The Gospel According to Jesus: What Is Authentic Faith? (1988)

A must read on the Lordship of Christ ( )

AWESOME!!!! a great book! a must read for all believers!!! loved it so much, i started it again just to remember more of it and have more of it in my head! if Christ is the foundation of the Gospel, then we must look to what He who He is, what He calls us to do, and how He calls us to do it. This book uses scripture upon scripture.... takes apart all it teaches... there can be no misunderstandings.... There is only ONE Gospel of Christ.... anything less, more, or different is a counterfeit. ( )

After three chapters, I sense a disconnect in MacArthur's understanding of justification and sanctification. I also sense a double standard in his hermeneutic of the gospel account. Certainly he is right to fight against a false gospel of easy believism, but the pendulum swing, at least so far has been too dramatic.

The next thing I have noticed is that at times he seems to buy completely into the Calvinist understanding of God's sovereign election. But at others he appears to embrace a prevenient grace—a two part salvation of God's work in our heart but then our choosing to surrender.

Finally, I see a tendency to speculate too much about biblical character's emotion, past lives, motivation, and other characteristics in the biblical text. That and each chapter's opening salvo against easy believism that is often over-generalization and lumping all who don't follow his view together. I am struggling to finish as the chapters are all starting to sound the same: 1) Here's what's wrong with the church. 2) God is the one who saves. 3) Here's a story that proves my point that we have to surrender.

I'll persevere, I think.

The book hardly deviates from his point mentioned above. He inserts an interesting footnote on the next to the last page without comment that seems to counter much of his argument: "But the Lordship of Christ as a prerequisite for salvation places emphasis on works rather than grace. God does not need anything from man. His salvation is an unconditional gift. Man's role can be no more than that of a recipient who believes the gift to be a sufficient payment for his sins."

To say that a person must understand need and know that need is paid for, is a great awakening by the Holy Spirit: irresistible grace as Calvinists would say. This little book, if nothing else, is a commercial for that if nothing else. ( )

After three chapters, I sense a disconnect in MacArthur's understanding of justification and sanctification. I also sense a double standard in his hermeneutic of the gospel account. Certainly he is right to fight against a false gospel of easy believism, but the pendulum swing, at least so far has been too dramatic.

The next thing I have noticed is that at times he seems to buy completely into the Calvinist understanding of God's sovereign election. But at others he appears to embrace a prevenient grace—a two part salvation of God's work in our heart but then our choosing to surrender.

Finally, I see a tendency to speculate too much about biblical character's emotion, past lives, motivation, and other characteristics in the biblical text. That and each chapter's opening salvo against easy believism that is often over-generalization and lumping all who don't follow his view together. I am struggling to finish as the chapters are all starting to sound the same: 1) Here's what's wrong with the church. 2) God is the one who saves. 3) Here's a story that proves my point that we have to surrender.

I'll persevere, I think.

The book hardly deviates from his point mentioned above. He inserts an interesting footnote on the next to the last page without comment that seems to counter much of his argument: "But the Lordship of Christ as a prerequisite for salvation places emphasis on works rather than grace. God does not need anything from man. His salvation is an unconditional gift. Man's role can be no more than that of a recipient who believes the gift to be a sufficient payment for his sins."

To say that a person must understand need and know that need is paid for, is a great awakening by the Holy Spirit: irresistible grace as Calvinists would say. This little book, if nothing else, is a commercial for that if nothing else. ( )

John MacArthur has accomplished a superb work in this book. Known for his activism against "easy-believism" and superficial Christianity, MacArthur has written a marvelous little book detailing the ACTUAL gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel has become so utterly watered down today it is no wonder the church has become weakened in its effectiveness. MacArthur challenges believers to read the truth about The Truth and to become more than just a comfortable group of "pew-warmers" on Sunday mornings. MacArthur reminds us God did not call us to be His "cheerleaders." Rather, than this He has called us to be Salt and Light in a fallen, darkened world. ( )