the centre of the gospel

h/t to holy heteroclite

what is the gospel? when i think of the answer to that question i start talking about salvation by faith in the sacrifice of Christ ... but that's wrong. don't get me wrong, i'm not saying that i don't believe in that i'm saying that the gospel is about the Kingdom of God.

when Jesus began preaching the gospel in Matthew 4 what did He say was the reason they should repent? He said they should repent because the Kingdom of Heaven was near. Matthew was Jewish so he wouldn't have said the Kingdom of God, rather he went with the more Jewish approach of Kingdom of Heaven but let me assure you, the reason for the gospel is the fact that the Kingdom is near.

let me quote someone who's quoting someone else. i got this info on the link above but i just think this entire post by Dave is MONEY.

"..the Gospel is not that Jesus died on the cross for your sins so you can go to heaven when you die, but that the Gospel that Jesus preached was the Gospel of the Kingdom. When you say this to people they look at you like you’re insane. ‘Of course the Gospel is that you can go to heaven when you die’, they say. But the Gospel isn’t a one-time event, it’s a daily participation with Christ in the Kingdom life.”
Interview with Dallas Willard in RELEVANT Magazine

doesn't that hit home? we have to get away from this one time, fire insurance, i've said the prayer now leave me alone mentality that pervades the Christian church. the gospel isn't about a Four Spiritual Laws tract and the emotional high that you get from feeling forgiven. the gospel is about living the Kingdom of God ... every freaking day.

the centre of the gospel is not about entering the Kingdom when we die, it's about living the Kingdom now ... while we're alive.