1. Divine, not human: The gospel is God’s saving message to a world living in darkness and a humanity lost in its sin. The gospel is not a human message, nor was its conception a function of human initiative, but its origin and its impetus derive solely from God. For this reason our role with regard to the gospel is not that of evaluation, criticism or reformulation, but that of grateful acceptance and obedience. Humans are not equal partners with God as far as the gospel message is concerned; they are rather his commissioned representatives, charged with proclaiming the gospel in the exact form in which they received it (e.g., John 17:20; 20:21; 1 Cor 15:3–4).

2. Required, not optional: Acceptance of the gospel is not optional for salvation but rather required, owing to pervasive human sinfulness. As the Book of Hebrews states, “people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment”; “Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time . . . to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him” (Heb 9:27–28). Apart from believing in Jesus Christ, “God’s wrath remains” on people (Jn 3:36), and they are spiritually dead (Jn 5:24; Eph 2:1). People must be “born of God” (Jn 1:12; 3:3, 5; 1 Jn 3:9; 4:7; 5:1, 4, 18), that is, be spiritually regenerated (Tit 3:5; 1 Pet 1:3). As Paul writes in his epistle to the Ephesians, “[a]nd you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit . . .” (Eph 1:13). Inclusion in Christ comes only by hearing and believing the gospel.

3. Christological, not merely theological: The gospel is not vaguely theological, as if it were amenable to various ways of salvation depending on a person’s belief in a particular kind of god, or depending on the degree to which people were able to hear the gospel presented in a clear way; it is decidedly and concretely Christological, that is, centered on the salvation provided through the vicarious cross-death of the Lord Jesus Christ. Hence Paul is able to speak of “the gospel . . . regarding his [God’s] Son . . . Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom 1:2–4). Significantly, this gospel is not a New Testament novelty but was “promised beforehand through his [God’s] prophets [such as Habakkuk, Rom 1:17 citing Hab 2:4] in the Holy Scriptures” (Rom 1:2). Abraham already had resurrection faith (Romans 4; Galatians 3; Heb 11:8–12).

4. No other gospel: The messianic motif pervading all of Scripture and centering in the Lord Jesus Christ coupled with the risen Jesus’ “Great Commission” for his followers to go and disciple the nations inextricably link an understanding of the gospel as the exclusive message of salvation in Jesus Christ with the church’s mandate to engage in missionary outreach. This is clear especially from the Gospels of Matthew, Luke, John, the book of Acts, and several of Paul’s writings. Conversely, any messages proclaimed in the name of Christ that feature a “different gospel” or a different Christ (such as compromising his simultaneous full humanity and deity, e.g. 1 John 4:2–3) are rejected. The church must engage in missions, because “faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ” (Rom 10:17). If anyone confesses with his mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believes in his heart that God raised him from the dead, he will be saved (Rom 10:9; see also vv. 10–13).

5. No other name but Jesus: In light of the clear biblical passages mentioned above and in view of the strong and pervasive trajectory of scriptural references to the gospel there is no proper foundation for arguing for salvation apart from explicit faith in Jesus Christ. Scripture makes clear that humanity is universally sinful, and that God’s wrath remains on every individual who has not placed his or her trust in Jesus Christ on the basis of his substitutionary death on the cross and his subsequent resurrection. While there may be philosophical or larger theological objections to such a notion (such as the difficulty experienced by some of reconciling this notion with the love of God), while there may be commonsense concerns on the basis of human conceptions or “fairness” or other similar considerations, there can be little doubt that Scripture nowhere teaches, or easily allows the implication, that there is a way to salvation other than through explicit faith in Jesus Christ during a person’s lifetime (e.g., Heb 9:27–28). In fact, this is not an obscure topic; it is the central contention of the biblical message concerning the gospel, that “[s]alvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

For Further Study, read the entire essay in Faith Comes by Hearing, pp. 201–19. See also my book, co-authored with Peter T. O’Brien, Salvation to the Ends of the Earth: A Biblical Theology of Mission (New Studies in Biblical Theology edited by D. A. Carson; InterVarsity).

How can Jesus have all authority in heaven and on earth? In the context of Matthew’s Gospel, the reader is reminded of the gambit proposed to Jesus by “the tempter,” the devil, Satan, who took Jesus “to a very high mountain” and showed him all the kingdoms of this world and their splendor and said to him, “I will give you all these things if you will fall down and worship me” (Matt 4:8–9). Jesus refused, rebuking the devil, “Go away, Satan!” Later in the Gospel, Jesus tells his closest followers that he must suffer, and be killed, and be raised the third day, and when Peter takes him aside and begins to rebuke him, denying the necessity of the cross, Jesus, in similar terms, tells Peter, “Get behind me, Satan!” (Matt 16:21–23).

So it is only after the crucifixion that Jesus claims to have all authority in heaven and on earth. It is the risen Christ who, in the manner of a conquering, victorious general, ascends the mountain and commissions his followers to go and conquer the worlds, similar to Alexander the Great and other military leaders who set out to subdue the universe and subject it to their will. But Jesus’ will be a gentle conquest, in keeping with his invitation, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. All of you, take up my yoke and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matt 11:28–30).

And as his followers go into all the world in order to disciple the nations, Jesus himself, Isaiah’s Immanuel, which is translated “God with us” (Matt 1:23), will be with them: “And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” How, then, can the church’s mission possibly fail, if Jesus, the risen Christ, the conquering general, will himself be present with his people in the power of the Holy Spirit? Indeed, “This good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed in all the world as a testimony to all nations. And then the end will come” (Matt 24:14). In the original scene, as Matthew tells us, “When they saw him, they worshiped, but some doubted” (Matt 28:17). Will you and I worship, or will we doubt?

You can listen to the interview via live stream here: http://www.godandculture.com.  The USA article can be found here: http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2009-12-10-1Amixingbeliefs10_CV_N.htm.  Tune in to hear Dr. Köstenberger discuss what is true Christianity and how it differs from Eastern religions.

1. Bruce Ware, Big Truths for Young Hearts (Crossway): a theological treasure for training the next generation.

2. Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary: Old Testament (ed. John Walton; Zondervan): the equivalent to the New Testament 4-volume set edited by Clint Arnold, now complete.

3. N. T. Wright, Justification (IVP): like him or not, an important contribution to the ongoing debate.

4. Gary Burge, Lynn Cohick, and Gene Green, The New Testament in Antiquity (Zondervan): a helpful resource on the background of the New Testament.

5. The Zondervan Encyclopedia of the Bible (Zondervan): the updated version of the time-honored Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible.

6. John Sailhamer, The Meaning of the Pentateuch (IVP): just out, a significant new book on the Pentateuch.

7. Dennis Hollinger, The Meaning of Sex (Baker): a very useful, thorough discussion, generally very sane and solid.

8. Michael Austin, Wise Stewards (Kregel): an excellent contribution on a biblical philosophy of parenting, an often neglected but vital topic.

9. Russell Moore, Adopted for Life: the new standard treatment of adoption, passionately presented.

10. Harry Poe, The Inklings of Oxford (Zondervan): a beautifully produced treatment of C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, and their friends.

At the ETS conference, I moderated a panel on the new BTNT series with Zondervan which included Doug Moo, Mike Wilkins, and Darrell Bock. Doug Moo and Mike Wilkins talked about the issues involved in writing a theology of Paul and Matthew, respectively, and the ensuing panel discussion highlighted the collaborative efforts of the BTNT contributors.

I also met with the core of the steering committee of the projected Johannine studies group at ETS. We hope to make a proposal to the executive committee by the June 1, 2010 deadline and have an informal inaugural session at next year’s meeting in Atlanta. I also met with Alan Bandy to discuss our joint forthcoming volume in the BTNT series on the book of Revelation and participated in a book signing of my new NT Intro, The Cradle, the Cross and the Crown (B&H; co-authored with Scott Kellum and Chuck Quarles). Later on the ETS editorial committee met, including the new ETS executive director, Michael J. Thigpen.

At the ETS banquet, president Bruce Ware addressed the society on the topic of the humanity of Jesus, and in particular his impeccability.

The Crossway breakfast lecture at ETS featured Don Carson, who gave a sneak preview of his forthcoming Crossway book on the nature of evangelicalism. Later on, a panel made up of Walt Kaiser, Al Wolters, Kevin Vanhoozer, and Bill Webb discussed “Going beyond the Bible.” Vanhoozer was colorful as usual, advocating his theatrical metaphor for theology, while Webb spent over half of his allotted 15 minutes on relating a rather curious personal anecdote. Mark Strauss helpfully asked the following questions of the panelists: What controls the drawing of principles? Why cut off the development of the canon? Is it always an upward trajectory or is God responding to a particular cultural situation?

The IBR meeting included a very interesting talk by Tremper Longman on the making of commentaries. He was largely positive (to be expected, since he has written numerous commentaries himself). Personally, I am a bit more critical regarding the proliferation of commentaries. I’m not so convinced we really need all the commentaries we are getting. Much (or at least some) of it seems to be commercially driven. The next morning, Dan Reid who is an editor an InterVarsity Press, delivered a very interesting assessment of the making of commentaries from a publisher’s perspective.

At the Zondervan lunch at SBL, Doug Moo elaborated on plans to revise the TNIV.

Two interesting sessions of the John, Jesus & History group met at SBL as well. Gary Burge delivered a very interesting paper on recent archeological discoveries pertaining to John’s Gospel. Robert Webb disputed John’s portrayal of John the Baptist as a witness to Jesus (he and Darrell Bock have a new book out in the WUNT series, Key Events in the Life of the Historical Jesus). Harold Attridge spoke to John’s historicity as well.

Finally, Tom Wright addressed a very full lecture hall about his views on justification. Little of what he said seemed questionable. He traced his own journey in coming to understand the issue and expressed his desire to focus on the big picture and to understand the original questions Paul was seeking to address.

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