A friend of mine recommend Ray Ortlund Jr.s podcast to me a few months ago and since then I have been a steady listener, he has a great way of communicating the Word of God that causes its truths linger in your heart and mind well after your done listening. So I was excited when the opportunity arose to review his newest contribution to the 9 Marks Building Healthy Churches series.

In this book Ray lays out for us how the message of how the Gospel not only transforms us individually but also communally as a Church body and how this displays the beauty of Christ to those around us. I think very often when we then to think of the Gospel and its transforming power, its mainly on the personal/individual level and we tend to gloss over its importance and implications for the local church. Ray points out how when the Gospel is alive and thriving in our local church, it begins to overflow into the community around us and it becomes a beacon of hope to those lost in the fog of uncertainty, doubt or whatever troubles may come with living in a fallen world. Ortlund points out that for this transformation in the local church to occur we need to take what we know about the Gospel (Gospel Doctrine) and let it manifest itself in our actions (Gospel Culture). Both these attributes need to be present in order for churches to shine brightly for the Glory of God. Throughout the book the author takes this dynamic relationship between Gospel Doctrine and Gospel Culture, starting with its personal implications and progressing from there to its impact on the local community and the world at large.

I found that everything I liked about listening to Ray Ortlund Jrs sermons also came through in his writing style (which isn't always the case with pastors/writers).Though the book is relatively short I found that it took me longer than expected to read, simply because I found myself constantly engaging with what was communicated, mulling the ideas over in my mind and then applying them to my situation. I would recommend this book to everyone really, not necessarily just pastors or church leaders. The truths found within can be applied to all of us and help us gain an appreciation for the churches we belong to and create a longing to see them on display for the Glory of Christ.

Thanks to Crossway for giving me a free copy of the book to review from their Beyond the Page program.

In "The Gospel," Ray Ortlund asserts that both gospel doctrine and gospel culture are essentials for spiritual growth and church renewal. The book can be divided into two halves with the first part outlining what the gospel message entails and the numerous implications for the individual believer, the church, and all creation. The latter part deals with the joys and challenges of the people of God coming together to produce genuine gospel culture that effectively infects everything around us with the sweet aroma of the gospel. In Chapter 1, the author explains the gospel in plain terms using John 3:16 as the primary text and what it means to the unsaved sinner. In the next chapter, Ortlund provides an overview of what God intends for us as the body of Christ and how the gospel saves the church. In Chapter 3, the author discusses the gospel as the redemptive blueprint of the entire cosmos. These three chapters combine to form a biblical framework for understanding the multifaceted nature of the gospel and its wide-ranging effects. In the last four chapters, Ortlund examines how the realities of the gospel inform the actions and tasks that the people of God undertake within and outside the church walls. As a transformed community, we come to grasp the beauty of Christ by being united with other believers in Him as this allows us to experience the grace and mercy of God in tangible ways. Although there are many challenges, Ortlund proposes three critical elements that churches need to grow namely power, courage, and love that is found in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I would recommend this short book to Christians who have lost hope as to how the gospel changes us as the body of Christ. As we spend time with other believers, we often experience many more disappointments than we had expected and our view of the church as the buttress of truth and household of God decimates. However, Ortlund reminds Christians that it is only God who can truly change us and make us more like Him. The church does not display a beauty of her own but only what has been bestowed upon her through the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. Thus, instead of trying to improve ourselves by our own efforts, we need to return to the doctrine of the gospel to teach us how to live out a gospel culture that will build up the church and spread the sweet aroma of Christ to the lost.