Why Do We Need to Understand the Gospel?
What would you think of a surgeon who just started making an incision in a patient without really knowing what he was doing? You would probably wonder how that doctor even came to practice surgery. If he were to make one mistake, his patient could be disabled for life—or even killed. Yet, when it comes to sharing the gospel, many people are as inept as an incompetent surgeon, even though people’s eternal destinies hang in the balance.
What is the gospel? You might say, “I’ll leave that to the preachers and theologians to figure out. All I know is that I’m already saved and going to Heaven!”
But wait—we all need to know the gospel for two very important reasons:
- We want to make sure that we have heard and responded to the true gospel, lest we have a false hope concerning a salvation that we think we have.
- Jesus told us to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel” (Mark 16:15). Those words are not merely addressed to pastors, teachers, evangelists, and missionaries; they are addressed to every follower of Jesus Christ!
We cannot be disengaged or disinterested in this subject, for it has eternal ramifications.
