For well over a decade I have expressed concerns that many conservative, Bible believing churches have in important ways lost the gospel. This concern has been met with varying degrees of incredulity by certain sectors of the evangelical world, most notably, some of the very ones that provoked my evaluation.

Though things have improved from fifteen years ago to today, there is still ample evidence that my concerns remain well-founded.

For the sake of clarity let me reiterate the essence of my concern. The gospel is all about Jesus Christ—who He is, what He has done and why that matters. As Jesus Himself said, the Scriptures bear witness to Him (John 5:39) and that the Prophets and Moses wrote about Him (Luke 24:44; cf. v. 27). The whole Bible—not just the New Testament—is a Christian book and unless every part of it is read as revealing Jesus Christ then it has been misread.

Too often, Scripture is treated more along the lines of an inspired version of Aesop’s Fables than the revelation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. When this happens the Bible becomes little more than a source for tips on success and happiness. Rather than recognizing it as the revelation of Christ it is treated as the basis of moralistic principles. When that happens, the gospel is lost.

Continuing Reading on the Founders Blog. (originally posted 3/4/14)