To Receive the gospel…means to let go of something else!

"Which [gospel] also you received and in which you stand…" 1 Cor. 15:1

In 1 Corinthians 15:1, we see that they [the Corinthians] RECEIVED the gospel. This is important and all too often lacking in our own modern day watered down version of gospel living. But what does RECEIVE really mean anyway?

This is how Paul Washer explains it according to the Scriptures. Powerful!

1. When two things are diametrically opposed to one another, to receive one is to reject the other. Since there is no friendship between the gospel and the world, to receive the gospel is to reject the world. To receive the gospel is not merely to pray a prayer and ask Jesus into our hearts. It is to put away the world, and to embrace the fullness of the claims of Christ.

2. A man who receives the gospel trusts exclusively in the person and work of Jesus Christ as the only way of standing before God. The Christian faith is exclusive. To receive Christ is to throw off every other hope but in Christ alone. To genuinely receive the gospel not only involves a disdain and turning away from sin, but also a disdain for and turning from any confidence other than Christ, especially a confidence in self.

3. To receive the gospel is to live in submission to the Lord of our lives. All too often we tell Christians they need to make Christ the Lord of their lives. God does not call men to make Jesus Lord (as if they had that power), but He calls us to live in absolute submission to the Lord that He has made. Therefore, if we desire to receive the benefits of the gospel, we must first decide if we are wiling to turn over all autonomy and self government to the Lord of the gospel. 

4. Finally, to receive the gospel, Christ must become the center of everything in our lives, and therefore He reaches everything! Like a pebble cast upon a lake, the ripple effect of the gospel will eventually reach the full circumference of the believers life and touch every shore upon his soul. A believer does not receive the gospel as an addition to His previous life, but in exchange for it. 

As Paul exhorts, "We should never present Christ to the unbelievers as the cherry on top of an already wonderful life. The unbeliever must see that he has no life, and that all his personal achievements prior to Christ are only monuments to his own vanity." 

My friend Annie recently shared this quote and comment and I thought it very fitting here:

"If you desire Christ for a perpetual guest, give Him ALL the keys of your heart; let not one cabinet be locked up from Him; give Him the range of every room, and the key of every chamber; thus you will constrain Him to remain." - Spurgeon

And Annie continues the thought…"Every dollar in savings, every internet hour, every Saturday evening, every item of clothing, every task before me, every future plan, every hope… It all goes to Thee, the worthy One of my life. He who humbled Himself and was obedient unto death, my death! Shall I hold anything back, however small, for the One who gave everything for me, of worth far greater than I can fathom?"

Review: 

• Bible Thought: Praying that God will help me and help us as a people to RECEIVE HIM and in so doing, to release the Love of the world and self!
• Blessing: I'm so thankful that everything that Christ asks us to relinquish He replaces with something much much better! HIMSELF!! (But wow… I still have soo much to learn about this great gigantic gift and what it means to my life!)
• Battles: My battle is to not be divided in my loyalty… for we are told, "A house divided against itself cannot stand." Only Christ can give me a hate for the things I once loved, and a passionate love for the things I once lightly esteemed. The world is still too much in my heart, but I know that He can change this!