Is the Gospel a proposition or a proclamation? I've been asking that question for several years now. Our understanding of the Gospel as a proposition indicates that it is something that we state faithfully and persuasively and which should be persuasive to hearers so they believe. We see that in Joshua 24.15b (ESV), "...choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." The person who has been hearing the Gospel does have to decide. This is consistent with all Scripture. We hear and we believe or regject. See Acts 13.12 (ESV). "Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had occurred, for he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord."
At the same time, if we treat the Gospel as a proclamation, we can make greater sense of Romans 1.16. The Gospel (itself) is the "power of God." Jesus in Matthew 28.19 and Peter in Acts 2.42 clearly point to physical means of placing the Gospel on someone, in the form of baptizing, the initial way it seems we make disciples. This is a proclamation. It is something concrete that happens to you using physical means. And the Bible seems to assume it will be effective in some way.
So what's my answer? Proposition or proclamation? I suppose I have to say it is both.
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