Saturday, December 20, 2008

Characteristics of the Gospel

From D.A. Carson's keynote address delivered at The Gospel Coalition's first conference in May 2007. Carson clarifies the gospel from 1 Cor 15:1–19 with eight summarizing words...

  1. Christological: The gospel centers on the person and work (the life, death, and resurrection) of Jesus Christ.
  2. theological: The gospel tells us that sin is first and foremost an offense against God and that salvation is first to last the action of God, not our own.
  3. biblical: The gospel is essentially the message of the whole Bible.
  4. apostolic: The gospel is passed on to us by Jesus' disciples as authoritative eyewitnesses.
  5. historical: The gospel is not philosophy or advice on how to find God, but rather news of what God has done in history to find and save us.
  6. personal: The gospel must be personally believed and appropriated.
  7. universal: The gospel is for every tongue, tribe, people, and individual.
  8. eschatological: The gospel includes the good news of the final transformation, not just the blessings we enjoy in this age.

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