For a better answer than this to the question “what is the gospel?” Greg Gilbert turns first to Romans 1–4, and finds a systematic presentation of the gospel. He summarizes it as follows:
[H]aving looked at Paul’s argument in Romans 1–4, we can see that at the heart of his proclamation of the gospel are the answers to four crucial questions:
We might summarize these four major points like this: God, man, Christ, and response.
- Who made us, and to whom are we accountable?
- What is our problem? In other words, are we in trouble, and why?
- What is God’s solution tor that problem? How has he acted to same us from it?
- How do I—myself, right here, right now—how do I come to be included in that salvation? What makes this good news for me and not just for someone else?
Of course Paul goes on to unfold a universe of other promises God has made to those who are saved in Christ, and many of those promises may very appropriately be identified as part of the good news of Christianity, the gospel of Jesus Christ. But it’s crucial that we understand, right from the outset, that all those grand promises depend on and flow from this, the heart and fountainhead of the Christian good news. Those promises come only to these who are forgiven of sin through faith in the crucified and risen Christ. That is why Paul, when he presents the heart of the gospel, starts here—with these four crucial truths.—Greg Gilbert, What is the Gospel (Crossway, 2010), 27–31.
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