Discussion Jumpstarter
Study leader reference - not a definitive answer
Question 7
He critiques “the gospel of the empty cloak” (from the Apostles’ Creed) that jumps from birth to “suffered under Pontius Pilate,” and argues Jesus had a “finished work” before the cross: “a demonstration of the kingdom.” How does this confront common evangelical instincts about grace, obedience, and what counts as “the gospel”?
Another way to ask: If Jesus showed the kingdom through his life before the cross, how should that change what we think the gospel is, and how grace and obedience fit together?
Discussion Jumpstarter
Direct Answer
Based on the speaker’s teaching, the gospel cannot be reduced to Jesus’ death alone; grace includes Jesus’ kingdom life and teachings as essential “work” to be received and obeyed, not treated as optional compared to the cross.
- He cites N.T. Wright’s critique that the creed effectively jumps from birth to “He suffered under Pontius Pilate,” meaning “most of the gospel [is] completely missing.”
- He points to Jesus’ words in John 17 before the cross: “I have finished the work which you gave…me to do,” implying a “finished work before” Calvary.
- He clarifies: the cross is truly part of the “finished work,” but not the only aspect—there was also “a demonstration of the kingdom and the life that he was calling us to.”
- He says early creeds largely omit the kingdom “here and now,” suggesting the church “lost this concept very early” and shifted to an individualistic gospel.
- He connects this to obedience: people can “disobey all the kingdom teachings” if they think the “subject is getting to heaven.”