The Gospel In A Sentence
May 16, 2008 9:13 amI am always on the lookout for simple, concise, one-sentence definitions of the gospel. I think it is important to be able to explain the gospel in a clear, simple way. Of course, the best are in Scripture:
“…Christ died for our sins…” (1 Corinthians 15:3)
“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)
“For 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. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance, he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” (Romans 3:23-26)
“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this faith in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.” (Romans 5:1-2)
“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)
“For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.” (1 Timothy 2:5-6)
I think my favorite definition outside Scripture is this one:
The Gospel is “the good news of salvation for hell-deserving sinners through the person and work of Jesus Christ.” Milton Vincent, The Gospel Primer.
Closer to home:
“God pardons & accepts me, a believing sinner, because Christ took my place.” Mark Mullery
Here’s a new one for my collection, that I got from pastor-blogger Thabiti Anyabwile:
“Jesus Christ, the Son of God crucified, is the Wisdom of God, by which the love of God can save sinners from the wrath of God, and all the while uphold and demonstrate the righteousness of God.” John Piper, “Conversion to Christ: The Making of a Christian Hedonist,” Matthew 13:44-46.
What about you? Got a favorite I should add to my collection?
Categories: five15 blog
One Response to “The Gospel In A Sentence”
A couple of my favorites:
Isaiah 53:4-6 “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
also,
“Let me tell about a man named Jesus, who died on a cross for siners like you and me, so that now the presence of God no longer dwells in a temple but in you and I.”
and
“Jesus is the gospel. What is the gospel? Here’s what the gospel is: the gospel is all that God did in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, to save us. That’s the gospel: all of God’s saving work in and through Jesus. That’s the gospel.”
-Both of those are preachers from Curtis Allen’s “(Preaching Jam)”
Care to comment?