Explicit lyrics in the 80’s, brought on the Parental Advisory labels for cassettes and then CD’s in the 90’s. So, I’ve always considered the word explicit to mean naughty. Then while reading Matt Chandler’s 2012 book Explicit Gospel, I used my handy “look up in dictionary” feature on the Mac toolbar and learned the definition had little to do with potty words. Explicit is defined as “stated clearly and in detail, leaving no room for confusion or doubt.” That’s actually a great adjective for the message of God. Though there is a lot of confusion about what Christianity, religion, the Gospel is all about (see my last post), God has laid it out where anyone can grasp his desire. So in an effort to be explicit this morning, here’s a few of my fav verses, definitions, links and resources to remove doubt and confusion and state it clearly and in detail. I’ll be adding to this post over the next few weeks as our church studies the Explicit Gospel. Get to know the Gospel!!!

• 1 Corinthians 15:1-8 – “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel… that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures…”
• John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
• Romans 6:23 – “the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
• Ephesians 2:1, 4-5 – “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins… But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved”

Definitions:

• Gospel comes from the word “Evangel” which means Good News. “Evangel” was news of a great historical event that changed the listeners condition and required response. So the gospel is news of what God has done to accomplish salvation through Jesus Christ in history.
• Martin Luther: “The gospel is a story about Christ, God’s and David’s son, who died and was raised, and is established as Lord. This is the gospel in a nutshell.”
• Tim Keller: “Through the person and work of Jesus Christ, God fully accomplishes salvation for us, rescuing us from judgment for sin into fellowship with him, and then restores the creation in which we can enjoy our new life together with him forever.”
• John Piper: “The Gospel is the good news of our final and full enjoyment of the glory of God in the face of Christ.”
• Ed Stetzer: “The gospel is the good news that God, who is more holy than we can imagine, looked upon with compassion, people, who are more sinful than we would possibly admit, and sent Jesus into history to establish his Kingdom and reconcile people and the world to himself. Jesus, whose love is more extravagant than we can measure, came to sacrificially die for us so that, by His death and resurrection, we might gain through His grace what the Bible defines as new and eternal life.”
• Tullian Tchividjian: ”The Gospel is the the good news that in and through Christ’s life, death, and resurrection, God makes all things new.”

Links:

• Two Ways to Live
• God, Man, Christ, Response 
• How to Be Born Again by Billy Graham
• See Trevin Wax’s great collection of Gospel Definitions.