Question 1: What is the gospel?
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What is the gospel?
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The gospel is that while we are sinners Christ came to the earth to die on the cross, be burried, and rise again that we may come into communion with God.
Kind of a churchy answer, but it’s the best I can think of.
The Gospel is the work of the Trinitarian God to reconcile every person to union with God, to communion with others, to fullness with life/self, and to harmony with Creation, in the context of community for the glory of God and the good of all.
… is a person, Jesus of Nazareth
The gospel is the profound story of God’s direct intervention through Jesus Christ in the life of humanity and the history of the world with a message hope, peace, salvation, love, justice, and ethics (just to name a few).
love god and neighbor.
“We’re all bastards, but God loves us anyway.” ~ Will Campbell
love it bro.
the Gospel is the living, breathing message of God that proclaims Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, and through grace has set us free from our sin by dying on the cross.
Peter, this is the best explanation of the “Gospel” I have seen thus far.
Jesus paid the price for our salvation and by His teachings, left us the instructions on how to be close to God and His many blessings. But don’t take my word for it, instead trust in the Word of the Lord…
“Jesus saith unto him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me’ (Christ)” John 14:6
Need I say more?
While I would love to agree with the Will Campbell quote, I will have to take a “traditional” liberation theology stance:
“God is on the side of the poor, liberating them from their oppression.”
We have the hope of salvation and eternal life through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, that He was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died on the cross for our sins and was raised to life on the third day thus defeating death so that we could have eternal life through His sacrifice and by His blood that covers our sins.
Acts 4:12 (AMP)
12And there is salvation in and through no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by and in which we must be saved.
http://www.needgod.com
God created everything, including us, so that we could be with him and worship him.
We were stupid and thought we knew better, so we spat in his face and turned away and did our own thing, thus breaking his law and condemning ourselves to death.
God sent Jesus to pay the death penalty, so that we don’t have to, and can once again be with God and worship him, if we accept his payment in our place.
The message of hope provided by the Trinitarian God translated through the Incarnation, through the Life of Christ, through the crucifiction, through the resurrection and finally realized at the eschaton.
It is God as “in the place of”, “in the midst of”, “liberator” and “provider” in all the ways that seem opposite to the fallen world.
God is for you.
by Ursinus, Zacharias (1534-1583)
The term gospel signifies:
1. A joyful message, or good news.
2. The sacrifice which is offered to God for this good news.
3. The reward which is given to him who announces these joyful tidings. Here it signifies the doctrine, or joyful news of Christ manifested in the flesh; as “behold, I bring unto you good tidings of great joy, for unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2: 10, 11.)
O Come on! Has no one here read ANY Newbigin?
(Mark 1:14-15 NRSV) Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, {15} and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”
To boil this down to ONLY his death as atonement misses how much? That only Jesus’ passion (I’m using that word to include the resurrection here) matters? Not his incarnation among us also? If that were the case, then why didn’t God just allow Herod to be successful in Bethlehem and go ahead and take care of his death as an infant? Why screw around with the 30-some intervening years, calling of disciples, teaching, loving, healing, challenging, turning the religious world of his day on its head, etc.?
Are we REALLY going to limit ourselves to some of this reductionistic thinking? Wow, Adam. I would have expected more from this.
RPS
At the risk of being “that guy,” I gotta say I am a little scared that 13 replies in no one has gone to Jesus for an answer to this question.
“The Kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news [gospel]!” – Mark 1:15
Of course we could (and should) go on addressing what the Kingdom of God is and what it means that it’s near, but if we’re to approach an answer to this important question, I just feel like this is where we should start.
I started writing before that person above posted – thanks RPS!
JR,
I gotta say that the gospel is bigger than Jesus, even by christian standards. Jesus was jewish and lived and died as one. The good news, the gospel, predates him.
Think creatively…I took that to heart, Adam. The most creative and challenging thought I have had of late with the thought of the “Gospel” is Ben Harper’s song “The Power of the Gospel:”
“It will make a weak man mighty.
It will make a mighty man fall.
It will fill your heart and hands or leave you with nothing at all.
It’s the eyes for the blind and legs for the lame.
It is the love for hate and pride for shame.
That’s the power of the gospel…
Gospel on the water,
Gospel on the land.
The gospel in every woman,
And the gospel in every man.
Gospel in the garden,
Gospel in the trees.
The gospel that’s inside of you,
Gospel inside of me…”
At first I bristled at some of the words here, but it has extended my thoughts of the far-reaching implications of the Gospel for all of creation. How then do I see the Gospel at work in everyone and everything?
fg,
You must have read my post way fast, because I nowhere implied that the gospel was synonymous with Jesus, only that no one had suggested turning to Jesus for an answer to the question. Actually, the fact that Jesus proclaimed that the Kingdom of God was at hand implies that the gospel transcends him.
The gospel is weak; and its power is found in its very weakness. For the most part, my sentiments are with commenter “RPS”.
its the good news, Adam.
The Gospel (the good news) is that God loves all of God’s people . . . no matter what.
The Gospel is that the Kingdom of God is here – at least that’s what Jesus said it is. It is not a past decision or a future hope, although those are elements of it.
It is not about life after death, it is about life after life after death.
That God, through Jesus, is making all things new.
Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand.Or put in more NT Wright’ish terms: the inbreaking of the kingdom of God into our present reality.Also, not so much about us going to heaven as it is about us bring heaven here.
I gotta say that the gospel is bigger than Jesus, even by christian standards. Jesus was jewish and lived and died as one. The good news, the gospel, predates him.
Hmmm….I would heartily disagree. The gospel is the good news. The good news is Jesus Christ. ‘Nuff said.
The gospel is putting your confidence and trust in Jesus and living with him as his disciple now in the present Kingdom of God.
The gospel is a perfect God loving an imperfect world so much to send His Son to die for the sins of mankind so that those who repented through faith in Christ’s death and resurrection would not suffer the consequences of their sin against Him. God is great!
The Gospel is that Jesus is coming back to establish His Kingdom on earth. Salvation is required to enter that Kingdom. Acts 3:19
After reading most of these comments, I have this feeling that “the gospel” is bigger and more mysterious than any of our one or two sentence explanations, even if they are Bible verses. I don’t necessarily have the answer to what that is, but I do think it’s much larger than our conceptions.
In addition, I believe the gospel is not something that relies solely on Jesus for its existence or work. That’s not to say that I think humans do something to receive salvation (no, that’s grace), but I DO think that the gospel is participatory. Humans participate in the good news of Jesus Christ, and in doing so we – along with the Holy Spirit – advance the gospel on this earth.
I hate to open a can of Sunday School, but the Gospel is a person: Jesus.
“Today with our awareness of black holes, post quantum physics, multiple dimensions and multiple and expanding universes, it is impossible to believe that any one religion could have the whole picture or the correct understanding of God, let alone have an exclusive path to that God. To suggest anything else would be at best, arrogant. More importantly, many Christians today find that learning about other religions and even encompassing some practices from these traditions has enhanced their understanding of their own religion, has augmented to their personal religious experiences and deepened their faith.” – from The Center for Progressive Christianity, http://tcpc.org/about/point2_study.cfm
You can’t pick and choose what you want to believe from the Bible. You must either believe the whole thing or none of it. A true Christian will believe the whole Bible, including the verse where Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no one comes to Father except by me.” John 14:6
The Bible is the same today as it has always been. Awareness of black holes, post quatum physics, multiple dimensions, etc. doesn’t change it. Call me arrogant if you want, but I will believe the words of my Lord. If you don’t believe His words, please go to http://www.needgod.com and take the test, so that you can be sure of your salvation. There is nothing more important.
Phillip, I’m not sure what your comment is supposed to mean.
JR,
I didn’t read it fast. You said “this is where we should start.”
fg
Phillip, How can you use the term “Christianity” and yet deny the very deity of Jesus Christ? You do know that Christianity is from the root of Christian, which is the term to be Christ like. It’s not a term of religon, but a term used for a relationship with the one called Christ.
..”let alone have an exclusive path to that God”.. I am positive when I say this, the very Man you label in your “Progress Christianity” movement stated that He is “the Way, the Truth, and the Life”,
He even went a step farther to say “no one comes to the Father except by me”.
That’s pretty blunt and straight forward. The very Man you claim to represent (by using the term Christianity), denies your Progressive Christianity movement.
TD,
It is not I who claim the Progressive Christianity movement, it is Cleave. Note that claim in the column to the right of this one at the top of this page. I’m just pointing out Cleave’s theological position.
Cleave,
My comment, which is a quote from the Progressive Christianity website, simply points out the fact that the Progressive view fails to understand the basic tenets of Christianity. And if you think it does, please answer the question you pose, What is the gospel according Progressive Christianity?
Phil
The Gospel is many of these things but not all of them. Shawn Blanc gave one of the best comments!
The exlcusive claims are not those of a select few Christians progressive/regressive/or subversive. They are as has already been state the words of Jesus. There is no reason given the context of those verses that they mean anything else but what He claimed. To suggest Christianity has all of the explanations of God or that even our best theologians understand they mystery of God is absurd. But to think for a moment that all “roads” lead to heaven is equally insane. There is a path and its narrow, again Jesus said this. Either you love Jesus and embrace all of His words or you don’t.
The intelectural elite who claim that christianity is not progressive have missed it. They cling to and exalt Science, worshiping at its altar as the bearer of all truth. Scientific facts are never subjective(in their minds) even things we don’t understand; we strive to find out as much as possible. How reliable is science? Remember Pluto it used to be a planet. Who changed? Do all know of Christianity know…but they will. Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess.
Clarification:”To suggest Christianity has all of the explanations of God or that even our best theologians understand they mystery of God is absurd.” What I mean here is that we will spend eternity encountering and discovering the Mystery of God. He is so much higher than so “other than” anything or anyone we know…all of eternity will be a moment of disocering more of God. But apart from Jesus you do not have a surety of entrance into the Kingdom.
The gospel of God is the truth about the crucifixion of Jesus. Correctly understanding the real reason for him being crucified is the good news, but the true reason he has been crucified is not what you have been taught or think. So let me explain what the small narrow gate to life his crucifixion has perfected actually is.
The crucifixion of Jesus caused his life to be taken from him by bloodshed according to God’s set purpose so that each man by the command REPENT in Acts 2:38 might obey God, Jesus and the Holy spirit by the faith to repent of the one sin of Jesus murder in order to be forgiven of ALL sins. Jesus has meditated this new covenant by willingly allowing himself to be crucified becoming the only sin each man by faith must repent of in order to be born of God. So the good news about Jesus is that if your are willing to confess directly to God, which is why the temple’s vail was torn from top to bottom, that you are sorry Jesus was murdered and be baptized to show that you believe this Way is acceptable, you can receive the promise that ALL of your sins will be forgiven and you will become one with God. However refusing to repent of Jesus murder is a sin. No man has the option to NOT obey God for he always gets the death sentence for not obeying God. It was this command Peter was referring too when he said “Men ought to obey God.”, but only a few do. This idea that Jesus has died in your place taught in these contemporary churches is entirely false.
Theodore A. Jones
Susan, tests do not assure anyone of any salvation.
I have the feeling that the majority of people responding here were raised in 20th century churches teaching “fact-based theology.” I call it fact based because that is what our entire Western mode of thinking centers around. Is it True? Can it be proven? Well, if you are looking for what can be actually proven, then you are left with nothing being true. Say what you want about Creation, the Bible, or whatever, God is unprovable. So, if we are going to look just at the facts, there is very little that is true.
I don’t believe that the gospel writers are as meticulously concerned with “facts” as we would like to think. Why would John (the latest written) or Mark (the earliest written) gospels not include a virgin birth narrative? Why is it only Luke who has Jesus born in the manger? Matthew’s gospel has Jesus in a house in Nazareth. Why is this “important fact” taken from a mistranslation from Isaiah?
I am a Christian. But I don’t know if I can “believe” in all the “facts” of the Bible. I don’t think the Trinity is helpful for approaching God (for me), and I believe that much of what we consider “Solid Biblical Scholarship” are the most controversial points of the Council of Nicea. That Jesus is the “Son of God and God the Son” was certainly not passed unanimously. These were not certainties even 300 years after Christ. That we take them for granted as truths now shows our willingness to give up our ability to reason for the sake of falling in line. Love is the higher law. Jesus called all men and women to love. He showed the highest form of love. But he railed against those who sought to dominate the minds of men and women through fear of punishment (i.e. the Pharisees).
Love this. I love the discussion. This should serve as an example to people that though we may not approach God from the same place, we can help each other on our paths. Take care.
Dave
The Gospel is the news that makes it so that I can keep going. It’s the thing I hang onto when everything else in my life seems to be falling apart. It’s also the news that I find, just when I start to understand it, I discover I don’t know anything.
The Gospel is Jesus come to earth as a man to live and teach. Then it is His death for us on the cross. THen it is His resurrection and ascension to heaven. Then it is US, seeking out the things that Jesus sought out, such as mercy, love, and most of all, a Godward direction of worship. That is the Kingdom. We who are Christians are the kingdom but we are also continuing Jesus’ work of bringing the kingdom.
So let’s go DO the Gospel and bring some KINGDOM up in here.. :)
I think many Christians, or believers, have the wrong idea about the Kingdom of God. We try to use power and force to bring about change. We think we can use the political arena (the way the world does) to establish God’s Kingdom. We protest on streets against the things we think are ungodly forgetting that the Kingdom of God is IN US.
It has little to do with power and much to do with humility, love and most of all treating people as Jesus would and still does.
In my book (The End of Religion) I define the Gospel as the good news message that God became one of us to show us his love, save us from sin, and shut down religion.
The Empire of God has come to earth – His will can be done on earth as it is in Heaven. All things that are broken can be repaired (spirit, body, mind, economies, environment, etc) by the King through His Son, His Spirit and His Church.