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Free Grace
Digest
A Ministry of Free Grace Seminary
Dr. Michael D.
Halsey, Editor
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Vol. 1, No. 1
January-March
2009
Review of J. B. Hixson’s
Book
Getting the
Gospel Wrong:
The Evangelical Crisis No
One Is Talking About
by Butch Entrekin
In this postmodern world,
maybe more than any other
time in history, the church
has a responsibility to
communicate a clear and
understandable gospel. J.
B. Hixson’s book addresses
this concern in a culture
where feelings and
perception override truth
and reality. He shows that
evangelical attempts to
reach the postmodern world
have developed gospels that
are no more than new forms
of humanism. The book
exposes errors in the
postmodern gospel, and it
reveals the problems
associated with sloppy and
misleading gospel
presentations.
The title itself is
intriguing. There is no
evidence that the book is
Hixson’s response to
R. C. Sproul’s book
Getting the Gospel Right.
Sproul’s book (published
in 1999) is a criticism of
the modern movement to
reunify
Protestantism and
Catholicism. Sproul, a
Calvinist, defends
the faith alone mantra, but
is questionable in his
description of what this
required for eternal life.
“Getting the Gospel Wrong”
is much more than an
academic treatise on faulty
soteriology. The book
develops a compelling
argument against the
postmodern influence on the
gospel, while relating
practical and effective ways
to accurately communicate
the gospel in a postmodern
environment.
Dr. Hixson pulls no punches
in his criticism of many who
dilute, confuse, or change
the gospel. He challenges
the message being preached
by some of the most
prominent evangelicals
today, and cites examples of
confusing, contradictory,
and even blatantly erroneous
gospel presentations. The
purpose of the book is not
to disparage these
individuals, but to bring to
light what is being
presented as the gospel
today.
The book begins by using
sound
biblical exegesis to
define how man receives
eternal life. It
establishes the biblical
standard for the gospel by
breaking down each component
of saving faith. He
explains from both an
intellectual and a personal
perspective, leaving no
doubt as to what is
necessary for someone to be
saved. He addresses
everything from the
definition of faith (the one
requirement for sinful man
to receive eternal life) to
the significance of Christ’s
sacrificial death (God’s
provision that paid for all
sin). The chapter on
What is the Pure Gospel
is well over one hundred
pages in length, and it
alone serves as a complete
reference on soteriology.
Having clearly related the
biblical gospel, the book
turns its focus to the
subject of the title.
Hixson examines five faulty
gospels that permeate the
postmodern American culture,
and explains the error of
each along with examples and
case studies. These five do
not constitute a complete
examination of all the
inaccurate gospels being
preached today, but they do
reveal the diversity and
confusion found in
postmodern ecclesiology.
They also reveal the
divergence of many
evangelicals from the
biblical gospel.
I recommend this book as
both a guide to biblical
soteriology, and as an
exhortation for the church
to communicate a precise and
understandable gospel. It
will open the eyes of many
who do not realize the
influence that postmodernism
has had on the church.
Dr. Hixson is calling
Christians to wake up and
return to the biblical
gospel. It is the only one
that can save.
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