Why We Need to Be Discipled in the Gospel (Part 1)

Why we need to be Discipled in the Gospel (part one), by Jay Wegter

Fruitless Christianity is a blight upon the church today, yet this God-dishonoring problem is not new. 250 years ago author-activist William Wilberforce* observed in his book, Real Christianity that unfruitful Christianity is a symptom of a particular disorder. Wilberforce dubbed that disorder, “the gospel gap.” The “gospel gap” is a term used to describe a cultural form of Christianity which displaces biblical Christianity whenever the gospel is neglected. The gospel gap occurs when professing Christians are no longer living lives radically identified with Christ and the gospel. The gospel gap is easily identified by the vital aspects of genuine Christianity which are absent—the ‘gap’ takes place when these essentials are no longer emphasized in the Christian life:

• The present benefit of the work of Christ (“Every spiritual blessing in Him”—Eph 1:1-23)
• The present value of the power of the cross (Rom 6:1-26; Gal 2:20; 2 Cor 5:14-15)
• The transforming reality of future hope (1 Jn 3:1-3; 1 Pet 1:3-9; Col 1:27)

The word of grace, the gospel, includes the N.T. indicatives (our identity in Christ established by God’s grace). These indicatives are designed to lead us to obey the imperatives of the Christian life (‘walk worthy of our calling’, etc.). As genuine believers, the location of our entire sphere of life is ‘in Christ’ (Col 3:1-4). Thus, the ethical implication of being ‘alive in Christ’ is that Christ’s cause becomes our cause. (Christ’s ‘cause’ is the glory of the Father through the church—Ephesians 3:8-10. Christ’s mandate to the body is The Great Commission, “make disciples”—Matt 28:18-20; Col 1:28-29).

When a Christian thinks biblicallt, he or she will always be closing the gospel gap by reckoning that their life is wrapped up in Christ’s life and mission. The main point of our article is this: our depth of conviction concerning our identification with Christ and His mandate for our lives is NOT fleshed out in private alone, but is deepened through edifying relations in the Body of Christ. Thus, discipleship in the gospel is the crucial means of closing the gospel gap and returning to fruitful Christianity! When we consistently and prayerfully speak the gospel into one another’s live, the following evidences that we are closing the gospel gap are present:

• We will be ‘poured into’ the Gospel mold so that our lives are shaped by the gospel and, as a result, we will be ‘radically identified with Christ’ (Col 1:6-8; 3:1-23; Eph 4:12-32; 5:1-21ff.)
• We will live Christ-confident, Christ-dependent lives (Gal 2:20; Phil 4:13; Rom 8:32; Jn 15:4-5)
• We will be committed to change into the likeness of Christ—the transformation mandate (Rom 8:29; 12:1-2; Col 3:10)
• We will be ‘on mission’—our resources will be plowed into fulfilling the Great Commission—we will live to know Christ and make Him known (Col 1:28-29; Phil 3:7-11; 2 Cor 5:20-21) Since Christ is displayed and exhibited in the gospel, ‘gospel saturation’ through Scripture meditation is central to our progress in learning to live upon Christ by faith. Then we will be controlled by the great guilt transfer that took place at Calvary (Christ’s work of propitiation—Rom 3:24-26). When our lives are animated by this ‘once for all’ guilt transfer (Gal 6:14-15), we will be grace-driven and growing spiritually:

• We will experience satisfaction and delight in the Lord (Eph 1:18-23; 3:14-21)
• We will be ‘on schedule’ in God’s plan to perfect us in love (1 Jn 4:17-18)
• We will experience peace, joy, comfort, and hope in believing (Rom 15:13)
• We will have the joy and power of a clear conscience (Acts 24:15-16; Heb 9:14)
• We will be living the life of sonship in Christ (1 Jn 3:1; 2 Cor 6:14-7:1; Rom 8:14-25)

The above describes the gospel-driven, grace-driven, Christ-dependent life. In part two of this article, we will explore how the ‘gospel gap’ leaves us vulnerable to the flesh and how to escape from that pitfall.