One Sentence Bible Summary

Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry coming to you from Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston. No Compromise Radio is a program dedicated to the ongoing proclamation of Jesus Christ, based on the theme in Galatians 2, verse 5, where the Apostle Paul said, �But we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour, so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.

In short, if you like smooth, watered-down words to make you simply feel good, this show isn�t for you. By purpose, we are first biblical, but we can also be controversial. Stay tuned for the next 25 minutes as we�re called by the divine trumpet to summon the troops for the honor and glory of her King.

Here�s our host, Pastor Mike Abendroth. Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry.

Pastor Steve Cooley and Pastor Mike Abendroth, welcome. And welcome to you. It�s another Tuesday. It�s just another tragic Tuesday. Whoa, whoa. That is so wrong. I know. So, it�d be manic Monday, tragic Tuesday, wonderful Wednesday.

You know, in German, what�s the German word for Wednesday? I�ve forgotten.

It�s interesting. It�s translated to midweek. I mean, I�m so, oh yeah, good. I�m so, you know, Spanish, right? Miraculous. Okay. I wonder what that means.

Day of miracles. Maybe it has something to do with middle of the week too. Yeah, probably. Uh-huh. And why do we now call it hump day?

That�s easy, because Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, you know, it�s the day when you can finally see the weekend. Everybody�s working for the weekend.

I was listening to some interview a while ago with Huey Lewis, and he started off, I think, I think the guy was pretty smart.

Well, I think he is, but working for the weekend was everybody�s work. Oh, that�s Loverboy. Yeah. Oh yeah, sorry. That�s all right. Same kind of thing. I didn�t like any of those bands. Huey Lewis is a little bit more fun, and that band, I think they, at least the band part of it, were playing backup for Elvis Costello on his first album.

I didn�t know that. Yeah. Huh, okay, good.

The Message of the Bible in One Sentence

I went to a website that�s Dane Ortlund�s, and Dane Ortlund is a pastor, and I think it�s, this is the Ortlund that wrote The Gentle and Lowly, a book about Thomas Goodwin�s Love of Christ book, whatever it was called, All Love is Excelling, or something like that.

Excellent book, both of those, and he had something interesting, what�s the message of the Bible in one sentence? And then he asked a bunch of pastors, what�s the message of the Bible in one sentence?

And I think that�s interesting for everybody to kind of work through in terms of what�s the big picture? Of course, we have 66 books, I don�t know, approximately 40 human authors, but one divine author, and so you would imagine that the book that is written by God would have a theme, that have a message.

And so what is that message? And so I have a bunch of these that I�m going to read, and we can just kind of talk about it.

Ephesians 1, 3 to 14, that�s one sentence in the Greek. That�s good, that�s good, I like that.

Prove me wrong. Uh-huh, Trinitarian, praise, right? So that, I like that. Some of these are long, like Greg Beal, he cheated and wrote like John Owen. So it�s funny, Steve, I try to read eight pages of Owen a day, and I put a little marker on the top left page after I�ve read eight pages, so I know where to start, and also because I�m reading and then I go, well, I know where I started for that section.

And so you just think, you know, at the top left-hand page of a book, you�re like, oh, there�s the end of a sentence. But sometimes the sentence runs on so far that I�m halfway down the page, and I�ve now read eight and a half pages.

Yeah, I�m not a fan of like run-on sentences because you have to go back and, you know, I�m not accusing John Owen of, it�s just a different time and therefore a different style. But I think the more commas and, you know, kind of clauses and everything else, you just kind of lose your reader.

I think you can, unless you�re really a great writer. So let�s see what Dr. Beale does. Let�s see if he�s a great writer or not.

Beale�s too long, so let�s pick up another one. Craig Blomberg. I think he�s at Denver Seminary. Didn�t he used to play quarterback somewhere? Okay, never mind. Well, I think he was at the Colts, wasn�t he the guy that also could kick extra points to Earl Morrill?

Yeah, I actually drove by Denver Seminary the last time I was in Denver. I was kind of surprised because all of a sudden I was standing in a different hotel than I normally do and I�m driving down, I was going to see my mom and all of a sudden I go, oh, that�s where the Denver Seminary is.

Right down the street from that cannabis place. Probably right?

Colorado. It wasn�t, well, because it�s really not in Denver, shh, don�t tell anybody. Okay, all right.

It�s right outside. God is in the process of recreating the universe, which has been corrupted by sin and has made it possible for all those and only those who follow Jesus to be part of the magnificent eternal community that will result.

Do you like it or don�t you like it? I don�t.

I don�t like it either. I don�t like it either. You know what, it feels, A, it feels too man-centered and B, it feels like, well, it feels like I should be sitting at some liberal Lutheran church listening to a woman read it.

Oh.

That�s definitely no-go right there. Well, stop me when I�m lying. I don�t like the part, I mean, for those and only those who follow, that part�s true of course in terms of it�s not for everybody, right?

He�s not a universalist, but I don�t even really like the follow part. I mean, I get it, but there�s enough in me in terms of what�s the response to the gospel to, I�d rather, much rather have belief, right?

Because you don�t have to have much belief, but you know, my question here would be how much do you have to follow, right? It�s almost like, I guess he�s in sanctification terms and not justification, but still, in this whole part of the magnificent, eternal community.

Now, let me ask you this. We haven�t read any other ones. If you were crafting your own, would you put something in there about a triune God? Yes.

Okay. Well, I already gave you mine, you know.

So maybe you might not say God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit kind of using Matthew 28, 18 through 20 language in the singular name of, and then those three persons.

If I was doing a one-sentence thing to interrupt you, I�d say something like the triune God.

Right, right. So either way, if you broke it down into the particular persons, or if you just said triune God, at least the Trinity would be involved there. Right. Okay. So we�re building on that. So at least we�ve got the triune God stuff in there, and I don�t mean stuff in a derogatory way.

Right. Right? Right? Okay. Doctrine of the Trinity. Here�s one from Darrell Bach, and Darrell Bach is, I think he�s a research professor now at Dallas Seminary, written a lot of commentaries. I think Luke, right, he�s written one on Luke.

Yeah, and he�s a Markan Prioritist.

Okay. So you�ve got Blomberg, he�s written some commentaries from Denver. Now we�ve got Bach at Dallas. The Bible tells us how the loving Creator God restored a lost humanity and cosmos, why do they do that cosmos thing, through reestablishing His rule through Jesus Christ and the provision of life to His honor.

Better. I mean, you know, the cosmos, if I could just address that for a second. The problem with this whole cosmos thing is, think about this, if it wasn�t for humanity, if it wasn�t for the fact that we have eternal souls, God would just ball up creation and throw it away.

Right? I mean, there�s nothing so It�s not needed. No. So He�d just be, �Okay, I�m done with this thing. Done.

Right. Here�s some kind of finite little, you know, multi-universe thing, and that doesn�t do me any good. Right.

Right. But it�s all about the man being created in His image, that�s His concern, right? So the universe, if we can put it this way, the universe is the beneficiary of being attached to us, right?

That�s correct. Yeah. If it were alive, or if we could use personification like you just did, that�s exactly correct. Mike and Steve here, No Compromise Radio, we�re talking about the message of the Bible in one sentence.

Steve, I don�t like Bach�s deal here, generally speaking. I mean, he�s got some stuff here through Jesus Christ, obviously, Creator God, a lost humanity. But I don�t like this restored and reestablishing His rule through Jesus Christ, because to me that strikes me as very dispensational.

There�s no rule. It has to be reestablished versus, you know, I guess I could ask the question now, is Jesus Christ ruling now? So I think even if he didn�t want to show his dispensational cards, and maybe he thought, well, I�m just going to say that, but I just don�t prefer that.

I don�t like restored.

I don�t like reestablishing. Well, I mean, I think even if we look at Ephesians 1, we�d have to conclude, again, Ephesians 1 is just a magical chapter, isn�t it? I think we�d have to conclude that Jesus is in some way, shape, or form ruling right now.

I mean, that�s, you know. But, yeah, I get it. Restored a lost humanity, boy, yeah. Could you just say save?

Yeah. I like that better because it strikes me, Steve, as this, I don�t mean theologically liberal, but this theological, well, it�s like an anti-right deal.

Well, and if I could say it this way, I think it�s sort of, it�s written with a semi-Pelagian bent, right? Like man has fallen down and needs to be restored rather than, you know, needs to be, he�s dead and he needs to be saved, right?

All right.

Daniel Bloch. We�ve had Daniel Bloch here before, and he said, �God was so covenantally committed to the world that he gave his one and only son that whosoever believes in him may have eternal life.

It�s a little harder to argue with that one, since it�s just like a little addition to the words of Jesus, right?

I mean. Yeah. Yeah. The only thing we could argue is, do we think that�s the message of the Bible in one sentence, right? If he should say a little bit more than that, or maybe it�s, that�s the only way we could argue it, really.

I didn�t think he would say that. I thought, because, you know, Bloch strikes me as this guy, and again, this is just my theological difference with him, personally, I really appreciate Daniel Bloch. I think, and we have Bach and Bloch, right?

Be a fine law firm. Yeah. I think he�s less apt to see Jesus in the Old Testament than some others, or that I would maybe want to see, that he said this, you know, because what are we driving at here?

What�s the message of the Bible in one sentence? I was listening to Sinclair Ferguson the other day, Steve, maybe this will be more practical for some of our listeners, and he said, �When you read the book of Proverbs, what do you end up thinking?

You read all 31 Proverbs, and you say to yourself, where�s the embodiment of such a life? Who could live such a wise life? Who could live a life that�s not full of foolishness And again, he�s not taking particular verses, but just general wisdom living.

Where are the people that live so wisely? Well, there happens to be one, right? And so, that�s a good way that you could end up talking about the Lord Jesus, if you had to think about the Proverbs.

I mean, has anybody ever, you know, come to you and say, you know, �Mike, I�d like some wisdom. And do you ever, I mean, do they do that? They ever say, �I�d like to get your wisdom on this. I think they probably do.

And when they do that, when they do that to me, I�m just like, �You�re asking me for wisdom, all right, but you are coming to me. I mean, you do know, the problem is you don�t know who you�re talking to, or, you know, you�d ask somebody else.

Well, I mean, I guess you think of yourself properly, and maybe I think of myself too much, but Steve, when people ask me for wisdom, it�s funny that this just clicked in my mind now. I usually tell them, you know, �I�ll be happy to help you as much as I can, and I think your problem is a Christological problem.

You don�t have the right view of who Jesus is and understanding Him properly. And I�m thinking about verse 30 of 1 Corinthians 1, and it says, �And because of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, that is, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.

So, people come to us for wisdom, we give them Jesus, because He�s the wise one, always. Okay, no social justice comments here, but Mark Dever said, �God has made promises to bring His people to Himself, and He is fulfilling them all through Christ.

I have to say, I like that one. Okay, that�s not bad. Kevin DeYoung, �A holy God sends His righteous Son to die for unrighteous sinners, so we can be holy and live happily with God forever. Okay. Not bad, because you�ve got the sending, you�ve got the dying.

You just don�t have the sealing. Well, that�s true. To match that up, now, of course, for the gospel, it�s not really good news, of course, if you don�t have Jesus� resurrection. And a lot of times it�s implied by people, and they would recognize it.

And in 1 Corinthians 15, we have a first importance also included, as you preached on the other day, burial, right? Death, burial, resurrection, that�s the first importance. We rarely talk about the burial.

To what degree, Steve, if you were going to write something, would you put 1 Corinthians 15 gospel stuff here? Would you talk about death, burial, resurrection in a sentence to summarize all the Bible?

I think if I knew it was going on a website, I absolutely would, right? I�d be like, �Oh, I got to make sure I get the gospel in that sentence. So, yeah, I�m going to do that.

All right. This guy has written some good things, but I didn�t really care for this one at all. Zach Eswine, E-S-W-I-N-E. Zach Efron? Is that what you said? Who�s the guy on Hawaii Five -0? The original one.

What was his name? Tom Selleck? Oh, you mean Hawaii Five -0? I was thinking. Well, there�s some name. Zach�s. Yeah, okay. Zach something? I don�t know. I don�t know. Okay. No, Jack Lord. Jack Lord, but then maybe there�s another character that had some.

Oh, Efron Zimblas Jr. That�s the FBI. That�s what I meant. Okay. Okay. All right. Apprenticing with Jesus to become human again.

Survey said. You know, I feel like I should have a Steve Harvey face on right now.

Apprenticing with Jesus to become human again. Here. Here. I have a clip for that. You�re fired. Apprenticing. You�re fired. Oh, I don�t care for John Frame�s theology, but it�s here. God glorifies himself in the redemption of sinners.

At least it�s not a bunch of anti-right cosmos re-establishing, rejuvenating, reorganizing. David Helm. Jesus is the promised savior king.

Well, I mean, it�s hard to argue with that from a, you know, covenantal perspective, but I would want more. It�s a little brief. Okay.

Kent Hughes. We like Kent Hughes. We like Kent Hughes. I re-read the Disciplines of a Godly Man book a while ago, and I found it way too law-heavy, psychology-heavy, but I still like the guy. Yeah.

You know, you look at my old books, you don�t have a good opinion of me either. God is redeeming his creation by bringing it under the lordship of Jesus Christ. See that? That�s a little, that�s anti-rightish to me.

Well, and I�m like, his creation. Well, I mean, man is included, but again, I come back to this. You know, I think we have to bifurcate the creation from mankind because God makes promises to men, you know, mankind, to Abraham, you know, through Abraham, that he doesn�t make to the, you know, I just, I don�t get the whole universe.

See, the focus here, if this is actually true, the whole thing is redeeming his creation, and I guess he would have to say we�re part of that creation. Right. Because if not, it�s just like, what are you talking about?

We�re the people in this.

Yeah. I just think, okay, is the message really about redeeming creation or is it, again, I just think he could throw everything else away if it weren�t for the fact that mankind has souls, right? That puts us on a whole other plane.

Ray Ortland, the lover of our souls won�t let the romance die, but is rekindling it.

Forever. Is that part of a novel or what is that? I don�t know, but here�s what I will say. Did you say that was Ann Voskamp?

This is, yeah. That�s good. That�s good. That�s better than what I was just going to interrupt you for. I was going to say, but, you know, immature women really like that kind of talk. Oh, they love it.

And they�re packing it in.

Yeah, maybe I can put that in my next sermon and all the ladies will be like, oh, that Pastor Steve is so insightful.

Andreas Kastenberger, God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. Weak. We�re talking about one message summarizing, one sentence summarizing the entire Bible.

Here�s a good one. George Robertson, don�t know who he is, the Bible is the record of God�s promise and deliverance through Jesus Christ. And you know what�s kind of good about that one is while the Holy Spirit is not, he�s not directly stated, because when I read the word God, I usually think God the Father, but God is triune, right?

But what I like is there�s a promise, and I�m thinking about Old Testament pointing to Jesus and types and fulfillments and stuff, I mean, types and shadows and everything and promise. And then the actual deliverance.

It�s coming to fruition. George A .T. Robertson. George A .T. Robertson. Let�s see. Okay, since we are no Doug Wilson fans here, right, let�s read the Doug Wilson one.

It�s probably going to be brilliant. Listen, Doug Wilson can write. Okay, Doug Wilson is a writer. Let me, let me just say that out front before I hear what he said. Mm-hmm.

Okay. Scripture tells us the story of how a garden is transformed into a garden city, but only after a dragon had turned that garden into a howling wilderness, a haunt of owls and jackals, which lasted until an appointed warrior came to slay the dragon, giving up his life in the process, but with his blood affecting the transformation of the wilderness into the garden city.

Did you say that was C .S. Lewis? Okay. Seriously, if you had one sentence, would you talk about owls and jackals?

Not unless I was Doug Wilson, then maybe I would. No, I would not do that. And you know, actually I like owls. What's wrong with the owls? I'm somewhat relieved that Doug Wilson wrote that because, you know, now I can go, well, I absolutely do not affirm that, you know, that would not be my one sentence.

It is true that there is a garden and it's transformed into a city.

I liked Andreas Kostenberger a whole lot better. Howling wilderness. I mean, if Bono wrote that, I'd go, okay, that's pretty good. Bob Yarborough. He got in Christ. Wasn't he part of, I mean, he sounds like a 60s folksy.

You know what? I don't know who he is because I think, is it Mark Yarborough, who's the new president of Dallas Seminary?

I think there's a Robert Yarborough. That's a big shot author.

The first comment, by the way, on this article is by a person, Elohimito, and I guess that's a little God. Yeah. A little, yeah. That's male though. Yeah. Male little God.

Love Doug Wilson's answer. Very poetic. Oh, hey, Bob Dylan was very poetic too. We don't cite him as a great theologian, unless we're joking.

The second one is from a dude that says, here's how I put it in my book, and then put his book information there.

Here's how I put it, man. There's a slow, slow train coming around the bend.

Well, let's read this, what this guy said, Kitsch, in the comments. God chose one man, Abraham, in order to make of him one great nation, Israel, so that through it he might bring forth one great Savior, Jesus, and through him demonstrate God's glory and extend God's grace to all creation, including owls and jackals.

Well, I mean, ultimately, you know, I was like, I was going, oh, this is pretty good. This is pretty good. And then it's like, what? This sounds kind of like universalism. I know.

Okay. Here's one. Eric Thonis, I think he wrote the, uh, something about indwelling sin and John Owen, like counseling book. Okay. Okay. Yeah. The main message of the Bible is that one true God is displaying his glory, primarily in redeeming and restoring his fallen creation by fulfilling his covenant promises and commands through the glorious person and atoning work of Christ.

More fallen creation. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I just don't, you know, maybe I, my theology, I mean, it's certainly not, uh, what it should be, but I find that whole creation concept a little just, no, that's not, that's not the, you know, I, I mean, I would challenge it from this standpoint.

Let's read through the Bible and see how many, how much is focused on creation and how much is, you know, on mankind or, you know, Hey, we're new creations in Jesus. You know? Yeah.

All right. Then last one here. And I guess we're going to have to give her own sooner or later, nine J Skylar. The first sentence that comes to mind is that of my colleague, Michael D Williams, who describes the Bible story about the world as follows, semi-colon.

God made it. We broke it. Jesus fixes it.

You know what? If a junior high kid wrote that, I'd give it an A.

I said Skylar, but I think it's S K L A R. So is that Sklar? Sklar. Yeah. Okay. Excuse me. J Sklar. I apologize for messing up your name, but not laughing at your description of Michael D Williams. So anyway, what we would do, Steve, I guess has said something about Ephesians chapter one, three to 14, a triune redemption.

And I'm standing on that one. Okay. Very focused on union with in Christ, in Christ, in Christ. And I am of the persuasion that I would want to have something of first importance there because it's according to the scriptures, right?

Twice he says in first Corinthians chapter 15, accordance with the scriptures. And so what do the scriptures teach in the old Testament teaches that Christ, the Messiah died not for his own sins, but for our sins.

And we know he was in a substitutionary penalty way and that we know he was buried. He really died and he was raised from the dead and he appeared according to the scriptures, right? Amen. Okay.

Mike Abendroth, Steve Cooley. No Compromise Radio with Pastor Mike Abendroth is a production of Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston. Bethlehem Bible Church is a Bible teaching church firmly committed to unleashing the life transforming power of God's word through verse by verse exposition of the sacred text.

Please come and join us. Our service times are Sunday morning at 1015 and in the evening at six. We're right on route 110 in West Boylston. You can check us out online at bbchurch .org or by phone at 508 -835 -3400.