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The Gospel?
Over on the Jesus Creed blog, Scott McKnight asks the question, “Is 1st Corinthians 15 a sketch of the full gospel or only part of it?” Here is the heart of the passage under consideration,
1 Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.”
As I was praying about Scot’s question, these words from Jesus found in John 8:31-36, came to mind,
“31To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
33 They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”
34 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
As I have pondered these two passages, I noticed that Jesus puts the emphasis on freedom from the bondage of sin – a freedom that can be achieved in the present. However, Paul’s emphasis is more focused on the forgiveness of sins – the ultimate victory over sin for eternity.
McKight, in his book, The King Jesus Gospel, points out that we have confused the “Plan of Salvation” with the “Gospel.” He argues that the Gospel is the full story of Jesus, with Jesus being the completion of the story of Israel. Where McKight and I differ is that he sees that full story of Jesus in the Corinthians passage and I do not. However I do agree that the plan of salvation is simply a part of that larger gospel story.
For me the Gospel is Jesus – the mystery of God becoming man, dwelling among us, teaching us, suffering because of us, dying for us, and now living through us. We have the words that tell us about him contained in the Gospels, but the real power of The Gospel is that we have access to that same power Jesus speaks of in John above, here and now. It is the Spirit of the risen Christ present with us, dwelling in us, calling us and leading us into the truth and to freedom that is “the good news.” While I don’t deny that the forgiveness of sins is a part of gift of the gospel, I believe the more amazing part is the access we have to God through Christ today and the freedom that we can find in this life.
My friend Charles was a slave to drugs and alcohol for 33 years. He decided he would rather be dead than to live that way anymore, so in a sense he died to his sin and entered a drug treatment program. He learned a lot about his addiction. People told him he needed to “connect to his Higher Power” to find the strength to beat the illness that held him hostage. However, Charles was not able to “think” or “believe” his way out of bondage. It was not until he started to see and experience God for himself that he began to see the chains fall off. Charles will tell you that by helping other sick and suffering addicts, he is working out his own salvation. The act of being Jesus to others, of allowing the spirit to flow through him, is healing him as he offers healing to those still in bondage.
As I shared in my post “Following the Leader”, I think we have really gotten off course by focusing excessively on “believing” and putting so little emphasis on “following.” According to Jesus, the witness of the gospels and the transformation stories of most of the saints I know, true “believing” developed out of “following.”
When we turn Christianity into a “head trip,” and focus on “right belief”, we enslave ourselves to the words on a page and miss the freedom that Christ offers us when we step out in faith and simply follow. When we focus on the words in the bible instead of the person of Jesus, we end up fighting about what words mean and which ones are most important, instead of simply taking Jesus teachings and working them out in our own lives the way he invited us to.
I think the gospel message is a message of freedom – freedom that comes when we discover the power of Christ dwelling in us. That power only comes when we embody Christ teachings. Simply knowing Jesus said “I came to bring good news to the poor and set the oppressed free” has no power to free anyone. However, when we carry the good news to the poor or fight for justice for the oppressed, the spirit of Christ moves through us and not only sets us free but also has the power to set others free. It is not the words we speak, but the words we embody that hold the power.
Jesus is the “word made flesh.” The mystery is in the incarnation as well as the resurrection! It is the “Christ that lives in me” that holds the power, not simply the beliefs that I hold. As my friend Charles learned, it is the death to self-will that makes resurrection possible but the embodying of word that actually brings new life. It is all one amazing mystery and any attempt to make one part of the mystery superior over the other parts of the story, changes the story and it no longer has power.
Thanks for letting me preach a little. I feel a little like the Apostle Paul today, “Woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!” As McKight points out, to preach it you first have to define it and that is where things get a little messy.
So this is my definition. How would you define the Gospel?
Thought provoking. There is more to this than a blog post. When is your next book coming out?
From the moment sin entered the world in Adam and Eve, Adam (the first Christ) was told to get busy having dominion over a broken world. Dominion was not only over creation, but Israel was to stand among the nations as the visible sign of “God with us”, bearing witness to the reign of God and pointing to the coming Savior. Jesus came and in him the reconciliation of God with His world (and man in it) took another huge step forward. And when Jesus was lifted up, he invited us to co-reign with him until He comes again. I have always understood salvation is the who big grandiose scheme of God making right what was broken in the Garden. That certainly includes personal salvation stories, it also includes Co-reigning with God making ALL things right (Col 1:17ff).
Christians get to bring God’s redemption story in every domain and aspect of life till Jesus comes again. Yahoo. Want significance? Want a sense of purpose? Get on with the redemption of all things! Live into your new status: Holy priesthood!
Preach it preacher man!
Jay,
In your ministry do you struggle trying to convince people that the “plan of salvation” is not the whole gospel? I am wondering if it is my Baptist circles that continually bring me into that conversation or if it is something everyone in ministry is confronted with. There seems to be the Kingdom of God camp and the Personal Salvation Camp. When pushed to choose, I move toward the KoG folks but when I look at my own experience, the personal salvation experience is core to my experience and essential to the Kingdom coming hear and now.
To tell you the truth Wendy, I don’t spend a lot of time trying to convince people about theology. Much wiser theologians and much better preachers than I can do that. When I love the Jesus way, people wonder why, and I get to tell them about an amazing salvation; When I hire a neighbor kid to clean the alley and make the neighborhood a better place, the neighbors wonder why and I get to tell them about a God who loves beauty; and when I work at making things right in society (politics and social service systems), people wonder why, and I get to say that God is generous and longs for them to experience a whole life. Action are as loud or louder than words and often give rise to opportunities share the words.
Bless you!
The conversations that I seem to continually have to contend with start like this, “Where is Jesus in what you are doing?”, “Why aren’t you preaching (they mean with words) the Gospel?”, I have had so many frustrating conversations trying to help people see the gospel is more than leading people to Jesus. I guess it is the circles I am affiliated with. I think I need to expand that circle.
I grew up Baptist and am now in a Presbyterian church, but have taken interest in some of the Orthodox understandings about the Gospel. They talk more in terms of freedom from death and that the fear of death leads to sin. They also emphasize the need to embody new life and new relationships.
Hi Micheal,
I gained a love and appreciation for the scriptures from my time in Baptist churches and my “big Gospel” theology was formed in a Baptist seminary. I did not mean to lump all Baptist into one category. I guess my strongest critics have come from that camp but as I think about, so have my greatest supporters.
I have never heard “fear of death” leads to sin. That is an interesting statement. I have heard that “fear” is the opposite of “faith.” Not sure if that is the same concept.
Thanks for your comment…I will have to ponder this idea a bit more.
1 Corinthians 15 says the sting of death is sin. My favorite chapter. What Michael mentions is very mainstream Orthodox teaching in my experience and a very beautiful (and expansive) way to look at both sin and salvation. But then it isn’t “the church” so much as certain protestants who have the gospel confused with the plan of salvation. At least that’s my opinion.
God’s grace is amazing, enjoy the Keith Green song…
http://youtu.be/h89-3_kIRDA
P.S. – the gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah, the Son of God, for the forgiveness of our sins.
Wendy,
I’m thinking that further exploration of how Jesus’ emphasis on “freedom from the bondage of sin” relates to Paul’s “forgiveness of sin” will add to the cultivation of truth you have already done. Frankly, I don’t see that they differ. For me, forgiveness is freedom. Such exploration would perhaps clarify even further why getting stuck in language tends to trip us up in our theology.
Janie,
I will spend some time with the idea that “freedom from” is the same as “forgiveness of.” I guess when I hear “forgiveness of” it is forgiving of something that was done so the sin is in the past and the grantor of forgiveness is saving the sinner from punishment by God, which is likely not what you are referring to but is what I hear when I read those words.
However, the words “Freedom From” is a liberation from the propensity to sin. I think I see where you are going, the “bondage to sin” could mean our own self inflicted hatred related to our sin, thus the forgiveness lifts that burden and brings freedom. Not sure if that is what you mean but it might help me frame this in a healthier way than seeing forgiveness as simply a “get out of hell free” card and something fuller and richer and more life giving in this life and not just the life to come.