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| GO TELL Evangelism Syllabus (2003) |
Rick Whitmire is one of the founders of Free Grace Seminary (founded in 2004), which has since been renamed "Grace Biblical Seminary and Bible Institute". It is located in McDonough, Georgia.
Whitmire's statement on the gospel is a good one, but sadly (as so often happens with good Bible teaching, particularly concerning the "hot potatoe" topic of the gospel), it was mysteriously deleted some years ago without warning; it just suddenly vanished from the internet! I'm glad that the gospel in the Bible hasn't disappeared! Luckily (and by the way, the word "luck" stands for: "living under Christ's kindness") I just recovered the archived link recently. Praise the Lord! "I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise will continually be on my lips" (Psa. 34:1).
The archived link to Whitmire's statement on the gospel actually took me a long time to find! But after years of searching, the Lord rewarded my efforts and I finally located and recovered the deleted website. Years ago I had copied and pasted Whitmire's statement on the gospel to a google docs file (I had saved it as a pdf file in google docs), but then sometime after that the internet link went dead, and to my dismay I had not archived it. I finally found the archived web page last year through another link. Whitmire's statement on the gospel is now safely archived in my Free Grace Library: see the "Free Grace Library" page on my blog. (There is also a link to Whitmire's statement on the gospel in the "What is the Gospel?" page on my blog.)
Below is a screenshot that I took of Rick Whitmire's statement on the gospel, where he does in fact affirm that the gospel has "four" parts, as explained by the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:3-5 (not merely two parts as the groundless gospel folks wrongly teach), but in fact FOUR parts: (1) Christ's death, (2) burial, (3) resurrection, and (4) appearances (see 1 Cor. 15:1-5). Whitmire's statement on the gospel stands as a testimony to this truth, and against those who teach otherwise. Here is the screenshot of:
Rick Whitmire's Statement on the Gospel
Reference:
Rick Whitmire, "OUR WITNESS FOR CHRIST" (dated "07-15-03"), GO TELL Evangelism Syllabus, "The Facts Presentation". Note: "OUR WITNESS FOR CHRIST" is Chapter 2 in Whitmire's GO TELL Evangelism Syllabus.
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For those who may be doing a google search, here is Whitmire's statement on the gospel in the HTML format:
"The Apostle Paul Defines the Gospel:
1 Corinthians 15:3-5 - 'For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ DIED for our sins according to the scriptures: And that He was BURIED, and that He ROSE again the third day according to the scripture : And that He was SEEN...'
The Apostle Paul summarizes the most basic ingredients of the gospel message, namely, the death, burial, resurrection, and appearances of the resurrected Christ.
a. This is the one place where the historical elements of the gospel are clearly defined.
Our responsibility is to make the gospel clear and Biblical. But in order to do so, we must have a clear understanding of what the gospel means in the New Testament.
These verses, give us the heart of the gospel. Note the four clauses introduced in verses 3-5.
b. The Apostles Paul in defining the gospel uses four verbs:
1). Christ Died.
1 Corinthians 15:3 - '...Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures (Biblical proof that He died).'
The word 'for' (hyper) conveys the idea of 'on account of,' i.e., to deal with our sins. Christ died as our substitute. He died in our place. He took our punishment. He died for our sins. That He died for our sins implies that we are sinners in need of forgiveness.
Examples of Old Testament Scriptures:
Isaiah 53:5 - The Prophet Isaiah, seven hundred years [....]"
Source: Rick Whitmire, "OUR WITNESS FOR CHRIST" (dated 07-15-03"), GO TELL Evangelism Syllabus, "The Facts Presentation". Note: In Whitmire's original statement, much of it is in bold print and underlined.
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