The Gospel Message

We have many ways of thinking about the concept of the line. Johnny Cash famously sang "Walk the Line" (which was also the name of a recent movie about his life), a song about his commitment to his first wife while he was on the road. He’s promising to play it straight and avoid temptations. Growing up, I remember my parents telling me to toe the line, which meant doing what I was supposed to. This expression came from runners lining up behind a starting line to start a race. It’s fitting that the line relates to truth, because today we’re thinking about the most basic element of our faith, a clear line in the sand for us, the Gospel message. 

To consider this Gospel message, you might think we would sprint through the Romans Road or land in 1 Corinthians 15, both of which Paul uses to strengthen or establish young churches in the Gospel message. While these passages certainly get to the Gospel, it is more than a few verses strung together; it is an entire message proclaimed. So, we’re going back to how Peter preached the message. In fact, the passage we’ll explore today is the very first gospel presentation to the Gentiles (all non-Jewish people). Peter's message is an excellent example of the gospel the apostles proclaimed. Before anyone was baptized and received into the churches, they needed to understand the message that was proclaimed.

And to dig into this a little deeper right at the outset, you may remember that, up to this point in Acts, the gospel had only gone out to the Jewish people in Jerusalem and eventually to the surrounding areas. About 40,000 had become Christians in Jerusalem, but there were still no Gentile believers. This whole narrative about Cornelius, which began in Acts 10:1, is about the gospel going to the Gentiles for the first time.

Cornelius was a Roman (Gentile) military man who was religious. He looked favorably on the Jewish people, even giving them money. He genuinely sought to know God. However, Peter was slow to take the gospel to the Gentiles, as were most of the other church leaders. Therefore, God stepped in through a dream, directing Peter to go to Cornelius’ house. When he got there, Cornelius asked to hear the gospel.

So, by way of introduction, if someone asked to hear the Gospel, how would you proceed? How would you explain it? What exactly would you say? And, as you think about this kind of scenario, try to imagine what you would need to be equipped with? How could God help you? We are significantly helped, then, by a passage like this today. My purpose in this sermon is to make the Gospel message very clear for you, so that you can build your life around it.

Have you trusted in Jesus? Have you believed? As you prepare to hear the Gospel message today, what do you anticipate this message—central to all that this church believes—is about? The Gospel message is the most life-changing news we could bring to your attention. And, even more than that, it is life-changing. Embracing this message continues to change you over and over and over again. So, I hope to make this clear to you and that this message impacts your life.

And if the Gospel has moved into your life, we believe this message is everything. Like Tim Keller said, “The gospel is not just the ABCs but the A to Z of the Christian life. It is inaccurate to think the gospel is what saves non-Christians, and then Christians mature by trying hard to live according to biblical principles. It is more accurate to say that we are saved by believing the gospel, and then we are transformed in every part of our minds, hearts, and lives by believing the gospel more and more deeply as life goes on.” I hope to drill down into this Gospel message with clarity today. And I hope this means something to you as you continue to grow in it. Join me, then, as we see 3 clarifications about the Gospel message…

Read Acts 10:34-48 (This is God’s Word; thanks be to God)

3 clarifications around the Gospel message...

I. The Gospel is available to everyone. (34-36) 34 So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, 35 but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. 36 As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all)…

The opening words of Peter’s message get at the scope of the message. Look at what is said here. We see emphatically that this was a message proclaimed. Peter opened his mouth. God had prepared Peter and Cornelius for this moment. As he spoke, he said, “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality.” And that is an important starting point. God doesn’t prefer one group of people over another. When He exercises His being God (Godness) in the world, He’s an equal opportunity deity. No partiality.

Peter goes a little further in v.35 with the kind of partiality he envisions, speaking of nations. God shows no partiality toward nations. Remember, Peter is coming from a Jewish background, and now what is being affirmed is that God is available to anyone, including Gentiles (or those who are not Jewish). He continues telling us that “anyone who fears [God] and does what is right is acceptable to Him.” So, the issue of being acceptable to God is made plain for everyone. Anyone who fears God and does what is right demonstrates that they are acceptable to God through their life change. As one writer put it: “The issue, then, which Peter has confronted is this: if a Gentile displays the spirituality characteristically expected of the devout member of God’s people, how can it be doubted that [that person] is acceptable to God?”

The end of v.36 gets into what God had shown Peter. God had sent the word to His people [Israel], giving them the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. As this point has been driven home to Peter, he states it clearly. We could say that “a blessing focused on Israel is becoming a blessing channeled through Israel. The identity of the people of promise is being broadened beyond the boundaries of Israel.” This entire episode is showing us that the Gospel is for everyone. 

What implications does the good news that it is available to everyone have for you? What convictions does this well up within you? What confidence does this give you? What does it mean for the average person you run into in our world? Or maybe even more targeted, what about the message being for you? What’s produced in your heart at the simple truth that the good news is for you? The Gospel is available to everyone.

Secondly, the gospel message gets specific as we see II. The Gospel is centered on Jesus. (37-41) 37 You yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. 39 And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, 40 but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, 41 not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.

Beginning in v. 37, Peter focuses on Jesus. He just described Him as the Messiah, as Lord of all. And Peter scans back to what Cornelius and his people may have heard about what happened throughout all Judea. It began in Galilee after John’s baptism proclaimed our need for a rescuer. At his baptism, God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power. His life was one of doing good and healing those oppressed by the devil. This conflict was about good confronting evil, and God was with Him. About this Jesus, Peter was a witness to all that Jesus did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put Jesus to death by hanging Him on a tree, but God raised Him on the third day and made Him appear to those chosen to be witnesses. Jesus ate and drank with these witnesses after He rose from the dead.

So what did Peter tell Cornelius? The essential facts Cornelius needed to know about Jesus Christ:

• Jesus was sent to Israel by God.

• He went about doing good.

• The Jews put Him to death—but God raised Him up.

• The apostles saw Him and ate with Him.

One writer, commenting on what we read about Jesus here, provocatively notices, “The description might have come from the mouth of any sympathetic observer of Jesus’ ministry,” and “The juxtaposition [bringing together] of this very moderate portrayal of Jesus with the final confessional claim of verse 36 is striking.” The reason I bring this up is that sometimes I think we feel we must dress up the Gospel message centered on Jesus. We think it needs more theological nuance or that there are deeper depths to consider (and I’m sure this is probably true). However, Peter holds up the fundamental truth about Jesus, and it is enough. It’s life-changing because we’re pointing to Jesus, not to ourselves or our words.

And there is a bit said about Peter’s role as a witness. He witnessed the ministry, the death, and the resurrection. He was set apart to be a witness, and you get the sense that, after all that had taken place in this chapter with God arresting his attention, Peter was happy to commend Jesus to Cornelius boldly.

C.H. Dodd, in his book The Apostolic Preaching and Its Developments, wrote a summary, in creedal form, of the Gospel proclamation of another apostle, Paul:

• The prophecies are fulfilled, and the coming of Christ inaugurates the new age.
• He was born of the seed of David.
• He died according to the Scriptures, to deliver us out of the present evil age.
• He was buried.
• He rose on the third day, as the Scriptures say.
• He is exalted at the right hand of God, as Son of God and Lord of the quick and dead.
• He will come again as Judge and Savior of men.

You can see how this message would change your view on life and how you live. The Gospel is a proclamation centered on Jesus. 

Third and finally, III. The Gospel is a call to trust Jesus for forgiveness. (42-43) 42 And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. 43 To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

This section ends with Peter telling Cornelius how to respond to this message. Jesus commanded the witnesses to preach to the people and to bear witness (testify) that He is the One appointed by God to judge the living and the dead. The prophets were the first to testify about Jesus. Everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His name. Amazing. Some additional facts added to the truth about Jesus are that Jesus ordered them to preach this message. Jesus is the judge of the living and the dead—and all who believe (trust) in Him will have their sins forgiven. Also, all of this was predicted by the prophets in the Old Testament (over 300 prophecies predicted [foretold] the person and work of Jesus Christ in the Old Testament). I think it’s natural for us to respond to the truth about Jesus, and the Biblical response here is to trust Jesus for the forgiveness of sins. 

Every message in Acts given by Peter and Paul focused on the person and work of Jesus Christ. This message is what the early church called the kerygma—the proclamation. All who believed in the proclamation were considered true believers. You might hear this word kerygma and wonder what it is shorthand for, and just think of the proclamation of the Gospel message. 

The passage ends with some confirmation of what has happened here: 44 While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. 45 And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. 46 For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, 47 “Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?”48 And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days.

The Gentiles in Cornelius’ house believed (inferred here, stated in Acts 11:17), received the Spirit of God, and finally were baptized. The Spirit was given to those who believed and came to live in them, as Jesus had promised in John 13–17. In this instance, the mark of receiving the Spirit was speaking in tongues. God gave this same sign to the Jewish believers when they received the Spirit in Acts 2. In this instance, this phenomenon—speaking to someone in his own language, a language that the speaker did not know—was a sign to the Jewish people of God and was predicted in the Old Testament. This sign is what helped convince them that the gospel was really going to the Gentiles (Acts 11:13–18).

I hope you can see what is clear in the passage: Jesus is the judge of all life, and He will forgive the sins of all who believe in Him. Once we believe, we receive the Spirit of God. Then we need to be baptized, which is a sign of identifying with Christ and His new believing community—the Church. We’ll turn to this next step of baptism next week. But the Gospel is the starting point.

Related to the Gospel message today, we’ve seen 3 clarifications... I. The Gospel is available to everyone. (34-36)

II. The Gospel is centered on Jesus. (37-41)

III. The Gospel is a call to trust Jesus for forgiveness. (42-43)

Have you trusted Jesus? We want to respond to this message by thinking of your own reception of the Gospel. How was the gospel first explained to you? Was it different from what Peter said in today’s passage? At the beginning of this message, we talked about walking the line and toeing the line. When we think of the line of the Gospel, what things were above the line or added when you heard the Gospel? What was below the line? Did those who shared the gospel with you leave any parts out? Which ones? Why do you think the apostles included all the elements they did in their gospel proclamation? When encountering the gospel, what might be the possible effects of not getting the whole picture? Our reception of this message is huge. In response today, write your own summary of the Gospel message. And, related to that, write the testimony of your relationship with Jesus. Share that with your small group as you discuss these things. We want to know Jesus and make Him known. So, let’s get clear on the Gospel message, the kerygma, the proclamation, so that we can glorify and enjoy God forever.