What Christians Ought to Believe Quotes

“Evangelism is not about asking people to try Jesus the way they might try a new decaf mochachino latte from Starbucks. It is more like declaring the victory of the Lord Jesus over sin and death, warning of the judgment to be made by the Lord Jesus over all rebellion, and inviting people to find joy and satisfaction in the life and love that come from the Lord Jesus Christ.”
― Michael F. Bird, What Christians Ought to Believe: An Introduction to Christian Doctrine Through the Apostles’ Creed

“Profession of a “lord” is not merely religious language for adoration on some spiritual plane; it is also a matter of social and political allegiance. When it came to who was running the show, the Christians knew that there were only two options, either the son of Augustus or the son of David. By singing and preaching about Jesus as Lord, they were opting for the latter, a claim regarded by political authorities as seditious. As N. T. Wright suggests, “For Paul, Jesus is Lord and Caesar is not.”
― Michael F. Bird, What Christians Ought to Believe: An Introduction to Christian Doctrine Through the Apostles’ Creed

“The view that because our one aim is to proclaim “Christ Crucified” the story of His life does not actually belong to the Gospel, is equally mistaken. The Early Church, rightly, held the opposite opinion, when she called the four books which tell the story of the life of Jesus, “the Four Gospels.” As the life of Jesus can only be rightly understood from the point of view of the cross—the object of the Fourth Gospel is to show this—so, conversely, the Cross of Jesus can only be understood in light of His life, as its culmination.3”
― Michael F. Bird, What Christians Ought to Believe: An Introduction to Christian Doctrine Through the Apostles’ Creed

“First, we have to remember that the gospel itself is implicitly Trinitarian. The gospel points to a God who exists as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The salvation that the gospel promises portrays the Father as choosing, Christ as redeeming, and the Spirit as renewing—all in a unified work by distinct persons in a single godhead.”
― Michael F. Bird, What Christians Ought to Believe: An Introduction to Christian Doctrine Through the Apostles’ Creed