BAT’s right, of course.  Penal substitution has been under attack from certain quarters for quite a while now, and the discomfort with it has only intensified over the last few years.  Why is that?  On that question, let me just defer to one of the most eminent New Testament scholars in the world today, D.A. Carson:  “Why Is the Doctrine of Penal Substitution Again Coming Under Attack?”

As for your other questions, the first one is difficult.  What is the simple gospel?  I think the way you and I talked about it was “justification by faith alone through Christ alone.”  But of course you could and should then unpack the meaning of every word in that phrase.  Here’s how I put it in a forum conducted by 9Marks:

There is only one God, who created the world and everything in it. Though God intended humans to rule the world under him, each of us has sinned against him, the penalty for which is death and hell. But because he loves us, God sent his Son Jesus to live a perfect life and die on a cross as a substitute for his people. On the third day, he rose bodily from the grave and now reigns in heaven, offering forgiveness, righteousness, and eternal life to all those who repent of their sin and trust solely in him for salvation.

Honestly, I think there’s a danger in pushing too hard to simplify the Gospel and “boil it down.”  To be sure, the Gospel is simple, but it’s possible to boil it for so long that you end up with not much more than “Jesus loves you. Do you want to say a prayer with me?”

More later….

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