The Beauty of the 5R's Gospel Presentation

  

 

"For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek." ... It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes--the Jew first and also the Gentile." - Romans 1:16

It is safe to say that the Gospel is the very heart of Christianity. To go one step further, it is the embodiment, epitome, and essence of Christianity. It is the means of God in saving the poor helpless sinners who cannot even lift their fingers to save themselves from their sins. Take the Gospel away and you don't have Christianity. A noted theologian by the name of Timothy Keller said, "All theology must be nothing less than an exposition of the Gospel." I would certainly agree with that. All important things of Christianity come together in this one word, Gospel. 

There is a lot of Gospel proclamation in our days now, but oftentimes with all of the Gospel proclamation, there is not much of a Gospel out there. In this modern world where many so-called "preachers" introducing the people to so many versions of the Gospel, not that there is another Gospel, but there are those who distort, twist, and create another Gospel that is not found in the Scriptures to please themselves. This is indeed tragic for a true Christian who realizes the need and essentiality to present the Gospel accurately. A Christian cannot be right in all his doctrines, there will never be one in this world. Now, you can be wrong with anything, but if you're wrong on the Gospel, you are definitely in trouble. 

Therefore, what we are going to look at now will help us understand the pure Gospel according to the whole testimony of the Scriptures. A good friend of mine, Kyle Quevedo, who is currently a pastor of Christ Alone Redeems Eternally Church, created a Gospel presentation which I believe is an accurate representation of the biblical Gospel. He called it "5R's Gospel."

What is the 5R's Gospel? Why the 5R's Gospel? 

The 5R's is just another Gospel Presentation that aims to present the gospel clearly by emphasizing our condition and need for a Savior. How God in His goodness saves His people, and how we ought to respond to the goodness of God. It's not a formula. The 5R's are a set of biblical truths that if explained clearly, could clarify the Gospel to everyone. 

1. Rebellion

The first R is about Man's Rebellion against God. We call it sin. Sin is not just the small things that we are told not to do but our willful disobedience to the Lord of all creation who designed everything according to His wisdom. 

Sin is rebellion against God in the sense that when God said not to eat of the fruit, Adam and Eve chose to eat. In the same way, we are also guilty of doing the things we want to do above the things that God wants us to do. To personally reflect, in our lives, who calls the shots? 

2. Ruin

The second R is about our Ruin. Since we have rebelled against the Holy and Just God, we have incurred His wrath upon us. We became enemies of God because of our Rebellion and we are now separated from His presence. As a result, we live a life that we are not designed to live in. We are trying to live as gods calling the shots, but we do not have an absolute control over what would happen to us. Thus living a meaningless unfulfilled life, that only awaits for the day of Judgment. What's worse? We have no ability to escape this predicament. We are in utter ruin. 

3. Redeemer

The third R is about our HOPE. Since we are in utter Ruin, and our Rebelliousness cannot be cured by our own strength. We need someone from outside ourselves to save us from our wretchedness. God in His goodness sent a Savior for His people. He took the punishment that was supposed to be for them and gave them the perfect standing with the Father that He has. This Savior is Jesus and He will save His people from their sins. 

4. Repentance

The fourth R is about our response to the goodness of God. A person who understood his rebellion and utter Ruin will be desperate for the Redeemer. The person who understood what the Redeemer has done for him would be filled with thanksgiving and respond with Repentance. 

Repentance means turning away from our sins and turning to God. Since our ultimate sin is Rebelling against God, true Repentance would be a surrendered life under the leadership of God. A true repentant sinner would pray that his life should be lived under the sovereign rule of God. 

5. Reconciliation 

The fifth R is about the person's status after Repenting of his sins and offering his life to the Lord. He is no longer a Rebel but a child of God who is Reconciled to Him because of what the Redeemer has done. A person who is Reconciled to the Lord will live his life in thanksgiving doing everything for God's glory. From now on, no longer separated from God but enjoying His fellowship.

Rebellion. Ruin. Redeemer. Repentance. Reconciliation. One cannot replace the other. One cannot exist without the other. Either you have it all or you don't.

Now Why 5R's? 

The 5R's Gospel Presentation is a framework that explains the Gospel; how a Rebellious creature can be Reconciled to God, which the Bible answers that is only possible through the ministry of a Redeemer. 

1. Without teaching sin as Rebellion, we would look at sin as our offense against our neighbors but not our offense against the holy God. Sin is first and foremost our offense, transgression, and crime committed against God who is the only One who should determine what is good and not. Without understanding that a sin is an act of rebelling against God we would try to define our own good and not good as we see it fit, and our lives being comfortable by thinking of ourselves that we are okay because we are good (in our own eyes). 

2. Without teaching that our Ruin is just the natural consequence of our Rebellion, the fires of Hell and the wrath of God and the miserable life would all be seen as our main problem. Thus we can hear preachings that are based on fear. While it is true that there is Hell, and we deserve the wrath of God, and a life without God is meaningless, we need to be clear that this is just a consequence of our separation from God because of our Rebellion. Our main problem then is that we are separated from God and our hope is to be Reconciled to Him. So, if we are separated from God because of our Rebellion, we should also understand that we cannot make our own way to be Reconciled to Him. 

3. Without teaching the Redeemer, all our efforts are in vain. Since we are in a state of continuous Rebellion against God, and daily we sin and commit a crime against His holiness. We cannot be reconciled to God based on our efforts. Our best will never be enough to meet the standards of the living God. We need a perfect Savior who could meet the demands of God to restore us to what we have lost. Without clarifying that we need a Redeemer, we have no hope for we cannot put our hope in our own efforts. 

4. Without teaching Repentance, without clarifying the need for Repentance, we would be guilty of presenting a gospel that requires no self-denial or surrender. We would miss the whole point of why we are sharing the Gospel. We are separated from God because of our Rebelliousness. We need to understand that we need to stop rebelling against God and live a life under His leadership that is only possible if we have received forgiveness from Him in Christ who is our Redeemer. Repentance is our response to the grace of God and is the fruit of understanding His goodness to His people. Without understanding repentance correctly, we could be just a group of people who think that are saved but are not really saved. 

5. Without teaching the Reconciliation, some would think that the Gospel is just about going to heaven when we die. But we must understand that the reason why God sent His people a Redeemer because He wants His people to enjoy His fellowship that was destroyed by sin. God wants to cure His people of their Rebelliousness so that they could enjoy a life that is Reconciled to Him from the moment of their faith to eternity. Reconciliation highlights that the life a believer now lives is no longer his but should be lived for God to whom he belongs because he is purchased by the blood of the Redeemer. This is the comfort of the believer, his life now belongs to God and he can be confident that God is with him as he is now in Christ. 

This is the Beauty of the 5R's Gospel Presentation. It exalts Christ and humbles sinners, as every Gospel Presentation should. It gives us a higher view of God and a lower view of ourselves. Furthermore, it offers us a deeper view of the Gospel. 

Finally, let me leave you with this one solemn question that deserves a serious answer: My dear friends, do you know the Gospel?