Any takers? This is a pre-curior to a post I am working on. I want to create space for my 3 readers to sound off. Now limit your definition to Jesus. Not Paul or Piper or Romans Road or Reformed soteriology.
What did Jesus say the gospel is?
Use the comment section to post your thoughts.
do you want scripture verses to back it up or can we just wing it?
At the risk of sounding trite (which is only due to a pop culture context): “For God so loved the world that He gave His only son …” If you remove John 3:16 from the pop evangelical framework that has held it captive in recent years, it appears to be the most concise expression of the Good News that you can find.
A very good question, by the way…
Hey folks…thanks for putting yourself out there 🙂 Love your def Alden. Feel free to just wing it. Scripture is good. Obviously. But if you were to tell someone what Jesus says His good news is (ie gospel) what would he say?
I’m excited to see what people say 🙂
-jeremy
Well, i am going to not included the bible verses, and then if i say anything really off the wall, people can just ignore it or say something.. whatever works.
My personal opinion is that Jesus wants us to unconditionally love each other, help each other, and be good to each other. This means feeding the poor, clothing people, helping to heal people, caring for people, and trying to help those that are (in the eyes of society, irreparably) screwed up, etc.
Another part of the gospel is loving God. For me, this means trying to see the good in the world that God is/ could be responsible for, and also doing all of the things listed above for other people.
This is in no way comprehensive.
Yet another thing I think Jesus would see as part of the gospel is turning away from doing hurtful things to others and/or yourself.
Posting this comment made me remember a dream I had last night…. in the dream i was arguing with someone screaming about how I guess I didn’t believe in the God in the Old Testament because the God of the Old Testament is insane……..what a nice dream!
But seriously, how do people reconcile all the blood sacrifice stuff? It’s hard for me to accept the idea of the God that is presented in the OT. It is so far from what I believe it is like night and day! Anyway, i am veering off topic, so peace to you. I look forward to reading your perspective on what Jesus would define as the Gospel.
sorry for the typos– still at coffee stage this morning
Well Maria, God is the same yesterday, today, and forever—Old Testament and New. His character and goodness is the same. I would be curious to get into a discussion with you about this…
I like what you said about the gospel, though I might classify your thoughts more as what it means to live like Christ. I think the gospel, at its core, is that we have all fallen short of God’s glory and need a redeemer, who is Jesus of Nazareth.
I don’t think you can get away from the blood sacrifice issue, however “messy” and odd that might seem. Life is in the blood, we are told. And sin is an issue of life, because fully mature sin, the Bible says, leads to death. As long as blood and life fit together like peas and carrots, so will sin and blood I think. Jesus had to spill his blood for us. God, for His own name’s sake, must remain just. And a just God punishes wickedness. He has to. Those who do not receive the blood of the pure lamb (Jesus) will face God’s judgment on their own. And they will fall short, as promised.
So we mustn’t minimize judgment or God’s wrath or this messy, bloody payment God needs for sin, for this is why we have a gospel to begin with.
~Just my thoughts,
Chris
Someone couldnt write a comment and emailed it to me instead. Here it is
“Real quick: A question like you posited pits Jesus against Paul. I assume you’d agree that Moses defines the gospel the same as Jesus, though in different redemptive/historical terms. Also, wouldn’t Jeremiah’s good news, for example, be the same as Jesus’? Just some thoughts. I always see red flags when someone says “Jesus vs Paul,” or hints at it.
Thanks! Hope all is well.
shane
“The Kingdom of God/heaven is at hand”. In this way, Jesus offers us all a new way of being human, the way that we were created to be. The good news is that it is here, now. We have only to turn from our preoccupation with fear and the worship of idols (many and varied in our culture), and step into God’s world of love. We won’t suddenly find that everyone is kind to us, that we find that parking space, that we win the lottery. We will though suddenly be aware of the terrible gulf that separates people, the fear that says, “me first” or, “my group will win at all costs”. Stepping into the Kingdom of God, means taking on the mantle of Jesus for and in the world. It means being vulnerable, caring for others (all others, not just human beings), being hurt, maybe even being killed. For this is the better way.
I’ll admit, I’m still full of fear. It isn’t easy to trust and it definately isn’t easy to love. It’s easier to do things my way and to expect others to change. Jesus put the responsibility of choosing to be a part of and to help grow the Kingdom of love, squarely in our own hands. The way of Jesus, the Kingdom of God, is the way of life, not the way of comfort. We were made to be God’s representatives on earth. Jesus has opened the way for us to be restored and to restore. Our choice!
George! Using some brit slang…I believe you’re “spot on” 🙂 This definition will fit nicely in a post I am finishing on the gospel…thanks for this.
-jeremy
Hi Shane!
I posted your comment in the “How does Jesus define the gospel?” post and didnt response…sorry!
I certainly understand what you’re saying and your “Jesus vs. Paul” concerns when it comes to the gospel. My point was that often we read the gospel and the teachings of Jesus through Paul, rather than the other way around. And the same with Moses and Jeremiah: I believe in a continuity of Scripture with Jesus and his teachings and vision at the climax of the Redemptive Story God is telling through the whole of Scripture.
In my circles, at least, how Jesus defines the gospel is NEVER addressed or really even considered. When I ask people this question I most always get blank stares and some version of Romans Road/4 Spiritual Laws/EE or Pauls Romans teachings is given. I think that says something about the “gospel” American Christianity is preaching…
Your thoughts, Shane? And you have yet to answer the question 🙂
-jeremy
To answer the question, “How does Jesus define the Gospel” is like Moses asking God whom shall I say sent me? Jusus dosen’t define the Gospel, He is the Gospel. He is the kingdom of God incarnate. He is creation, the alpha and the Omega. The question, I think, implies a continuim of thought we mortals get hooked upon that somehow warrants a logical, earthy and rational explanation.
Says who?
Does Christ have to define Himself? Must God give a reason for breathing creation? Do we have to understand it?
Deut. 29:29
Just some thoughts.
Barry Prevett
Texas A&M ’76
Thats an easy question? “I am the way the truth and the light, no man comes to the Father but by me”
The Gospel is that man can come to God through and only through Jesus Christ. But like someone else said pitting Jesus against Paul makes no sense since the same God who inspired the Gospels also inspired Paul’s epistles so I have no problem using Paul’s writing to define the Gospel.
hi, andar here, i just read your post. i like very much. agree to you, sir.