Evangelism

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At this time in the history of the church we can celebrate that we have unanimously agreed on the core message and content of the gospel! Or perhaps not, says Greg Gilbert in his new book What Is The Gospel? Right from the start he states, “What is the gospel of Jesus Christ? You’d think that would be an easy question to answer, especially for Christians. My sense is that far too many Christians would answer with something far short of what the Bible holds out as ‘the gospel of Jesus Christ’ ” (p. 15). Unfortunately, after all the time the church has had to study the Bible, there is still confusion as to what the core teaching of the gospel is.

Gilbert gives the four-fold outline through which he lays out the gospel:

1. Who made me, and to whom are we accountable? (God)
2. What is our problem? (man)
3. What is God’s solution to that problem? (Christ)
4. How do I come to be included in that salvation? (response)

First, God is the righteous creator. Gilbert rightly contends that if you don’t get God right then you will not get the gospel right. “Everything starts from that point, and like an arrow fired from a badly aimed bow, if you get that point wrong, then everything else that follows will be wrong too (p. 40).” Since God has created us He has the right to tell us how to live.