Guard the Good Deposit

40 • Guard the Good Deposit: The Great Tradition for the Whole Church

instruction manual, or a book of answers. The Bible is God’s story. Sure, it gives us instruction on how to respond to him, and how to live, but his person and work is always the focus. “God, the divine narrator, is saying: I have a purpose for humanity and a purpose for creation and history. I am not asking for permission to join your narrative (although I do). I am asking you to join my narrative of the world, of human existence, and of all history.” 3 We must learn to say with Jesus, “not my will, but yours, be done” (Luke 22.42). Master the Nicene Creed’s outline of the facts of the Gospel. The wonderful truth of the Gospel is too good to keep to ourselves! If we have experienced the grace and love of God, we must share it with others. As we said earlier, the Holy Spirit frees us to take the Gospel everywhere and to do what we must so that people can understand and embrace it. However, we must never tamper with the truth itself! The extreme freedom of the Gospel means that we must know the truth and we must have clear ways to pass on the truth. The saving facts of Christ’s life, death, resurrection, and return are outlined perfectly in the Nicene Creed. It can serve as guide and a guardrail for us as we proclaim the Gospel with boldness.

3 Robert Webber, Who Gets to Narrate the World , IVP, 2008, p. 25.