Introduction
It is said that Christians compose 31% of the world’s population.[1] That is roughly 2.3 billion professing Christians, out of a 7.3 billion world population head count.[2] Though Islam tails Christianity not far behind, the Christian faith is, according to Pew Research Group’s 2015 statistics, still the leader in world religions.[3] In reflection, such statistic is quite profound. After all, there is a reason that these numbers often do little to impact our minds; such numbers are simply too big for our minds to fully comprehend.
In response to these statistics, much time and paper could be devoted to discussions on just what they mean both theologically and politically. And yet, the purpose of this particular treatise is very specific. The alarming reality is that, although there are obviously so many who would profess to be Christians, the increasing ambiguity of what that means is getting no clearer. In 2014, the ministry of Answers in Genesis partnered with America’s Research Group to conduct a study on millennials who remained within local churches across America. Their findings were both shocking and revealing. According to their research, a whopping 42.5% of churched millennials either did not understand what it meant to be, or openly disavowed to being, “born again.”[4] There is no doubt, that the numbers portrayed in Pew Research’s statistics would likely decrease, perhaps dramatically, once any doctrinal consideration is given to exactly what it means to be “Christian.”
What is perhaps even more alarming, is that such loss in numbers does nothing to acknowledge the quarrels and divisions existing within those groups who are genuinely Christian in doctrine. The sad reality is that conflict may be found amongst Christians on just about any given theological subject. Division exists rampantly between Reformed Theologians, and Dispensationalists; young earth and old earth creationists; theonomists and those who believe Old Testament law is dead. There is quarrel between premillennialists, amillennialists, and postmillennialists; between dispensational premillennialists, and historic premillennialists; between pre-, mid-, and post-tribulation rapturists; between preterists, idealists, historicists, and futurists. There is conflict between paedo-baptists and credo-baptists; between Calvinist’s and Arminian’s. There are those who hold to a literal, grammatical, historical rendering of the Bible, while others who insist only upon a grammatical-historical rendering. There are Christians who believe that the King James Bible is the only divinely inspired work of God, and is thus the only reliable translation, while other Christians use many translations. All these differences are divided into denominations of Baptists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Anglicans, Methodists, Seventh-Day Adventists, and the list could go on and on of denominations and camps each believing that they have claim to objective truth.
Among all of these differences, there is yet differences on how to work out our differences. Particularly there are those who assert the theological position onto the masses that no one particular denomination should assert their theological position onto the masses. After all, they postulate, profession of faith in Christ is really the only essential doctrine alone.
Whatever else can be said of the supposed 2.3 billion who make up Christendom, one thing is for sure- clarity is lacked while confusion is rampant! Yet, “If the trumpet gives an uncertain sound, who will prepare for the battle?” (1 Cor. 14:8). It is because of such uncertainty that there is need for succinct and Biblical definition. The following treatise is written in attempt to do just that. In particular, it will be my aim to define very specifically, the question of what is the Gospel?
[1] Conrad Hackett and David McClendon, “Christians Remain World’s Largest Religious Group, but They are Declining in Europe,” Pew Research Group, April 5, 2017, https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/04/05/christians-remain-worlds-largest-religious-group-but-they-are-declining-in-europe/
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Ken Ham, Ready to Return: The Need for a Fundamental Shift in Church Culture to Save a Generation (Green Forest, AR: Master Books, 2014), 138.
Defining the Gospel
Christianity. When at once this word falls upon the ears of the average listener, whether they be believer or unbeliever, the Gospel is likely to appear within the following chain of thoughts. In fact, the Gospel is likely to appear very soon within that chain. It may even be that the one who hears of Christianity does so through a “Gospel presentation.” Yes, the Gospel is perhaps, in nearly all Christian circles, considered to be the very backbone of the Christian faith. And yet, what is the Gospel?
In examining the answer to this question, it would be possible to turn to a plethora of definitions and resources written by theologians from all camps, but such men are not the ultimate authority on these matters. As such, the very first place one ought to turn is the Bible itself. They ought secondly to ask two questions, what is the Bible, and what does it say about the Gospel?
The first question is perhaps somewhat peculiar. What is the Bible? Sadly, many Christians do not think to start here. And yet, one must first understand the nature of what the Bible is, and for that matter what Christianity is, before they can rightly understand the Gospel upon its proper foundation. This is especially true when presenting the Gospel to unbelievers.
To properly understand the Gospel, one must first understand that the Bible is not merely a religious text among the buffet of world religions. Though this may be what the agnostic world understands, this is not what the Bible itself claims to be. Rather, the Bible first claims that there is an existent God who created the cosmos wherein we dwell. Secondly, it claims to be the revelation or unveiling of that God (2 Tim. 3:16-17). In short, the Bible, whether one believes in it or not, is a claim to objective truth. That is, it is a truth claim about the nature of reality itself. One may choose to disbelieve that the Bible is true, or that it does not honestly convey the nature of reality accurately, but they cannot change the severity and potency of what it claims to be.
That is to say that the Bible is either entirely the word of God, or it is not. One may not consistently and un-arbitrarily claim that it is only half true or half inspired. And, since it is a claim to ultimate reality (that is, ultimate truth); advancing propositions about God, metaphysics, ethics, and epistemology; it can be concluded that the Bible itself is a very particular book which advances a very particular philosophical system. Why is this important to evangelism and the proclamation of the Gospel? Because, to present the Gospel alone to one who has a secular philosophical system, is to offer them a severed head- grotesquely disconnected from its body- and to wonder why the unbeliever recoils in disgust and confusion.
Understanding that the Bible is the foundation, the bedrock, for an entire philosophical system, or worldview, we can then attend to the question of what the Bible itself says about the Gospel in its proper context. To begin this survey, we must start particularly with the book of Genesis. The first two chapters of this book begin with a descriptive historical narrative of how God, the preexistent Creator, created the physical cosmos. Within these chapters, we see the world created within the course of six days, and all “very good.” There was no death, disease, or degeneration within the physical world at its earliest beginnings.
The depravity of this world is nowhere found until the third chapter. Then, within this third chapter of Genesis we read of “the serpent,” later revealed to have been possessed by Satan, who enters the paradisical Garden of Eden wherein the first man, Adam, along with his wife, the first woman, called Eve, are placed by God to enjoy a covenantal communion. The possessed serpent enters the Garden and tempts the woman to disobey God by breaking the one commandment which the Lord gave to them, and thus dissolving the covenant which they enjoyed with their Creator. The woman does so consent to break this commandment, as well does her husband “who was with her” (Gen. 3:6). Now, the penalty for this act of disobedience within this divine covenantal relationship, was death. Ergo, death and degeneration were introduced into the world through the disobedience of mankind.
It is important to note at this point that this teaching, this doctrine, is in absolute contradistinction with the common philosophy of our modern day. That philosophy is one which advances the paradigm of evolutionism, teaching that death is but a natural and inevitable aspect of existence, which has been present in this world from the dawn of time. Actually, far from man bringing death into the world, death has been necessary for the bringing of man himself into the world. In drawing this contrast, my previous point in regard to the nature of the Bible and Christianity itself is put into illustration. For the Christian merely to proclaim the Gospel, without acknowledging the philosophical differences which divides the believing and unbelieving world, differences which really exist fundamentally between creationist and evolutionist paradigms, is to ignore key aspects within the philosophical infrastructure of each respective worldview. In short, it is to build a Christian structure upon ruinous sands that cannot support the Christian structure. This is seen within the origins of death itself alone.
I ask you Christian, why did your Jesus have to die to save you? The Christian may respond, “Because, ‘None is righteous, no, not one’ and ‘The wages of sin is death!’” But of course, this does nothing to threaten the evolutionist- why should it? From an evolutionary paradigm, death is not the wages of sin- death has always simply existed.
To rightly understand the Gospel, one must rightly understand the doctrine of original sin, and the created order’s fall from harmonious perfection. The presence of evolution in our modern day, and the perverse indoctrination of school children into it, is the single greatest threat to the advancement of the Gospel- yes, it is a salvation issue.
And yet, the story does not end with Genesis three’s description of creations fall. Actually, to continue on in the narrative of Genesis 3, would result in the discovery of the Bible’s bright hope of salvation. This bright hope is really what the Gospel is itself. This is found particularly in verse 15 of the third chapter. In judgement, God declares unto the serpent, “I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and her offspring; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” Put in other words, God promises within this verse that one who would be a physical descendent of Eve would be born into the world, and, though He would suffer an undoubtedly painful and agonizing strike from the mouth of the serpent (which was Satan), He would deliver a most devastating blow to that Serpents head in so doing. Later, the Gospel writer Luke would trace the genealogy of Jesus the Nazarene to Eve, by way of her husband Adam (Lk. 3:38). In other words, Jesus Christ is that One who delivered such a blow to the serpents head, as promised in Genesis 3.
Now, this is the Gospel according to Scripture. That God created the world a perfect creation, and crafted man for covenant union and fellowship. That man rebelled against his Creator by disobeying the commandment of God which was the law of the covenant. And that by the sin of Adam, all of his progeny were separated from God and destined to die. “For by one man sin entered the world and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men because all have sinned” (Rom. 5:12).
Each person who lives is a descendent of this one man, the representative head who is Adam. And because of Adam’s sin, they carry both the shame of Adam, and the nature to sin as Adam did, by heeding the words of Satan rather than the words of God. Man is not inherently good, but inherently evil, wicked, and morally depraved. “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away” (Isa. 64:6).
For our sins, and for the sin of our forebears, we stand condemned before God and worthy of death- “For the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). And yet, the Gospel is the reality that the story does not have to end in this way. Inasmuch as the wages of sin is death, “the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23b). Jesus Christ, who is the one and only begotten Son of God, came into this world as a kinsman, lived a perfect life in holiness and perfect obedience to the law of God. He fulfilled what the first man, the first Adam, did not. And yet, even in His perfection, He was nailed to a cross where He suffered and died- paying the penalty of death that was due to us as a wage for sin. For three days He was buried in the grave, until on the third day He came back from death in glorious resurrection. He walked on earth again yet forty days until He was taken up into Heaven with a promise to return at the final consummation of history.
In His death, He paid the price for our ransom. He took upon Himself the punishment of death that was due to us. Yes, “He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities” (Isa. 53:5). And because He took our punishment upon Himself, He has secured for us our salvation. Therefore, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Rom. 10:9).
In a word, He has come that you may have life, and have it more abundantly (Jn. 10:10). “For as by one man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Cor. 15:45).
What the Gospel is Not
Indeed, there is much more that could be said in a discussion on defining the Gospel. However, upon conclusion of our current discussion of the subject, it would be wise to briefly consider what the Gospel is not. The reason for this is precisely because of the case advanced in the introduction to this work. Ours is a culture of confusion. And in the midst of this confusion lies a haze which distorts the very message of the Gospel, as previously laid out. Among these distortions are doctrines and teachings such as Lordship salvation and baptismal regeneration; the key theme in such matters being the efficacy of faith in Christ alone to secure one’s salvation. For such who reason in this way, works are a necessity for true faith.
In response to these claims, we shall turn once more to the teachings of Holy writ. Or does the apostle not make it clear?
All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood, to be received by faith…Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith…Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due (Rom. 3:23-4:4, emphasis added).
The teaching of Romans ought to be enough to settle this issue. The true Gospel is one which teaches that man is justified on no meritorious work, but by faith in the propitiatory atonement of Christ alone which is offered as a gift. And yet, there are some who are not satisfied with this answer. Interestingly, with the answer left unqualified, neither am I…
Though the above point is entirely true, a great disservice may ultimately be done in the long run by ending the discussion in this way. The problem which is left open is that faith, taken alone and not properly understood, seems to many as a license to sin. This leads to equally disturbing heresies, such as universalism. Each of these doctrinal concerns come from an improper and simplistic view of faith, righteousness, and salvation; an improper view which is largely fueled by the sentiments of those who read simply, “You are not under law but under grace,” before closing the book with a satisfied mind.
So, how are these issues to be resolved? On one hand, there are those who proclaim that works are required for salvation. On the other, those who declare that works are not a necessity at all; even leading to universalism. The truth of the matter really lies in between. In his popular book, Theonomy in Christian Ethics, Dr. Greg L. Bahnsen writes,
The prologue to the Ten Commandments should have sufficiently shown the Pharisees that salvation was an act of God’s grace…Justification was not by the law in the Older Testament, and the scribes of the law should have known this fact well…If there was to be salvation at all, it would necessarily be according to God’s mercy and based on His righteousness.[1] (Emphasis Mine).
In chapters three and four of this work, Dr. Bahnsen rightly repudiates the Pharisaical works righteousness that Christ Himself denounced. And yet, the entire work is dedicated to upholding the Old Testament law of God in our modern age! Through this observation, it becomes clear that the “either…or” dichotomy is not sufficient. This fact can be observed within the writings of the apostles themselves. Paul writes,
What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means… thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness (Rom. 6:15-17).
Indeed, within the very passage previously cited, which I used to prove that works were not a requirement of salvation, I neglected to record a key point on this matter of law. There Paul writes, “Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law” (Rom. 3:24).
While it is not the case that works makes one righteous, it is equally untrue to teach that the Christian is to ignore the law completely. Dr. Bahnsen summarizes the issue profoundly writing,
We must be careful to avoid the three basic unlawful attitudes of man: substituting man’s law for God’s law, misusing God’s law as a way of works-righteousness and justification, and knowing but ignoring God’s law. The genuine Christian cannot be characterized by the spirit of humanistic autonomy, Pharisaism, or rebellion.[2]
By heeding such words, the Christian would be well defended against heretical salvific distortions. By protecting against autonomy and rebellion, one is guarded against universalism. By protecting against Pharisaism, as a means of justification, one is guarded from works righteousness.
Bahnsen continues in his work by arguing for the law’s multi-functionality, to include the revealing of God’s righteous character, defining sin, condemning transgression, restraining evil, and perhaps most importantly, driving one to their need for Christ. In another work, Dr. R.C. Sproul writes of John Calvin’s “Threefold Use of the Law.”[3] He contends that the law is to be a “mirror” which “illumines human sinfulness. The law is to be a restraint upon evil, “protecting the righteous from the unjust.” And, the law is to reveal what is acceptable to God.
In short, while justification is not made by the law itself, it is the law that shows one why they must be justified. The Christian should neither be a legalist, nor an antinomian. When proper balance and understanding on this matter is reached, neither universalism nor works righteousness can survive.
[1] Greg L. Bahnsen, Theonomy in Christian Ethics (Nacogdoches, TX: Covenant Media Press, 2002), 127.
[2] Ibid, 264.
[3] R.C. Sproul, Essential Truths of the Christian Faith (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1992), 257.
Conclusion
In a chapter on salvation, written in his book, Essential Truths of the Christian Faith, Dr. R.C. Sproul recounts, “I was once confronted by a young man in Philadelphia who asked me, ‘Are you saved?’ My reply to him was ‘Saved from what?’…I was certainly not saved from people interrupting me on the street and buttonholing me with the question…”[1]
What is perhaps a humorous introduction written in jest, actually does well to capture the sentiments of our world. Indeed, for many an unbeliever, this is precisely their reaction. And, for many a Christian, they have not worked out the answer. Our culture; no, what’s more, our church; is one labeled by rampant confusion. Christendom has been fractured into innumerable factions, splitting over every conceivable category or question of theology. The church claims to hold the truth, as revealed by the breath of God Himself. And yet, they often cannot work out which answer is true. Is it any wonder then why the next generation is either leaving or just as confused?
The answer is not appeasement. The crisis within Christendom is not resolved by pretending that it does not exist. Rather, the answer is a call for Biblical definition. Clarity is essential. Alongside clarity must be men who tremble at the name of the Lord, and not at the thoughts and judgements of others. May we love the truth enough to come out from our camps; to have genuine discussion with one another; and to look upon ourselves in the mirror of Holy Scripture.
[1] Ibid, 159.
