I came across an image (not shown) of a street preacher while on the inter-webs and on his sign was a url. Knowing better, but not acting on it, I went to the website.
On a side note, I’m not opposed to street preaching, I just think it’s ineffective. But, I am opposed to people preaching a gospel that is not really the gospel.
Well, here is the “Gospel” according to their page.
What is the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Simply put – the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the GOOD NEWS that when you put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, you go from being an enemy of God to becoming a Child of God.
Did you catch that? It’s subtle, but it’s there.
According to this preacher, based on his site, the Good News of Jesus is something you do!
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the GOOD NEWS that when you…
Evangelical friends, the gospel does not begin with something that you do. The gospel is not about how a person get’s saved-through a decision. Again,the gospel is not about what we do.
The gospel is this:
At its briefest, the gospel is a discourse about Christ, that he is the Son of God and became man for us, that he died and was raised, and that he has been established as Lord over all things. This much St. Paul takes in hand and spins out in his epistles. He bypasses all the miracles and incidents (in Christ’s ministry) which are set forth in the four Gospels, yet he includes the whole gospel adequately and abundantly. This may be seen clearly and well in his greeting to the Romans, where he says what the gospel is, and then declares:
“Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and designated Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,” etc.
There you have it. The gospel is a story about Christ, God’s and David’s son, who died and was raised, and is established as Lord. This is the gospel in a nutshell. Martin Luther’s Basic Theological Writings, 94
The gospel begins and ends with what God has done for us in Jesus.
Here is a good way to remember it.
The gospel is descriptive; it tells us what God has done for us in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. On the other hand, the law is prescriptive; it tells us what to do.
Gospel = Descriptive.
Law= Prescriptive.
Let us put to rest that the Gospel is something we do, it’s not. The Gospel is done for us and to us.
The Gospel IS Jesus Christ the incarnate God who shows us the Kingdom of God is near.
-jpserrano