The Gospel: Introduction

In the past, in writing an entry on a topic like the Gospel, I would have spent a lot of time ranting about all the horrible things the church does in America that are a detriment and an insult to the Gospel.  As I have matured in my faith, though, I know that, while those kinds of messages are needed at times, there has been way too much of that recently and it is time that we put back together all of the things that certain groups have deconstructed.

One of those things is the Gospel.

Over the next few posts I would like to take some time and discuss the Gospel.  We are not going to talk about what it isn’t, but rather, what it is.  We are going to look at how far-reaching it is and the best ways to proclaim it.  Once we have done that, we are going to look at the books in our Bible known as the Gospels and discuss them in greater depth by book and come to terms with some of the differences between them.

The last section will be, by far, the longest and the hardest as many Christians have been raised in traditions where they are not allowed to ask some of the hard questions of the Gospels, or the rest of the Bible for that matter, such as why, in one book, Jesus is crucified during the day and, in another, His death occurs at night.

Once we have discussed the Gospel message and the Gospel books of the Bible we are then going to deal with the issue of Biblical authority, inerrancy, and sufficiency.  The reason I am choosing to save that discussion for last and not do it first is because, I think, what we believe about the Gospel should impact what we believe about the Bible.  Or, to say it a little differently, our understanding of the Bible should flow from what we believe about Jesus and the Gospel and not the other way around.  This probably sounds strange at this point, but what I mean by that will become more evident, if you don’t already have a good idea of what I am going to say, as the series progresses.

So, as we go into this study of the Gospel, let us all pray for God’s wisdom and guidance.  May His Spirit move us and shape our thoughts as we seek to understand the message He has called us to proclaim.