Though written in a clear and helpful manner, Graeme Goldsworthy’s Preaching the Whole Bible as Christian Scripture is not for everyone. I only recommend it here to those preachers and teachers who frequent this joint. This is definitely one of the best books I’ve read this year. This practical work shows that Christ is the hermeneutical key to all of Scripture, and how this is to be worked out in the many literary forms of Scripture by giving numerous examples.
Preachers have a theoretical gospel and an operative gospel. Theoretically we will get into a theological mode and produce, as far as possible, a biblically based notion focusing on the person and work of Christ. But, in pastoral practice it is easy to be pragmatic. Our operative gospel will be the thing that preoccupies us as the focus of our preaching and teaching.
My concern about evangelism is that sometimes there is a greater emphasis on the need for some kind of response than on the clear exposition of the gospel. Telling people they need to come to Jesus, that they must be born again, that they should commit their lives to Christ, and so on, is not preaching the gospel. It is, at best, telling them what they ought to do or, in the case of the new birth, what has happened when they have received the gospel. It is a remarkable thing in Acts 2 that Peter’s sermon contained no appeal. The appeal came from the congregation: ‘What should we do?’ It was the power and clarity of the gospel message that impressed them with the need to do something about it.
The evangelistic sermon, as we see in Acts, will therefore contain element other than the gospel. Telling people the need for the gospel, both their felt need and real need, is plainly important, but it is not the gospel itself. … Whenever people’s sense of assurance of salvation is expressed in the first person, something is amiss. When the question ‘How do you know God will accept you?’ is answered by ‘I have Jesus in my heart,’ ‘I asked Jesus into my life,’ ‘The Holy Spirit is in me,’ and so on, the real gospel basis for assurance needs to be reviewed. We rejoice when the answer comes in the third person: ‘God gave his only Son to die on the cross for me,’ ‘Jesus died, rose, and is in heaven for me.’ When the focus is on the finished and perfect work of Christ, rather than on the yet unfinished work of the Spirit in me, the grounds for assurance are in place.
It would not appear that Paul’s determination to know nothing among his hearers but Christ and Him crucified led him into the trap of predictability. Of course, if by predictability we mean that people will come to expect every sermon to expound something of the glories of Christ, then let us by all means be predictable.
Is it possible to preach a Christian sermon without mentioning Jesus? I want to avoid simplistic answers here. Perhaps I can put it another way: Why would anyone want to try to preach a Christian sermon without mentioning Jesus?
No Other Boast 