About The Course

The questions we ask determine what we see. As Christians, we often ask what the gospel is as we look to understand the nature of faith and God’s grace. In this course, Matthew Bates instead asks “Why the gospel?” This question gets at God’s heart. It speaks to God’s motivations. Why the gospel? wonders about God’s ultimate plan and explores how the gospel fits into all that God is trying to do through his creation project and his saving work.

With examples from Scripture, literature, and personal experience, Bates explains what pledging allegiance to Jesus as ruler of our lives looks like. Living authentically according to God’s reign conforms humanity to the image of Jesus and extends his glory and honor to all creation. You’ll come away from this course with a better understanding of the gospel and what role it can play in your everyday life.

The course is based on the book Why the Gospel? (Eerdmans Publishing) available for purchase at eerdmans.com or at Amazon.com.

Teaching This Course

Matthew W. Bates

Matthew W. Bates is a professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary. He is the author of Gospel Allegiance, Salvation by Allegiance Alone, and Why the Gospel?

Bio
Matthew W. Bates is a professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary. Dr. Bates is the author of Gospel Allegiance, Salvation by Allegiance Alone, and Why the Gospel?, which won a 2024 Christianity Today Book Award and was named the 2024 resource of the year by Outreach magazine. Dr. Bates also co-founded and co-hosts the popular Bible and theology podcast OnScript.

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Tailored for Your Spiritual Journey

From students to seasoned pastors and lifelong learners, Seminary Now offers the tools and insights to deepen your faith or enhance your ministry.

Seminary Now is a great resource to have in your church or organizational toolkit. The courses are thoughtfully designed in short, easy-to-digest videos for a well-paced learning experience. Imagine the rich conversations that your team can have when you are learning together from some of the most qualified and engaging Christian voices today!

Carmen Joy Imes
Author; Associate Professor of Old Testament, Biola University

Pastors have very busy lives and Seminary Now is perfect for building theological and biblical knowledge and sharpening ministry and cultural engagement skills in a manageable and affordable way. And the fact that Seminary Now is constantly adding new courses means that there is a ready-made context for becoming a lifelong learner. What a gift!

Dr. Nijay K. Gupta
Author; Professor of New Testament, Northern Seminary

Seminary Now provides a unique combination of deeply researched insights from leading authors presented in a highly approachable format. If you are looking for discipleship, leadership development, or training, it is hard to find video material that more perfectly fills the bill.

Tod Bolsinger
Pastor and author; Senior Congregational Strategist and Associate Professor of Leadership Formation, Fuller Theological Seminary