What
is the Gospel?
Historic Christianity is about something that
happened. What happened is often referred to
as the gospel and is what distinguishes historic
Christianity from the other religions of the
world. The gospel is news of such great historical
importance (such as victory in war or the ascension
of the king) that everything is changed for the
listener in such a way that the listener must
respond. The historic Christian gospel is that
Jesus is LORD; God come in flesh to renew and
restore the broken world in which we live and
to which we contribute our own brokenness. It
is the life changing good news of what God has
done in history to reach us. It is not news about
what we must do to reach God. The Christian is
one who has recognized the Lordship of Jesus
and is endeavoring to respond to that great change
in his/ her life.
God has pierced through the universe in the
person of Jesus Christ to achieve this salvation
that we could not otherwise achieve for ourselves.
It truly is good news because it both converts
and transforms individuals, forming them into
a new humanity and community and, eventually,
will renew all creation. Why is this good news
important? The gospel is important because it
is
• The good news of gracious acceptance
• It is the good news of changed lives
• It is the good news of a new world coming.
These three points provide three perspectives on
the gospel. The first stresses the news that Jesus
Christ died and rose of our salvation in history.
The second stresses the personal impact provided
by transforming grace of the gospel, changing our
hearts and innermost motives. The third point stresses
the social impact of the gospel, the new order
in which believers will no longer be controlled
by material goods or worldly status but be driven
by the desire to love their God with all their
might and to love their neighbor as themselves.
The gospel is the dynamic for heart-change,
life-change and social-change. This change will
not happen through “trying harder” but
only through encountering the radical grace of
God.
Keep reading> Centrality
of the Gospel
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