Two Halves of the Gospel
December 6, 2023
“Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it.” 1 Peter 3:15 (NLT)
The Methodist tradition has been influenced by the belief that there are two halves to the Gospel.
The first is the part that includes repenting of sin and believing in the resurrection of Jesus. That justifying grace results in the salvation of the one who believes. Saved from the bondage of sin in your life and the eternal death and hell that are the consequences of sin. You can be saved!
The second part of the Gospel leads you to make Jesus Lord of your life. Following Jesus more and more. It’s that sanctifying grace that gives you a closer relationship with Jesus, empowered by God’s Holy Spirit, which results in you continuing to do more and more of God’s will. You can be sanctified!
At Leeds First Methodist Church, we exist to create paths for more people to know and grow like Jesus. Those paths—worshiping, growing, serving, and reaching—help the people already here as well as those not here yet to be saved and sanctified through the means of grace. We are not in the business of ‘behavior modification,’ but we are in the business of ‘relationship with Jesus’—and wow, what a behavior transformation that relationship makes!
John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, said, “By ‘means of grace’ I understand outward signs, words, or actions, ordained of God, and appointed for this end, to be the ordinary channels whereby he might convey to men, preventing, justifying, or sanctifying grace.” (Sermon 12: The Means of Grace).
As this Christmas and the new year of 2024 approaches, I pray that you’ll adopt, renew, or become more consistent in one or more of the means of God’s Grace. Here are three suggestions:
1) Worship – Regularly and often pray, give, receive the sacraments, and worship. Sin tempts us to be selfish, and that’s reinforced in modern cultures that say, ‘It’s all about you’. Worship redirects us to declare God is worthy of our praise and that he is number one over everything, especially ourselves. Jesus said the greatest command was to love God with our everything (Matthew 22:37-38).
2) Bible - Regularly and often read and apply the scriptures. Mark your calendar daily for 5 minutes—or 15, 30, or 60—remove distractions, and hear from God through his inspired scriptures. Read a verse or chapter a day. Or did you know that if you average three chapters a day you can read through the Bible in a year? Get a printed Bible with a daily reading plan included, or click here to get the Bible app on your smart device and search for the reading plan “Let’s Read the Bible Together (January).” Connect with others and study with a group.
3) Serve & Reach Others – Regularly and often do good work to serve others inside the church and share God’s love and invite others to faith in Jesus and his church.
How are the Gospel’s two halves impacting your life? Let me know how it’s going and if I can be helpful or pray for you in a specific way.