Getting the Gospel Right , livre ebook

Baker Publishing Group - C. Sproul R.

Découvre YouScribe en t'inscrivant gratuitement

Je m'inscris

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus

136 pages

English

Vous pourrez modifier la taille du texte de cet ouvrage

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus

A propos
Informations
Extrait

Description

Unity in the gospel is essential to the witness of the church. Yet that unity was tested by the release of two documents, Evangelicals and Catholics Together and The Gift of Salvation, which appeared to surrender the historic doctrine of sola fide (faith alone). In response, Christian leaders released a statement called The Gospel of Jesus Christ: An Evangelical Celebration.Getting the Gospel Right, a companion to Sproul's popular Faith Alone, contains the complete text of that statement along with thorough, point-by-point discussion and exposition, to make a strong declaration of the abiding unity of evangelicals regarding the gospel and justification by faith alone.

Sujets

Philosophie et théologie

Christian theology

Informations

Publié par	Baker Publishing Group
Date de parution	01 octobre 1999
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781441231512
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	3 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0518€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
© 1999 by R. C. Sproul
Published by Baker Books
a division of Baker Publishing Group
P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www.bakerbooks.com
Repackaged edition published 2017
ISBN 978-0-8010-1969-2
Ebook edition created 2017
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
ISBN 978-1-4412-3151-2
Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Proprietor is represented by the literary agency of Wolgemuth & Associates, Inc.
Contents
Cover 1
Title Page 3
Copyright Page 4
Illustrations 7
Preface 9
Part 1: Controversy Concerning the Gospel 13
1. Unity and the Gospel 15
2. Evangelicals and the Evangel 29
Part 2: The Gift of Salvation: A Critical Analysis 45
3. Our Need for Justification 47
4. The Basis of Our Justification 63
5. Divisive Disputes and Legitimate Questions 79
Part 3: The Gospel of Jesus Christ: An Explanation 101
6. Unity in the Gospel 103
7. The Saving Power of God 117
8. Christ the Incarnation of God 137
9. Christ the Perfect Sacrifice 155
10. The Righteousness of Christ 169
11. Trusting in Christ 185
Appendixes
1. The Gift of Salvation 199
2. The Gospel of Jesus Christ: An Evangelical Celebration 209
Notes 223
Glossary of Foreign Terms 227
Index of Persons 229
Index of Scripture 233
About the Author 235
Other Books by the Author 237
Back Ads 238
Back Cover 242
Illustrations
Figures
1.1 The Visible and Invisible Church 17
1.2 Marks of a True Church 20
1.3 The Unity of Believers 27
2.1 The Changing Meaning of the Word Evangelical 35
Tables
2.1 Causes of the Reformation 38
2.2 Evangelical–Roman Catholic Statements 43
Preface
I T IS AXIOMATIC that a house divided against itself cannot stand. Perhaps the oldest stratagem for military success is the ploy that seeks to “divide and conquer.”
When Christians sing together “Blest Be the Tie That Binds,” it is not a vacuous exercise in maudlin celebration. The unity Christians share together is so precious that it truly does incarnate the blessing of God to us. This unity is as important as it is at times precarious. By this unity we are strengthened and mutually encouraged to fidelity to Christ and the mission He has given His church.
The loss of Christian unity at any point is tragic and destructive. When that loss threatens our unity in the gospel itself, it is catastrophic. To work toward unity in the gospel is not a matter of ecclesiastical politics; it is a matter that touches the soul of the church itself and the souls of all its members.
To seek unity in the gospel is neither a quixotic crusade nor a frivolous search; it is a matter of the most urgent priority for the Christian. All who embrace the gospel and love its content are visited by a divine mandate to preserve that unity and to defend it together. The gospel is our hope and our life, the most excellent and sweet truth that we have. Beside it lesser theological differences pale into insignificance. In the gospel we experience the power of God unto salvation and hear not only “good news,” but the best of all possible news. This unity is so priceless that it is worth contending, fighting, and dying for. It is a family matter for the people of God who have been adopted into the Father’s house and who are loyal to the Son, who is our Elder Brother.
The truth of the gospel must be maintained for Christ’s sake and for our own. Indeed it is our eternal link to Christ and the means through which we become His in the first place. In the gospel we meet the One who is our only hope in life and death, and by the gospel we acquire a hope that will never leave us ashamed.
For many years I have been deeply concerned about the state of evangelical unity in the United States. This concern was provoked initially by the release of the document entitled Evangelicals and Catholics Together ( ECT ) 1 and by the subsequent document entitled The Gift of Salvation ( GOS ). 2 Many evangelicals were sharply divided by these documents. The effort to seek unity and accord with Roman Catholics had the negative effect of driving a wedge between evangelicals who formerly were closely allied.
I am numbered among those who believe that both ECT and GOS are seriously flawed. In part 2 of this volume, I point out where I think GOS is seriously flawed. But despite the tensions arising from these issues, or because of them, deep discussions have taken place among evangelicals who are seeking to heal the rift engendered by this debate and to come together with a strong and unambiguous declaration of our abiding unity in the gospel, despite our differences over ECT and GOS . In February 1998 discussions took place among those who supported GOS and those who rejected it. These discussions included initially Charles Colson, Timothy George, John Woodbridge, John Ankerberg, Michael Horton, John Armstrong, and myself. We all agreed that what was urgently needed to restore evangelical unity was a joint statement regarding the gospel and justification by faith alone that could reaffirm the unity that has existed historically among a wide and diverse body of evangelical Christians.
As a result of these discussions, a committee was selected to draft a document for the endorsement of evangelical leaders that would cross denominational and sectarian lines. The drafting committee included the following members: John Ankerberg, John Armstrong, John N. Akers, David Neff, Timothy George, J. I. Packer, Erwin Lutzer, John Woodbridge, R. C. Sproul, D. A. Carson, Thomas C. Oden, Scott Hafemann, Keith Davy, Maxie Dunnam, and Harold Myra. Significant input was also given by David Wells.
The drafting committee worked carefully through several drafts and emendations to produce the document, The Gospel of Jesus Christ: An Evangelical Celebration , that will be analyzed in part 3 of this book. 3 The experience was one marked by a profound spirit of congeniality and mutual respect. The agreements set forth were genuine and heartfelt, leaving the committee members with a spirit of joy and encouragement.
The document was then presented to some prominent evangelical leaders for their endorsement.
Part 1: Controversy Concerning the Gospel
1 Unity and the Gospel
I BELIEVE IN THE COMMUNION of the saints. . . .” This affirmation is declared weekly by myriads of Christians assembled for worship in congregations around the world. It is a crucial affirmation of the Apostles’ Creed. That the communio sanctorum is an article of catholic Christianity, a universal article of historic Christian faith, underlines the gravity of its importance to the people of God.
This confession has several important aspects to it. Among these is the recognition that Christians from every tribe and tongue and nation, from varied and diverse ecclesiastical communities, enjoy a unity of fellowship that is supernatural in its cause and in the reality of its very essence. A communion is a union with something. In this case it is a union with people. The specific people in view in the creedal affirmation are called “the saints.” The reference to “saints” is not restricted to those few extraordinary Christians who have been canonized by a specific institution or who have the title “saint” before their names, such as St. Paul, St. Peter, St. Augustine, St. Francis, and St. Thomas Aquinas. Here the term saint is applied to all believers, following the nomenclature of the New Testament, in which rank-and-file Christians are addressed as “saints” or “the holy ones” ( hagioi ).
Those who are called saints in the New Testament are not so-named because they have achieved a singularly high level of righteousness or a unique degree of sanctification. They are called saints because they have been “set apart” or consecrated to a holy mission and belong to a holy fellowship by virtue of their inclusion in the body of Christ. They are the people who have been regenerated and indwelt by the Holy Spirit. In a word, they are the elect of God from every nation.
The Visible and Invisible Church
The distinction between the visible and invisible church of Christ owes much of its definition to the thinking of St. Augustine, bishop of Hippo in North Africa, who is generally regarded as the greatest theologian of the first millennium of Christian history, if not of all time. Augustine sought to expound the teaching of Christ and His apostles regarding the biblical metaphor of tares and wheat who coexist in the visible or outward congregations of Christian churches. The Bible clearly indicates that it is possible for people to make a profession of faith and unite themselves to a congregation while not actually possessing the faith they profess. Christ spoke of the facility by which people can honor Him with their lips while their hearts are far removed from Him (Mark 7:6). He warned in the Sermon on the Mount that on the last day people will say, “Lord, Lord” whom He will dismiss from His presence with the dreadful words, “I never knew you; depart from Me” (Matt. 7:23). In like manner James expounded the problem of those who declare they have faith but whose faith is moribund, yielding no fruit and displaying no works consistent with genuine saving faith (James 2:20).
Augustine’s concept of the invisible church was not an ancient paradigm for an underground church or for a few loose groups of people who do not join or participate in the life of an organized church or community of believers. For Augustine the term invisible church refers substantially to people who