What Is the Irreducible Minimum When Sharing the Gospel?

Like a diamond, the gospel glistens with a myriad of facets. The good news of salvation through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:3-4) not only saves from hell but also delivers from the power of sin in daily life (Romans 6:1-8:14). What’s more, the gospel is our hope for the future when salvation is complete. When Jesus returns, all who trust in Him alone for salvation become like Him, sinless forever (Romans 8:29-30). The depth and wonder of the gospel takes centuries to explore and fills entire libraries. Why would we want to pare it down to an irreducible minimum?

While studying the gospel and its blessings can take a lifetime, sharing the gospel should not. How do we know what we must say when sharing the gospel so that those who hear us understand enough to be saved? How do we know if we are saying too little? What details are wonderful to know but are better left for later in a person’s spiritual growth after they have believed on Jesus Christ?

Listed below is an attempt to summarize the irreducible minimum of the gospel. Depending on the background of the person with whom you are sharing the gospel, you may need to explain more than this at certain points. However, if you say less, you do not have the gospel.

1. What You Must Share About God

• God is the creator of all, including you (Genesis 1:1).
• God’s character is perfect, including His love and holiness (John 3:16; 1 Samuel 2:2).

2. What You Must Share About Humans

• All have sinned, including you (Romans 3:23; James 2:10).
• Define sin from Scripture (Isaiah 53:6; 1 John 5:17; James 4:17).
• Sin must be punished by a holy God and that punishment is eternity in hell (Matthew 25:46; John 3:36).
• No one can save themselves (Ephesians 2:8-9).

3. What You Must Share About Jesus Christ

• Jesus is God in the flesh (John 1:1-3, 14).
• Jesus took your punishment for your sin when He died on the cross (1 Peter 3:18; 2 Corinthians 5:21).
• Jesus shed His blood to provide forgiveness for sin (Hebrews 9:22) and to satisfy God’s righteous wrath (1 John 2:2).
• Jesus rose again proving His power to save (1 Corinthians 15:3-5).

4. What You Must Share About the Way of Salvation

• Jesus is the only way to God and salvation (John 14:6; Acts 4:12).
• No person, church, or pattern of good works can save. Every person must repent, admitting their sin and inability to save themselves (Titus 3:5).
• Salvation only comes by grace through faith alone in Jesus’ death and resurrection in your place (Acts 16:31).
• Those who truly believe on Jesus become a new creation in Christ. Like with good works, change comes after salvation, not as a condition for salvation (2 Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 2:10).

Conclusion: The Irreducible Minimum and the Wordless Book

Much more could be said about the gospel. But if you say less than this, you do not have the gospel. If you know these basic facts of the gospel well, you can be clear and confident when you share it with others.

The Wordless Book provides a memorable outline for the irreducible minimum of the gospel message.

1. The gold page focuses on who God is.
2. The dark page shows the condition and plight of sinful humankind.
3. The red page reveals how Jesus came, died, and rose to save from sin.
4. The clean page contains the way of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ alone. Even the green cover of the Wordless Book factors in, as we share about the growth and change that occurs as a result of Jesus’ work in a new believer.

The Wordless Book is a tool. It helps us remember the irreducible minimum of the gospel.

But this minimum is the starting place. Gospel conversations spring from ongoing relationships. People must not only hear truth but see it lived (1 Thessalonians 1:5). The Holy Spirit must convict of sin (John 16:8). The Word of God changes hearts (Romans 10:17).

Know the gospel. Share it well. The gospel is the power of God to salvation to all who believe (Romans 1:16).*

*For an example of what this looks like, the introduction of each of my missions devotionals has a summary of the gospel that includes this irreducible minimum of the gospel (www.mrconrad.net).