On Easter Sunday I had the privilege of preaching in a church in Dublin. The text was a resurrection one, Peter’s gospel sermon to Cornelius and his extended family and friends in Acts 10:34-43. Preparing took me into debates around the content of the gospel that have been swirling around New Testament studies for some years.

There are seven ‘gospel sermons’ in Acts. A consistent pattern emerges in them indicating that there was an agreed content of the euangelion (good news) in the early church. Below is a bullet point summary of verses 34-43. I am sure it can be improved but the overall plotline is clear.

• Jesus is Israel’s Messiah and King, who fulfils the story of Israel;
• He was anointed with power by the Holy Spirit;
• Through miracles he demonstrated the arrival of the kingdom of God, in an eschatological conflict with the power of the Devil;
• He was crucified on the cross (death and evil seemed to have triumphed);
• God raised him from the dead on the third day (death and evil are decisively defeated);
• The resurrected Christ was seen by witnesses;
• He now reigns as Lord of all;
• The first Christians came to understand that these extraordinary and unexpected events were God’s redemptive plan all along (“All the prophets testify about him”);
• The risen Christ will judge the living and the dead;
• The gospel calls for a response – typically in Acts of faith, repentance and baptism;
• Those who put their faith (trust or surrender) in Jesus receive forgiveness of sins;
• The gift of the Holy Spirit is bestowed on believers.

This gospel is God-initiated and Christ-focused. It tells the story of Jesus. It is objective and historical good news to be announced and shared by all believers. A big point: this gospel is for everyone. God shows no favouritism (this, of course, was utterly revolutionary for Peter – no wonder he was ‘greatly puzzled’ Acts 10v17).

So we can say that the gospel’s grand narrative encompasses the story of Israel and the church, has a central place for God’s victory over the Devil and the powers of sin and death, and locates believers as a community of the Spirit living in the overlap of the ages as they await the future coming of the King and his kingdom.

I have been involved in Christian ministry and teaching for a long time. My sense is that how the gospel is spoken about in day-to-day church life often sounds quite different to this New Testament gospel. Let me give three examples and I would be interested in what others think. Does this strike a chord? Am I being unfair? Do other examples come to mind?

First, and perhaps most popular, is the therapeutic gospel. Rather than objective news of what God has done in Christ, there is much talk of individual subjective experience of God’s love. The focus shifts to our need for love and acceptance being met by God. If we can only grasp how much God loves us our lives will be changed forever. But while ‘God loves you’ is true, it is not the gospel. In fact, despite all the gospel sermons in Acts, it is the only book in the New Testament where the Greek word for love (agape) is not mentioned once. When we reduce the gospel to being loved we end up with a message of personal affirmation detached from the Bible story.

Second is what has been called the soterian gospel (soter = to save). The focus here is on the benefit of the gospel. One of those benefits is being justified by faith (set right with God). This is a glorious result of the gospel to be sure, and we could list many others. But it is not the gospel. The problem of equating justification with the gospel is that the good news is narrowed to a message of how individuals are saved (a theology of justification) rather than a message about Jesus. This tends to make the gospel primarily a solution to individuals’ sin problem.

Third is where we become co-agents of the gospel. Talk shifts to the church ‘living’ or ‘incarnating’ the gospel by following Jesus’ example and ‘building his kingdom.’ This is sometimes offered in a pre-packaged programme where, if we follow the right steps, we can become like Jesus and do as he did. While the motive may be admirable, and believers are to live lives ‘worthy of the gospel,’ the gospel revolves around the unique person and finished work of Jesus the risen Lord, not us. We are witnesses, not contributors, to the gospel. Blurring lines here leads to the gospel becoming what we do. It results in sermons that exhaust listeners with moral exhortations rather than a joyful announcement of what God has accomplished for us in Christ.

I guess what I am saying is that, when it comes to the gospel, let us keep our eyes off ourselves and on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2).

Patrick Mitchel is Senior Lecturer in Theology at the Irish Bible Institute in Dublin, an elder in Maynooth Community Church and author of The Message of Love (IVP, 2019).

Please note that the statements and views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Contemporary Christianity.