Category Archives: Gospel

What is the gospel?

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The biblical idea of ‘gospel’ has its roots in Isa 40-66, where in the Septuagint translation the Greek word euangelizomai (to bring good news) is used of the message of Jerusalem’s deliverance from bondage and the wider deliverance of the oppressed.

Isa 61:1-2 provided the text for Jesus’ first preaching at Nazareth (Lk 4:17-21), in which he declared the this Scripture had been fulfilled in him.  The ‘gospel of the kingdom’ is elaborated in the parables, which speak of God’s mercy towards the undeserving.…

The Gospel according to Tom Wright

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One of the more controversial aspects of the teaching of Bishop Tom Wright is his understanding of the Christian gospel, and of the task of proclaiming that gospel.

He notes that much ‘evangelism’ has consisted of

‘taking the traditional framework of heaven-and-hell expectation and persuading people that it’s time they considered the ‘heaven’ option and grabbed it which they had the chance.  What’s stopping them getting there is sin; the solution is provided in Jesus Christ; all they have to do is to accept it!’

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The authority of the gospel

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James Denney (1856-1917) was a Scottish theologian.  In a day when liberalism was highly influential, he stressed the authority of the gospel of Christ, as the following quote shows:-

‘There is that in the Gospel with which no one is allowed to argue. All we can do is believe or disbelieve; to give it in our life the place of the final reality to which everything else must give way, or to refuse it that place.…

The Gospel is about what God has done, not what we do

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In the April 2009 edition of the journal Themelios, D.A. Carson ponders the meaning of the word ‘Gospel’.

We must distinguish between what God has done, Carson argues, and what we must do as a response to that.  But only the first of these can properly called ‘the gospel’.

‘If the gospel is the (good) news about what God has done in Christ Jesus, there is ample place for including under “the gospel” the ways in which the kingdom has dawned and is coming, for tying this kingdom to Jesus’ death and resurrection, for demonstrating that the purpose of what God has done is to reconcile sinners to himself and finally to bring under one head a renovated and transformed new heaven and new earth, for talking about God’s gift of the Holy Spirit, consequent upon Christ’s resurrection and ascension to the right hand of the Majesty on high, and above all for focusing attention on what Paul (and others—though the language I’m using here reflects Paul) sees as the matter “of first importance”: Christ crucified.

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No doctrine, please, we’re Greenbelt

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The Greenbelt Festival, to be held on 28th-31st August, has raised eyebrows because of its invitation to Bishop Gene Robinson to speak.

According to its mission statement, ‘Greenbelt is an independent Christian charity working to express love, creativity and justice in the arts and contemporary culture in the light of the Christian gospel.’

As a distant observer, I am scarcely qualified to comment on Greenbelt’s faithfulness to ‘the Christian gospel’.  After all, we are reminded: ‘you’ll never really ‘get it’ until you come along.’…

1 Cor 15:1-11 – The most important thing in the world – sermon notes

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One of life’s minor frustrations is over-hearing other people’s phone conversations and trying to work out what is going on:

Hi Paul, how are you?
Oh no, when did that happen?
Oh you poor thing. So where is it now?
About 1, you say. Ok, I’ll leave it under the rabbit hutch.

Reading Paul’s 1st Letter to the Corinthians is a bit like listening to one side of a phone conversation. The apostle spends much of his time dealing with problems and answering questions that have been raised by the people at the other end of the line – the Christians in Corinth.…

We must preach Jesus

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Jared Wilson has a post in which he outlines the ways in which Christians generally, and preachers in particular, can leave Jesus out of our message.  To summarise:-

1.  We speak in vague spiritual generalities.  We talk about love, joy, hope, peace, blessings, but divorced from Christ himself as the incarnate, crucified and risen Saviour and Lord.  Our message is pleasant and up-beat; inspirational, even.  But, separated from Christ, who is himself our joy, our hope, our peace and so on, it’s rubbish.…

The Gospel – its content and communication

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J.I. Packer explores this topic with cross-cultural evangelism in mind.  Here’s a summary.

1. Three preliminary thoughts

(a) The communication of the gospel must be determined by its content

The content includes a diagnosis of the human condition, value-judgments on the life that is, and the life that might be, lived, and a call to respond in radical commitment.  Now this content must be verbalised, and it must be preached (i.e. explained and applied).  Such media as instrumental music, pictures, sculpture, or dance may reinforce the message, but only preaching can communicate it. …

The Emerging Church in its own words 2

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Chapter 3 of Emerging Churches: creating Christian community in postmodern cultures, by Gibbs & Bolger, is entitled, ‘Identifying with Jesus’.

Here are some extracts.

What would Jesus do on a Sunday?

‘I read the Gospels over and over.  Nothing I was doing on Sunday was what I thought Jesus would be doing if he were here.’  (Joe Boyd)

The kingdom emphasis

‘It is strange how the church for so long missed the kingdom emphasis in the witness of the authors of the Gospels. …

How the emerging church marginalises the gospel

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For emerging church people, Jesus’ message of kingdom tends to be all about what God is doing here and now.  It is about peace, justice, and compassion.  The gospel is an invitation to participate with God in this mission.

Participating in God’s kingdom is not about change in status (unsaved to saved), or about affirming certain doctrines.  It is about following the example of Jesus as the best way to live.

The problem with this understanding of the kingdom is not in what in affirms but in what it denies or marginalises. …