The Bible is a book dealing with the history of redemption. Therefore, the first thing we must know from the Bible is the doctrine of salvation.
\"… and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation.\" (2 Timothy 3:15)
Most people will think that they are well-acquainted with the gospel. But I wonder if that is actually true. Many years ago, the Holy Spirit spoke to Gary Whetstone when he was on a mission trip in Indonesia.
While we were in that country, the Spirit of the Lord asked me, “What is your gospel?”
I answered, “My gospel proclaims that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who died for the world.”
Even though my response was not wrong, I sensed that God wanted to communicate to me something beyond what I was currently perceiving.
“The good news doesn’t just tell about something,” the Spirit of the Lord said to me. “The good news is something. The good news is the power of God. … I’ve given you good news, and that good news is the power of God.”
This is exactly what Paul also mentions in Romans 1:16. Now imagine that the Holy Spirit had asked you the same question. Would you have responded that the gospel is the power of God (Rom 1:16)? There are very few believers—and even pastors and theologians—who would have answered that the gospel is power.
This is because most people have a superficial understanding of the gospel and have not fully pierced through it properly. When I came to deeply understand the gospel, I found that this power pervades throughout the entire gospel. Just as how the blood of Jesus pervades the entire Bible, the power of God pervades the entire gospel. It is crucial to know this, and this is what we will now dive into in more detail.