Comments on: The Gospel of God: Personal Atonement or Christ's Kingdom?

By: anthony buzzard

anthony buzzard — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 22:50:09 +0000

The Gospel has a label. Jesus calls it the Gospel about the Kingdom of God. His first command in Mark 1:14, 15 is that we are to believe this Kingdom Gospel. At that stage there is no mention of his sacrificial death, nor his resurrection (later included in the Gospel. The Kingdom texts in Mark point to the Kingdom as the future world revolution to happen at the return of Jesus to set up the Kingdom on earth. Evangelicalism constantly neglects Jesus as evangelist and thus the Gospel as Jesus preached it is lost, and only his death and resurrection remain as Gospel. Hence the weakness and confusion of churches, who nevertheless claim the Bible as their authority. A major change could occur if all Gospel preaching began where Jesus begins in Mark 1:14, 15.

By: Dan S.

Dan S. — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 22:12:39 +0000

I could not agree more, Trevin. This has to be one of your best posts ever.

By: Its not the Saviour OR the Kingdom its both | Byrnesys Blabberings

Its not the Saviour OR the Kingdom its both | Byrnesys Blabberings — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 09:30:23 +0000

[...] for the sake of one other post, I normally collect them together in my bi-weekly round ups, but as I read this post this morning at Kingdom People it really struck a chord in [...]

By: Trevin Wax

Trevin Wax — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 02:41:15 +0000

Thanks, Nick, for the feedback. I hope to talk about the subject you’ve mentioned in another post. Right now, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about how the different biblical authors think of the one gospel in three ways (eternal life, kingdom of God, justification by faith) and how those three provide insights into the gospel announcement of Jesus.

By: Nick

Nick — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 10:54:31 +0000

Trevin,

One thing I think would be helpful is for you to clarify for some what you mean when you speak of the cosmic implications of the gospel. I know some are skeptical when people like Wright talk about how the gospel is bigger than just you and me and actually speaks of the renewal of all creation. I don’t think the renewing of all creation is the part that bothers people so much but it is when we talk about building for the kingdom when people start to get nervous. I had one person ask me one time, “Well then, how to I build for the Kingdom? Do I plant a tree? No, Jesus told me to go an make disciples. Plus I believe God will destroy this world and create a new one.” Now I don’t think that objection can be written off as easily as some would like. Throughout the book of acts I do see healings and those sorts of signs that the kingdom has come but there isn’t very much in terms of ‘saving the planet’. Is that really central to the mission of the church? And also, is the idea that this earth will be destroyed and a completely new one will be created a legitmate argument from scripture? So I ask again; perhaps you could clarify for some skeptics what you mean by cosmic salvation and what are its implications for Christian living according to scripture?

By: Phil

Phil — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 10:45:40 +0000

I can only hope that these balanced thoughts will continue to be voiced, and that this position will gain momentum. The church desperately needs this balanced gospel. Thanks for your post, and good expansion on the Rick McKinely quote you posted a few days ago. (I’ve been sharing that quote with many.)

By: Nick

Nick — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 20:15:27 +0000

“It is a message about the coming of God’s kingdom, yes. And the king of that kingdom has given his life for its subjects (atonement).”

Thank you so much for this, Trevin…

By: Van Peebles

Van Peebles — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 14:24:27 +0000

A brilliant and important post.

By: Chris E

Chris E — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 12:45:00 +0000

““The Gospel is that God himself has come to rescue and renew creation through the work and in the work of Jesus christ on our behalf.” — Tim Keller

By: Geoff Youngs

Geoff Youngs — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 11:37:54 +0000

Preach it, brother. Preach it.

Scripture teaches both; we must too. Without personal repentance and salvation, the gospel becomes impersonal and God becomes remote. Without the eschatological dimension, we risk a gospel that makes us more important than God (it’s all about God saving me, meeting my needs, my ticket to heaven). It seems that unless we keep the healthy tension of the personal and the cosmic, we diminish God’s glory: proclaiming his disinterest in an area where he has made his will plain.

Why are we so eager to reduce the gospel to it’s minimal form? Why do we not long to gorge ourselves on the gospel, embracing more of it than our arms, minds or hearts can encompass? When did we stop longing to declare the full counsel of God in favour of a low-fat, low-carb salvific formula?