A Gospel Primer

Title: A Gospel Primer for Christians: Learning to See the Glories of God’s Love

Author: Milton Vincent

Publisher: Focus Publishing, 2008

Number of pages: 97

Begun: January 15 (?), 2009

Finished: February 16, 2009

Rating: *****

Gospel: Good news of salvation for hell-deserving sinners through the Person and work
of Jesus Christ.

Primer: a book that covers the basic elements of a subject.

“If there’s anything in life that we should be passionate about, it’s the gospel. And I don’t mean passionate only about sharing it with others. I mean passionate about thinking about it, dwelling on it, rejoicing in it, allowing it to color the way we look at the world. Only one thing can be of first importance to each of us. And only the gospel ought to be.” C.J Mahaney

The Casillases gave me this small book for Christmas this year. Halfway through January, I finally picked it up to read in conjunction with my devotional time. It is divided into very short paragraphs, so at first I thought it would be a “quick read through.” It hasn’t been.

The book has been very revealing and motivating. The truths of the gospel have never been so real to me. As I was reading it in conjunction with Proverbs and the book A Proverbs Driven Life, I was awed by the Gospel portrayed even in Proverbs. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Christ is wisdom incarnate. Christ is the gospel. Therefore wisdom begins with the gospel. Maybe my syllogism is a bit faulty, but it has been life-changing for me. If I am to truly be wise, I have to have a growing understanding of the Gospel and its power in and over my life. Like Vincent, I have (while knowing it to be impossible) tried to work for God’s acceptance. The inability to do so only led to more and more frustration and at times a desire to quit trying. After all, I could never be good enough for God. To begin rehearsing the gospel to myself daily begins to affect how I think about every single aspect of my life. My relationship with others, my job, my house, my ministries, my singleness, …everything takes on a new meaning when seen through the eyes of the Gospel.

The book is divided into three sections. Section one, Reasons to Rehearse the Gospel Daily, gives 31 reasons to value the blessings of the gospel. Sections two and three are A Gospel Narrative in prose and then poetic form. At the bottom of every page are Scripture passages to go along with the thoughts presented. In fact, I think there are more foot notes than actual book! However, if you take the time to study the Bible passages in conjunction with the thoughts presented, you can really only digest a paragraph at a time.

The book is a fairly easy read if you are just counting pages. In fact, it really is more of a paper than a book, but if read for its intended purpose, it becomes more like a journey through the Scriptures and a deep inward look at what you truly believe about the Gospel. Milton Vincent does not intend for this to be a lengthy philosophical commentary on the Gospel, but rather a simple, straightforward view which he hopes will be an impetus to further study of the truths of Scripture. The book began by his writing down his thoughts as he began to grasp the realities of Romans. It slowly developed into a thesis, which resulted in this book.

I would strongly recommend this book to everyone. It would be especially helpful to those who are struggling with doubts and questions concerning their salvation.

As a justified one, I am under God’s gracious favor at all times because of what Jesus did! This favored standing with God has nothing to do with my performance, but only with the performance of Jesus! … ‘You know, I can commit this sin, and God’s grace would abound to me all the more as He maintains my justified status...But it is precisely for this reason that I choose not to commit this sin!’ In such moments I would walk away from sin with laughter in my heart.”