What are you sharing with the world?
By Beau Crosetto
There is a huge debate in our culture about what is the ”full gospel” and as an evangelist this is very important to me because I want to communicate to people very well what God’s good news is.
I am very concerned with the way that we work to reduce and simplify the gospel, compartmentalizing into our theological camp. Some of us fight for the language of the Kingdom and focus on Jesus and the gospels. Others of us fight for the atonement stating the gospel is only and exclusively penal substitution. We argue from Paul’s letters and hammer the cross. Others are sick of the whole ordeal and are reverting back to the peaceful language of shalom found in the Old Testament.
But what if the gospel is all three ideas? Shalom, The Kingdom, and Atonement.
Some of the best thinking I have found comes right from the Masters in Evangelism & Leadership I just finished at Wheaton College under Dr. Rick Richardson.
The gospel is Shalom, the Kingdom, and Salvation. Shalom lays the foundation for the Kingdom, and the Kingdom lays the foundation for the atonement in Paul’s letters. They all go together and build on each other.
Shalom
Shalom is the Hebrew word for peace.
Shalom is a positive idea. It points to the presence of something like well-being or health, rather than having mainly a negative focus like English peace which points to the absence of something like war. Shalom as peacemaking is not about avoiding conflict and struggle.
There are three basic parts to shalom:
Material Well Being & Prosperity
Shalom refers primarily to a physical state of well-being, to things being as they ought to be in the material world. Shalom is marked by the presence of physical well-being and by the absence of physical threats like war, disease, and famine.
(Genesis 37:14; Esther 2:11)
Justice in Social Relationships
Shalom is not just the absence of conflict but the well being and right standing in relationships. It is about justice happening, not just about the absence of wrong. (First Kings 5:12; Judges 4:17; Joshua 9:15; Genesis 26:20 9, 31)
Moral Honesty & Innocence
Shalom making is about promoting honesty, removing the seeds of hypocrisy and restoring integrity. (Psalm 34:14-15; Psalm 37:37; Zechariah 8:16; 2 Kings 5:19.0
Shalom is mostly an Old Testament idea, but we also see Shalom show up in the New Testament as Jesus talks about the in breaking of the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is the New Testament form of Shalom. We also see shalom when Paul talks about the “peace & grace” in his letters. He is greeting his people with Shalom.
The Kingdom of God
The Kingdom in the gospels is the next foundation onto the gospel conversation. This is the rule of God on earth. This is where the things that God expects to happen, happen. Jesus is restoring this rule and we see this in passages like Mark 1:15 and Luke 4:18-19 when he announces why he came. He is using Isaiah and this again shows the close tie to shalom and Kingdom.
The kingdom language and the rule of God being established on earth is the tie between shalom and atonement. The kingdom brings shalom onto earth through the person of Jesus Christ, and also allows the atonement language of the cross to develop through Paul and his letters.
Already
The kingdom of God is already here. Jesus has established his rule on earth and we can experience the renwal of many things. Things like relationships with each other, with God himself and our world. We have the power to cast out demons, heal the sick and make the things of God happen on earth. The Kingdom of God is here!
Not Yet
But the Kingdom of God is not here yet fully. We still have suffering, broken relationships with each other and God, and Satan is still the prince of this world. The fullness of God’s Kingdom is not fully here or tangible yet and we will have to wait for his second coming to see that.
Atonement
Paul is also talking about shalom and Kingdom in his letters. He is just focused on the cross and the work of the resurrection. He is not preaching another gospel. He is focused differently and in the case of the gentiles he is using completely different rhetoric. The gentiles did not understand the kingdom language so he had to use different language. To quote Rick Richardson in class,
“Paul did not use the language of the Kingdom of God to the Gentiles because they would not have understood it. So, he used the big umbrella of salvation. This is past, present, and future. This is the same as the Kingdom. Justification is one aspect of this message of salvation.”
Obsessed With the Cross
Paul is obsessed with the cross because he had to show the gentiles how they could be saved without the law. The mission to the gentiles is the primary mission of Paul and his writings focus on the atonement through the cross. We cannot have the gospel without the cross and resurrection of Jesus. It is absolutely vital. (1 Corinthians 1:22-25; 2:1-5)
But to say that this is the only part of the gospel is ridiculous. We can’t ignore the important facets of Kingdom and Shalom.
The Full Gospel
If we are going to communicate the full gospel to people we have to communicate shalom, kingdom and salvation. They each have very important layers for the discussion. Shalom deals with the fullness of our well being , Kingdom deals with the actual reign and rule of God on earth, and atonement deals with the cross and resurrection. We cannot leave any of these out.
What are your thoughts on this? I know you have some. Please comment.
Hey Beau! I like what you did here, especially in adding “Shalom” to the conversation of the gospel- that’s a great way to talk about what Christians should mean when they say “the gospel”… I would like to add a few thoughts for you:
first, I would emphasize the fact that “gospel” is a declaration or proclamation of a past event that happened to change our current reality. Tim Keller says, “The Greek term “gospel” (ev-angelion) distinguished the Christian message from that of other religions. An ‘ev-angel’ was news of a great historical event, such as a victory in war or the ascension of a new king, that changed the listeners’ condition and required a response from the listener. So the gospel is news of what God has done to reach us. It is not advice about what we must do to reach God.”
Second, I would flesh out your three points and clarify them a little more by actually combining them all under the Cross. The way you wrote it makes it sound like the Cross of Christ is just one of the 3 components to the gospel; I would argue that it’s the cross that brings all your points together: KINGDOM: Mark’s gospel I think especially highlights the fact that it is the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus that is the means by which Jesus becomes King of the the cosmos- that’s His coronation… Jesus came saying there was a Kingdom coming and it’s there at the cross that He gains all power, rule and dominion and sits down as Lord of the earth. SHALOM: If we move from there it’s not too hard to see that the best way to describe what kind of rule our King is bringing can best be summed up by the rich meaning behind “shalom”. Jesus has sat down on the throne in heaven- which is the place earth is ruled from- and his rule is one of shalom! (one of many examples of this could be Eph 2:16- at the cross Christ put to death our hostility…) ATONEMENT: The way into God’s kingdom community is of course the death and resurrection of our Lord… Jesus’ death and resurrection then are the lynchpin for all of it! It was there that Jesus achieved victory and sat down as King and Lord, it was there that His Shalom-Kingdom was inaugurated and it was there that we can be rescued from the kingdom of darkness and brought into the kingdom of light. (so you’re right that if we ONLY speak about the cross in terms of personal atonement from sins than we are missing a big chunk of the gospel- but the Cross means so much more than that!)
So I don’t think it’s necessarily different than what you said, I would just combine everything a little more. I might describe the “gospel” then like this: The gospel is the declaration that the unrepeatable life, death and resurrection of Jesus inaugurated His kingdom rule of shalom on earth and that we can become members of His kingdom through that same event. (of course “Jesus is Lord” is the shortest way the New Testament uses to sum up “the gospel” which if you unpack that it also capture your three points!)
Finally one question, I agree fully in the “here and not yet” aspect of the Kingdom that you mentioned. Jesus’ reign was inaugurated at the resurrection but we’re waiting for the final consummation at His second coming… However, I tend to disagree with the common assessment that Satan is “still the prince of this world”… I think it can be reasonably argued that (again at the cross) Jesus defeated satan… Jesus is now ruling the world, NOT satan. When you look at the references to satan as the prince of this world (all in John) it seems that Jesus is saying that what He’s about to accomplish at Calvary is condemning and defeating this so called “prince”… John 12:31 “Now the prince of this world will be driven out…”, John 16:11 “the prince of this world now stands condemned…” and John 14:30 says that he is coming… but it’s in direct relation to Jesus’ death…. so the here and not yet aspect is still real because it’s true that satan is still a real presence in the world; but as I read those passages he no longer would be a “prince” or “ruler” in any sense of the word! [there’s a fascinating word study on the word “prince” used of satan, “archon” and the one used for Jesus elsewhere, “archegos” but I’ve already written way too much!] … (perhaps Ephesians 2:2 could be used to argue that satan is still some sort of “ruler” since he holds sway over the disobedient but I think the weight of Jesus’ own words tells us that satan has been condemned, he is bound and is no longer in control- Jesus is!) Any thoughts on that? I think that’s another reason why I would sum up the gospel by talking about how Jesus becomes Lord… we’re not waiting for Jesus to become King, He already is reigning (now) (that’s what the ascension and 1 cor 15:25 and other similar verses is all about) but his kingdom has not yet destroyed all dominion, authority and power (not yet)…
sorry I wrote so much! hope I didn’t incoherently ramble too much haha… I guess you found out how to get an evangelist to respond to your blog- talk about the gospel!!
Tyler,
I think your addition to the post and bringing all three under the cross is great. I don’t disagree. I guess I was trying to show the progression of the gospel from begininning to end of scripture. That is hard to do in one post. Obviously we didn’t have the cross until way later in the scripture, but there is still good news. Now that being said, I think the reality that the cross is good for past, present and future, we can look back over the OT and see the cross and God building towards that. Hence, I wish I would have ended the article more clearly that all three (shalom, kingdom, atonement) are fully found and brought together under the cross. Good thoughts man.
As far as Satan being the “Prince of the World”. I agree with you and disagree at the same time. Satan is the prince of this world still. He just has no power and control over people “in Christ”. Jesus did defeat him on the cross. But he still has power over those not in christ. Those that have not turned to Christ are still under the authority of Satan. He roams the earth and has authority over humanity not in Jesus name. He actually blinds them (2 for 4:4). It is the evangelists mission to go and free them because Jesus has bound Satan and in Jesus name we have power to plunder. Satan is still the prince of the world, but Jesus is king and he won on the cross, and wins when we want him to in this world. If you don’t agree with me that Satan is ruling unbelievers, then who is? Not Jesus.
Yes, I didn’t think there would be any disagreement either! I do like the way you attempted to draw together the entire story of scripture under “the gospel”…
Concerning satan… I guess my position would be that giving him the title “prince” or “ruler” is being too generous and giving him more than he deserves! I agree with you that satan does have influence and sway over unbelievers and is not completely vanquished but the way I’ve come to understand the New Testaments treatment of satan is that Jesus truly did defeat him on the cross and that Jesus is now Lord/ king/ prince etc… I’m sure satan doesn’t mind the title that we still often give him but at best he is operating now as a “pretender-prince” and is not ruling in any real sense of the word… to set satan up as a ruler makes it sound like a battle still need to be won to defeat him…
Also, I think it’s a misnomer b/c when we talk about Jesus as king it is NOT simply some internal, spiritual “kingdom” in our “hearts” that we’re talking about (not saying you are arguing that but I’ve heard that too often from christians that the internal kingdom is the present and the external is the future)… it’s Stephen in Acts 8 looking up and seeing Jesus at the right hand of God; currently in control and in charge- not simply of “christians” but over the entire cosmos. Jesus is king over everyone and everything (including unbelievers and satan); it’s true that for a time they are allowed to rebel against His rule but it’s not as if Jesus finally becomes “king” when we say “yes”… so I think I disagree more on semantics than actual application but while I of course agree that satan still deceives and influences the world he was “dethroned” and “defanged” on the cross- I think of Col 2:15 at this point: “And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross”
even 2 cor 4:4 which you quoted calls satan the “god of this age” which I think should be taken more in mockery of this “pretender-god” since clearly none of us actually believe satan is a “god”…