What is the gospel? That is a fundamental question that one would expect a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ to readily and rightly answer. The sad reality is that many Christians today cannot give a full and healthy response to the question “What is the gospel of Jesus Christ?” We engage in “gospel-talk” incorporating the word into our vocabularies but lack the biblical content and understanding of the significance of the gospel. The anemic state of churches in our land exposes that there is wide-spread gospel illiteracy in our churches making the question “What is the gospel?” vitally important in our day. Have we lost the gospel? To assume the gospel is to lose it. If we have lost it, what else matters?
In this issue of the Founders Journal, the contributors consider crucial realities of the gospel. Dr. Phil Newton asks the important question, “What are you Teaching?” and gives a clear apologetic for “The Gospel is About Words” showing the practical implications of that truth. Dr. Ken Puls stresses the importance of carving out time to lay hold of the truth of God’s Word, particularly in a day when we have so many sources bringing input into our lives through TV, radio, Facebook, Twitter, etc.
Though much more could be said, this issue of the journal attempts to sound the alarm while providing a concise practical treatment of the vital priority and centrality of Christ’s gospel in not only ministry but all of life, affirming Paul’s assertion of the gospel being “the power of God for salvation” and our need to be emphatically proclaiming it with accuracy and in its entirety (Romans 1:16).
