LIBERTY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF DIVINITY
Reflection of Gilbert and Faulls
Submitted to Dr. Gregory Faulls
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of
EVAN 500 – B01
Spiritual Factors of Growing Churches
by
David J. Miller
Concepts and Principles
What is the Gospel?
Greg Gilbert wrote the book, What is the Gospel? It is in this book that he takes on the
task to explain that the local church is more important to the Christian life than many Christians
realize. He believes that a healthy Christian is a healthy church member. He also explains that the
local churches grow in life and in vitality as they organize their lives around God’s word. When
God speaks, churches need to listen and follow. Nothing could be clearer and more simple.1
With these two ideas in mind, Gilbert demonstrates a church and a people who listen to
what God commands, take time to reflect on His love, mercy and forgiveness. Gilbert also makes
it clear as to what he believes the Gospel should look like. Through Romans, Gilbert shows that
we are made by Him, owned by him, dependent on him, and accountable to Him.2 Gilbert
explains the sacrificial death of Jesus and our need for Him as our Lord and Savior. This simply
is the Gospel.
From Dust to Destiny
Greg Faulls wrote the book, From Dust to Destiny. In this book he demonstrates that
every person was created for more than self-gratification and he desires that his readers discover
a more life changing encounter with God. Faulls communicated this idea through his four
concepts. They are: Life is about God and until someone knows more about God, he or she will
never find purpose and meaning in life; (2) God sent His Son for the redemption of mankind and
to restore the communion that was lost in the Garden of Eden; (3) God dwells within His
1 Gregory D. Gilbert, What is the Gospel? (gǒs’pəl), (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2010), 11.
2 Ibid,. Pg. 28
children and the more they walk with Him the more they will be transformed into the likeness of
Christ; and (4) God desires to work through His children and He has had this plan from the
beginning.
When you have the idea that there is someone bigger than our self, and that there is so
much more at stake, transformation can truly be made for the individual and the world in which
he or she lives. Faulls demonstrates, “We were created in the image of God, to be stewards of His
creation [and] we were created in the Lord’s image so that we might relate to Him intimately.”3
This is an amazing uplifting potion of the book. It is an amazing reminder that we are made in
God’s image and it isn’t by accident. We were designed this way, we are “anchored in the One
who loved us so much that He chose to breathe into us the breath of life.”4
Application and Implementation
These two writings by Gilbert and Faulls go hand in hand. In life and in ministry they can
and will be useful tools. For me personally, they both serve as a reminder of the importance of
having a genuine, deep, life changing relationship with God. This relationship in which Faulls
speaks of (and I desire for myself and others) can only be obtainable if one has a true
understanding of what the Gospel is and what the Gospel means.
In ministry and within the Christian life, everything begins and ends with the Gospel. It is
the very foundation in which we live. Through our response to the Gospel we can and will have
that deep life changing encounter we were all destined to have. We are able to live in a way that
we were intended. The reminder that we were created in God’s image is something that is
3 Greg Faulls, From Dust to Destiny: Created for More. http://prevailinglife.com, 10 (accessed June 21,
2018).
4 Ibid,. Pg. 17
uplifting, encouraging, and mind blowing. To know that that God of this universe loves me and
others so much that he made a way for us to uniquely connect with Him.
These truths in these writings are nothing short of encouraging to me as an individual and
is something that can be used in a small group setting, sermons, and through evangelism.
The truth is that there is more to this life. We are to live a more meaningful life than what
we already do. Many people are hurting, are numb, and are seeking for something more, seeking
for something that will fill that void in their life. God can fill that void, God will fill that void.
We as believers in Christ have to share the good news, we have to share the gospel. It is our
responsibility to present it to others who may not know, allow them the opportunity to live a life
in which they are meant to live.
