Be Inspired. . God Remains Faithful

The focus of the gospel is not on the inadequacy of
humankind but rather on the character and glory of God:
“If we are faithless, he remains faithful” (2 Tim
2:13 ). However, we are transformed when we live “in
line with the gospel” (Gal 2:14 )—avoiding both legalism
and licentiousness—and pursuing the joy found in
complete and utter surrender of our unrighteous life in
exchange for his righteous life (Gal 2:20 ).

The gospel is
what makes us right with God (justification) and it is
also what frees us to delight in God (sanctification). The
gospel changes everything.
Calling the gospel the “power of God for the salvation of
all who believe” ( Rm 1:16 ) means that it is the power to
accomplish the whole matter of salvation from beginning
to end without a scrap of human effort. We cannot and
dare not ever move “beyond” the gospel. There is no
such “beyond” for Christians, just a “different
gospel,” (Gal 1:6–7 ; 2 Cor 11:4 ; 1 Tim 1:3 ) which is not
good news at all. Apart from the gospel there is no
forgiveness of sins, no hope, and no transformation into
Christ’s likeness.

A gospel-centered reading of the Bible sees it not as a
record of good people earning God’s blessing, but bad
people receiving God’s blessing because Jesus earned it
for them. At the center of the Bible is the good news that
God treated Jesus the way we deserved and he daily
treats us the way Jesus deserved. The center of the
Bible is Jesus. He is the hero. We are the villains, turned
into the adopted, children of God.

Jesus, Not Religion
Because of the amazing and radical message of the
gospel, it’s important that we don’t confuse the gospel
with religion. At Mars Hill, we intentionally talk about
Jesus (who he is and what he has done) all the time. We
worship Jesus, not religion. As such we desire to talk
more about what Jesus has done rather than what
people should do (Gal 1:6–9 ).
“There is a God who passionately, lovingly, continually, and
relentlessly pursues us.
”