Book Review: What is the Gospel?

Copyright 2010 by Gregory D. Gilbert

Published by Crossway

124 pages

This is another short book in the 9marks series (check out 9marks here). It is the first book written by Greg Gilbert, and I believe it is Greg’s first written work (he has since published What is the Mission of the Church? with Kevin DeYoung). Overall, it is a great book to start out with, I mean, what better way to begin a writing career than by writing about the gospel?

This is a great little book that examines what the Bible describes as the gospel. I like it because it is concise. It didn’t need to be lengthy and wordy because the gospel we find in the Bible is not complex. It is beautiful divine truth wrapped up in a few short verses in Romans 3:

“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” –Romans 3:23-26 (ESV)

The layout of the book is very similar to the gospel teaching of Child Evangelism Fellowship. If you are not familiar with CEF, you need to be. The chapters in the book are as follows:

1. Finding the Gospel in the Bible
2. God the Righteous Creator
3. Man the Sinner
4. Jesus Christ the Savior
5. Response—Faith and Repentance
6. The Kingdom
7. Keeping the Cross at the Center
8. The Power of the Gospel

You will be blessed, encouraged, and strengthened in your understanding of the glorious gospel by reading this book.