Satan does anything he can to weaken the testimony of the church. One particular way he does this is by deceiving Christians into believing that once we are “saved” we no longer need the gospel; that Gethsemane, Calvary, and the empty tomb are all beginners’ stuff and once we have covered those bases we can move on. This is one of the most powerful and subtle lies of Satan. These things are not simply the gates through which we enter the Christian life. They are the Christian life. You cannot move on from the gospel. The gospel is the heart and soul of our walk with the Lord.
That being said, what is the relationship between the gospel, your daily life, and your worldview? Simply this: a biblical worldview is founded upon and built out of the gospel. They are inseparable.
The gospel defines the things you do. James tells us “faith without works is dead” (James 2:17). Christ tells us in Matthew 7:16, “You will know them by their fruits.” In the Gospels and Acts, we see Christ and the apostles doing many good things. But they did not do every good thing they could have. Nowhere are we led to believe that Christ healed every sick person He passed by, calmed every storm that frightened the fishermen in Galilee, fed every hungry crowd following Him from town to town. To just assume He did so would be unbiblical. Why didn’t He, though?
“For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me” (John 6:38). See the humility here! Christ could have traveled the world and healed every sick person. He could have easily toppled Rome and destroyed every opposition to God in an instant. But He humbly obeyed the will of His Father. This is our example. We work out our faith in good deeds, but always constrained and directed by the example of Christ found in the Gospels.
The gospel defines the things you think. The door to the heart is the mind. What your mind is open to will eventually find its way into your heart. The Word tells us in 1 Peter 1:13, “Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” Girding up the loins of your mind is a metaphor for gathering up thoughts that trail around like the hem of a long robe so that you don’t trip when you run.
Hebrews 12:1-2, “… Lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Both of these passages are commands to control your thoughts and lay aside worldly thoughts. They also tell you what to think about and what your thoughts should be filtered through: the “revelation of Jesus Christ” and the work of Christ who “for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” In short, you ought to think about and in the context of the gospel.
The gospel defines the things you believe. In today’s religious culture, many people “believe” in God. They agree that Jesus died in their places, for their sins. They will nod their heads when you tell them the only way to eternal life is through Jesus. However, this profession of belief is not accompanied by an outward demonstration of any inward work of the Holy Spirit. Again, James has words for these people in James 2:19, “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe — and shudder!”
If I told you about someone who was the most amazing person ever, and you simply agreed with everything I said and really believed it, you still do not have a relationship with that person. You don’t know that person. This is a huge difference between a true believer and someone who only agrees with Bible facts. The true Christian’s beliefs facilitate love and obedience and cannot be separated from them.
The nominal Christian holds on to these facts and truths and does good things because they feel they should, but has no real, deep, genuine abiding love for the person of Christ. Christ is not precious to them. The gospel is absent from their beliefs and their worldview, and their form of faith is dead. For you who love Christ, the gospel is beautiful and the foundation of your obedience.
The gospel defines who you are. Our identities depend on who God is. God has communicated who He is to us through the gospel and the person of Jesus Christ. When we look into the gospel we see that we are, apart from Christ, wicked reprobates deserving of hell. All. Of. Us. Without one exception. Because our nature is opposed and contrary to God, we are also contrary to righteousness and goodness. But Christ died and rose again.
To illustrate just how fallen you are apart from Christ, imagine you’ve fallen into a pit that was ten feet deep. It would take nothing less than a ten-foot ladder to rescue you. What did it take to rescue you from the pit of sin? Christ Himself. It took the death of the immortal, infinite Being to rescue you. You were so fallen in sin that you were infinitely separated from God. And now, if you have been rescued, you are as near to God as Christ Himself. In light of the gospel you are sinful, redeemed, rescued, justified, being perfected in the image of Christ, and will one day be glorified in eternity. This is your identity, all defined by the gospel. Christ’s work in your life has left no room for any self-definition.
A life that is lived with a biblical worldview is a life that is thoroughly saturated in the gospel, taking full advantage of the means of grace. There are countless things that qualify as a means of grace, but here are the three main ones:
Biblical worldview demands Christian fellowship. You aren’t the only child in the family of God. You have thousands of siblings, young and old, close and far away. And you need them, especially the older ones. You are surrounded by so many brothers and sisters, all who are walking with the Lord and have different life experiences. A part of being joined to the vine of Christ is that all the other branches are also supporting you. Through their support and love, you are able to grow in wisdom in ways you could not do on your own.
Biblical worldview demands prayer. Christians have the greatest privilege of all creatures in the universe, they have God’s special attention through their prayers. This is the most concrete expression of “abiding in the vine” you are capable of. In real prayer you put yourself in God’s hands, throwing yourself helplessly on His mercy. You aren’t left alone with no wind in your sails when dealing with the world and its issues. His nearness experienced through prayer breathes life into your knowledge of His truth and energizes you to exercise it in your life.
Biblical worldview demands Scripture. “You must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:14-17). Does anything really need to be added to that passage? You cannot expect to have a biblical worldview without the Bible.
With these tools given to you by God, you are more than equipped to build a solid biblical worldview upon the foundation of the gospel.
