What Is the Gospel?
Let me start by stating the simplified answer to the question, “What is the gospel?” The “gospel” is an expression in Scripture that simply means “good news.” It is best to think of the gospel in three related parts. The Gospel – Jesus is the Messiah, the promised saving King described in Scripture. He came […]
‘Why the Gospel’ by Matthew Bates Book Review
As disciples of Jesus, we believe, obey, and share the gospel. But what is the point of the gospel? Author, theologian, and educator Matthew Bates’s newest book is Why the Gospel?: Living the Good News of King Jesus with Purpose. It has been awarded as the Christianity Today 2024 Book Award in Popular Theology, and […]
What Is the Gospel? A Q&A with Matthew Bates about the Gospel’s What & Why
What is the gospel, and why does it matter? In this interview, Matthew Bates, author of multiple books on the gospel, takes us on a tour into the center of the Christian faith: the gospel of Jesus. Q. Gospel Allegiance. The Gospel Precisely. Why the Gospel?. I’m sensing a theme in your latest book titles. […]
Is Christianity Political? How the Gospel Frames Our Politics
Meet Brandon, who self-identifies as an agnostic. He describes his current experience with Christians: “Today whenever I experience the activities of American Christians as an organized group . . . it is almost always in terms of them trying to use political force to entice people to behave in a certain way.”[1] It is striking […]
What Is the Trinity in the Bible?
What is the Trinity in the Bible? God, who reveals himself through creation, showed himself specially to Abraham and his descendants. In the gospel, God revealed himself as three persons but one God: the Father sent his only Son, and they sent forth the Spirit. The following is an excerpt from Matthew W. Bates, The Gospel […]
The Gospel Coalition, Matthew Bates, and Renew.org
This is one of the most in-depth posts we have written so far explaining the distinctive purpose of Renew.org. Thank you in advance for taking the time to carefully read it. Can we just start by mentioning how grateful we are for The Gospel Coalition? What a valuable group of men and women who are […]
How Didn’t I See That Parallel Before?
Have you ever watched two movies at separate times, only to discover that—wait a second! It’s basically the same movie?! For example, there’s Judy Garland’s In the Good Old Summertime (1949), followed by Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks’s You’ve Got Mail (1998). Basically the same movie. A little less obviously, there’s Disney-Pixar’s A Bug’s Life […]
This Is How the Ancient World Received Grace, Part 2
As mentioned in Part 1, the ancient world viewed gift-giving differently than we typically do today. For us, there is the ideal of giving a gift with no strings attached. We don’t expect reciprocation. However, as Matthew Bates put it, “Nobody in the ancient world, including the biblical authors, felt that gifts should be pure […]
