There is no shortage of ideas about what the Church should be and what it should be doing, but which ideas are the correct ones? To uncover this important truth, DeYoung and Gilbert examine what the Scripture says about the Church. They also interact with key texts that speak about justice, poverty, and mission. While generally helpful, the work reads a bit dry in places and occasionally stalls from a noble yet inefficient desire for meticulousness.

The mission of the church is to go into the world and make disciples by declaring the gospel of Jesus Christ in the power of the Spirit and gathering these disciples into churches, that they might worship the Lord and obey His commands now and in eternity to the glory of God the Father. [62]

Non-Christians do not do “kingdom work.” The phrase “kingdom work” is confusing and nonbiblical and probably should be jettisoned, but even if we grant its use, we should at least be agreed that it cannot be applied to good things that non-Christians do. When a non-Christian does a good deed, it is most certainly good (at a certain level), and it is an instance of God’s common, evil-restraining grace on all mankind. It is a singular kindness of God that human beings are not as bad as we could be. But that those good works are “good” is all we can say about them. They are not “kingdom work” because they are not done in the name of the King. [112]

We must deliberately plan our financial lives so that we have extra left over to give to those in need. Don’t reap to the edge of your fields. And don’t spend all your money on yourself. Think of those who have less than you, and let some of your wealth slip through your fingers. In other words, don’t be stingy. [144]

You can make a good case that the church has a responsibility to see that everyone in their local church community is cared for, but you cannot make a very good case that the church must be the social custodian for everyone in their society. Christians are enjoined to do good to all people, but the priority is “especially to those who are of the household of faith” (Gal. 6:10). When we can’t do every good thing we want to do, this verse from Galatians tells us what to do first. [176]

If we improve our schools, get people off welfare, clean up the park, and plant trees in the neighborhood, but aren’t seeking to make disciples, we may “bless” our communities, but we’re not accomplishing the church’s mission. Ultimately, if the church does not preach Christ and Him crucified, if the church does not plant, nurture, and establish more churches, if the church does not teach the nations to obey Christ, no one else and nothing else will. [238]

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Accurately defining the gospel is the focus of Gilbert’s book, and he succeeds in providing a biblically-based account divided into four main issues: God, Man, Christ, and Response. Citing the modern-day tendency of many churches to dilute their message, Gilbert rightly suggests that the gospel—centered in the death and resurrection of Christ—must have primacy in the Church. Gospel is basic in scope and somewhat brief, but is a good introduction to a critical issue. 

Humanity is not autonomous. We did not create ourselves, and we are neither self-reliant nor self-accountable. No, it is God who created the world and everything in it, including us. Because He created us, God has the right to demand that we worship Him. [28] 

The earliest Christians always seem to get at these four issues: We are accountable to the God who created us. We have sinned against that God and will be judged. But God has acted in Jesus Christ to save us, and we take hold of that salvation by repentance from sin and faith in Jesus. [32] 

When you realize just how dependent you are on Jesus for your salvation—His death for your sin, His life for your righteousness—you understand why the Bible is so insistent that salvation comes only through faith in Him. There is no other way, no other savior, nothing and no one else in the world on which we can rely for salvation, including our own efforts. [78]

You can live like Jesus lived all you want, but unless you’ve come to the crucified King in repentance and faith, relying on Him alone as the perfect sacrifice for your sin and your only hope for salvation, you’re neither a Christian nor a citizen of His kingdom. [96]

Since the very beginning of time, people have been trying to save themselves in ways that make sense to them, rather than listening and submitting to God. [102 

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In the tradition of Preaching The Cross, this book features the collected transcripts of the messages given at the 2008 Together for the Gospel conference. Each speaker focused his sermon on the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ and what his death means in terms of both doctrine and application. Although the variety of writing styles occasionally disrupts the continuity of the book, the overall message is coherent and their unified proclamation of the Gospel remains clear. 

To proclaim the inauguration of the kingdom and the new creation and all the rest without proclaiming how people can enter it—by repenting and being forgiven of their sins through faith in Christ and his atoning death—is to preach a non-gospel. [126]

It is wrong ever to say that non-Christians are doing “kingdom work.” A non-Christian working for human reconciliation or justice is doing a good thing, but that is not kingdom work, because it is not done in the name of the King. [129]

What is truly astonishing about the gospel is that the messianic King dies to save his people—that the divine Son of Man in Daniel, the Davidic Messiah, and the suffering servant in Isaiah turn out to be the same man. [130]

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