How important is the Gospel to you in sermons you preach or hear preached? To Paul it was very important. He said in I Corinthians 2:2 "For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified." To Paul the Gospel was the main thrust. His message was the Gospel of Jesus Christ and nothing more.
The Gospel is what we need in both salvation and sanctification. True conformity to the image of Christ comes not when we are holy by will power, but when we believe by faith that God has declared us just and we begin to live like it. It all centers around the Gospel. If sanctification is not in light of Christ's finished work then we will create Christians who are either proud of their accomplishments or depressed for their lack of.
If our view of salvation has a distorted representation of the Gospel, the error can easily seen. We will see our need to be saved from failure, a bad marriage, or an undesirable background and turn the message of the cross into "your best life now." Preaching should always lead to the cross. I think it was Spurgeon who challenged someone to give him any text and he said he would make a shot right to the cross. In light of this, there is a question we should ask in every sermon and that is would this be true without the cross. Would what is being said be possible without the death of Jesus. If the answer is no, our presentation of the Gospel is probably clear. If the answer is yes, then we are preaching a message of legalism, because we are avoiding the cross in our attempt at righteousness.
We need men of God today who hold the Gospel in high view and who understand it's need in all of life. Preach the cross.
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