Gospel Thinking
Fall 2023
Maybe you have heard your pastor or another preacher use the phrase “Gospel Thinking?” Do you understand what it means? The essence of this phrase means that we understand and think about the gospel in such a way that we apply it to every area of life. Gospel truth needs to permeate our thinking which leads to gospel truth permeating our actions. It stands to reason that the opposite of “Gospel Thinking” is “Worldly Thinking.” Look at these comparisons:
Worldly Thinking
Gospel Thinking
I have to earn love.
God loves me unconditionally.
You have to earn my love.
Grace enables me to love you.
I deserve good things.
I deserve hell because of sin.
You must earn things from me.
Grace enables me to give freely.
I don’t need anyone’s help.
I must have God’s help.
My inward strength is enough.
I have no strength in myself.
I’m no good.
I am complete in Christ.
Each of those comparisons needs some explanation: gospel thinking is a complete paradigm shift and can only happen after a work of grace has been done in the heart. An unregenerate person cannot think rightly because his nature has not been changed to think gospel thoughts. Let’s look at an example in Romans 10:1–3.
The people had zeal. “They have a zeal of God.” We could say that they were passionate.
Their zeal was for God. They would defend God against “unbelievers.” Paul knew this because, before his conversion, he had great zeal and thought he was doing God a favor by killing Christians.
Their zeal for God was not based on right thinking. “… but not according to knowledge.” They did not have gospel thinking. As one author puts it, “The furnace of their hearts is burning, but the fuel is not the fuel of truth. The mind has failed to provide the fuel of truth. And the heart is aflame with a false view of God.”
They are not saved. “My heart's desire . . . is that they might be saved.”
It is possible to have a zeal for God and yet be unsaved.
Let’s look closer at the text to try to understand why these with such zeal for God were not saved. What is the crux of the matter here? Simply put, they did not understand the gospel. There were not thinking gospel thoughts about God and by consequence, they were not thinking gospel thoughts about themselves. Verse 3 of the passage reveals their problem: “For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.”
You see, the central issue is the doctrine of justification by faith alone in Christ alone and an understanding of imputed versus earned righteousness. They were trying to earn righteousness. That is really the summary of the whole column above labeled “Worldly Thinking.” Understanding the ramifications of an imputed righteousness summarizes the whole column labeled “Gospel Thinking.”
Gospel Thinking in Practice
1. Your eternal welfare depends on gospel thinking.
If you think you will be accepted by God in some way other than the way revealed in the Bible, you are wrong. Your eternal welfare depends on your understanding of the gospel.
2. Your view of God depends on gospel thinking.
Many think about God as if He is standing in heaven just waiting for one of us to mess up so that he can beat us over the head with His heavenly hammer. If you understand the gospel correctly, you will know that you stand before God in the merits of Christ. You know that God accepts you the same way He accepts His Son. Therefore, God is not watching you with a condemning eye because “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).
3. Your prayer life depends on gospel thinking.
If you understand the gospel correctly, you know that God does not accept you or your prayers because of your own merits. Likewise, he does not reject you or your prayers because of your own demerits. You and your prayers are accepted because of Christ. Therefore, we pray, “In Jesus name, Amen!”
4. Your relationships depend on gospel thinking.
All of your earthly relationships would be greatly benefited if you sought to apply the truths of the gospel to them. In a relationship, one side often feels self-justified in his or her anger or displeasure toward the other. How often are you upset with your friend because he or she has not fulfilled your expectations in every detail? How different might your relationships be if you tried to treat your friends the way God treats you?
5. Your counseling depends on gospel thinking.
When your friends come to you with a problem, your understanding of the gospel will play an important role in how you counsel them. If you counsel them to work off their own guilt, you will lead them to more bondage, but if you point them to the fact that if they have Christ as their Savior and that they are righteous before God, you will help them. The truth of imputed righteousness is a powerful tool for the Christian counselor.
6. Your evangelism depends on gospel thinking.
A weak view of the gospel will lead to weak evangelism. A proper understanding of the gospel will greatly benefit you as you seek to win souls for Christ. If you understand justification correctly, you know that God “justifieth the ungodly.” You will not evangelize people by telling them that they have to be better people before God will accept them. A proper view of the gospel emboldens you to tell the very worst of sinners that they simply need to come to Christ just as they are. God will save them and change them. Justification teaches us that men do not have to take a bath before they get in the shower. That is, they don’t have to clean themselves up before they come to God for cleansing.
Gospel thinking is accomplished by a work of grace in the heart, plain and simple. It requires a knowledge of God and the gospel. It requires great humility to see ourselves as God sees us and rejoice in a justifying righteousness that gives us peace with God. We translate that understanding to how we deal with others around us and how we respond to circumstances that come into our lives. May the Lord help us all to truly have gospel thinking.
Rev. Derrick Bowman