Here is an excellent summary on what the gospel message is from D. A. Carson:

http://theologica.blogspot.com/2007/05/carson-what-is-gospel.html

As John Stott says, “The gospel is not preached unless Christ is preached”

Stan

Here is the summary of eight basic points:

. The gospel is Christological. It is Christ-centered. Not a bland theism or an impersonal pantheism; it’s irrevocably Christ-centered. “The gospel is not preached if Christ is not preached” (Stott). The gospel embraces not just Christ’s person, but also his death and resurrection. It’s not enough to emphasize Christmas and downplay Good Friday and Easter. Jesus is the promised messiah who died and rose again.

2. The gospel is theological. It makes no sent to pit the mission of the Son against the mission of the Father. Some surveys of redemptive history depersonalize the wrath of God. From the beginning sin has been an offense against God. When we sin in any way, God is invariably the most offended party (cf. Ps. 51:4). God gets most angry at idolatry, the de-Godding of God.

3. The gospel is biblical. Christ died, buried, was raised--"according to the Scriptures” (cf. Luke 24; Ps. 16; Isa. 53; Ps. 2).

4. The gospel is apostolic. There were 500+ witnesses, but attention is drawn in particular to the apostles.

5. The gospel is historical. The burial (death) and appearances (resurrection) are historical, in datable sequence. They combine to form a nexus. The claims are irreducibly historical. In other religions, there is nothing intrinsic in the leader that is required for its truth. But for Christianity, part of the validation of faith is the truthfulness of faith’s object--in this case, Christ’s resurrection. The Bible never asks us to believe anything that’s not true.

6. The gospel is personal. The gospel is not merely a historical event, but also sets out a way of personal salvation.

7. The gospel is universal. Christ is the new Adam (vv. 22, 47-50). There is a comprehensive vision, drawing people from every tribe, tongue, and nation. It does not save every person, but it is gloriously universal in its comprehensive sweep.

8. The gospel is eschatological. Some of the blessings we receive now are end-time blessings brought back into today. But there is also a final transformation. All of the fruit of the gospel will appear in the new heavens and the new earth.
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Stan

I’m printing this off, Stan. 

We were reading a wonderful commmentary by John Stott ~ how I am enjoying this man’s thoughts and study ~ by jumping to
verses 21-25 in Romans 7.  It is a really beautiful exposition and very insightful, stressing the importance of
being “in Christ” and especially his discussion about a person who is regenerated yet still under the law.  I’m sure I know this experience all too well.  This section is entitled “The double reality in believers under the law” covering verses 21-25.

Oh what would life be like without precious Paul’s writings?

Jess

Hi Jess,

Thanks for checking in with us, as we always appreciate your commentary. I agree John Stott is good. I really liked the eight summary points above, as this reminds us what it is necessary to believe in order to be a Christian. If the basic gospel is believed, and if a person is truly born again, then it doesn’t really matter if some other points of theology are not correct.

Stan

Stan,

Thanks for posting those 8 great points.

Point #2 jumped out at me as I read it, probably because little by little I’ve been trying to get through (LSU Church head pastor) Dan Smith’s book Lord I Have A Question where he tries to present the case that Jesus didn’t really have to die on the cross to satisfy the wrath of God because that would make Him look too mean and bloodthirsty, but that He just did it to draw us to Himself.  He embraces the heresy of Open Theism (pioneered by SDA theologian Richard Rice, et al) which approaches all of theology from a “God is Love” hermeneutic to the exclusion of some of God’s other attributes.  This is considered to be a “non-negotiable anchor point” by Smith.  It does concern me, particularly because I do have loved ones in his church who are very influenced by this man.  To me, it’s troubling that the conference would keep him at the helm of one of the largest SDA churches in the country despite taking positions such as this.

Sorry, I don’t mean to bring this up to deflect the discussion away from the OP and down a rabbit trail discussion of Dan Smith.  It’s just that it did get my attention and it reminded me that this element of the gospel is something I heard very little about growing up in Adventism and which seems to be largely ignored in the numbers-driven, seeker-sensitive environment of today’s Evangelicalism.  Regarding the wrath of God, Robert Schuler told Michael Horton on the White Horse Inn radio broadcast a while back, “Just because something is in the Bible doesn’t mean you should preach it.” He said he was trying to bring them in to his church, not drive them away.

John 3:16
Stan,
The Gospel is a relationship with Jesus Christ which entails all the points you made above. It is Christ centered, theological, Biblical, apostolic, personal-a relationship, and historical.  About eschatological, I have never thought of a relationship with Jesus like that.  I will have to study that further.
For me, I have to boil it down to it’s simplest so I can understand it and share it.  That is just me.
Thanks for giving me something to think about and that will make me dig deeper into the Bible.
Diana

Thanks Aaron and Diana for your comments.

Diana wrote:

“About eschatological, I have never thought of a relationship with Jesus like that. I will have to study that further.”
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The gospel and our relationship to Christ is eschatological in the sense that we have this ever abiding hope of the return of Christ at any moment. I can’t wait. ‘Even, so come Lord Jesus.’

Stan

Here is a great quote from RC Sproul regarding today’s Christianity:

“At the heart of Reformed Theology, at the heart of Luther and Calvin’s struggle, and in Knox and Jonathan Edwards, were men who were awakened to the greatness, to the majesty, to the holiness, and the sovereignty of God. By contemplating the holiness and sovereignty of God, they were driven to develop their doctrines of the grace of God. Because until you meet a God who is holy and is sovereign, you don’t know what grace means. I don’t think we are ever going to see a healthy evangelical church until the evangelical church is solidly Reformed, where it takes biblical Christianity seriously with a right concept of a sovereign God.

That’s because unreformed Christianity has failed in our culture. It has been pervasively antinomian (no law, no Lordship), and has been pervasively liberal in it’s trends and tendencies away from scripture, because there’s been no real basis in the sovereignty of God.

Today’s evangelicals are never amazed by grace, because they don’t understand sovereignty. They don’t understand God. The evangelical church today is sick, more sick than it has ever been. We need a style and a variety of Christianity that is not a religion, but is a life and a worldview, where at the heart and foundational structure of it is a sound and deep biblical concept of the character of God.”

R. C. Sproul - from his series “A Blueprint for Thinking.”
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There is evidence that there is a pendulum swing back to the Biblical Reformed faith, as people are tired of the seeker friendly churches who soft-pedal the gospel. There is a hunger for the great truths of the Word of God.

Stan

Many of us on this board were connected at one time or another with the legalism of Adventism. But legalism is not just an SDA disease, it affects the church at large today as evidenced by this quote:

“Are you a legalist when you preach, teach or share the gospel?

An excellent book by Prof. Dan Doriani teaches how to “put the truth to work” and to faithfully apply Scripture in preaching (How to balance *rightly* the indicative and the imperative in preaching). In order to avoid the pitfalls of legalistic preaching, he explains four classes of legalism into which many preachers unintentionally find themselves.

The point he makes about “class-four legalists” is that they have the correct teaching, but that they make the correct teaching oppressive without the love of Christ and his fulfillment of the Law as foundational to all of their preaching. This is helpful for preachers, teachers, as well as all Christians when sharing and living the gospel with others.

Prof. Doriani writes:

“Class-one legalists are auto-soterists; they declare what one must do in order to obtain God’s favor or salvation. The rich young ruler was a class-one legalist.

Class-two legalists declare what good deeds or spiritual disciplines one must perform to retain God’s favor and salvation.

Class-three legalists love the law so much they create new laws, laws not found in Scripture, and require submission to them. The Pharisees, who build fences around the law, were class-three legalists.

Class-four legalists avoid these gross errors, but they so accentuate obedience to the law of God that other ideas shrivel up. They reason, ‘God has redeemed us at the cost of his Son’s life. Now he demands our service in return. He has given us his Spirit and a new nature and has stated his will. With these resources, we obey his law in gratitude for our redemption. This is our duty to God.’ In an important way this is true, but class-four legalists dwell on the law of God until they forget the love of God. Worshiping, delighting in, communing with, and conforming to God are forgotten.

Class-four legalists can preach sermons in which every sentence is true, while the whole is oppressive. It is oppressive to proclaim Christ as the Lawgiver to whom we owe a vast debt, as if we must somehow repay him- - repay God!—for his gifts to us.

I count myself a member of the legion of recovering class-four legalists. We slide into a ‘Just Do It’ mentality occasionally, dispensing commands just because they are right.

Psalm 111:1 Praise the LORD! I will praise the LORD with my whole heart, In the assembly of the upright and in the congregation. 2 The works of the LORD are great, Studied by all who have pleasure in them. 3 His work is honorable and glorious, And His righteousness endures forever. 4 He has made His wonderful works to be remembered; The LORD is gracious and full of compassion. 5 He has given food to those who fear Him; He will ever be mindful of His covenant. 6 He has declared to His people the power of His works, In giving them the heritage of the nations. 7 The works of His hands are verity and justice; All His precepts are sure. 8 They stand fast forever and ever, And are done in truth and uprightness. 9 He has sent redemption to His people; He has commanded His covenant forever: Holy and awesome is His name. 10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever.”
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I think we all fall in to one of these classes of legalists at one point or another.

Stan

John 3:16
Stan, Thanks for bringing that information here.  Like you I am a recovering class 4 legalist.  In my Celebrate Recovery program I would say, My name is Diana and I am a grateful child of God who is recovering from class 4 legalism.
I thank and praise God for the recovery.  He gets all the credit.
Diana

Stan, I don’t know if you noticed it or not, but at R/S, one of the zealous saints claimed that the Testimonies were required reading for SDAs because these books contained all sorts of vital instruction (commands from God in fact) on matters related to dress, diet, country living, raising children, marriage, “and the list goes on and on.”

I thought that quote was quite revealing.  “And the list goes on and on.”

Yes, I’m afraid it does. 

Yes Glenn, I am very aware. I don’t believe what I am reading over there.

Pastor O’Ffill is also calling these people out over their fananticism.

Stan

I guess I’ve had my say over there on that. I don’t have anything against the Testimonies per se. Some of them make for interesting reading.  What irritates me is when people insinuate--if not state outright--that if you aren’t following the commands of God as expressed in the Testimonies (and “the list goes on and on"), than you aren’t really among the faithful or are just a nominal SDA. 

But then when someone points out some of the specifics (and all I did was flip through Vol. 1) and suggests that some of this advice is a wee bit impractical, they retreat to “well, we really don’t mean the specifics, we just mean the underlying principles” (although the Testimonies don’t come with a guide indicating which statements are principles and which are policies and if they are policies, if they have an expiration date) or they just get flustered and say “you’re attacking the spirit of prophesy”, etc. 

Well, back to the subject of Calvinism and the gospel.

Here is the start of a ten part series on why Calvinism is suddenly enjoying a resurgence, especially among young people:

http://blog.9marks.org/2007/06/whered-all-thes.html

Very interesting. Because Calvinism does not seem to appeal to the post-modern Christian world. But, it appears that God is doing his sovereign work despite attempts by many to play down the important doctrines of grace.

Stan

Here is an excellent link comparing the “therapeutic gospel” of our age, vs. the authentic gospel:

http://sites.silaspartners.com/CC/article/0,,PTID314526|CHID598014|CIID2340064,00.html

Stan

Whenever we speak of the definition of the gospel, we must never leave out the Cross. For us RC Sproul fans, here is a new book that is supposed to be excellent on this topic. Somehow, I never get tired of reading cross centered theology:

http://theologica.blogspot.com/2007/07/truth-of-cross.html

Stan