Getting the Gospel right

I have had many conversations over the years with people about the gospel. And I am often surprised at how people define the gospel. One church did an interview on a Christian College campus asking the students one question.... If someone asked you, “What is the gospel?” what would you tell them? I don’t know what college it was, but the answers to the question were disappointing. Here’s a sampling:

“It’s the word of Christ...”

“The writings of men that have been inspired by God... I guess it’s the Word of God? I don’t know.”

“I don’t think that is a question we know how to answer anymore... I don’t think it’s the most important question, probably...”

“That’s a hard question.”

“It’s what Jesus came here to do... it’s just to show us how much God loves us and how much we should love Him.”

“Good news to a bad world”

I have had similar encounters. When I’ve asked believers, “What is the gospel?” often the responses are inadequate. There may be some truths of the gospel message, but the heart of the message is often insufficiently defined or even lost. So, answers like, “asking Jesus into your heart,” or “believing in Jesus” may have some element of the gospel message in it, but it is not the gospel defined according to Scripture.

As people who love and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, we should know the gospel message well and be sure we get it right when asked. This will aid us immensely, both for our assurance and for our proclamation.

Mark Dever provides an excellent summary of the gospel message in his book, The Deliberate Church. He sums it up in four key words: God, man, Christ, and response. Here is his biblical definition:

“God is our holy Creator and righteous Judge. He created us to glorify Him and enjoy Him forever (Genesis 2:7, 16-17; Matthew 25:31-33). But mankind has rebelled against God by sinning against His holy character and law (Genesis 3:1-7). We’ve all participated in this sinful rebellion, both in Adam as our representative head and in our individual actions (1 Kings 8:46; Romans 3:23; 5:12, 19; Ephesians 2:1-3). As a result, we have alienated ourselves from God and have exposed ourselves to His righteous wrath, which will banish us eternally to hell if we are not forgiven (Ephesians 2:12; John 3:36; Romans 1:18; Matthew 13:50). But God sent Jesus Christ, fully God and fully man, to die the death that we deserved for our sins – the righteous for the unrighteous – so that God might both punish our sin in Christ and forgive it in us (John 1:14; Romans 3:21-26; 5:6-8; Ephesians 2:4-6). The only saving response to this Good News is repentance and belief (Matthew 3:2; 4:17; Mark 1:15; Luke 3:7-9; John 20:31). We must repent of our sins (turn from them and to God) and believe in Jesus Christ for forgiveness of our sins and reconciliation to God.”

My hope is that the gospel becomes so known and precious to us, that we must share it; but when we do call sinners to repentance, we get the gospel right. God, man, Christ, and response – these are essentials to understand and communicate as we tell others of the good news of Jesus Christ.