The Gospel of Your Salvation -- To the Praise of His Glory

“In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation – having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory” (Ephesians 1:13-14).

What is the gospel? I saw a bumper sticker one time that referred to the gospel as insurance. The bumper sticker read, “Need insurance? Romans 10:9.” I am not too sure God would appreciate the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ being referred to as insurance. The word itself means good news. The Bible says, “Jesus was going throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom” (Matthew 4:23). In other words, Jesus was proclaiming the good news! It is the good news that the King of kings had brought about the rule of God on earth, thus fulfilling many Old Testament prophecies (over 300 to be exact). This, of course, is God’s glory, the ultimate reason for the gospel. The night before He was to die for the sins of all believers, Jesus prayed, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You. I have glorified You on earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do. Now Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was” (John 17:1, 4-5). Jesus died to glorify the Father. The gospel is all about the glory of God. However, it is much more than that. Paul referred to the gospel as, “the gospel of your salvation” (Ephesians 1:13). In other words, Jesus not only died to glorify the Father. He also died for me personally. How else can we, like Paul, say, “I have been crucified with Christ” (Galatians 2:20), and “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8)? This is the Word of the Lord!

So whenever we think about or share the gospel we must remember two things. It is all about God’s glory and it is all about me personally. It is all about Jesus’ love for the Father resulting in His obedience to the Father, even to the point of death (Philippians 2:8), and it is all about His love for me (John 3:16). We must not allow ourselves to get so wrapped up in one aspect of the gospel that we lose sight of the other. Paul said it is “the gospel of your salvation,” but he also said it was “to the praise of His glory.” Christ died for me but He also died to glorify the Father. Furthermore He died for me in order that I could be saved, and that I too, could glorify the Father. So that negates any possibility of the gospel being insurance. The gospel is not fire insurance. It is my salvation to the praise of His glory! So my question to you is have you believed the gospel thus resulting in salvation? And if so, are you living your life to the glory of God?

If you answered no to the first question, hear now the words of Paul: “That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:9-10, 13). If you answered yes to the first question and no to the second, then I would encourage you to make sure you understand exactly what the gospel is and exactly what salvation is. Then meditate on this truth: It is “your salvation…to the praise of His glory.”