04 Aug The New Testament Model

Last Sunday, Pastor Will Jackson closed our series through James with a sermon from James 5:7-12, encouraging us to be a community of faith and love.

Read: Isaiah 6:1-8

This Sunday, Pastor Jason Finley will open our new series: Worship Exalts God, with a sermon from Isaiah 6:1-8. Jason will show us that worship that exalts God is shaped not by our preferences but by the gospel. As you prepare for our Sunday gathering, let this devotional from Milton Vincent point you to our daily need for the gospel to further transform us into the image of Jesus Christ.

Reflect: “The New Testament Model”

The New Testament teaches that Christians ought to hear the gospel as much as non-Christians do. In fact, in the first chapter of Romans the Apostle Paul tells the believers in the church that he was anxious “to preach the gospel to you who are at Rome” (Romans 1:15). Of course, he was anxious to preach the gospel to the non-Christians at Rome, yet he specifically states that he was eager to preach it to the believers as well.

To the Corinthian Christians who had already believed and been saved by the gospel, Paul says, “I make known to you the gospel, which you have believed…” (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). He then restates the historical facts of the gospel before showing them how those gospel facts apply to their beliefs about the afterlife. This is actually Paul’s approach to various other issues throughout the book of 1 Corinthians.

In most of Paul’s letters to churches, sizeable portions of them are given over to rehearsing gospel truths. For example, Ephesians 1-3 is all gospel, Colossians 1-2 is gospel, and Romans 1-11 is gospel. The remainder of such books shows specifically how to bring those gospel truths to bear on life. Re-preaching the gospel and then showing how it applied to life was Paul’s choice method for ministering to believers, thereby providing a divinely inspired pattern for me to follow when ministering to myself and to other believers.

“The New Testament Model,” in A Gospel Primer for Christians, by Milton Vincent.

Sing: Song List for Sunday

1. “All the Earth,” by Vertical Worship
2. “Great I Am,” by New Life Worship
3. “Jesus Paid It All,” Arr. Passion
4. “Only a Holy God,” by CityAlight
5. “How Great Thou Art,” Arr. Shane & Shane