G is for the Gospel. G is for Grace. G is Great.

Gospel is one of those words that goes 1 of two ways:

1. The Gospel of St Mark
2. Law and Gospel

It doesn’t seem to be a word that stands alone. It’s 1 of 4 books describing Jesus’ life, or else it’s the counterpart of the Law. It seems like you never see the Gospel on its own.

I’m about to blow your mind baby.

Now the word Gospel is often described as being the good news. In a scriptural context it’s the good news of Christ. It is used as a way to tell all nations about the promise that has come about as a result of Christ’s coming to earth.

In a law and gospel context it’s the good news that comes about as a result of our inabilities as pointed out in the law. It is through this use of the Gospel that our sinful nature has been recognized and remedied with the life, death, and resurrection of Christ.

The gospel becomes much more than the reading that we hear on Sunday morning and more than the partner to law; it is the way we are saved. Good news is too mundane a term to describe the Gospel as it is brought forth in 1 Corinthians 15:1-2. The gospel is something that is preached, sure, but beyond that it is the promise on which we stand firm, and the promise that saves us from eternal death.

I had considered filling up the entire conversation with talk about the gospel, but it’s unfair to ignore the other g that goes along with it, which is grace.

Now if you’re like me you learned the definition for grace with this lovely acronym:

God’s

Riches

At

Christ’s

Expense

If you didn’t learn that, well, good luck forgetting it now! The other definition that I found recently is equally as lovely which describes grace as “kindness bestowed upon someone undeserving.” I love it. It describes us perfectly! What greater kindness could there be than that which was shown on the cross at Calvary? Who could be more undeserving than us mere mortals who are forever trapped in the inequity of our sins?

The writer of Romans and Ephesians describe this condition of grace as follows:

Romans 11:5-6:⁵ So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. ⁶ But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.

Romans 3:23-24:²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

Ephesians 4:7:⁷ But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift.

Ephesians 2:8-9:⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

We are chosen by grace. We don’t do anything to deserve it, in fact we can’t do anything to deserve it because we all fall short, we all are sinners from birth who can do nothing but be terrible. But, we are reminded that the good news that we have received, the promise of salvation comes about according to Christ’s gift and nothing that we have done.

As much as we try to hammer home the point this idea of free grace it’s hard to think that we could receive something without working for it.

This is where our Gospel and grace coincide. They’re like the peanut buttah and the jelly. They really need one another to really make sense. So you’ve got the Gospel, the good news which is super but unless you can apply it to yourself, it’s not that great at all. When it’s just a message floating out there, not really applicable to anyone, it’s no good. Sinful beings though we are, we can’t claim it as our own; we need someone to give it to us. Here’s where we get our message of grace. Grace is the message that this good news is applied to you. Without the message of the Gospel, grace is pointless. Grace without the gospel is like a present with nothing in it…just terribly disappointing.

This is then our letter G- Gospel and Grace. The message that Jesus came to earth, that he lived, died, and was resurrected and even more than that; this was done for you because you couldn’t ever do anything to deserve it. Due to the fact that you are a total screw-up, due to the fact that I’m a total screw-up the Gospel message was given to each of us, through the grace that can only be found in this sacrifice. 

Living in Hope

One of the greatest moments in my life came the week I was leading the study. I got the chance to reuse my joke about hoping that the Riders would win the Grey Cup and because it was entirely new group of people, they all went for it! Score one for Amanda!!

This wouldn’t be a proper bible study on hope if I didn’t use Hebrews 11:1. Have a peek and you’ll see why…

Now you know the definition that we’re using and we can move on from there.

Things hoped for; what does that look like? What do we really hope for? In everyday conversation you might hear someone say “I hope this wind lets up,” or “I hope that never happens to me.” The hopes that are being expressed are describing something that isn’t currently happening. It is currently windy; you wish it were not. You are currently afraid of something; you wish that you would not be. If the only child says “I wish I had a sister,” it sounds normal. When I, with one young sister say, “I wish I had a sister,” people look at me funny. When we put our hope in Christ, what we’re saying is that our hope is in something better than what we have in this world.

Unfortunately, in using the word hope as any of us would use it in a sentence, it creates a simile to wish. And a wish is something that we want, but realize is not a certainty. Our hope in Christ is different though, because it is a certainty. We have the wisdom of those who have gone before us. Our hope is built on the faith given to us by the Holy Spirit, but solidified by the hope that was shown by the writers of the gospels and the people of the Old Testament who lived out their faith in everything that they did.

Our hope is one that extends beyond the boundaries of this life here on earth. Our hope is that which is found in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14. We state every week that we believe in the resurrection of the dead and the life everlasting. Everything else that has been said has been leading up to this statement: Our hope is in the resurrection. There’s no other reason that we are without ignorance in death, that we live unlike those that have no hope than the fact that we believe that Jesus died, rose and ascended into heaven and he promises that we will too. Our hope is in a resurrected Saviour and the promise that we too will join him in eternal perfection.