In the last blog we noted that there were some parts of the Christian faith that Paul felt believers could legitimately disagree about and still remain united together as a community (Rom. 14), but, when it came to the gospel, Paul was insistent upon agreement (cf. Gal. 1:6-9). If this is true, then the question becomes ‘what is the gospel’?

Part of the difficulty with answering this question lies in the fact that the New Testament writings were written to instruct and encourage a particular community in a particular time and place and not as a systematic presentation of theological ideas. This means that we have to do have to do a bit of digging to come to an answer but a good place to begin are the examples of the early preaching in Acts (Acts 2:14-39, 10:34-43, 13:16-41, 14:15-17 etc.), as well as certain key verses from Paul’s letters (Rom 1:1-4, 1 Cor. 15:1-5, 2 Tim. 2:8). If we take the time to do this we will soon discover that there is a core and consistent gospel message that runs through it all.

A scholar name C.H Dodd spent time looking at the examples of the preaching of the Apostles in Acts and he came up with seven key elements to the gospel, that have been modified to eight by more recent research. These elements are that Jesus:

1. Pre-existed with the Father
2. Took on human flesh, fulfilling God’s promises to David
3. Died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures
4. Was buried
5. Was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.
6. Appeared to many
7. Is seated at the right hand of God as Lord
8. Will come again as judge.

What do you think about this list as a reflection of the key elements of the gospel?

Other scholars have noted that not only is there a sense of consistency among the preaching of the original Apostles, but that the fundamental content of the gospel continued to be preached by different church leaders in different parts of the world. This non-negotiable core of the gospel message came to be known as the rule of faith, which Michael Kruger describes as ‘convenient summary of what “orthodox” believers in the second century (and later) regarded as the earliest apostolic teaching’. In a similar manner, Everett Ferguson says that whilst ”there was still plenty of scope for disagreement and development, the sense of the core of “the faith once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3) was shared in common. And this core, this heart, was summed up in the rule of faith’.

Like C.H Dodd had done with the examples of preaching from the book of Acts, Michael Kruger examined the examples of the preaching of the rule of faith and he summarised the key elements as follows.

1. There is one God, the creator of heaven and earth.
2. This same God spoke through the prophets of the old Testament regarding the coming of the Messiah.
3. Jesus is the Son of God, born from the seed of David, through the virgin Mary.
4. Jesus the creator of all things, who came into the world, God in the flesh.
5. Jesus came to bring salvation and redemption for those who believe in him.
6. Jesus physically suffered and was crucified under Pontius Pilate, raised bodily from the dead, and exalted to the right hand of God the Father.
7. Jesus will return to judge the world.

Note that whilst the preaching was adapted to address new contexts and challenges and includes bits like the idea of there being one creator God, it is remarkably similar to the summary of the preaching and teaching of the apostles in the New Testament. This suggests that the core message that was preached by the Apostles continued to be declared to by the next generation of leaders and so there is consistency in the gospel message.

And as this gospel message went out into the world and people responded in faith and were baptised, it appears that they were asked to make a confession of faith before they were put under the water and and, unsurprisingly, this confession is remarkably similar in content to both the preaching of the Apostles in Acts and in the rule of faith that we have just looked at. What is also worth noting is that many believe that it is out of this confession that the Apostles’ Creed arose and because Jesus tells his disciples to baptise new believers in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matt 28:19), the Creed is shaped around this a confession of belief in each member of the Trinity.

So in answer to the question, ‘what is the gospel’? We can be assured that we are standing on solid ground when we answer in terms of what is laid out in the Creed for as New Testament scholar Scot McKnight says, ‘denial of the creeds is tantamount to denying the gospel itself because what the creeds seek to do is bring out what is already in the Bible’s gospel’! Therefore, in summary, I have suggested there is this clear, consistent and core set of truth claims that form the basis of the gospel that runs from the preaching and teaching of the Apostles, through into the early church, and is captured and summarised in the Apostles’ Creed

Read the creed below and note how closely it relates to both the summary of the New Testament and the teaching of the early church.

I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
Amen.