Getting the Gospel Right: The Tie That Binds Evangelicals Together

"Getting The Gospel Right" is R.C. Sproul's sequel to the popular book "Faith Alone: The Evangelical Doctrine of Justification" and is a thorough treatment of the subject of Christian unity. It is essentially a response to a document that tested the boundaries of unity between Roman Catholics and Evangelical Protestants: "The Gift of Salvation" (also known as ECT II) which was released subsequently to the original "Evangelicals and Catholics Together." These documents were both written and signed by leading members of Evangelical and Catholic churches as a means to promote unity between the churches. They chose to find common ground and unite on that basis rather than focus on the differences that separated them. Sproul and several other prominent Reformed Christians stood against this document, insisting that it did not form an adequate basis for unity with the Roman Catholic Church. The book is divided into three sections. The first is entitled Controversy Concerning The Gospel and provides background to the importance of Christian unity in traditional Evangelicalism. The section functions almost as an introductory course to Christian doctrine regarding unity. Among other topics it discusses the distinction between the visible and invisible church, the marks of a true church and Christ's desire for unity. In the second section Sproul provides the complete text to "The Gift of Salvation" and then provides a thorough examination of each paragraph. His amazing depth of knowledge allows him to delve deeply into the document and point out many problems with it. He shows where the language is ambiguous and goes into lengthy explanation about the differences between the Catholic and Protestant views on soteriology. His conclusion is that the two systems of theology are so far removed that they cannot be brought into harmony. "The Gift of Salvation" does nothing to remove the doctrinal chasm created by the simple word "alone." Until Rome concedes on the "solas" of the Reformation, there can be no unity. Further, unity on such terms as outlined in this document is damaging to the Evangelical churches as it undermines critical theology. There can be no unity without unity in the gospel, which means there certainly cannot be unity at the expense of the gospel. The unity expressed by the signatories of "The Gift of Salvation" is empty since it denies the importance of obvious and insurmountable differences in doctrine. The final section is an examination of a document drafted by Sproul and other leading theologians entitled "The Gospel of Jesus Christ." They feel this document should provide the basis for unity among Evangelicals. "The Gospel of Jesus Christ" carefully and consistently lays out the foundations of Protestant theology, leaving absolutely no room for ambiguity. As with the previous document, Sproul examines it paragraph by paragraph, explaining the meaning and importance of each of the affirmations and denials. Sproul says that "[the affir

It should be noted from Art Sippo's review that he is strongly Roman Catholic, so why should we be suprised that he does not come to the same conclusions about the Gospel as evangelicals do? What we should be suprised by is the fact Mr. Sippo could be so blind that he could see right past the cover where it says "The Tie that Binds EVANGELICALS Together". He is right about the fact that this isn't a defense of sola fide. But then again Dr. Sproul makes it quite clear that it isn't intended to be. This is a call for evangelicals to get their acts together. Mr. Sippo's anti-evangelical bias was the sole basis for his reveiw. I suppose my frustration towards Mr. Sippo was mine. Dr. Sproul couldn't make it clearer in the opening pages that this book is for the evangelical community. Mr. Sippo's review is essentially irrelevant for that reason.

Contrary to what many of this book's reviewers seem to believe, this book is not intended to be a comprehensive argument for the Protestant soteriologial position. Rather, this is Sproul's rejection of the soteriological portions of recent documents signed by prominent representatives of the Roman and Protestant churches in an attempt to bring unity between the two. He argues that despite claims on both sides that an accord on the subjects of justification, sanctification, faith, grace, etc. has been reached, no true unity has been attained - the two sides are still in disagreement over the nature of Christ's saving work. Further, Sproul argues that this attempt at harmony is damaging to the knowledge and spreading of the true Gospel as communicated in the Bible. He chastises Protestants for not knowing how to precisely and accurately put the Gospel into words and calls them to correct that problem before more damage is done. Don't let the other reviews fool you - this book is an excellent exposition of the Biblical position of the nature of mankind's salvation through the work of Christ. The series of Affirmations and Denials that constitute a majority of this book are one of the clearest defenses of this position you can find. But for those who are still not convinced or for those who seek to read even further regarding the Biblical and historical errors of the modern Roman position, see Robert L. Reymond's "The Reformation's Conflict with Rome: Why it Must Continue," ISBN 1857926269.

This is a book that every evangelical who thinks Roman Catholics might actually be real Christians seriously needs to read! It is a sequel to Sproul's earlier book FAITH ALONE. While FAITH ALONE dealt with the controversial document EVANGELICALS AND CATHOLICS TOGETHER (ECT), this book analyzes, point by point, the more recent (Oct. 97) and similar document called THE GIFT OF SALVATION.Sproul does an excellent job of showing how two groups can agree on the wording of a statement yet at the same time have almost opposite views of what is actually meant. Although many "politically correct" people today wish to believe that Roman Catholics and evangelicals are both real Christians and saved, while only differing on minor points, the fact of the matter as Sproul shows, is that they are two divergent religions with two different gospels. Despite the good intentions of those who call Roman Catholics their brothers and sisters in Christ, they are actually doing them far, far more harm than good--just like a doctor who tells his patient he is fine when in fact he has terminal cancer. In the last section of the book, Sproul analyzes the document, THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST: AN EVANGELICAL CELEBRATION which he, helped draft. It uses more precise language both to affirm and deny what the real gospel is, including statements on sola fide (faith alone) and imputed righteousness. This document has been endorsed by over 100 evangelical leaders, including Charles Stanley, Charles Swindoll, John MacArthur, Jerry Falwell, James Kennedy and others including Methodist, Presbyterian, Baptist, Lutheran, Anglican and Pentecostal leaders.My primary criticism of this book is that it tends to read more like a report rather than an expostion of the gospel; nevertheless it's content is substantive. Sproul's other book FAITH ALONE goes into the history of sola fide (faith alone) and is more interesting to read in my opinion, but both are worth reading.

This is a *MUST READ* for any Christian who claims to be an EVANGELICAL. Baptists & Presbyterians, Reformed & non reformed brethren can find the truths in this book to be non negotiable. Boice was right when he said "This is a must read for all who care about the ospel truth in an agae of theological compromise and confusion."This also helps to see the differences between Protestants and Catholics on what the Gospel really is.