The Gospel
Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved… For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. (1 Corinthians 15:1-4)
What do we mean when we say ‘the gospel’?
The ‘gospel’ is the good news that through Jesus the power of God’s kingdom has entered history to renew the whole world. When we believe and rely on Jesus instead of ourselves for our relationship to God, that kingdom power comes upon us and begins to work through us. Through the work of Jesus on our behalf, God is drawing men and women into fellowship with himself and with one another, and is restoring the creation in which we enjoy this fellowship and life together—forever.
Grace shapes everything.
The Father sent his Son, Jesus to live the life we should have lived and die the death for sin, in our place, we should have died. This means that those who believe in him are more flawed and sinful than they ever dared believe and more loved and accepted than they ever dared hope at the same time. This is because we are saved by grace and not our moral performance. It also means that God will restore the physical creation. The purpose of salvation is not so much to help individuals escape this world into heaven, as to bring heaven’s glory down into this material world so it is again free from injustice, evil, and death.
Personal transformation and cultural renewal.
The gospel has an individual aspect: we are connected to God and each other by a radical grace that transforms our identity and all our relationships. This first aspect means that Christians engage in connecting people to God through evangelism and worship and to each other through discipleship and the formation of community.
The gospel also has a corporate aspect: God is renewing and restoring the whole world by his grace and love. This second aspect means that Christians engage in repairing and renewing the fabric of the world through deeds of mercy and justice and through thinking out the implications of the gospel for how they do their work to establish what is true, good, and beautiful.
The key to change and continued growth.
The gospel changes everything. It is the A-to-Z of Christianity—the gospel is not just the minimum required doctrine necessary to enter the kingdom, but the way we make progress in the kingdom. The gospel is the way we grow and are renewed. It is the solution to each problem, the key to each closed door, the power through every obstacle.
Part of our confessional statement.
We believe that the gospel is the good news of Jesus Christ—God’s very wisdom. Utter folly to the world, this good news is centers on the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus: the gospel is not proclaimed if Jesus is not proclaimed, and the authentic Jesus has not been proclaimed if his death and resurrection are not central (the message is “Christ died for our sins and was raised”). This good news is biblical (his death and resurrection are according to the Scriptures), theological, (reveal the nature of God), salvific (it reconciles us to God), historical (if the saving events did not happen, our faith is worthless), apostolic (the message was entrusted to and transmitted by eye witnesses of these events), and intensely personal (where it is received, believed, and held firmly, individuals are transformed).
