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What Is The Gospel? (IXMarks)
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Item Description...
Overview
Beginning with Paul's systematic presentation of the gospel in Romans and moving through the sermons in Acts, Gilbert argues that the central structure of the gospel consists of four main subjects: God, man, Christ, and a response. The book carefully examines each and then explores the effects the gospel can have in individuals, churches, and the world. --from publisher description
Publishers Description
This newest addition to the IXMarks series presents a clear, straightforward statement of the gospel, the third mark of a healthy church. What is the gospel? It seems like a simple question, yet it has been known to incite some heated responses, even in the church. How are we to formulate a clear, biblical understanding of the gospel? Tradition, reason, and experience all leave us ultimately disappointed. If we want answers, we must turn to the Word of God. Greg Gilbert does so in What Is the Gospel? Beginning with Paul's systematic presentation of the gospel in Romans and moving through the sermons in Acts, Gilbert argues that the central structure of the gospel consists of four main subjects: God, man, Christ, and a response. The book carefully examines each and then explores the effects the gospel can have in individuals, churches, and the world. Both Christian and non-Christian readers will gain a clearer understanding of the gospel in this valuable resource. |
Item Specifications...
Pages 127
Dimensions: Length: 0.5" Width: 5.25" Height: 7.5"
Weight: 0.45 lbs.
Binding Hardcover
Release Date Apr 1, 2010
Publisher Crossway Books/Good News
ISBN 1433515008
EAN 9781433515002
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Availability 138 units.
Availability accurate as of May 27, 2012 05:14.
Usually ships within one to two business days from New Kensington, PA.
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Reviews - What do our customers think?
 | I want this in the hands of every church member! May 15, 2010 |
What is the Gospel? That's a tough question especially for someone to attempt to answer in their first attempt at a book. Greg Gilbert has had some training for sure, however, in his work with Mark Dever, so I was pretty confident that he could do it.
Actually, this is not my first experience with Gilbert answering this question. I have recently read his addendum to Proclaiming a Cross-Centered Gospel where he takes this question on and I've had the privilege to hear Gilbert speak recently on this very topic. In his addendum to the written version of the T4G2006 conference, he addressed the debate as to whether the Gospel was the announcement of the Kingdom or the message of how to enter the Kingdom. In a nutshell, he answered that it is both and that either side by itself is tragically in error. When I heard Gilbert speak, he used to book of Romans to outlines his "four crucial questions."
The questions are brought out early in this book:
1) Who made us and to whom are we accountable
2) What is our problem?
3) What is God's solution to that problem?
4) How do I come to be included in that salvation?
In this book, he does a good job showing how many passages throughout Scripture outline the gospel in the form of answering those questions. He devotes a chapter to each. First he discusses God as the Righteous Creator. With some clever satire, he shows how many Christians have reduced God to a "kind, affable, slightly dazed and needy but very loving grandfather who has wishes but no demands." Gilbert argues that in order to understand salvation, we must understand "that this loving and compassionate God is also holy and righteous, and that his is determined never to overlook, ignore, or tolerate sin."
Next, the book moves to sin. Gilbert explains the severity of sin, far beyond even the consequences of various sins one might commit. Sin is a condition; a rotting of creation, and a righteous God must judge sin.
Having covered the "bad news" Gilbert moves on to the good news: Jesus Christ the Savior. He explains the person and nature of Jesus and the significance of the doctrine of substitutionary atonement.
Next is the response of faith and repentance. Gilbert does a very good job explaining these concepts as two sides of the same coin; that to have faith is to repent. He carefully explains that true salvation will result in fruit, but that the fruit is never the cause of salvation.
Having presented the Gospel, Gilbert then goes on to discuss the Kingdom of God. He explains it in three ways: "that it is the redemptive rule of God over his people," that it has come, and that it will not be complete until Jesus returns. Ultimately he points to the church as the intended display of life of the Kingdom.
This book also contains a plea to keep the cross at the center of the message of the church. He discusses three "substitute" gospels. This is the one area of weakness that I found in this book. Its not really weak, but I would have preferred more concrete examples of where Christians have been tempted to substitute the Gospel.
Finally, Gilbert includes a challenge for his readers. First, to the non-Christian, he asks to repent and believe. To the Christian, he asks to rest and rejoice, fully believing in what Christ has done. Finally, to the church, he exhorts to speak the Gospel to the world.
As a pastor, I wish everyone in my church would read this book. It is a wonderfully simple book and pretty quick to read. However, it very precisely explains the very core of the Christian faith: the Gospel. | | | | A Much Needed Resource for the Church May 11, 2010 |
What is the gospel? One would expect this question to have a short, simple answer, considering that Christians everywhere devote themselves to proclaiming "the gospel" (the word means "good news"). We proclaim the gospel because Jesus did it (Mark 1:14-15). We proclaim the gospel because Jesus told us to do it (Mark 16:15). We proclaim the gospel because Paul told us it is the power of salvation for all who believe (Romans 1:16). We proclaim the gospel because Peter told us it is the means by which the spiritually dead may live holy lives by the power of the Holy Spirit (1 Peter 4:6). So... what is the gospel?
As Gilbert quickly shows us, the answer to this question may not be as simple as we might expect. He tells us: "Ask any hundred self-professed evangelical Christians what the good news of Jesus is, and you're likely to get about sixty different answers." He then shares just twelve examples (many of which are mutually exclusive) of definitions of "the gospel" taken from various evangelical websites, books, and ministry publications. The fact that these definitions are mutually exclusive means that they can't all be right... which means that at least some (if not many) self-professed evangelical Christians are wrong about the "evangel" -- the gospel.
Because of this fact, a book like this one has been desperately needed. Gilbert moves quickly but clearly through what the Bible tells us about the greatest news anyone could ever hear. To do this, though, he backs up to provide the context for our understanding of the gospel.
He begins by defending the authority of the Bible. Without the Bible, there is no gospel. But the Bible has no authority unless it is entirely and inerrantly true. Thus, we must believe everything the Bible tells us about the gospel, or nothing at all. We can't pick and choose.
Next is the reasoning for God's authority. As our Creator, He has the divine right to make up the rules, and to hold us accountable to them. Again, we don't get to pick and choose what we believe about God. We must believe what the Bible says about Him. So while He is indeed a God of love and mercy (no one has a problem with these attributes) He is also a God of holiness and judgment. Contrary to the teaching of many popular preachers, judgment of sin and sinners is not incompatible with love and mercy. If fact, it is precisely because God loves righteousness that he must judge and condemn sin.
The next step in this systematic examination of the gospel message is the Fall of Man. God created man in a state of righteousness and relationship with Himself, but Adam screwed up. He chose to disobey God's will, condemning the entire human race to lives of sin and separation from God. Furthermore, each and every human who has ever lived -- save One! -- has compounded this guilt by continuously sinning against a holy God. For this, each and every man, woman, and child deserves death and eternal separation from our Creator.
So far, all we've got is bad news...
But praise God! He has offered us a Way to be reconciled in our relationship with Him! He has offered a Way for us to be judged for our sin and found Not Guilty! Knowing what we know about God's holiness and man's sin, the pursuit of this Way and its proclamation to the world ought to be our singular pursuit in this life, should it not?
Gilbert shows us in Scripture why it was necessary for Christ to die for our sins. Why He was the only possible Way for a holy God to overlook our sins and declare us innocent. Why Jesus had to be both fully God and fully man. Why we cannot contribute anything at all to our own salvation. Why His death would have meant nothing for us if He had not risen from the grave and ascended to Heaven. This is the very "heart of the gospel", yet each of these Truths are denied by many professing Christians! To profess the true gospel, however, we must profess the entire gospel. Leaving out any part of it leaves us with only bad news.
Following this description of Christ's work and the redemption it accomplished, Gilbert shows us the Christian's appropriate (and inevitable) response: faith & repentance. These are "two sides of the same coin"; we cannot have one without the other. Our works do not save us, but they are the evidence of the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. A saved person WILL bear fruit. This fruit is the renunciation and hatred of our sin, and a total commitment to relying on God's power to live as we are called, even in the face of suffering and persecution.
But what benefit is it to the Christian to endure this suffering and persecution? We endure because we look forward to the promise of the kingdom of God and the blessings that come with it. Gilbert shows us that this kingdom is really more of a kingship; it is "God's redemptive rule, reign, and authority over those redeemed by Jesus." This is a kingdom that is both already and not yet here. That is, it is partially fulfilled right now, and we share in some of its blessings in this life. We already have fellowship with the Holy Spirit and the Church. Satan is already bound (but not yet destroyed; Matthew 12:29). We are already adopted into God's family (Romans 8:15). We are already raised and seated on high with Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:6). But the ultimate fulfillment of the kingdom is yet future. Christ is coming again, and when He does, sin, death, and Satan will be finally destroyed. We will spend eternity in perfect fellowship with God and all the saints (Revelation 22:4-5). There will be no more suffering or sorrow (Revelation 21:4). This is our great hope (Titus 2:13)!
The last two chapters deal with ways in which many professing believers substitute something that is less than the gospel in place of the true gospel. Three examples (though there are more) are (1) "Jesus is Lord" -- the teaching that God is supreme ruler and judge, with no mention of the redeeming work of the cross; (2) "Creation-Fall-Redemption-Consummation" -- the teaching that God created the world "good", that the relationship of man with God is broken, and that God is coming again to repair that relationship and restore the goodness of creation, with the exclusion of how this is accomplished and how man can be included in that restoration; and (3) "Cultural Transformation" -- the teaching that our ultimate purpose is to change the world by following Jesus' example, as opposed to finding our ultimate fulfillment in the transforming work of Christ. The common thread in each of these particular examples is that they are all partially true. Jesus is Lord. The Creation-Fall-Redemption-Consummation narrative is a good outline of the Bible's main story line. We are called to live holy lives as modeled by Jesus Christ, resisting evil and promoting good in our culture. However, when the stumbling block of the cross is removed, we remove the only possible bridge between God and Man.
This is contrasted in the final chapter with a display of the power of the true gospel. The gospel message can, does, and will change the world! It begins in the heart of every believer, causing us to repent of our sins, believe in Christ, rest in the assurance of our salvation, love Christ's people, love the lost, long for the Lord's return, and proclaim the gospel until He does!
As it turns out, the gospel really is quite simple. However, simple does not equal easy. The radical message of redemption requires a cost that we don't want to pay, so we seek ways to make the gospel "comfortable" or "relevant" for our lives and our culture. This is no gospel at all. Thank the Lord for His infinite wisdom and mercy in providing the true gospel, and revealing it in its simplicity in the Scripture! May He anoint each of us with power from the Holy Spirit to live our lives in the shadow of the cross, and to proclaim the gospel to our neighbors and all nations! | | | | Excellent Treatment of The Most Important Subject May 6, 2010 |
Gilbert's book has a significance that far exceeds its physical dimensions. I don't say that because Gilbert covers any radically new ground. As a matter of fact one of the strongest aspects of the book is that the author stays so tightly focused on a Biblically-established course. In remarkably concise fashion Gilbert moves from categories familiar to most Christians: What Does the Bible Say to God the Creator to Fall of Man to Jesus the Savior to The Appropriate Response (you can see the Creation > Fall > Redemption categories clearly here, a fact Gilbert acknowledges).
What I find remarkable is that Gilbert can cover fairly well-worn grown in a way that doesn't seem derivative or copy-cat yet still communicate grand truths in a very conversational way. (As I have always admired Mark Dever's ability to do this very thing I was not surprised to read at the end of the book that Gilbert considers Dever his mentor. I'm more than a little jealous, by the way.) I would be very comfortable putting this book in the hand of unbelievers, young Christians, and mature believers - as a matter of fact I plan to do that very thing. Again, the text is very accessible and direct yet covers all the ground that I would hope would be contained in a book bearing the title What is the Gospel?
After walking us through the categories mentioned above Gilbert takes a minute to touch on what it means to live as a Christian (the Kingdom), why it is important to say Cross-centered in our thinking and speaking about the Gospel, and finally a closing word about the power of the Gospel. These elements too are not novel but do present some of the fundamental implications of the gospel in a fresh way.
So who do I recommend this book to? Honestly, anyone who speaks English. I read an unfavorable review on this site (note: the only one) that accused Gilbert of taking too long to get to the gospel and assuming a church context that is not readily understandable. I wonder if this reviewer read the same book I did. From beginning to end there is rich, gospel-centered truth that is as accessible (actually, more so) than the local newspaper. Yes, there is a discussion of the church (what do you expect from a 9 Marks book, particularly one about the Gospel) but nothing that is foreign or strange to a reader even remotely familiar with Western culture.
For the Pastor please take a minute to read this. It will remind and confirm and refresh you in the truths of the Gospel, a renewal we all need. Then, pastor, go buy a bunch to give out to your church. The Bible clearly indicates that the gospel isn't the introductory course in discipleship, one to be learned then set aside to go to deeper topics. We need to hear the gospel regularly and repeatedly. We need to think about the gospel and its implications. We need to talk about the gospel with believer and unbeliever alike. This book will contribute to all those things. Furthermore, putting it in the hands of your congregation will not only encourage thought and conversation on the gospel but I dare say that if your membership roll isn't as regenerate as it should be you will see fruit in conversion as well. What I just wrote is entirely applicable to the lay Christian as well. As for me I find myself sometimes the object of curiosity when someone, whether family or new acquaintance, asks about my job as a minister. From now on when someone asks me what it is that I believe as a minister guess which book I'll put in their hands first? | | | | What is the Gospel? May 5, 2010 |
Book Review
By Jason Scott
What is the Gospel?
By Greg Gilbert
This short book (121 pages) is a must read for both Christians and non-
Christians. Greg Gilbert masterfully explains the gospel in a balanced and crystal clear manner. Gilbert uses this book to answer four important questions: 1) Who made us, and to whom are we accountable to? 2) What is our problem? 3) What is God's solution to this problem? 4) and how do I became a part of this solution? Pg. 31
Gilbert explains that before we can talk about the good news (the gospel) first we must have an understanding of what the bad news is. Gilbert takes us on a journey through the creation of man, the fall of man, the redemption of man through the atoning work of Jesus Christ on the cross, and ultimately our restoration with our Creator in His Kingdom.
Gilbert rightly emphasizes that the only way we can have restoration is through faith in Jesus Christ, and repentance for our sin that separates us from God. He also rightly emphasizes that the Cross of Christ must be the center of the Gospel. This is refreshing as there are many out there who are offended by stark cruelty of the cross and attempt to reach God in their own way. The cross is offensive, why should someone have to suffer in such a horrible way for us? Only when we understand how offensive our sin is to God, and realize that man had to suffer for their sin, will we humbly bow before Jesus and thank Him for what He did on the cross.
Gilbert concludes this book by encouraging Christians to share the Gospel with others:
"If you are a Christian, realize that you
hold in your hands the only true message
of salvation the world will ever hear.
There will never be another gospel, and there is
no other way for people to be saved from
their sins. If your friends, family, and
coworkers are ever to be saved from their
sins, it will be because someone
speaks the gospel of Jesus Christ
to them." Pg. 120
And finally Gilbert admonishes believers to long for Christ's return "not so much for the kingdom as for the King." Pg 121 | | |  | Gettiing to the point Apr 18, 2010 |
| I found this book very disappointing, If I had been able to read a review or lokk at some of the pages I would not have bought it. I have started to read it and found it full of rhetorical techniques that are inappropriate in book writing. The whole language/ church culture of the book is alien and I have not finished it having been well and truly put off by the first 30 pages. St. Paul, when he summarized the Gospel to the Romans and Ephesians got to the point far earlier than this writer. | | | Write your own review about What Is The Gospel? (IXMarks)
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