Gospel is a word we often hear. But what does it mean? This book looks at gospels in the ancient world, and seeks to understand Jesus' gospel and the proclamation of the first Christians. The gospel is the instrument God uses to save lives; fuzzy thinking can be dangerous. The author argues that Jesus' gospel defines a new reality, requiring a new response in human behaviour. It is truly revolutionary.

Why I wrote this book 1Part 1
What is the gospel? 5
Chapter 1
Gospel confusion 6
Gospels galore-6
"Gospels" in the ancient world-8
Gospel: Momentous news-15
Chapter 2
The Old Testament and the kingdom of God 17
Foundational promises-17
Blessing and covenant-19
A nation under God-20
Prophets, priests, judges and kings-22
A disappointing dynasty-25
Exile-26
A kingdom beyond the Exile-28
Chapter 3
The gospel according to Isaiah 31
Isaiah of Jerusalem-31
Indictment-33
Catastrophe and beyond-33
Comfort-35
The gospel of the coming King-35
The gospel is future-38
Chapter 4
Jesus' gospel of the kingdom 41
Jewish hopes at the time of Jesus-41
Jesus at Nazareth-43
An historic moment -48
The gospel of God-51
Spreading the word-53
The kingdom is rejected-55
A new phase-56
Chapter 5
The gospel under fire 59
Controversy-60
Jesus' enemy-61
The struggle with flesh and blood-63
Kingdoms in conflict-66
The victor-70
Chapter 6
The gospel breaks out 72
The World War II gospel-74
The gospel in Acts-76
Gospelling Jews-77
A greater King-79
The apostles' gospel-80
The defence of the gospel-81
Response-82
Gospelling Gentiles-83
Too narrow a view?-87
The gospel of salvation-87
Part 2
Proclaiming the gospel 91
Chapter 7
The kingdom's King 94
Jesus is Lord-95
The face of Jesus Christ-96
Storytellers-97
Peter and Mark -99
Portraits of Jesus-101
Hidden treasure-105
Using the Gospels-106
Chapter 8
The crucified King 111
Crucifixion-111
The wounded face of Christ-113
The preaching of the cross-114
Power in weakness-115
Principalities and powers -117
A ransom for many-120
Why redemption?-123
Why slaves?-125
Sacrifice-126
Law-128
The reach of the law-131
Christ's people-138
Vicarious penalty-139
In Christ-141
Dead to the law-141
Reconciled-142
The prodigal tax collector -145
The cross and the gospel-147
God so loved the world-148
Chapter 9
Proof of the gospel 151
Acts facts-152
A remarkable miracle-157
Jesus on trial-159
Enthronement-163
The kingdom has come-166
The power of the cross and the power of the resurrection-167
A great omission-171
What happens when you die?-174
Eternal life-177
Preaching resurrection today-182
Chapter 10
Your kingdom come 187
The problem of evil -187
Our Lord come-189
Hope-193
The climactic events-194
The new world-199
Christ's mission-203
Chapter 11
The kingdom now 206
Where is Jesus?-207
Dealing with enemies-209
The coming of Islam-214
Building his Church-215
The Holy Spirit-221
The mission-224
Our great High Priest-225
Making war-229
Gospelling the ascended King-233
Chapter 12
Justification by faith 235
The gospel concerning his Son-237
The need of righteousness-239
The failure of righteousness-241
Free forgiveness-243
Justification and the gospel-244
Why justification by faith?-248
Does justification by faith matter?-250
Justification by faith and Christian life-253
Preaching justification by faith-256
Chapter 13
Gospel life 263
Good news to the poor-264
Walking the talk-265
What is ethics?-266
Old Testament ethics-267
Is morality relative?-271
New covenant-272
Wisdom-273
A new era-275
Jesus' words-277
The apostles' teaching-278
Ethical principle-279
A missionary life-280
The Sermon on the Mount-281
Back to Nazareth-282
Church-284
New world -287
Appendix 1
The meaning of "gospel" in the Bible 288
An angel gospels some shepherds-291
Appendix 2
The righteousness of God in Paul 292
Righteousness on trial-296
A new righteousness-298
The meaning of justification by faith-302
Works Cited 305
Index 309
About the Author 312
Also by this author 313