Book Review: The Explicit Gospel

The gospel of Jesus Christ is something that we as Christians cherish deeply. Matt Chandler, the pastor of The Village Church in Dallas, has written a book that should change the way you look at the gospel, with the result that you will cherish it even more.

Chandler looks at the gospel from two perspectives: 

• ·       The Gospel from the ground: this is the gospel message that is most familiar to us. It is the gospel that saves us as individuals.
• ·       The gospel from the air: this is the gospel that we often overlook. It is the gospel that is bringing the whole creation into restoration.

Both of these perspectives flow from the fact that everything is about God’s glory. Read on for why it is important that we are explicit with both perspectives of the gospel because there are dangers if we neglect either one of these two perspectives.

In part one of the book, the author looks at the gospel from the ground. The gospel for our personal salvation begins with God and the fact that the Bible is not just a message to us, but it is a message about God and His glory. But man has violated that purpose and fallen short of that glory. So God has provided a remedy in Christ. But that provision requires a response from each individual. That is the explicit gospel from a personal perspective: God, man, Christ, response.

In part two, Chandler views the gospel from the air. Here again we find four parts, this time called creation, fall, reconciliation, consummation. Whereas the gospel from the ground emphasizes the personal salvation of each individual who responds its message, the gospel from air sees the gospel as what the author calls cosmic restoration. God has created this world for His glory, with perfect harmony of all things that He created. But man has destroyed that harmony by rejecting God and His will. So God provided a way of reconciling the world to Himself through the cross of Christ, with the end result being the return of Christ when there is a new heaven and new earth.

There is a third part of the book that is particularly helpful. Chandler deals with what happens when a person (or church) spends too much time on the ground or in the air. It has some devastating results which he clearly explains. From becoming a self-centered gospel that ignores the needs of those around us, to evolving into a social gospel that rejects the sinfulness of man and thus eliminates the need for the cross of Christ, the message will be either lost or distorted. In the final chapter, we find direction for what is called “grace-driven efforts” to grow in this glorious salvation. Here he speaks of the grace weapons, killing the roots of sin, having a fear of God, being dead to sin and alive to God, and finally,  destroying sin in our life.

The Explicit Gospel needs to be not only understood, but also proclaimed by the church as well as each individual Christian. Chandler writes in a way that makes it easy to read. Except that reading this book is more like listening to a sermon (and an excellent sermon at that!) 

The Transforming Power of the Gospel

I admit it. I am a big fan of Jerry Bridges. I have read several of his books, with several more still to read on the shelf. His newest book, The Transforming Power of the Gospel, takes many of his ideas from his earlier books and shows us how the gospel not only provides us with the only way of being saved, but also the only way of being sanctified, which is the Bible word for changing us to be like Christ.

The early chapters deal with the gospel message itself, beginning with the holiness of God, which serves to highlight how sinful we really we are (the topic of the following chapter). The answer to our sinfulness, of course, is the work of Christ on the cross. This is where Bridges does a masterful job of explaining what happens to us when we are justified by God. The chapter is called “The Great Exchange” (a title of one of his other excellent books). What exchange, you ask? It is my sin being exchanged for His righteousness. And in a beautiful explanation of the grace involved in that exchange, he shows that not only are we counted by God as having never sinned, but we are also counted as though we have always obeyed! What an exchange! No wonder it is called Great!

Bridges then begins to show how this glorious truth should be used by every believer as the change agent in their life. He has frequently spoken of dependent responsibility in the Christian’s life to describe how God transforms us into the likeness of Christ. We depend on the Holy Spirit to do the work of changing us without removing from us the responsibility to be obedient to what the Bible says we need to do. 

So Bridges provides some excellent guidance on what is our exact responsibility, noting not only that it is what we ought to do, but it is what the Christian should desire to do. He uses the term “instruments of grace” (sometimes called spiritual disciplines). These include spending time alone with God that would involve three activities: embracing the gospel, Bible reading, and prayer. Other grace instruments are also discussed such as memorizing scripture, meditation on the Word, hearing the Word being taught, and a full chapter is written that speaks of how adversity is used by God to bring about spiritual transformation.

If you want to see your life change in to the image of Christ, this book will help you. I like the fact that there are discussion questions at the end of each chapter. These would have value for couples to use as they read the book together. Or, you could use them in discipling another person, perhaps an older child or friend. However you might use this book, this is for sure: Use it. You’ll be glad you did.