Can the Gospel be Simply Stated?

The Westminster Assembly in a Victorian histor...
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I’ve been challenged recently in my own mind from a couple of quarters about presenting the Gospel of the Grace of God in a simple and understandable way. I didn’t say simplistic, but simple. There is today an undeniable emphasis on academic credibility within Christian circles. I don’t say this is necessarily wrong, not at all. We are to love God with all our minds. You see this in the writings of earlier generations, The Reformers and The Puritans for example. I’ll try to tease out what I see the difference generally speaking might be between then and now. The plain fact is God has given us brains and we ought to use them.

It’s possible to hear preaching that attempts at critiquing Gospel ministry by saying what the Gospel is and what it isn’t, and yet not actually preaching the Gospel. At such preaching we might be temped to respond by saying ‘did he speak or did he say something’. After such preaching people can come out and wonder just what it is they heard and wonder what on earth is the Gospel. There is a vast difference between preaching about the Gospel and preaching it.

I suppose the reality is that it’s ever been thus but one might articulate the difference between then and now as that of a furnace and a match. Both produce heat but are poles apart in intensity. Ministers ought to be as qualified as they can be BUT not at the expense of Gospel heat. A zeal for the Gospel of Christ ought not to be mistaken for a thirst for knowledge. Be a Gospel man! Having said that the combination of Gospel heat and zeal combined with an academic brilliance is a great gift of God to the Church. We see this particularly in men like Jonathan Edwards, John Owen, Calvin, Luther, Augustine, The Apostle Paul and many many others. The challenge is to the Seminaries of our day to turn out men with such a combination. Thankfully there are such and we ought to pray for more. Many men from earlier times knew more of the cost than we do today, having Gospel fire for some meant they burnt in the fire. But they warned their generation of the eternal fire to come.

I know a number of Gospel ministers so I’m not getting at anybody, all I’m attempting to do is sound a warning bell as a reminder that the ministers prime calling is to preach Christ and Him crucified not to get an education or be so high falutin that no one but themselves can understand what on earth they are on about. An education is fine in so far as it enables them to preach Christ and to minister to the people of God according to their gifts.

The Challenge

We are not all gifted in extraordinary ways but even so, here’s the challenge. First to myself. Can I explain the Gospel simply, clearly, directly and in a brief and understandable manner. Secondly to anyone else that wants to have a go – can you explain the Gospel simply, clearly, directly and in a brief and understandable manner. In a following post I will try to do this. I’ll invite you to i) critique my attempt, and ii) have a go yourself. I think this could be a profitable exercise for anyone wanting to explain the Gospel to a Gospel ignorant generation. This isn’t a game by the way – this is a serious challenge to see if we can communicate the Gospel to our generation. How about setting a limit of 100 words. What do you think?

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