The Gospel and Temptation

In Greg Gilbert’s small yet significant book What is the Gospel? he explains that when the gospel message is articulated in the Scriptures, it typically answers four major questions:

1.       Who made us, and to whom are we accountable?

2.       What is our problem? In other words, are we in trouble and why?

3.       What is God’s solution to that problem? How has he acted to save us from it?

4.   How do I – myself, right here, right now – how do I come to be included in that salvation? What makes this good news for me and not just for someone else? (p. 31)

As Greg goes on to say (p. 32), we can summarize each question with one word:

1.       God

2.       Man

3.       Christ

4.       Response

The following quote captures every one of these (the last is implied). If we were to see them more clearly each day, we would not succumb to temptation as much as we do (which is what the author means when he refers to “the Devil’s market.”)

If the sinner could by a flash of light see the glorious nature of God, the matchless love of God in Christ, the poisonous nature of sin, it would surely spoil the Devil’s market.” – William Gurnall, The Christian in Complete Armor (58)