Transcript

Oh, there you are! How lovely to see you.

I have been blessed to become a student again these last few years of my life, and I've been asked several questions lately. I wonder how you would respond to them.

One afternoon, a classmate from St. John’s College stopped by my house just to say hi. I was expecting a speaker from the C.S. Lewis Institute to speak at the United States Naval Academy. I opened the door and said, "Oh! I thought you were someone else." He replied, "Oh? Who were you expecting?" I explained, "Well, actually, a speaker is coming to talk at the Naval Academy in a few minutes." He asked, "Ah, what’s he going to talk about?" I answered, "The gospel." Then he asked, "What is the gospel?" I wonder, how would you answer that question?

On another occasion, I was coming out of class and had a three-minute walk to my next one. A young man, a classmate of mine, ran up to me and said, "Mr. Phillips, wait up!" When he caught up, he said, "I have a question for you." I replied, "Sure, what is it?" He asked, "Are you religious?" Again, I ask you: How would you answer these questions? What is the gospel? What is religion?

Let’s start with the gospel. If I were to ask you what the oldest world religion is, what would you say? If you checked Wikipedia or other sources, you might find Hinduism listed slightly ahead of Judaism. But that’s not actually correct. The gospel began in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve sinned, and God came looking for them. They ran and hid themselves because judgment was coming. They tried to cover themselves with fig leaves to make themselves presentable to God, but He said, "That doesn’t work. Try these," as He provided them with animal skins. Here was their rescue from judgment: a divinely provided garment at the cost of shed blood. However, the garment had to be accepted and put on.

This is the gospel first articulated in the Garden: judgment is coming, a rescue is available, but you must accept the terms of the Rescuer. The gospel is the world’s oldest “religion,” though I use the term loosely, as we will soon distinguish it from other religions.

The story of rescue repeats throughout the Old Testament. Noah was warned of a coming flood. Judgment was imminent, but a rescue was offered through an ark. Yet, the rescue required acceptance of the Rescuer’s terms: entering the ark.

In another example, there was a famine in Canaan. Jacob and his sons were starving. They met Joseph, who was now a prince in Egypt, and he said, "Come to Egypt, and you’ll live." Death by starvation threatened them, but rescue was provided if they accepted the terms of the Rescuer.

Four hundred years later, their descendants were enslaved in Egypt. God sent Moses to lead them out of slavery. He warned, "I will sweep over the land and kill the firstborn son in every household unless you smear the blood of a lamb on your doorpost." Judgment was coming, but a rescue was provided. However, the terms had to be accepted: the blood had to be applied.

Later, in the desert, they were starving, but God provided manna for food. Yet, they had to collect it. On another occasion, they were suffering from snake bites. God instructed Moses to erect a pole with a serpent on it, symbolizing their suffering. All who looked upon the serpent were rescued from their pain.

This is the gospel—a recurring story of judgment, rescue, and acceptance of the Rescuer’s terms. Rahab’s story in Jericho offers another example. She knew judgment was coming and asked the Israeli spies to save her. They told her to gather her family into her house and hang a scarlet cord out the window. Judgment was coming, but rescue was available to those who accepted the terms of the Rescuer.

Now, let’s distinguish the gospel from other world religions. Over 90% of the world’s population identifies with one of five major worldviews: Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Christianity, and atheism. Yes, atheism is a faith-based belief system. These worldviews share a common starting point: humanity has become separated from the Ultimate Reality. For Christians and Muslims, this is God or Allah. For Hindus, it is the impersonal spirit of Brahman. For Buddhists, it is Nirvana, and for atheists, it is the universe or matter.

However, the narratives diverge here. In all but one worldview, the solution involves finding a way back to Ultimate Reality through human effort, guided by a messenger and a message. Only the gospel says, "You can’t find your way back. You must be rescued." In the gospel, the messenger is a book, and the message is a person: Jesus Christ. Unlike others, Jesus did not say, "This is the way, the truth, and the life." He declared, "I am the way, the truth, and the life."

The gospel’s uniqueness sets it apart from all other worldviews. It is not a religion. Religion involves following rules and earning one’s way back to Ultimate Reality. The gospel is about a God who found His way to us, rescuing us. Our response—gratitude—is what motivates our actions, not a sense of earning.

When my classmate asked, "Are you religious?" I paused and said, "No." He looked surprised and said, "Oh, I thought from your comments in class that you might be." I explained, "Religion is about earning your way to God. I follow Jesus and His teachings, the gospel, which is about a God who found His way to me. I do things out of gratitude for my rescue, not to earn it."

He responded, "This is tracking with me. But being a follower of Jesus, isn’t that like Christianity?" I replied, "Not everyone who professes to be a Christian is a follower of Jesus’s teachings." After a pause, he admitted, "I was raised Buddhist, but something is missing in my life."

I shared, "Both Buddha and Jesus recognized that evil is internal to man. Buddha taught that our wrong desires cause suffering. Jesus taught that we have a fallen nature and are rebellious toward God. However, their solutions differ. Buddha’s solution is internal: extinguish desires through practices. Jesus’s solution is external: we need a Rescuer to restore our fallen nature."

As we reached our next class, I told him, "The decision you must make is whether the solution to evil in the human heart is internal or external." He nodded, saying, "We need to talk further."

Sometimes Christianity is practiced as a religion, with Jesus seen as merely a messenger and the Bible a rulebook. This aligns with other religions and obscures the gospel’s uniqueness. But when Christianity is practiced as it should be—as the gospel—it stands alone.

Isn’t it what we’d expect if there is a Great Deceiver who wants to obscure the truth? Wouldn’t his deceptions resemble one another more than the truth? The gospel is not a religion. It is the greatest story ever told—about an Ultimate Reality, a personal God who found His way to us and rescued us. The only requirement is to accept His terms of rescue: believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and accept the rescue He provided through His death on the cross. All who do this will be saved.