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 the Outreach Resource of the Year in Theology and Biblical Studies (2024).
I personally grew up in what I would call “easy-believe-ism.” Nothing was required for salvation other than an admission of “faith in Jesus.” Ultimately, my ecclesiastical culture would say repentance was required, but what “repentance” consisted of was extremely vague. Moreover, what exactly “faith in Jesus” consisted of was similarly just as vague.
When I discovered what it means to be a disciple of Jesus 33 years after first being “saved,” I struggled to reconcile my concept of salvation with what it means to be a disciple. From what I gleaned from my studies on being a disciple, Jesus never presented being a disciple as optional: to accept the gospel of Jesus was to also accept His call to follow Him as His disciple.
“From what I gleaned from my studies on being a disciple, Jesus never presented being a disciple as optional.”
I finally came to an understanding of how “faith in Jesus” includes committing to being a disciple of Jesus largely through the writings of Matthew Bates. If you have perhaps read some of the previous works of Bates, you might know that many can be somewhat academic. However, his newest book, Why the Gospel?, is an easy and approachable work, similar to his The Gospel Precisely (RENEW.org, 2021). Moreover, it has a flow that is engaging as it moves you through the book.
While Bates’s purpose in this book is not to answer “what” the gospel of Jesus is, it answers that question along the way to answering “why” we need the gospel. Ultimately, the gospel of Jesus at its most basic core is that Jesus is the risen, saving King. However, this answer then begs the question, “Why do I need Jesus as King and what should my response be?” This is the premise of Why the Gospel?
I would argue that this book is more than just an answer to what the gospel is and why we need it. Why the Gospel? is a great book because it develops the theology of salvation through allegiance to King Jesus as His disciples in a way that is logical, readable, and approachable. If you have found that the more you understand the requirement to be a disciple of Jesus, the more you struggle with understanding what it means to be “saved by grace through faith” (Ephesians 2:8), then this is the book you need to read.
“Why the Gospel? is a great book because it develops the theology of salvation through allegiance to King Jesus as His disciples in a way that is logical, readable, and approachable.”
Since I want to encourage you to check out the book, I don’t want to come right out and give Bates’s full answer as to why the gospel. Rather, let me give you his partial answer, taken from an interview he did with RENEW.org. In the conversation, Bates gives two clues as to why the gospel (which point to the fuller answer given in the book):
“Rather than answer fully, I’ll simply give two clues: (1) I am a horrible king of my own life—and doubtless you are a horrible king of yours; (2) to a surprising degree, the gospel is about the restoration of fame. Paul describes the good news as ‘the gospel of the glory of the Christ, the image of God’ (2 Corinthians 4:4). This is a neglected gospel-defining verse, but once Scripture’s ‘glory cycle’ is understood, this verse unlocks many of the mysteries about how salvation works.”
Perhaps the most interesting portion of Why the Gospel? for me is the section on the “six malformed gospels and their purposes.” Bates not only identifies these malformed, incomplete gospels but also identifies what is wrong with them. You probably will find that you are familiar with these partial gospels, and you might even find that you have mistakenly believed in one of them rather than the true gospel of King Jesus.
“You probably will find that you are familiar with these partial gospels, and you might even find that you have mistakenly believed in one of them rather than the true gospel of King Jesus.”
The next best part of Why the Gospel? for me is in the second half where Bates ties allegiance theology to the practical purposes of evangelism and disciple making. Not only will reading this book help you to better understand the purpose of sharing the gospel and making disciples, but you should become better motivated and equipped to do so.
You needn’t have read any of Bates’s previous works to understand Why the Gospel? Instead, Why the Gospel? is perhaps the best jumping-on point if you are interested in reading his work. However, a point of warning, if you are not familiar with the theology of salvation by allegiance to King Jesus, you may be in for a theological shock. That being said, I would ask that you keep an open mind as you read Why the Gospel? and judge it (and the theology within) not by your previous theological assumptions, but by Bates’s honest and straightforward treatment of Scripture. You may find that portions of Scripture that have previously stumped you may finally make sense. It definitely helped me.
