A Brief Book Summary from Books At a Glance
by Steve West
About the Author
Michael Reeves is President and Professor of Theology at Union School of Theology.
Table of Contents
1 What Are Gospel People?
2 Revelation from the Father
3 Redemption by the Son
4 Regeneration through the Spirit
5 The Importance of Being Gospel People
6 Gospel Integrity
Appendix 1: Can Evangelicalism Be Defined?
Appendix 2: Does Evangelicalism Have a History?
Summary
Chapter 1: What Are Gospel People?
This book is about what the meaning of the term evangelical. There is a biblical case to be made for the goodness of this label, but in our contemporary world, it has been used so widely that it has been rendered almost meaningless. Sometimes the definitions are sociological and have nothing to do with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Properly speaking evangelicals are those who believe the good news, and it is wrong to define the term in any other way. The gospel of Jesus Christ is its central principle, and Christ’s revelation in Scripture is essential. In fact, the only way the gospel is known is through the truth and authority of Scripture. Paul saw the gospel as Trinitarian, biblical, Christ-centered, and Spirit-effected. It comes through the person and work of Christ, particularly in his death on the cross and resurrection. Without the regenerating work of the Spirit, no one would be saved. Without the Father’s revelation in Scripture, the Son’s work of redemption in the gospel, and the Spirit’s regenerating work in lost sinners, there would be no evangel or evangelicalism. Without the apostolic witness and the faith once for all delivered to the saints, anything claiming to be “evangelicalism” will be nothing more than a cultural relic. . . .
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