The Transformative Power, Profundity and Promise of the Simple Gospel, part 1

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is a radical, life-altering, transformative message of hope. This message provides the wanderer with the soul-satisfying sufficiency that he did not know was absent from his life. The message of the Gospel grants the spiritually dead, life eternal. This Gospel message affords the spiritually depraved, richness beyond all comprehension. The message of the Gospel takes a dead plant which is found in a dry desert and transplants this tree into a green, moist oasis. This tree is ready and now willing to soak up the streams of water, which it resides beside, in order to yield fruit.

     The message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is profound by nature because of its power. It is the only message which can save a lost soul. It is the only hope that we have in this life. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is a demonstration of the Power of God unto salvation to anyone who believes (Romans 1:16). And yet, this powerful, profound, transformative message is simplistic at its very core.

     Because of its incomparable capacity to justify the ungodly, we often forget that this word euangelion (Gk for “The Gospel”) is straightforward and transparent. The theme of the entirety of the Bible is as follows: God is Holy, man is sinful, man needs a Savior, God provides that Savior, man must repent and trust in God, God’s plan of redemption cannot be thwarted. Over and over we see this illustrated and taught for us. Throughout all of human history, God continues to redeem His people from their sin. And the Holiness of God prevails in the life of believers, who are eternally secured by the promised Holy Spirit. At its core, this is a simplistic message. Powerful. Life-changing. Transformative. Yet, simple.

     In Romans 10:9, the Apostle Paul pens this uncomplicated directive in terms which cannot be mistaken. He writes:

“…if you confess with you mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

     This is not difficult to understand. It is straightforward. It is written in such a way that, with child-like faith, one can understand, profess and believe in the Gospel. This reality in itself is the beauty of this powerful message. It, indeed, is a simplistic message.

     Written in a dependent clause form, we can understand that there is a needed statement, which becomes our assurance, to complete the thought (or the message). “…IF” this, then this. The reason that the Apostle Paul has boiled the Gospel message down to this simplistic sentence is because of what he was disproving in the context of the letter (Romans 10:5-7). Just before this sentence is Paul's explanation to the Romans that salvation is not some psychosomatic enlightenment or epiphany that happens in the mind. This specific incident was dealing with the highly educated Romans who believed that they could understand their way into salvation by their knowledge. Whether this was done through supernatural means, illusion or some sort of witchcraft, there was this idea of enlightenment that was needed in order to secure a relationship with God. There was this idea that in order to obtain salvation, not only was it works-based (Jewish Law), but there was needed a universal exploration (whether in the physical or the spiritual realm) in order to have the insight needed for salvation.

     But the Apostle Paul says, “The Word is near you.” What Paul is basically saying to these people is this: You can understand the simplicity of the Gospel because many of you witnessed Jesus Himself. But most importantly, each of you knows the Word of God. The message of hope can be found in the Law of God that you have memorized and know by heart. “The Word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart.”

     In stating this relieving fact, it is intended for his audience to understand that there is not a supernatural occurrence which must proceed an enlightenment, nor is there a list of works or accomplishments that one must do in order to obtain salvation. Instead, the message of the Gospel is simple. It is this: Confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead. If you will do this, then the guarantee is that “you will be saved.”

     Although this is a simple statement that the Apostle Paul brings to the table, there is an abundance of understanding that we must comprehend in order to “confess” and “believe.” We will deal with The Profundity of the Gospel in the next article. But for now, understand the simplicity of the Gospel message. For further clarification of the Gospel, please see the explanation below: