What is the Gospel, by Michael Horton

[American Samurai]

[American Samurai]

I thought this was a good vid that gives a clear explanation of the Gospel.

[hasserl]

Yes, in light of some conversations we've had recently this is very fitting, and I agree with him, it's well said.

Question for you, since you posted a Michael Horton video, are you familiar with The White Horse Inn?

http://www.whitehorseinn.org/

[American Samurai]

Yes I am. Within evangelical Christianity, you will find all sorts of crazy stuff, some just simply errant, and others downright damning heresies. This is why I am preferably biased towards the Reformed circles.

[hasserl]

If you've listened to the White Horse Inn radio show, Rod Rosenbladt, who is a Professor at Concordia U in Irvine, is a close personal friend of my pastor, & Rod has preached at my church numerous times, I've met him numerous times and had conversations with him, as have many members of my congregation, who are on first name basis with him (some of whom have studied under him at Concordia, or Christ College, as it used to be known). One of the most well known and respected theologians of our church body, he is a joy to listen to and learn from.

[Not a Cook]

Interesting video. In the video Mr. Horton says the gospel is "a very particular word, or kind of speech in the Bible. From Genesis to Revelation the gospel is God's promise of a Son who will crush the serpent's head, forgive the sins of His people, raise them from the dead, and give them everlasting life, solely on the basis of His grace for the sake of Christ."

I'm not familiar with Mr. Horton and I'm not sure what the impetus behind the video was. That said, I find it interesting that, in what appears to be an attempt to specifically nail-down what the gospel is:

- he didn't mention anything about Christ being the propitiation for our sins, having borne our sins and suffered God's wrath in our place at Calvary, and having died in our place in order to satisfy the demands of God's law;
- he didn't mention anything about Christ conquering the grave and rising from the dead;
- he didn't mention anything about Christ's calling men to repentance and discipleship.

Please don't misunderstand me - I am not in disagreement with what Mr. Horton mentioned as being part of the gospel, and by what hasserl wrote about him previously I assume that Mr. Horton faithfully teaches the Scriptures and teaches each of these important points. However, I am surprised about what he didn't mention in a video that appears to have been done simply to make sure that others use the term "gospel" correctly. He takes issue with others proverbially casting too wide a net in what they refer to by the word "gospel"; however, I wonder whether (in this video, at least) he does not unintentionally cast too narrow a net. Obviously, Christ's death, the reason WHY He died, His resurrection, and the promise of new life in Christ are central to the gospel, yet I didn't hear him mention any of these things in this video.

Unrelated to this particular video, I am generally cautious of any attempt by anyone (and I mean no disrespect to Mr. Horton by this) to define/precisely nail-down any biblical term without carefully examining and then teaching about each use of that term in the Scriptures.

[Not a Cook]

American Samurai and hasserl - Given our previous discussions and the topic of this thread, I'd be curious to hear your take on this article: http://www.gty.org/Resources/Articles/A317.

[Lineman101]

A very good book...
God is the Gospel - by John Piper

[hasserl]

Interesting video. In the video Mr. Horton says the gospel is "a very particular word, or kind of speech in the Bible. From Genesis to Revelation the gospel is God's promise of a Son who will crush the serpent's head, forgive the sins of His people, raise them from the dead, and give them everlasting life, solely on the basis of His grace for the sake of Christ."

I'm not familiar with Mr. Horton and I'm not sure what the impetus behind the video was. That said, I find it interesting that, in what appears to be an attempt to specifically nail-down what the gospel is:

- he didn't mention anything about Christ being the propitiation for our sins, having borne our sins and suffered God's wrath in our place at Calvary, and having died in our place in order to satisfy the demands of God's law; - Implied in the quote you posted above
- he didn't mention anything about Christ conquering the grave and rising from the dead; - Implied in the quote you posted above
- he didn't mention anything about Christ's calling men to repentance and discipleship. That's Law, not Gospel

Please don't misunderstand me - I am not in disagreement with what Mr. Horton mentioned as being part of the gospel, and by what hasserl wrote about him previously I assume that Mr. Horton faithfully teaches the Scriptures and teaches each of these important points. However, I am surprised about what he didn't mention in a video that appears to have been done simply to make sure that others use the term "gospel" correctly. He takes issue with others proverbially casting too wide a net in what they refer to by the word "gospel"; however, I wonder whether (in this video, at least) he does not unintentionally cast too narrow a net. Obviously, Christ's death, the reason WHY He died, His resurrection, and the promise of new life in Christ are central to the gospel, yet I didn't hear him mention any of these things in this video.

This goes back to what I talked about in another thread, the proper distinction of the Law and the Gospel. You're mixing them up. The reason WHY He died, that's Law. The resurrection and new life in Christ I believe are implied, the video is obviously geared to those that already know the story.

Unrelated to this particular video, I am generally cautious of any attempt by anyone (and I mean no disrespect to Mr. Horton by this) to define/precisely nail-down any biblical term without carefully examining and then teaching about each use of that term in the Scriptures.

I can't speak for Mr Horton, but I believe the impetus behind the video is a perceived lack of understanding of what the gospel is among many Christians. People know the story, they know of man's fall from grace, they know of the promise of a savior and the fulfillment of that promise; but often they do not clearly understand the distinction between the Law, which condemns, and the Gospel, which saves. I've seen video's that people have made of them attending different gatherings, like the Harvest Festival for instance, and asking the simple question of people in attendance, "What is the Gospel" and getting all kinds of different answers, none of which were correct. It is a long held teaching in reformed theology that goes back several centuries, at least, that all scripture can be divided into either Law or Gospel; and that to properly understand them, to interpret them correctly, i.e. the practice of hermanuetics or exegesis, you must properly distinguish between them, and failing to do so leads to many false beliefs (i.e. works righteousness).

[Not a Cook]

Question: do you think Paul was accurate when he used the term "gospel" in 1 Corinthians 15 and wrote "that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures"? Should Paul have used a different term than "gospel"?

[hasserl]

American Samurai and hasserl - Given our previous discussions and the topic of this thread, I'd be curious to hear your take on this article: http://www.gty.org/Resources/Articles/A317.

I don't think much of it. It seems to be written by someone who practices a different brand of Christianity than I. I don't care much for what he says or how he says it. I don't like putting quantifiers on things like faith or grace, especially when those quantifiers are nebulous. So a distinction between "believers" and "true disciples" or faith and "true faith" or "saving faith" is simply erroneous and to be avoided. When I read the stores of Christ healing the sick, he didn't put quantifiers on their faith, he didn't say, "gee I'd like to help you, but your faith is not "true faith". No, he said "your faith has made you well". He also said faith as small as a mustard seed can move mountains.

Let's just say I'm not impressed with the article. I think it is written by someone who should be doing more reading and less writing, who should be doing more studying and less teaching. I wouldn't be looking toward anything from him for guidance in understanding the Christian faith, because I don't think he has a very good understanding of it himself. He's probably one who wouldn't be able to correctly answer the question about what is the Gospel.

[hasserl]

Question: do you think Paul was accurate when he used the term "gospel" in 1 Corinthians 15 and wrote "that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures"? Should Paul have used a different term than "gospel"?

That is Gospel.

[Not a Cook]

That is Gospel.

In the passages below, Christ is clearly calling men to follow Him and be His disciples.

Luke 9:23-25 (NKJV)

Luke 14:25-33 (NKJV)

You had previously stated "That's Law, not Gospel" regarding Christ's call to discipleship. John 1:17 (NKJV) records,

For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

That said, was it Moses who called men to repentance and to follow Christ as His disciples, or was it Christ Himself?

[Not a Cook]

Another interesting passage regarding this topic is Mark chapter 1. Notice that Mark starts with this wording,
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Mark 1:1

Soon after, Mark also wrote,
John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. Mark 1:4-5 (NKJV)

And then we read,
Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” Mark 1:14-15

Then again, a couple more verses, this time from Matthew:

From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew 4:17

But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” Matthew 9:13 (NKJV)

There are many more such verses. That said, here's the question: was Christ teaching the law, or was He teaching the gospel, when He called me to repent and follow Him?

[hasserl]

In the passages below, Christ is clearly calling men to follow Him and be His disciples.

Luke 9:23-25 (NKJV)

Luke 14:25-33 (NKJV)

You had previously stated "That's Law, not Gospel" regarding Christ's call to discipleship. John 1:17 (NKJV) records,

For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

That said, was it Moses who called men to repentance and to follow Christ as His disciples, or was it Christ Himself?