Name: https://www.youtube.com/embed/_E-7WTooKmk?feature=oembed
Uploaded: 2011-09-21T00:00:00-04:00
Description: Listen to J. D. Greear describe why he was baptized four times while growing up.

Ever wonder why we’re seeing such a concerted effort to define and defend the gospel of Jesus Christ? Listen to J. D. Greear describe why he was baptized four times while growing up. Pastor of The Summit Church in Durham, North Carolina, Greear explains how he eventually came to understand that salvation depends not on his feelings and experience but on the objective work of Christ on the cross 2,000 years ago.

Greear’s forthcoming book, Gospel: Recovering the Power that Made Christianity Revolutionary, is the latest title aimed at clearing away misconceptions about the gospel and focusing our attention on Jesus’ words and work. Other important recent works including Greg Gilbert’s What Is the Gospel? and Trevin Wax’s Counterfeit Gospels: Recovering the Good News in a World of False Hope. In this video, these three authors discuss how it’s possible for churches to believe in the gospel of what God has done for us and still turn Christianity into a list of things we must do for God.

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They talk about how the breakdown of cultural Christianity forces young believers to get beyond moralism and dive into the riches of the gospel. And they also explain how love for the God of the gospel overflows into radical generosity, Bible study, missions, and a host of other good works.

J. D. Greear (MDiv, PhD, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary) is the pastor of The Summit Church, in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina. Under Pastor J.D.’s leadership, the Summit has grown from a plateaued church of 300 to one of over 12,000. He serves as a Council member for The Gospel Coalition, and recently served as the 63rd President of the Southern Baptist Convention from 2018 through 2021. Pastor J.D. Greear has authored several books, including 12 Truths & a Lie (2023), Essential Christianity (2023), Just Ask (2021), What Are You Going to Do with Your Life? (2020), Above All (2019), Not God Enough (2018), Gaining by Losing (2015), Gospel (2011), Stop Asking Jesus into Your Heart (2013), Jesus, Continued… (2014), and others. He hosts Summit Life, a 30-minute daily radio broadcast and weekly TV program as well as the Ask the Pastor podcast.

Greg Gilbert is the senior pastor of Third Avenue Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky. He is the author of What Is the Gospel? (Crossway, 2010), Assured: Discover Grace, Let Go of Guilt, and Rest in Your Salvation (Baker, 2019), and the commentary in the ESV Story of Redemption Bible (Crossway, 2018). He is the co-author of What Is the Mission of the Church?: Making Sense of Social Justice, Shalom, and the Great Commission (Crossway, 2011). You can follow him on Twitter.

Trevin Wax is vice president of research and resource development at the North American Mission Board and a visiting professor at Cedarville University. A former missionary to Romania, Trevin is a regular columnist at The Gospel Coalition and has contributed to The Washington Post, Religion News Service, World, and Christianity Today. He has taught courses on mission and ministry at Wheaton College and has lectured on Christianity and culture at Oxford University. He is a founding editor of The Gospel Project, has served as publisher for the Christian Standard Bible, and is currently a fellow for The Keller Center for Cultural Apologetics. He is the author of multiple books, including The Thrill of Orthodoxy, The Multi-Directional Leader, Rethink Your Self, This Is Our Time, and Gospel Centered Teaching. His podcast is Reconstructing Faith. He and his wife, Corina, have three children. You can follow him on Twitter or Facebook, or receive his columns via email.