I originally saw the Good News primarily in terms of atonement (e.g., John 3:16). Then, freedom from enslavement to sin (e.g., Romans 6:6-ff) was layered on. Then restoration of a created order (e.g., 2 Cor 10-ff) was added.
As my understanding has grown, I've gained a better understanding of how the gospel is often distorted by not fully integrating all its aspects. Here's a short summary of them:
- Atonement - this aspect emphasizes God's holiness and His justice. Its focus is on the spiritual separation (death) that our sin/rebellion/idolatry creates, and how Christ's perfect sacrifice was the price God required to satisfy His justice.
- Free from sin - this aspect emphasizes the work of the Word, the Spirit, and the Body in producing humility, confession, and righteousness in the life of a Christian
- Restoration/reconciliation - this aspect emphasizes the restoration of proper relations between the individual and God, and between the individual and others.
And, a few observations on how they can be distorted to change the Good News into "another gospel":
- Substitutionary atonement - if this is the primary emphasis, then there may be a tendency toward legalism and salvation by works. That may seem a bit illogical, but once the price has been paid, there may be a tendency to assert that good works are required to remain saved. While salvation will produce good works, reversing the cause and effect results in works-based salvation. Atonement is offensive to the West today, including many who consider themselves Christian. A just God who sends people to Hell is politically incorrect in a postmodern era that is all too aware of the wide range of beliefs around the world. It is in atonement that we most clearly see that this life is truly ephemeral and that our spiritual relationship with God is the only thing that endures. And, it's here that we see most clearly God's holiness and His love...it required the death of God in the flesh to satisfy His justice, and He loved us enough to come in the flesh and die. This is the area where traditional Christianity is currently under attack. Many of the leading writers promoting the "emergent church" either deliberately ignore this aspect of the gospel or are openly hostile to it. And, the mainline Protestant groups have almost completely abandoned it.
- Free from sin - if this is the primary emphasis, there can be tendency toward license. Paul saw this in Rome (Romans 6:1...."shall we then sin that grace may abound...") and addressed it head on (Romans 5-8). Or, there can be a tendency toward legalism...if you're don't appear to be a "good person", if you struggle with some aspect of sin, then maybe you're not really saved. In a postmodern West, this has morphed in some theological circles into universalism (everyone is saved by Christ's sacrifice).
- Restoration/reconciliation - although this has an eternal aspect with respect to our relationship with God and a restoration of what we were created to be, there is a tendency today to emphasize the temporal-carnal aspect...specifically to focus on the restoration of human relationships and on human impact on the environment. In a West that's rapidly becoming neo-pagan/monist, there's a tendency in both mainline Protestant groups and emergent groups to present a "gospel" that is primarily a message of earthly restoration and reconciliation.
- A gospel that is derived solely from the Gospels tends toward the restorative end of the spectrum. The reason seems clear...Jesus' words and actions on while on Earth were prior to the Cross. Ignoring His words after the cross (conveyed by the Spirit and through the writers of the NT, including those who wrote the Gospels, as promised in John 16), is to attempt to create Good News without a Cross since it's clear from Acts 1-2 that the disciples did not begin to understand the Cross until the Day of Pentecost. In a similar vein, an understanding of the church based primarily on Jesus' words and actions before the Cross tends to lean strongly toward a "social gospel" organization. It appears that many who consider themselves traditional Christians (e.g., "Red Letter Christians") do not understand that every letter of the New Testament should be red if you want to print Jesus' words in red.
A few related comments:
- I've long been interested in epistemology and have found Dave Snowden's insights into the naturalistic (vs. philosophical) aspects of how we know interesting. In a recent presentation (see slide 5) he discussed how we use narrative to link unified-concrete knowledge (e.g., the muscle memory of how to ride a bike) to codified-abstract knowledge (e.g., a set of instructions on how to ride a bike). I think it's interesting how this insight (from general revelation) coheres with what we see in the Bible...specifically, robust narratives that we can use as a template for our own narratives, codified-abstract knowledge in the form of commands and doctrine, and a recognition that all of this ultimately becomes internalized in unified-concrete actions. Of course, a Biblical understanding is much richer since we know the Word, the Spirit, and the Body, along with God's discipline work to produce righteousness (e.g., see 1 Cor 1-3, Hebrews 5:7-9). And, how a robust lived-out understanding of the Good News can lead to the "mind of Christ."
- Although atonement is a narrative, it's one that's largely spiritual and we have a tendency to emphasize its doctrinal aspects since a narrative dominated by God's transcendent justice, holiness, and love is difficult for us to relate to. In a postmodern era that's hostile to universal truth claims and metanarratives, this is probably the most counter-cultural aspect of the gospel. If someone ignores or downplays this aspect of the gospel, warning bells should go off.
- Freedom from sin and enslavement to righteousness is primarily doctrinal, but it's a doctrine that describes our narrative. However, we have a tendency to try to warp the Word to fit our identity/narrative instead of repenting and changing our lives to fit the Word.
- Restoration & reconciliation has a strong narrative component, and is more culturally appealing to postmodern cultural relativism, especially with regard to social relations and the environment, than the other aspects of the gospel.
- A "gospel" that does not encompass the entirety of the Good News is not a true gospel. Across a wide range of groups that claim to be Christian, including those that have traditionally held to a high view of the Word, there are significant movements to reject one or more of the core aspects of the gospel discussed above.
- Aligned with this is a tendency to put the Good News into the background, and to focus on messages and actions that are culturally appealing. While Jesus (both in the person while on Earth, and through the Spirit in Paul, Peter, etc.) was loving and respectful and considerate, he never hesitated to call people to repentance and always (after the cross) made the cross the primary message. He acknowledged that the cross was an offense, foolishness, a stumbling block, etc., but never put it in the background and never tried to sneak it in the back door.
- Any attempt to present a "gospel" that downplays or ignores the atonement aspect of the gospel runs a real risk of morphing into a "social gospel" that looks a lot like the social gospel of the 1800's.
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