Nothing… that's what you and I contribute to the Gospel… Nothing at all.
That's what makes it Good news. Everything that needed to be said and done, has - in Christ Jesus - been said and done for you, gratis...
free of charge,
without warrant,
without merit,
without condition;
Yet, with love,
With compassion,
With mercy,
With forgiveness.
You cannot add to this Gospel, for it is a Gospel of Grace. If this Gospel of Grace could be earnt or merited in some way, if we could somehow place God in our debt by our good deeds, by our faith, by our vain attempts at self-justification, by our sincere striving to prove our worth… if we could do any of that, it would cease to be a gospel founded on grace which is really no gospel at all. For grace is a gift, a benefaction of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Loving Father of Jesus. And this God who gifts, does so without distinction. This God is “no respecter of persons” (Acts 10:34) but gives His gift of grace to all regardless of status, gender, class, race, and regardless of the condition of our hearts, whether they be hard or contrite, whether we have faith or not, whether we believe or not, whether we repent or not… To that God says a firm “No.” He instead says to you,
While you were still in bondage to sin, I died for you.
Even while you betrayed me, even while you denied me, even while spat in my face and cursed me, even while you pinned me up like an animal to die… I came to set you free, to redeem you, to restore you.
Without this gracious gift, the Gospel is null and void. You cannot add to it. You do not somehow make it more real by believing it, or having faith, or repenting, it is real and effective regardless of what you do. That is why it is utterly scandalous! And yet, that is also why it is very good news for sinners. You contribute nothing to the Gospel.
The Gospel + anything else = nothing.
And, therefore…
The Gospel - any part of it = nothing.
Just as you cannot add to it, you also cannot take away from it. The Gospel of Grace is not simply an abstract principle, it is a story. But not a story that we have plucked out of obscurity. It is not a fantasy. It is a story which takes place in time. It is story revolving around a particular historical event, with real people, in the real world. Jesus was Mary’s Son and Pilate’s victim. Being an event and a story that unfolds in time, means the Gospel of Grace is irrevocable. What's done is done. It cannot be changed. You cannot climb up onto the cross, remove the nails, and just before his last breath is taken remove his body from the accursed tree and nurse Him back to health. Just as you cannot camp out at the tomb and prevent the stone from being removed.
The Gospel of Grace is as indelible as it is irrevocable. It is a story that cannot be untold. It has been indelibly inscribed by the finger of God onto the great tablets of time and space.
You cannot subtract any part of this story for it is already written, and it was written long before the foundation of the world, long before you had any say in the matter, before the fact… It was written long before you turned your to heart to Christ, and long before you turned your back on Him. Long before you repented, and long before you succumbed to that same pattern of giving into the lust of Sin’s power. Long before you loved, and long before you sinned, God had in mind to create, restore, and redeem you.
The Gospel + nothing else = everything.
And this is where the Gospel is also bad news for you. It's not bad news because, as other false gospels make out, it is “given” to you at gunpoint. The Gospel of Grace does not come as a veiled threat of damnation. God gives no damns other than to Sin and it's distortion. It is not an “accept this… or else…” - that's simply a fearmongering “Gospel” which turns your faith into a “work of the law.”
Besides, the Gospel of Grace is not based on your faith but Christ's. As the Apostle Paul puts it,
We know that a person is justified not by the works of the law but through the faith of Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by the faith of Christ and not by doing the works of the law, because no one will be justified by the works of the law.
Galatians 2:16 NRSVUE
No, the Gospel of Grace is bad news because you cannot undo it, because you cannot prevent it, because you cannot add to it or take away from it… because,
you have no power to control it.
The Gospel of Grace has stripped you of whatever power you thought you had. The Gospel of Grace has liberated you from whatever power Sin, Death, and the Devil had over you.
What you can do then… is nothing… so you might as well accept it.
Accept it and if you so wish, respond to it… not because you need to, but because you can, because the Gospel has freed you to do so.