise from the dead “that in everything he might be preeminent” (Colossians 1:18).

It is not too far into the letter that Paul begins to address the Colossian believers directly. “And you [who are the church at Colossae], who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, [Jesus] has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the Gospel that you [who are the church at Colossae] heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister (Colossians 1:21-23). Paul exhorts the Colossian church to remain stable and steadfast in the content of the Gospel.

I think it is critical that we modern day interpreters don’t allow our individualistic mindset to cloud our understanding of what Paul is doing here in this letter. He’s writing to the church at Colossae. Yes, the Colossian church is full of individuals, but Paul is not so much addressing individuals (though he is) as he is addressing the corporate body of believers at Colossae. It seems to me that we tend to read and understand these verses with reference to ourselves personally. For example, when meditating upon Colossians 1:21-23, we often think, “I was once alienated in mind, doing evil deeds, and now Christ has reconciled me in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present me holy and blameless and above reproach. Therefore, I must continue in the faith. I must remain stable and steadfast in the content of the Gospel.” Though this is true of every individual believer, Paul is not so much addressing individuals as he is addressing the corporate body of believers at Colossae.

Therefore, we can best Paul’s emphasis by paraphrasing these verses with a corporate emphasis, “The congregation at Colossae who once was alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, Jesus as now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present them holy and blameless and above reproach before him.” What was at stake in the city of Colossae was the steadfastness of the church there in the Gospel of which Paul was a minister. So over and over again Paul addresses the Colossian congregation. “I want you [the congregation] to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea” (Colossians 2:1). “As you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him” (Colossians 2:6). “See to it that no one takes you [the church at Colossae] captive by philosophy and empty deceit” (Colossians 2:8).

It is clear in chapter two that the church at Colossae was formed when the content of the preached Gospel was received. Paul then informs the church that its conduct is always to be in line with the truth concerning Christ that it received (Colossians 2:6). In verse 7, Paul exhorts the Colossian church to walk in the Gospel since it has been rooted and is being built up in Christ and established in the content of the Gospel. What Paul is essentially doing in his letter to the Colossians is calling this church to be Gospel-centered.

In chapter 3, Paul calls the Colossian church to “seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God” since it has been raised with Christ (Colossians 3:1). What the church at Colossae was in danger of doing was thinking that in order to go on to spiritual maturity, it was necessary to follow the rules and practices taught by these false teachers. But what Paul tells this church is that its life is not found in the performance of religious rites. Rather its life is found in Christ who is its life (Colossians 3:3-4).

So what is a Gospel-centered church? What makes a church Gospel-centered? Before we answer this question, lets consider Colossians 3:16, which I believe gives us Paul’s answer. “Let the word of Christ dwell in you [the congregation at Colossae] richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” The key phrase is “the word of Christ.” What does Paul mean by that? Once we answer that question, then we can know what it means for “the word of Christ” to dwell richly in a congregation.

Consider the following verses in Colossians. “We always thank God…when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the Gospel” (Colossians 1:3-5).

“Continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the Gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister” (Colossians 1:23).

“Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s affliction for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that we given to me for you, to make the word of God [concerning Christ] fully known” (Colossians 1:24-25).

“At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ” (Colossians 4:3).

It seems to me that the “word of Christ” is just another way of referring to the Gospel. So what Paul is calling the Colossian church to do is let the Gospel of Christ dwell in it richly. In other words, he is calling the Colossian church to be Gospel-centered. Paul exhorts the Colossian church to let the truth that Christ “is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead” (Colossians 1:18), that Christ has reconciled it “in his body of flesh by his death” (Colossians 1:22), that Christ is “the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27, that in Christ “are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3), that in Christ they (i.e. the Colossian church) have been filled (Colossians 2:10), that in Christ they have been delivered “from the domain of darkness and transferred to the kingdom” of the Father’s beloved Son. We could go on and on, but what we are meant to understand is that a Gospel-centered church is a church where the word about Christ, where the Gospel, dwells richly!

If a Gospel-centered church is a church where the word about Christ dwells abundantly, how do we know if our particular church is Gospel-centered? The evidence that a church is Gospel-centered is that the Gospel marks the very songs we sing and the way in which we sing them. The singing of a Gospel-centered church is Gospel-centered, that is, a Gospel-centered church’s singing is marked by a deep rejoicing in the mighty acts of God in Christ! And the teaching and one-anothering that takes place within a Gospel-centered church is filled to overflowing with the truth of the Gospel of grace. All of these marks of Gospel-centeredness are found in Colossians 3:16.

I want to share a brief comment that Matt Hand made to me in a recent e-mail that I think is relevant to our discussion. "I am convinced the church is PEOPLE, and the only way to have a Christ-centered, Gospel-driven church is to have Christ-centered, Gospel-driven PEOPLE." May our churches be filled with wives and husbands (Colossians 3:18-19), children and parents (Colossians 3:20-21), and singles who together let the "word about Christ" dwell in them richly, "teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in [their] hearts to God."

We have said that you must preach the gospel every week--to edify and grow Christians and to convert non-Christians. But if that is the case, you cannot simply 'instruct in Biblical principles.' You have to 'get to Jesus' every week.

For example, look at the story of David and Goliath. What is the meaning of that narrative for us? Without reference to Christ, the story may be (usually is!) preached as: "The bigger they come, the harder they'll fall, if you just go into your battles with faith in the Lord. You may not be real big and powerful in yourself, but with God on your side, you can overcome giants." But as soon as we ask: "how is David foreshadowing the work of his greater Son"? We begin to see the same features of the story in a different light. The story is telling us that the Israelites can not go up against Goliath. They can't do it. They need a substitute. When David goes in on their behalf, he is not a full-grown man, but a vulnerable and weak figure, a mere boy. He goes virtually as a sacrificial lamb. But God uses his apparent weakness as the means to destroy the giant, and David becomes Israel's champion-redeemer, so that his victory will be imputed to them. They get all the fruit of having fought the battle themselves.

This is a fundamentally different meaning than the one that arises from the non-Christocentric reading. There is, in the end, only two ways to read the Bible: is it basically about me or basically about Jesus? In other words, is it basically about what I must do, or basically about what he has done? If I read David and Goliath as basically giving me an example, then the story is really about me. I must summons up the faith and courage to fight the giants in my life. But if I read David and Goliath as basically showing me salvation through Jesus, then the story is really about him. Until I see that Jesus fought the real giants (sin, law, death) for me, I will never have the courage to be able to fight ordinary giants in life (suffering, disappointment, failure, criticism, hardship). For example how can I ever fight the "giant" of failure, unless I have a deep security that God will not abandon me? If I see David as my example, the story will never help me fight the failure/giant. But if I see David/Jesus as my substitute, whose victory is imputed to me, then I can stand before the failure/giant. As another example, how can I ever fight the "giant" of persecution or criticism? Unless I can see him forgiving me on the cross, I won't be able to forgive others. Unless I see him as forgiving me for falling asleep on him (Matt.27:45) I won't be able to stay awake for him.

In the Old Testament we are continually told that our good works are not enough, that God has made a provision. This provision is pointed to at every place in the Old Testament. We see it in the clothes God makes Adam and Eve in Genesis, to the promises made to Abraham and the patriarchs, to the Tabernacle and the whole sacrificial system, to the innumerable references to a Messiah, a suffering servant, and so on. Therefore, to say that the Bible is about Christ is to say that the main theme of the Bible is the gospel--Salvation is of the Lord (Jonah 2:9).

So reading the Old Testament Christocentrically is not just a "additional" dimension. It is not something you can just tack on - to the end of a study and sermon. ("Oh, and by the way, this also points us to Christ".) Rather, the Christocentric reading provides a fundamentally different application and meaning to the text. Without relating it to Christ, the story of Abraham and Isaac means: "You must be willing to even kill your own son for him." Without relating it to Christ, the story of Jacob wrestling with the angel means: "You have to wrestle with God, even when he is inexplicable-even when he is crippling you. You must never give up." These 'morals-of-the-story' are crushing because they essentially are read as being about us and what we must do.

A BASIC OUTLINE FOR CHRIST-CENTERED, GOSPEL-MOTIVATED SERMONS
The following may actually be four points in a presentation, or they may be treated very quickly as the last point of a sermon. But more generally, this is a foundational outline for the basic moral reasoning and argument that lies at the heart of the application.

The Plot winds up: WHAT YOU MUST DO.
"This is what you have to do! Here is what the text/narrative tells us that we must do or what we must be."
The Plot thickens: WHY YOU CAN'T DO IT.
"But you can't do it! Here are all the reasons that you will never become like this just by trying very hard."
The Plot resolves: HOW HE DID IT.
"But there's One who did. Perfectly. Wholly. Jesus the---. He has done this for us, in our place."
The Plot winds down: HOW, THROUGH HIM, YOU CAN DO IT.
"Our failure to do it is due to our functional rejection of what he did. Remembering him frees our heart so we can change like this..."

a) In every text of the Scripture there is somehow a moral principle. It may grow out of because of what it shows us about the character of God or Christ, or out of either the good or bad example of characters in the text, or because of explicit commands, promises, and warnings. This moral principle must be distilled clearly. b) But then a crisis is created in the hearers as the preacher shows that his moral principle creates insurmountable problems. The sermon shows how this practical and moral obligation is impossible to meet. The hearers are led to a seemingly dead end. c) Then a hidden door opens and light comes in. The sermon moves both into worship and into Christ-application when it shows how only Jesus Christ has fulfilled this. If the text is a narrative, you can show how Christ is the ultimate example of a particular character. If the text is didactic, you can show how Christ is the ultimate embodiment of the principle. d) Finally, we show how our inability to live as we ought stems from our rejection of Christ as the Way, Truth, and Life (or whatever the theme is). The sermon points out how to repent and rejoice in Christ in such a way that we can live as we ought.