A Christ-Centered Gospel
By Trevin Wax on Jan 10, 2009 in Excerpts | 
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“The gospel of the early Christians was Christ-centered. The gospel is not a message about us (for example, “You are a sinner, and you need a Savior”). It is a message for us, yes. But it is first and foremost a message about Jesus Christ and what he has done, to the glory of God the Father.”
- a quote from my upcoming book, Holy Subversion: Allegiance to Christ in an Age of Rivals
© Copyright by Trevin Wax | Print This Post | Share (Twitter, Email, Facebook)
Christ died to vindivate God the Father’s Righteousness in choosing us unto Salvation.
When Adam sinned God’s law was inpugned.
In dying for God, He died for us.
Dr. Paul W. Foltz | Jan 10, 2009 | Reply
Amen, Trevin!
Steve Weaver | Jan 10, 2009 | Reply
You hit the nail on the head about the gospel being about Christ and what He has done. The law is the message about us, it tells us our condition and brings us to our knees to recieve the gospel seed. Preaching needs to contain both and I think a lot of confusion has happened in preaching and the presentation of the gospel because gospel has come to mean everything about the Bible. A clear understanding of law and gospel makes a person a better communicator of the gospel because you keep it purely about Christ and what He has done.
Just my 2 cents from a Conservative Lutheran perspective.
Thanks, powerfully written.
Jason | Jan 10, 2009 | Reply
The New Testament is authored by a number of persons and contains quite a variety of kinds of material. What its central message is or is not depends a lot on the ears of the hearer, so to speak.
Central to those aspects of the text that resonate most powerfully for me are what Jesus cites as the two greatest commandments: love others and love God.
Paul Maurice Martin | Jan 10, 2009 | Reply
The Bible has one central message, The Redemption of fallen man BY BLOOD and BY POWER.
Every thing else takes a back seat to it.
It is God, reaching down to save a sinner, who is so adverse to God, that he cannot turn to Him, so helpless that he cannot lift the axe of divine Justice, so dead in trespasses ans sins, that God must open their spiritual graves, and bring them to Spiritual life.
Dr. Paul W. Foltz | Jan 10, 2009 | Reply
This quote reminds me how subtley even the best theology can drift into an unintended, even unrecognized anthropocentric mind set. Fundamentaly before anything else is the glory of God. Everything else, including the salvation of the elect, is secondary.
Bill | Jan 10, 2009 | Reply
Bill, When a sinner gets saved, it is to the glory of God’s Grace; when he goes to Hell, it is to the glory of God’s Justice
Dr. Paul W. Foltz | Jan 10, 2009 | Reply
Trevin, I can’t wait to read it, man.
Jared | Jan 10, 2009 | Reply
That little word “for” that comes before the word “us” is so crucial to understanding the real aim of the gospel. Thanks for a very insightful quote.
Erik | Jan 11, 2009 | Reply