Remembering the Gospel
June 27th, 2022 • by Erika Allen
There is truly no news more amazing than the gospel. Do you believe this?
Despite the mess that sin has made of our world and our lives, salvation is freely offered to us in Jesus Christ, who through his life, death, and resurrection has paid the penalty for our sin and reconciled us to God. Our salvation is—from start to finish—a work of God. There is nothing we can do to earn it; it is entirely a gift of grace. This news is incredibly, utterly good because it means that our salvation—our right standing with God—is based not on us and our faithfulness but on the faithfulness of our Savior.
This is the epitome of good news!
However, an unfortunate thing happens to many of us after we have been a Christian for some time. The gospel becomes so familiar that we begin to take it for granted. Without even realizing it we start to view the gospel message as basic or rudimentary, as something we move beyond once we come to Jesus. But in truth, we will never arrive at a place where we no longer need the gospel. There is never a moment when our hearts and our minds do not need to be saturated with the message of God’s goodness and grace to us in Jesus.
As believers, we must remember the gospel. Sometimes this practice is described as “preaching the gospel to ourselves.” But what does that mean? It means we remind ourselves of what is true based on the promises of God as revealed in his Word.
Why Is Remembering the Gospel Necessary?
Satan’s name means accuser, and at his core that is who he is and what he does. To accuse someone means to charge someone with wrongdoing. Our enemy’s primary tactic is to make us believe things—about ourselves and about God—that aren’t true.
“You can’t come to God with that same sin again.”
“You’ve run out of chances.”
“There’s no way God could love you.”
“You don’t even know how to properly pray.”
“Are you sure you are really a Christian?”
“Our enemy’s primary tactic is to make us believe things—about ourselves and about God—that aren’t true. ”
Not that we even need our enemy’s help to believe lies. Our own hearts and minds accuse and deceive us too. Because we are born with a sinful nature, our natural inclination is to focus on ourselves rather than on Jesus. Furthermore, we live in a world horribly affected and influenced by sin. Our emotions, our thoughts, and the world around us all tell us certain things are true when in fact they aren’t true at all. Bombarded from within and without, we must constantly combat these persistent, loud voices with the only source of absolute, indisputable truth: the Word of God. He is “true though every one were a liar” (Rom. 3:4).
Far from being something we move past once we are saved, the gospel is what keeps the hope we have in Jesus at the forefront of our minds. It does so by reminding us that sin and death don’t get the last word. Though we are rightly grieved by sin’s terrible consequences, we know that “according to [God’s] promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” (2 Pet. 3:13). Every injustice, every sickness, every evil thing will be made right.
The gospel also keeps us from giving in to despair because it tells us—every time we read it or hear it or proclaim it—that our salvation is dependent on Jesus and not on us, “that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:6). By remembering the gospel and preaching it to ourselves we remind our forgetful souls that “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1).
How Do I Remember the Gospel?
Practically speaking, how do we go about remembering the gospel? Where do we begin?
Our starting point is striving to know the Word of God. The better we know the Bible, the more we are able to call it to mind, come under its authority, and apply it to our lives.
One way to equip yourself to remember the gospel is to focus for an extended period of time on one gospel passage. Read the passage often and pray for the Holy Spirit to guide your reading. If you don’t understand some words or concepts in the passage, don’t give up and move past them. Ask God to give you understanding. Try to commit the passage to memory.
There is no specific amount of time you have to spend on this. Perhaps you will spend a week on one passage, or a month, or several months! It’s easy to feel like we should follow a particular formula, but that isn’t the case. God isn’t waiting for you to mess up or blow it. Rather, as we study his Word, God stands ready to draw near to us and bless us. What may seem like baby steps to you are pleasing to him.
“The better we know the Bible, the more we are able to call it to mind, come under its authority, and apply it to our lives. ”
Look to God’s Word
Here are a few passages that beautifully proclaim the gospel message. If you are wondering where to start, consider beginning with one of these:
Romans 8:1-4
Romans 8:31-39
2 Corinthians 5:21
Galatians 4:4-7
Ephesians 1:11-14
Ephesians 2:1-10
Titus 3:4-7
The book of Psalms also provides us with examples of what it looks like to remember the gospel. Throughout the book we see the psalmist speaking directly to his soul, reminding himself of what he knows to be true based on God’s promises and his steadfast love and faithfulness. The words of the Psalms remind us of the benefit of remembering the gospel, and in meditating on them we can quiet our anxious souls (Ps. 131:2).
Psalm 103:1-5 is a beautiful example:
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name!
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits,
who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
who satisfies you with good
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
Likewise, Psalm 62:5–7:
For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,
for my hope is from him.
He only is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
On God rests my salvation and my glory;
my mighty rock, my refuge is God.
Remembering the gospel takes our focus off ourselves and our circumstances. It lifts our eyes from all that is temporary and fading and places our gaze firmly on the goodness, grace, and faithfulness of God in Christ Jesus. From the start of our new life until we go to be with Jesus, the gospel never stops being good news.
Erika Allen (MA, Wheaton College) is director of Bible editorial for Crossway. She is the author of ESV Prayer Journal: 30 Days on Humility and ESV Prayer Journal: 30 Days on the Gospel.
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