“It is one thing to understand the gospel but it is quite another to experience the gospel in such a way that it fundamentally changes us and becomes the source of our identity and security.” 

Hearing, believing and living the gospel is the essence of Christianity. While it is the Bible that must be our primary source of hearing about the gospel, good books can also help us understand the essence of the gospel in a concise way although they cannot replace the Bible. 

Gospel: Recovering the Power That Made Christianity Revolutionary is certainly not the only good book that helps explain about the Gospel and it is certainly not the book that explains everything we need to know about the Gospel. However, among several books that I have read about gospel, I choose this book as my recommendation because I consider this book fairly accessible in the sense that it is not difficult to read but has substances. 

So, J.D. Greear’s Gospel  is a very good book if you like to start learning seriously about Gospel without the need for struggling in reading. Many of you who have been Christians for a long time (just like me) might think that you have known what the Gospel is and you might mention the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. However, the Gospel is more than just the chronicle of the life of Jesus, but what Jesus has done for us in His death and resurrection which signifies what the gospel (good news) is. 

In learning about the Gospel, J.D. Greear walks through the gospel prayer which has four parts:

• “In Christ, there is nothing I can do that would make You love me more, and nothing I have done that makes You love me less.” (which reminds me of the book What’s so amazing about Grace by Philip Yancey).
• “Your presence and approval are all I need for everlasting joy.”
• “As You have been to me, so I will be to others.”
• “As I pray, I’ll measure Your compassion by the cross and Your power by the resurrection.”

What I love about this book is that it does not stop at explaining the Gospel as something that we need to understand and believe, but it explains how we live out the Gospel and practise it in our daily life. Yes, the Gospel should not be just our belief, it must be our lives. My prayer is that God will use this book for opening your spiritual eyes to see the richness of His grace in the works of Christ in redeeming and renewing our life. 

May this book help you understand what the Scripture says:

“So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. (i.e. gospel – added mine)” (Romans 10:17)