I'm grateful for the fact the Dr. Willard wants to focus our attention like a laser beam on the gospel of Jesus. What's missing from this presentation of the gospel, however, is that Dr. Willard pits things against one another that should not be pitted against one another. For example, (i) the gospel is about getting into heaven "before you die" and not "after you die." (ii) Or, grace is about "life," not "forgiveness."

By turning both of these into an either/or instead of a both/and, he diminishes the significance of reconciliation with God and life with him for eternity (from i) and the significance of Christ's work of propitiation (from ii). All of a sudden the gospel is about what I can do, and not about what Christ has done, once for all. Notice, the entire video had no mention of the cross.

It's Christ's priestly work in his death and resurrection which is the foundation for his kingly reign and our life in the kingdom. By presenting an either/or instead of a both/and (and I assume he must believe in the both/and, this video notwithstanding), he ironically removes the very foundation for the activity he wants to see. Further, he diminishes the significance of sin and the glory of the atonement.

Bottom line: I love the way he emphasizes the life of following Jesus and discipleship now, but let's not undermine the foundation for it all.

"Repent ye, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand."
At hand. As near as anything - closer even. At hand, like a carpenters hammer, that can be touched, held. At hand...
Jonathan, I didn't get the sense of a 'either/or' as you did in Pastor Willard's comments. I think the 'both/and' was a given.
The role of God's Grace in repentance is personally precious to me, but the comment that saints use Grace like a 747 uses fuel on takeoff made me smile in wonder and agreement.

Sorry, I see it is Dr. (not Pastor) Willard.

Contrast this with Ortburg's mother's day sermon, : "You are More"
http://www.willowcreek.org/mediaplayer/playerHome.aspx?cid=3&id=14

Mr. Willard does not know what the gospel is, has he not read 1 Corinthinas 15?, the gospel is the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ for sinners, and it is to be preached so people get saved from the wrath of God they deserve for not obeying God, their Creator.

"Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. 6 After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. 7 After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. 8 Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.
9 For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. 11 Therefore, whether it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed."

Wow. What happened to Out of Ur readers? No offenses to those that have posted, but I'd just like to note that its a very different crowd than even a year or two years ago. Really, Dallas Willard is now missing the point? Dallas Willard?!? This video would have been completely unproblematic to the majority of readers of this blog awhile back. Startling.

Mr. Willard when he was joking about what is the gospel using the drivers test example failed to mention that the written part of the drivers test (doctrine) is ALWAYS FIRST and that you are not even allowed to continue to take the road test (practical) if you failed the written part and you will end up NEVER getting your license.

I think what I like about this is that Willard is reminding us that the Gospel is just as much for Christians as it is for non-Christians. Believers need the Gospel daily to deflate their pride and root out self-reliance and self-justification. I am sure if pressed, he would say the Gospel is what gets one into heaven at death, but that Jesus came to give life that begins here and now, not later. He's been saying this stuff for years. In fact I was thinking of the 747 quote and the driver's test before he said it. At a conference like Catalyst, with the highly diverse backgrounds represented, I am glad he said this. No matter what age you are, how gifted and talented, or what church tradition you are a part of, if you are not getting the Gospel right, you are not leading well.

Thanks!

This felt like eating cotton candy. I was no more enlightened at the end than I was at the beginning. I cannot think of a single pastor that I've ever heard who emphasized repentance at the foot of the cross - with heaven at the end of the road- that did not also emphasize the abundant life in the here and now. In fact, the majority of pastors who emphasize the need for repentance from sin as the starting place, educate their converts to actually read the Bible for themselves and to "...grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ". Willard never gives even a hint (at least in this clip) as to the means of experiencing this 'grace' he talks about. Many Christians are floundering in their lives, defeated; and struggling with sin and he offers no help whatsoever. Too bad.

Are you kidding me? This is amazing. Willard understands the gospel. He is right. We've been getting it wrong for quite a while now, and what he's speaking of is BIBLICAL! I love it! I'm excited to know I'm not the only one preaching this! Gives me hope.

Peace.

I think Dr. Willard is, with the best of intentions, taking the emphasis off of Jesus, and outting it back on 'you'.

Yes the gospel changes us, but Christ does that in those who hear that their sin is forgiven for His sake.

The gospel is this, 'the ungodly are declared righteous for Jesus' sake. That's it. Where's the focus? On what Christ has done.

Hey Linda....so Jesus had his disciples take a theology exam to get their doctrine straight before they could first follow him?

I'm trying to remember that in the gospel narratives?!?!

Actually, for Jesus, practice precedes orthodoxy, precisely because it is practice that informs orthodoxy. Jesus said FOLLOW ME. Jesus said GO MAKE DISCIPLES. Both of these things are lived and active, not mental ascensions to some time-bound cognitive orthodoxy.

So HOW do we "follow Him"?

The word "gospel" means "good news", news is to be proclaimed/reported. If a person is genuinely saved from the wrath of God when they exercise saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, they are indwelt by the Holy Spirit and are empowered to get victory over sin, they are a new creation in Christ.

Exercising saving faith is more than just knowing things about Jesus and assenting to certain facts about Jesus, even though this must be true. Saving faith is knowing the facts, believing them true, but the third step is an actual reliance upon Christ. Many professing Christians have not taken that 3rd step, and are not regenerated and therefore have no power over sin.

Mr. Willard is getting the gospel wrong, because he acts like it is something we do, when it is actually what Christ has done (death, burial and resurrection of Christ for sinners). To be saved we must turn from sin (repent) and trust completely in Christ, who is God in human flesh, and not ourselves.

Come on folks, we can argue, "He's right," or "He's wrong," till the cows come home. It's all dependent on your presuppositions. Those, like Dr. Willard, from an Armenian persuasion will tend to emphasize the human aspect more. Those, like some who have taken exception to Dr. Willard, from a more Reformed perspective, will tend to emphasize more what God has done in Christ. Do we need to keep having these conversation cum debates? Can't we just say, "I hear you, I understand where you are coming from, and I appreciate your perspective," without having to affirm or deny that perspective?

Yes David, we do need to keep having these conversations. If someone asks for directions and gets two different answers, is he not a fool if he makes no effort to ascertain which one will actually take him to his desired destination?

@David D - I think that would be Arminian.

a careful reading of Willard would put this video into correct context.

Willard is famous for saying that "Grace is opposed to earning, not effort."

Willard lives in the world of our efforts in the Christian life because "earning" is a settled question.

His work is concerned precisely with the practical living out and living into reliance on Christ.

There is no question as to his cred on his understanding of the Gospel if you've done the work to understand him.

"There is no question as to his cred on his understanding of the Gospel if you've done the work to understand him." Funny how no one ever says that about John MacArthur or John Piper, isn't it? Why should a person have to 'do the work' to understand someone who is such a prolific writer and speaker. When John Ortberg specifically asks Willard for a "concrete" (his word) explanation in this clip, the response was rather muddy.

As someone noted, context is important. Who is the audience? What is assumed?

@Linda, it seems like you don't know much about Dr. Willard apart from this video.

Here's an excerpt of what Dr. Willard says about himself, "If you were to get to the bottom of my theology you would find me pretty Calvinistic, but my sense of ministry is to judge the lay of the land for your times and shoot where the enemy is. The enemy in our time is not human capacity, or over activism, but the enemy is passivity - the idea that God has done everything and you are essentially left to be a consumer of the grace of God and that the only thing you have to do is find out how to do that and do it regularly."

Dr. W. has written a number of books. Any of us can read about his understanding of the Gospel. It seems that to condemn someone apart from a fuller understanding is a bit harsh.

If you had six minutes to articulate what the gospel is to a stranger, is this what you would say??

Good stuff, true stuff, but he misses it. Leeman is right.

"It seems that to condemn someone apart from a fuller understanding is a bit harsh." - Isn't that what Willard himself is doing without naming names?

@elegance:

this post isn't about Piper or MacArthur.
What do they have to do with it?

I have read Dr. Willard's materials and personally I have found him to actually be pretty solid in his thinking. I would caution people to not be so harsh on a 6 minute clip to a specific audience.

I do not believe we have gotten the Gospel wrong nearly as much as we have simply failed to make disciples. We have made converts but in our haste we have assumed that meeting on a Sunday for 75-90 minutes, facing one direction and singing a few songs and listening to a 30-45 minute explanation of the scripture would do the trick.

What I love about Dr. Willard's statement is the focus on living daily in grace. The grace of God that saves us also teaches us.

Jesus said follow me. What we have somehow done is made that into "follow me to a destination" instead of "follow me, go where I go and do what I do." So our message is "follow me to heaven" rather than "follow me because I am your king."

I'm reminded of something I've heard N. T. Wright say on various occasions, to the effect that the problem most theologians have is that if you don't say everything you believe every time you talk, people will accuse you of not believing what you didn't say! Dallas Willard has a very significant body of writings on this issue, and it is unfair to define his beliefs of the gospel only what he says in this clip. Elegance, yes, it's a shame people don't do the same with Piper or MacArthur, but the truth is that if we don't do the work necessary to understand such a prolific author, we have not earned the right to critique such an author.

David Anderson, Dallas Willard wasn't trying to articulate the gospel to a stranger in six minutes, and his answer shouldn't be judged as if he was.