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The Gospel in Brief:
Every Christian, who has served the Lord for any amount of time, ought to be able to give a brief and to-the-point summary of the Gospel. Here is how I would give such a summary:
- A revelation has gone out from God in heaven to every man and woman on the face of the earth. This message bears the most critical information that could ever enter into the life of an individual.
- Before we go one step further we must respond to what is certain to be the reaction of some – What is the basis for such a claim? Why would I believe such a thing? To this I respond that a compassionate and gracious God has given us a written record of this revelation in a book called the Bible. This book is unique amongst all of the writings of the human race, and its veracity is attested on many different levels. But the most important testimony to the reliability of this written record – called the Bible or Scripture – comes from the Spirit of God who stirs deep within individuals to convey to them directly a confidence in the message of the Gospel which the Bible presents. Scripture refers to this as “hearing” the Word of God and “seeing” the kingdom of God. The Spirit of God chooses to convey this ability to “hear” and “see” to whomsoever He will. Scripture also exhorts and warns human beings to respond to the Gospel in the following Words, “If today you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.” In other words, it is the most precious gift of all time to receive this call of God. If you receive this gift, open your heart to God and respond to Him – do not miss this divine invitation. It may not ever come again.
- The first thing that we understand from this revelation of God called the Gospel has to do with the nature of God. The Almighty, we are told, is a holy and just God. He is awesome and glorious; He is high and lifted up; His is incomprehensible and unapproachable for human beings. He is all-powerful, everywhere present, all-knowing, without beginning or end, complete in Himself and needing nothing. God, we learn, is one yet He exists, in three persons – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Father is distinct but not separate from the Son. The Spirit is distinct, but not separate from the Father and the Son. God, we learn, is also holy beyond all that we can imagine, and He is perfectly just, and He is sovereign Lord over all that exists. He is Creator and Lord and nothing occurs in His universe that has not been ordained by His sovereign will. God, we also learn is compassionate and kind – slow to anger and quick to forgive.
- The next thing that we are taught from this revelation called the Gospel is that all of mankind – without exception – is depraved and corrupt beyond all hope of reform. Every single child born of man inherits a nature which opposes goodness and light and which seeks to suppress the truth and to deny his or her Creator the honour and the obedience which is His due. This pollution and corruption of the human soul is called “death” in the Bible. All human beings are declared to be “dead in their trespasses and sins”. Not only are they unable to hear and understand God’s Word, but they actively and vigorously oppose the light of truth. Both individually and collectively they seek to usurp God’s Lordship, and to establish an existence which is independent from their Creator. They are incapable of seeking or even desiring to seek a true knowledge of the living God.
- In His holiness and justice God has sat in judgment over His creation and has ruled that all who have joined Satan’s rebellion against the Most High and His kingdom will be cast into a place of eternal suffering. In the Gospel it is revealed to us that this judgment includes every single human being born of man. We learn in the Gospel that justice demands eternal punishment for our sin, and no initiative of our own can save us from this judgment. We are told in the most unmistakable language that in our very nature we are rebels and that we are hopelessly enslaved to the rebel angel Satan who has made himself the eternal enemy of the glorious God. Human beings do not like to hear this, and there are even many who profess Christ who scoff at this revelation – but this is what the Gospel reveals. To reject this is to reject the Scriptures. Humanity is evil in its very essence, is bound over to the wrath of God, and there is nothing in man which will even desire to be reconciled to God.
- The Gospel is above all else, though, a proclamation of the compassion and kindness of a loving God who has taken upon Himself the sins of His creatures in order to restore them to righteousness and bring them back into relationship with Himself. Through all eternity God will be worshipped and glorified by a great multitude of people whose sins He bore Himself and whom he has adopted as His own dear children. God the Father chose this company of people before the world was created. Jesus Christ – God the Son – took upon himself the nature of humanity and took from the Father’s hand the wrath owing to this great company of people, and He drank it to this last dregs. Justice is satisfied for each and every one of these, and God has received them to Himself. Who are these ones? They are the people whom God the Spirit will call through the proclamation of the Gospel. When the Gospel is declared there will be born in the hearts of God’s chosen ones a faith and a confidence that this Gospel is indeed the very Word of the living God and that they – even they – may come to Christ and be delivered from certain judgment through His sacrifice. Only these ones will come to Christ; every one of them will come to Christ; and all of them will be saved to the uttermost. This is the “good news” of the Gospel.
- Those who have heard the Gospel and who have come to Christ in spirit and in truth have done so because their very nature has been changed by the Holy Spirit. By this new nature – which is called being “born again” or becoming a “new creation in Christ Jesus” or being given a “heart of flesh” – these chosen ones believe the Gospel and become disciples of the Lord Christ. They have changed their allegiance from the “god of this world” to the Lord Jesus Christ, and they have counted the Lord Jesus Christ as more precious to them than life itself. Thus, these ones express their new natures in every aspect of their lives as they follow their Lord. They are sealed by the Holy Spirit with a “down payment” or guarantee of their eternal inheritance and this same Holy Spirit works in each one of them to conform them more and more into the nature of Jesus Christ their Saviour and Lord. This is the fruit of the Gospel, and this fruit is possible only for those who are the chosen of God who have become “new creations in Christ Jesus”.
Foundation
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, Ephesians 2:19-20
In the series of essays that follows we will deal with each of these aspects of the Gospel – the Word of God, the nature of the Lord God, the nature of fallen humanity, the certain judgment for all who are not “in Christ Jesus”, the “good news” of the Gospel, and discipleship - the inevitable fruit of true conversion. Our guide – the foundation we stand upon for all that we declare - is the Bible, which is called the “prophets and the Apostles” in the passage cited above. The Bible is made up of the Jewish “Tanach” or Protestant Old Testament, and the New Testament. The Old Testament consists of 39 books and the New Testament 27 books for a total of 66 books written under the direct guidance of the Holy Spirit by about 50 men over a period of approximately 1,500 years. Scripture is the final Word on all matters, and so our prayer is that God will help us to understand it and to be faithful to its meaning.
We also take into account a most important aid in our unfolding of the Scriptures – we listen to the teaching of the “giants of the faith” as they unfold the Word of God to us. Amongst these men I include Augustine, Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Owen and the Puritans and Jonathan Edwards. There are other men who are more current, who walk in harmony with these giants, and who provide great assistance to us in properly understanding the Bible. The list of these men is far too long to give here, but it includes Charles Spurgeon, Benjamin Warfield, Cornelius Van Til, John Murray, and Martyn Lloyd-Jones. These, again, are true teachers of the Word of God who follow in the footsteps of the giants of the faith. Finally, to these I would add John Piper and John McCarthur from 21st Century leaders. My purpose for listing these teachers is to give a framework for my doctrine and to provide what I consider a safe guide for others who wish to diligently study the Word of God. There are many others, but these men, I believe, are proven and are to be trusted and honoured – and heard.
When I first committed myself to study the foundations of the faith, the looming question was just this, 'What, or who, can I trust?' The attack on the Bible has been so relentless for hundreds of years now that I wondered how I was to regard the Scriptures. Furthermore, there are so, so many voices claiming to speak for Christianity that one is dazed and confused when trying to discern how to separate that voice which represents the truth from that which will lead into deception. I know now that I was lead by a most gracious Holy Spirit over this time. Furthermore, I am now quite certain that men and women do not have a chance of finding the truth unless the Holy Spirit of God undertakes for them. It is simply not possible to discern right from wrong without divine guidance every step of the way.
There is also, however, one most critical truth here that is often confused by those who preach and teach in the name of Christ. The truth is that I would not - could not - even desire to seek and obey God unless it were given to me from God Himself. Scripture teaches most clearly and most persistently that lost humanity is "dead in trespasses and sins" and is utterly incapable of perceiving the kingdom of God or even desiring God or His truth. There are many people, indeed many millions of people, of course, who desire a god of their own invention, or one of the countless gods put forth by false religions which seem so 'right' to so many. But only those who have been given eyes to see, and ears to hear, and a "heart of flesh" will desire the true God and His kingdom. It is the one who is alive in Christ, who has given himself or herself to follow Him and to obey the Scriptures, who will discover that:
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Psalms 119:105
So if someone asks ‘Who can I trust’, the direct and disturbing answer is, 'You can't trust anyone. AND MOST CERTAINLY, YOU CANNOT TRUST YOURSELF.' As much as I hate to admit it, my human nature gravitates toward the lie and away from the light. The great American theologian, Jonathan Edwards, cautioned Christians to “by no means trust yourself”. This is true for those who resist the Gospel and refuse to honour God, but it is also true for Christians. The difference is that Christians have a relationship with God – they are at peace with, and in relationship with God. Therefore, the Holy Spirit will guide them. Nevertheless, Christians must learn to entrust themselves to the Scriptures rather than to their own reason. This may sound simple, but in reality it takes a lifetime to develop this trust. We are all very strongly inclined to trust ourselves and our own understanding, and we are inclined to impose our view of things on the Scriptures, rather than submit our reason to the Word of God.
This is where the work of the teachers of the Church comes into play. The Apostles were commissioned by the Lord to write the New Testament which forms the foundation for the faith. And the New Testament is the fulfillment of the Old testament. As Augustine pointed out, the New testament is hidden in the Old Testament, and the Old Testament is explained in the New. After the time of the Apostles, the Lord has given to His Church key men who were appointed to guide His Church in the understanding of the Scriptures. These men do not have the sane authority as the Apostles. They are not to add to or take away from the sacred writings. Rather, they are to help God’s people to understand these writings. And the Holy Spirit testifies to their work. Thus, when I read the work of Martin Luther and see how he unfolds the truth of justification by faith alone from the Letter to the Romans, I say ‘Of course! This is obvious. How could I have missed it?’
Those who are not thoroughly familiar with the work of the “giants “of the faith are not qualified to hold the office of teacher in the Church of Jesus Christ. They may serve as undershepherds assisting in the leading of God’s people, but they are not qualified to hold the office of teacher, and they should not be teaching God’s people except under the authority of a gifted and competent teacher. Unfortunately, as we have already said, these days there are few indeed who are qualified to teach God’s people. Those who say ‘I just read the Bible and God shows me what it means’ may be charming and engaging – but they are not teachers. Such was I for many years, and such were many of my friends and teachers. I am now embarrassed by such arrogance. It is lawlessness and it has caused great mischief in the Church of Jesus Christ.
Scripture then is our foundation, and the great teachers whom God has given to His Church are our guides. We do not ascribe to these teachers the stature of Apostle – those who wrote the New Testament – nor do we raise them above Scripture, but we listen carefully to their teaching. Without their help we will have a very defective understanding of the faith. This is why the Holy Spirit has created the office of teacher in the Church. Few Christians realize how indebted we are to the giants who have served God over the centuries in defining and teaching the great doctrines of the faith.
At the outset of this discussion I would say a word to those who have professed Christ for some time – perhaps for a long time – but who still feel that there is something missing. For those who have truly come to Christ and have placed their lives under His lordship and trusted Him to save them, I would suggest that what is missing is most likely one of two things. First, every Christian should seek to be filled with the Holy Spirit. We are commanded in the Bible to do so, and it is essential to our joy and growth that we obey. All who belong to Christ have the Holy Spirit residing within them, but we should continually be seeking a new “infilling” or “immersion” in the Holy Spirit. The second thing that could be missing is a diligent review of the Scriptures to become established in the foundations of the faith. This is the foundation that I did not have for many years. These days, as I’ve said, true teachers who can establish the saints in these foundations are few and far between.
Most of us have been taught by men who were not qualified to hold the office of teacher. Therefore we have many wrong ideas about the teaching of the Bible. I was appalled when I finally realized how wrong I was about many important issues of the faith. But the key thing I had to learn was to trust the Word of God rather than my own reason. The great 19th Century man of faith, George Muller, relates a very helpful incident in this regard. He was a young pastor who was a true disciple of Christ and seeking to obey God in all things when an elderly woman challenged him to rethink his Scriptural understanding of the doctrine of predestination. Muller dismissed this old lady a number of times, thinking that he was fully aware of the Bible’s teaching on this topic. Finally, because she was so persistent, he agreed to go through the New Testament and review the passages on this topic.
When Muller began his task he was astounded to see how right the lady was and how wrong he had been concerning the teaching of the Bible on this topic. Again and again the New Testament pronounced clearly on this issue, and the arguments Muller had raised in his mind against it based on other passages were quite easily resolved. Moreover, he found that the doctrine he had treated so carelessly was taught consistently from Genesis to Revelation. Muller vowed then and there never to assume that his understanding was correct, but to continually test it against the Scriptures. Thus, he became the great benefactor to thousands upon thousands of orphans simply by receiving the Word of God as truth and trusting it above his own faulty human reason.
Joy Unspeakable and Full of Glory
Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. 1 Peter 1:8-9 KJV
Wherever the Spirit of God is stirring souls and bringing people to salvation in Christ Jesus the inevitable effect within the Church and amongst those newborn in the faith is “joy unspeakable and full of glory”. Even in the midst of suffering, even in the midst of much difficulty the Gospel always brings an overwhelming joy with it. In the Letter to the Romans, which has been called ‘Christianity 101’, the Apostle Paul outlines the terrible state of lost humanity in the first several chapters, but as soon as he enters fully into a discussion of the Gospel, he begins to reflect on “rejoicing in hope” and even “rejoicing in suffering” (Romans 5:1-3). Joy fills the soul of the saints, when they first experience peace with God, and that joy accompanies them for the rest of their pilgrimage in this life.
When my wife and I first came to Christ along with few others we spent hour upon hour, day upon day, week upon week rejoicing in the blessings that had come to us. Our experience was similar to that of the man in Jesus’ parable about the field with the hidden the treasure:
"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Matthew 13:44
The man “with joy” sells all he has to buy the field. We would not have considered any price too much to “buy that field”. Of course one cannot buy anything from God but one receives all as a free gift, and then one must let go of the fake treasure in order to cling to the real. As the Christian begins to mature the Holy Spirit brings him or her through much difficulty and through many trials and testings to refine their faith and to teach the saint to trust God and not themselves. There are times when, like Job what we experience certainly doesn’t feel like joy! But the joy always returns, and what is more wonderful, it deepens and becomes a more pure joy as our relationship with Christ deepens and our trust in Him grows.
In the discussion ahead there are many serious and heavy topics to explore. It is necessary – absolutely necessary - for us to deal with issues such as the total depravity of all humans, the enmity of the world, and the perils of false shepherds and false brethren. But let us not allow these necessary discussions to overshadow the great and wonderful joy that comes to those whom Christ has delivered from death into life. This joy will never leave us. As Paul said, even in our sufferings we rejoice – we just can’t help it. Christ – the treasure hidden in the field – simply fills our very being with His light and His grace and His life. We find ourselves rejoicing even in our tears, because the treasure is ours and it will never be taken from us.
… I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. John 16:22
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