Essential Christianity

J.D. Greer

The Gospel, as Greer explains, is not just about life after death; it’s about reclaiming the life we’ve always yearned to live. And Essential Christianity is a clear gospel explanation that helps you understand the heart of the Christian faith. Subtitled The Heart of the Gospel in Ten Words, the book follows the key points of Paul’s explanation to the Romans and puts them into the terms of 21st century men and women, what the gospel is and how it addresses our deepest questions. Greer uses the ten words to capture ten key aspects of the Gospel making it easy to assimilate and digest the truths.

This book's Disciple Making Purpose

Essential Christianity is a clear gospel explanation that helps disciples understand the heart of the Christian faith. As disciples are learning to learn (Step 7) and becoming prepared to be proactive in their decision making (Step 8), taking a deep dive into the Gospel’s impact on their daily lives has proven very effective for their transformation. This book gives essential words to disciples that help them share their faith simply and effectively. In other words, they can know what to say and have one idea of how to say it.

Key Topics or Truths

Evangelical Beliefs
The Gospel

This Book is Good For...

Every disciple. Whether they are exploring the core concepts of Christianity or are a weary Christian wanting to rediscover the excitement and joy of knowing God. It reaffirms, puts reference under the seasoned Bible scholar, and builds a factual, Biblical foundation under those who are learning to learn.

How We Use this Book to Make Disciples

PRINT

Essential Christianity is an easy read (without sacrificing depth) that presents the Gospel and all its implications while preserving hope, positiveness, and, most importantly, pitching the value of the Gospel. As disciples head towards consecration there is a tendency for spiritual warfare and hesitancy to abandon oneself to Christ. Seeing the value and the hope of the Gospel is a positive and preventative counter to the enemy’s attacks. We break the reading into three sections (one for each week) and discuss the book in a modified book club format (see below) after each week’s reading. This is our reading plan, theme, and a few sample questions that might help.

Week 1 – Foundations & Questions

  • Day 1: Read Chapter 1 (Announcement)
    Focus: What is Christianity in a sentence?
  • Day 2: Chapter 2 (Undeniable)
    Focus: How do we even know there is a God?
  • Day 3: Chapter 3 (Refusal)
    Focus: If God is real, why doesn’t everybody believe in Him?
  • Day 4: Chapter 4 (Religion)
    Focus: Is religion the answer?
  • Day 5: Intermission: Who is Jesus?
    Focus: How does Greear compellingly differentiate Jesus from other spiritual figures?

Week 2 – Embracing the Gospel Life

  • Day 1: Chapter 5 (Rescue)
    Focus: What does being rescued by the gospel truly mean?
  • Day 2: Chapter 6 (Faith)
    Focus: How does faith bridge the gap between divine rescue and personal life?
  • Day 3: Intermission: “But is it true?”
    Focus: Focus: How does Greear help readers wrestle with lasting skepticism?
  • Day 4: Chapter 7 (Inclusion)
    Focus: Who is invited into the gospel, and why?

Week 3 – Empowered Living & Conclusion

  • Day 1: Chapter 8 (Struggle)
    Focus: Why does the Christian life sometimes feel hard?
  • Day 2: Intermission: “What about the Bible’s Views on Sex?”
    Focus: Have the problems of sex been around forever?
  • Day 2: Chapter 9 (Spirit)
    Focus: What is the Spirit’s role in transforming believers?
  • Day 4: Chapter 10 (Therefore)
    Focus: What does faith look like when it bears spiritual fruit and life purpose?

Our book club format is simple. We still talk individually to each disciple, individually asking the sample questions above. We may not ask every questions directly to each disciple but instead skip around the room. We also listen well and follow what the Holy Spirit is doing with the text in the heart of each disciple, feeling free to make calls to action along the way. We always conclude the meeting by asking each disciple in turn, “Tom, what was your main takeaway? Do you need to take action this week? Like does anything need to change?”

Disciples will gain a more full understanding of the Gospel along the way but we also push thinking critically by asking questions to make sure that disciples understand the truths and are not just swallowing them without evaluation.

Real Life Story

Doug discovered this book while coaching a London-based disciple maker who could not find copies of “This We Believe” (our previous gospel book). After previewing it, he said, “This is such a far superior, contemporary work that does the same job but in a much more applicable and accessible way.” The London leader read it and had the same reaction. Doug reread it just because saying, “It puts simple words on the Gospel I am living but more than that it is helping me share a comprehensive, quick value statement to those that don’t believe.”

Know Issues or Controversies

No known issues

The reason we love this book is that it puts the Gospel in an active, daily place in our lives. J.D. Greer summed it up best as he writes in the introduction, “The gospel is not just the diving board off which you jump into Christianity―it’s the swimming pool in which you swim. See this book as your invitation to rediscover the goodness, the excitement, the liberation, and the power of the gospel.” We love this book because it is a layman’s guide to understanding the Gospel from a Biblical view. It is a scholarly work that is accessible enough for anyone. It puts bricks in the foundation of disciple’s faith.

Share this post

Notify me of new posts

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
J.D. Greer
Book Details
Pathway Steps: 7, 8, 9
  • Phase: Year 2
  • Book Type: Non-Fiction
  • Flair: Instructive
  • Tags: Christian Living, Theology
Reading Time
Three Weeks
Start Reading After Week 25
13 Pages per Day
13 Minutes per Day
Related Reads

Though this book stands alone, we like pairing it with Mere Christianity. We always use it before The Way of the Pilgrim which is a much more ethereal story in which the main character seems to lack a focus on the Gospel for the practice (dos) of being a disciple as it allows us to reinforce critical thinking on the importance of the Gospel in our ongoing journey with Christ.