Dr. John Bergsma

And you guys have all those bells, smells, and whistles that have encumbered the simple gospel.

All you need to do to be saved is believe in Christ's atoning work on the cross.

Yeah.

And while we're on the topic, remember that the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John circulated in the...

in the early church and what they were titled was the gospel according to Matthew, the gospel according to Mark.

Kata Markon, you know?

Yeah.

Kata Yoanein, and so on, according to John, et cetera.

So the early church understood the gospel to be everything that was encompassed in these documents.

And you look at Matthew, Matthew's a long book.

And it's interesting if the church fathers were asked for a synopsis of the gospel, they generally went to the kingdom, the Sermon on the Mount, excuse me.

And if you're looking for like a praise, like it kind of, this is a passage that helpfully, you know, encompasses it.

They would go to Matthew five through seven.

I found that out in Protestant seminary.

And one of my New Testament professors told us the fathers regarded the Sermon on the Mount as the synopsis of the good news.

And I was offended because the Sermon on the Mount does not teach salvation by faith alone.

And that's what I thought the gospel was all about.

I thought if you wanted a passage of scripture that encapsulated the gospel, surely it would be some chapters from Romans where Paul says we're not justified by works of law, but by faith.

He doesn't actually say faith alone, but we kind of slid that idea in there.

The Sermon on the Mount, that's three chapters long.