Gospel Renewal in the Church

From Richard Lovelace’s Dynamics of Spiritual Life

If you haven't read Lovelace's book, the following might not mean much...but once you understand his concepts you realize how brilliant and true this is. His main point is that the Gospel has to be the foundation for all hope of revival and renewal. We have to understand

1) That the Gospel is Good News and Bad News - The good news is that Jesus is mighty to save, the bad news is that we are sinners in need of saving.

2) The Gospel Changes Everything - from legal justification to real life growth in holiness (sanctification) to supernatural power in spiritual warefare - everything we are, everything we do and everything we hope for is changed by Jesus' work on the cross.

3) The Gospel is the Root of Life - once we embrace the ways that the Gospel has changed us, we find ourselves natrually growing in mission, prayer, community and theological insight. We can preach on any of these, program around these and try to equip people to perform them, but will always fail unless they grow from a foundation of the Gospel. Lovelace compares them to secondary colors - they only exist when the primary colors are blended together. In same way we can only have a good prayer life when we blend out justification, sanctification and spiritual authority.

I. Precondition of Renewal: Preparation for the Gospel

A. Awareness of the holiness of God

i. His Justice

ii. His Love

B. Awareness of the depth of sin

i. In your own life

ii. In your community

II. Primary Elements of Renewal: Depth Presentation of the Gospel

a. Justification: You Are Accepted in Christ

b. Sanctification: You are free from bondage to sin in Christ

c. The Indwelling of the Spirit: You are not alone

d. Authority in Spiritual Conflict: In Christ you have authority

III. Secondary Elements of Renewal: Outworking of the Gospel in the Church’s Life

A. Mission: Following Christ into the world & presenting His gospel

i. In proclamation

ii. In social demonstration

B. Dependant Prayer: Expressing dependence on the power of his Spirit

i. Individually

ii. Corporately

C. Community: Being in union with his body

i. In micro-communities (Small Groups)

ii. In macro-communities (whole church)

D. Disenculturation: Being Freed from cultural blinds

i. Destructive

ii. Protective

E. Theological Integration: Having the mind of Christ

i. Toward revealed truth

ii. Toward your culture

Gospel Renewal in the Church