What Do I Do With The Gospel?

Lately, I've been pondering the gospel.

What exactly would be considered "the gospel message"? (See my husband's post, The Simple Gospel, for discussion on that question). How does the gospel affect my life - as a wife, a mother, a child of the King? (Check out Girltalk's post called Mom, Remember the Gospel).

Christians are called jars of clay, into which the gospel has been placed. Consider 2 Corinthians 4:4-7:
The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure (ie. the gospel) in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

So what do I do with this treasure?

Check out what the Bible itself tells us to do:

Matt.24:14 "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to all the nations, and then the end shall come."

Mark 1:14 "Repent and believe in the gospel."

Acts 20:24 "To testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God."

Rom. 1:16 "For I am not ashamed of the gospel,..."

Rom 15:16 "... ministering as a priest of the gospel of God"

1 Cor. 9:14 "... proclaim the gospel"

1 Cor. 9:18 "... offer the gospel without charge"

1 Cor. 9:23 "... do all things for the sake of the gospel, that I may become a fellow partaker of it."
2 Cor. 9:13 "... confession of the gospel of Christ"

Gal. 2:2 "... submitted to them the gospel"

Gal. 2:5 "that the truth of the gospel might remain with you..."

Gal. 2:7 "... entrusted with the gospel... "

Eph. 1:13 "after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation... "

Eph. 6:19 "to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel"

Phil.1:5 "participation in the gospel"

Phil 1:7 "in the defense and confirmation of the gospel... "

Phil 1:16 "I am appointed for the defense of the gospel"

Phil 1:27 "only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel"

Phil 2:22 "furtherance of the gospel"

Phil 4:3 "... have shared my struggle in the cause of the gospel"

Col. 1:23 "and not moved away from the hope of the gospel"

1 Thess. 2:2 "we had the boldness in our God to speak to you the gospel of God amid much opposition"

1 Thess. 2:4 "entrusted with the gospel"

1 Thess. 2:8 "we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God, but also our lives"

1 Thess. 2:9 "we proclaimed to you the gospel of God"

2 Tim. 1:8 " join me in suffering for the gospel"

Philemon 1:13 "minister to me in my imprisonment for the gospel"

1 Peter 4:17 "what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?"

So to sum up God's thoughts on what we should do with His gospel:
we are to

• preach it
• believe it
• testify solemnly to it
• not be ashamed of it
• minister as a priest to it
• proclaim it
• offer it without charge
• do all things for the sake of the gospel
• be partakers of it
• confess it
• submit it
• have it remain with us
• listen to it
• make it known
• participate in it
• defend it
• confirm it
• conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of it
• further it
• struggle in it's cause
• not be moved away from it's hope
• speak it
• impart it
• suffer for it
• be imprisoned for it (if necessary)
• and obey it.

WOW!! Feeling a little convicted? I was too. Please take the time to consider, confess your areas of failure to God, and move towards treating this treasure as it was intended in your life. I know I will need to move differently today than I did yesterday, and with the Holy Spirit's power, God can use this clay pot to touch others with His good news. Blessings, fellow clay pots as you do what you can with the gospel.