What is the Gospel? A Short Summary

One of the most important things to know about the Christian faith is to answer the question, "What is the Gospel?" Unfortunately, it is also one of the most profound concepts in Christianity. Sometimes people like to summarize the gospel as "receiving Jesus" or as "grace" or some other term. While helpful in some ways, those summaries carry the danger of distorting the full gospel. The following is what I think is the absolute shortest version that is sufficiently comprehensive.

Gospel as Jesus' Story

This gospel is the “good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1). It is the news that God the Father sent his son to the world (John 3:16), who was born through the virgin Mary (Luke 2:11-12), lived among us as one of us (Luke 2:41-52), performed many great miracles (Matthew 8:1-34), died on the cross “to take away the sin of the world” (John 1:29), resurrected from the dead proving he is Lord (Mark 16:6), gave us eternal life (John 3:36), and sent us into the world as his disciples (John 17:18), leaving with us the Holy Spirit as the helper (John 14:26).

Gospel as Redemption History

The above is a short summary of the story of Jesus entering into the world in the “fullness of time” (Galatians 4:4). Of course, the biblical narrative spans much longer than just those short thirty some years. If gospel really does mean “good news,” then gospel should encompass all good news of God at work in the world.^[1] This has happened all throughout history and has been told by the patriarchs, the prophets, the teachers of the law, and by parents to their children for the entire narrative of the Bible. The full gospel story is no less than the redemption story of God saving a people that has fallen to sin. This gospel is epitomized, though not summarized, by Jesus coming into the world around 2000 years ago.

Gospel as Human Response

More than just story, the gospel is also the truth that believing in the story of Jesus – including his life, death, and resurrection – leads to us humans becoming a member of God’s family (John 1:12). This is an eschatological truth (1 John 5:13) as well as a present reality (Matthew 4:17, Luke 17:21). Believing is more than just an intellectual acknowledgement of one's sin, but includes genuine repentance (Matthew 3:8) and action that matches (James 2:18-19), resulting in a life of πίστις (pistis, faith and faithfulness)^[2] that befits the gospel of Christ (Philippians 1:27). This πίστις, like grace and everything else, is a gift from God and not a result of works (Ephesians 2:8-9). The person who has πίστις is a new creation (Galatians 6:15), having the Holy Spirit who dwells in us (2 Timothy 1:14). All this is in sharp contrast to a life without πίστις, which is characterized by the normal state of every single person (Romans 3:23) being dead in their trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1) and in desperate need of God (John 3:18), with no known way of being reconciled to God unless someone shares the gospel with them (Romans 10:14).

Questions

What do you think? Are there some concepts I am missing? Are there some that could be left out? Leave me a comment to let me know!

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A Year in Review: 2015

In January, many people make new year resolutions. People make important decisions that will supposedly affect the rest of their lives. People try to kick off bad old habits and pick up good new ones. It's a time for change and renewal. Well, I am no exception. However, I wanted to look back at last year to see all that has happened. This helps me realize just how good God has been to me. Hopefully, you'll praise God for His faithfulness too.

January

My brother got married in Malaysia and then in Taiwan. I was honored to have officiated for both of the wedding ceremonies. It's my first time officiating for any wedding actually. It was a joy to do so for a family member, my only brother. It was the most unconventional wedding I've experienced. Read more about it here. We also went on a family trip in Taiwan (see here).

February

Esther and I were at Moody's cultural fair representing my home country. It was great to be able to come together with all these students from many nations, brought together by a singular purpose: food. Well, food aside, everyone loved God too. This month, we also celebrated our first wedding anniversary at a Brazilian steakhouse (see here). It's only been a year? Wow.

March

This was a busy month. First of all, Esther became a U.S. citizen! I preached at my friend Jeremy's church a few times and also at Hyunbo's KCCC. Esther went to a supporter's lunch and did her CD release concert. I shared the Gospel during the citizenship ceremony (see here) and then later using fried chicken (see here).

April

I was born in this month! Beside celebrating my birthday, we did other things too. We went to Jamaica for one. We helped out at a five-day camp where Tony preached 10 times and Esther led worship even more. This church has been without any kind of pastor for a few years now and we were privileged to have served them. See more pictures here. One the way back, we stopped by Georgia Tech, where my heart was first set ablaze by the fires of revival (see here).

May

I worked my butt off to finish all the course work for my seminary in the midst of doing ministry. I graduated from Moody Theological Seminary with highest honors (4.0 GPA)! "It was not I, but the grace of God that is with me" (1 Cor 15:10). See more pictures here. A week after, we were honored to have done a service at CityLight International Church. What a blessed group of people (see here).

June

We were in 5 countries this month. We started off in Korea, where we taught music to college students, we taught English to elementary kids, I preached a few times, and Esther did some concertizing with her mom. There was a good family trip too. We then went to Taiwan, where we did another worship service together. We then went to Kenya, but not without transit via Hong Kong and Thailand first.

July

Visiting Kenya was a great experience. We were primarily there for a church planting conference. It was amazing to play a part in this gathering of 600 pastors/church planters. I saw 10 inmates turn to Christ after preaching at this prison. We also got to know great people through ministry at this church in Mombasa and Harvest in Limuru. My parents and brother joined us in Kenya later for a trip to the Maasai Mara Safari. Oh, I touched the head of a giraffe. We also went to Switzerland, more on that next month.

August

Esther did a concert on Switzerland's national holiday. I also preached at two churches in Switzerland (church #1, #2). We also had a great family trip with both sides of the family, celebrating both fathers' 60th birthday (album #1, #2), visiting the alps and many beautiful cities. Then we went to Italy, where we saw many beautiful churches. We ministered at two of them (church #1, #2). Many lives were saved and many more were changed. We visited many places, including Vatican City (album #1, #2).

September

We returned at the end of August to Chicago, to our new house. We did a lot of cleaning, furniture shopping, plumbing, and the works. It was tiring, but great. Esther's friend stayed over for a while. We did some ministry at a homeless shelter too.

October

October was the month of concerts. Esther did a nano concert at Moody Church and led worship at Moody's Mission Conference. We also did a house concert for our neighborhood. This was our way of reaching out and befriending our neighbors, who come from many cultural and religious backgrounds. Furthermore, we did a housewarming party for a different set of people this month too. Our house was well used, even for Halloween.

November

We did not do much ministry this month. Instead we were catching up with friends and ministry reports. We did go to Pacific Garden Mission and saw people turn to God. Our dear friends and mentors also invited us to their house for a grand Thanksgiving feast. Overall, it was a relaxing month.

December

We went to Candlelight Carols with one neighbor and the botanical gardens with another. We did a Christmas Concert and Party for the neighborhood, for which 53 people showed up! They were all so thankful that we invited them. We did more Christmas events, including a concert at a retirement home and a service at church. Then there was Higher Calling Conference 2015, where I spoke and Esther led worship. It was quite impactful and a fitting end to 2015.

Summary

It has been an eventful year. My brother's wedding, cultural fair, Esther's citizenship, Jamaica, seminary graduation, Korean/Taiwan tour, church planting in Kenya, Switzerland/Italy tour, moving in to a new house, house concerts, homeless ministry, missions conference... As we continue living by faith and walking with God, I have no doubt that He will do greater things, and that we will partake in it. That is our prayer.