The gospel is not about not sinning it is about being freed from the penalty and power of sin (and ultimately the presence of sin). Secondly, the “not sinning” here has no relevance to the gospel. Before his death and resurrection, Jesus was proclaiming the gospel (Mark 1:15) and the message was to “repent and believe.” Believe in Jesus as the prophesied Messiah and the Son of God for eternal life (Luke 8:12 John 1:12, 3:15-18, 4:25-26, 5:24, 6:47, 8:24, 11:25-26). Although hell can be a part of the message, explicitly or implicitly, the chief message is, according to the Bible, that Jesus atoned for man’s sins on the cross through his death, was buried, and bodily rose, appearing to many (see especially 1 Cor. For example, while discussing what the gospel is, Bell observes that “A gospel that has as its chief message avoiding hell or not sinning will never be the full story” (135).ĭo all Christians state that this is the “chief message” of the gospel? Well, no, they don’t.
Bell often does this when he is critiquing other Christians and the evangelical church in general. There are so many straw men set-ups in this book that the reader may have to brush straw off the pages.
Therefore, only the most crucial topics, in the view of this writer, will be covered. It is not the purpose of this evaluation to address all of Bell’s points or all the troubling statements in the book.
However, the book also preserves Bell’s reputation as the master of the oblique. Although Rob Bell is ambiguous in some parts of the book, and many have claimed it is difficult to know where he stands, there are also clear statements expressing views that he favors.
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