The Diameter of the Gospel: 7 Ones

How do I know if I am explaining the depth of the gospel or adding to the gospel? The answer is found in discovering the content of the earliest preaching, the central themes that appear in gospel presentations.

What we would need is something that touches on all the central items the gospel seeks to proclaim, the things that would have been believed and received when the “word” was preached. We would want it to include the things that appear over and over again in the early speeches of Acts, that ground the teaching of the Apostles in the rest of the New Testament, and that encapsulates what “the word of His grace” was meant to include. And since baptism dramatically displays the gospel, it would need to include all the major truths being proclaimed in that moment as well. 

The sermon today is titled "The Diameter of the Gospel." It is the fourth installment in our "What Is The Gospel" Series. The Scripture reading is from Ephesians 4:4-6. Originally preached at the West Side Church of Christ (Searcy, AR) on January 22, 2023. All lessons fit under one of 5 broad categories: Begin, Discover, Grow, Learn, and Serve. This sermon is filed under Begin: A Gracious Gospel.

Click here if you would like to watch the sermon or read a transcript.

Footnotes (Sources and References Used In Today's Podcast):

• This lesson was inspired by the work of Dr. Scott Adair, Professor of Bible & Theology at Harding University (Searcy, AR). See the following sources:
  • My podcast interview with Dr. Adair titled "The Gospel Project" which appeared in summary form in this substack article.
  • Dr. Adair's Chapter 5: "Reading Scripture Baptismally" in Scripture First, ed. Oden & Stark (ACU Press, 2020)
• For Walter Scott's "Five Finger Exercise", see this Wikipedia article.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Intro Highlight: What's Included In Gospel?
• 1:04 Scripture Reading
• 1:35 Diameter
• 3:28 What does Gospel Include?
• 8:21 The Original Message (Acts)
• 18:11 Ephesians 4:4-6: The Background
• 20:28 Fingers of Faith: Remembering The 7 Ones
• 23:11 Thumb: One Lord: Jesus
• 25:32 Index Finger: One God: Father, Son, Spirit
• 26:57 Peace Sign: One Faith: Death, Burial, Resurrection
• 29:10 Ring Finger: One Body: Church
• 30:56 Pinky: One Baptism: Forgiveness of Sins
• 32:09 Palm Out: One Spirit
• 33:37 Raised Palm: One Hope: Resurrection and Renewal
• 34:44 Gospel Dramatized In Our Baptism
• 35:53 Will You Receive The Gospel?