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The Gospel: How the Church Portrays the Beauty of Christ

The Gospel: How the Church Portrays the Beauty of Christ

by Ray Ortlund Jr.
How does the church portray the beauty of Christ?

The gospel is a theological message. But this message also creates human beauty--beautiful relationships in our churches, making the glory of Christ visible in the world today.

In this timely book, Pastor Ray Ortlund makes the case that gospel doctrine creates a gospel culture. In too many of our churches, it is the beauty of a gospel culture that is the missing piece of the puzzle. But when the gospel is allowed to exert its full power, a church becomes radiant with the glory of Christ.
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Hardcover, 136 pages

Published April 28th 2014 by Crossway Books

tags: theology, faith, christianity, church, religion, leadership, evangelism, ecclesiology, christian living, discipleship, christian 
Book Quotes
“Here then are the choices we all face moment by moment: Will we aim to be impressive? Will we expect to be in complete control? Will we ensure that we always come out on top as winners? Or will we be happy for the power of Christ to rest upon us in our endless weakness? 'No man can give at once the impressions that he himself is clever and that Jesus Christ is mighty to save.' Neither can any church.”
― Ray Ortlund Jr.
topics: Church, Dependence On God 
“The need of our times is nothing less than the re-Christianization of our churches, according to the gospel alone, in both doctrine and culture, by Christ himself”
― Ray Ortlund Jr.
“El evangelio no es ley, que requiere que nos ganemos algo. El evangelio es un anuncio de bienvenida, que declara que Jesús lo pagó todo.”
― Ray Ortlund Jr.
“When the doctrine is clear and the culture is beautiful, that church will be powerful. But there are no shortcuts to getting there. Without the doctrine, the culture will be weak. Without the culture, the doctrine will seem pointless.”
― Ray Ortlund Jr.
“Bienaventurados los que tienen derechos, porque se salen con la suya. Bienaventurados los despreocupados, porque están cómodos. Bienaventurados los prepotentes, porque ganan. Bienaventurados los que tienen su propia justicia, porque no necesitan nada. Bienaventurados los vengativos, porque serán temidos. Bienaventurados los que no son descubiertos, porque tienen buen aspecto. Bienaventurados los discutidores, porque tienen la última palabra. Bienaventurados los ganadores, porque hacen lo que quieren.”
― Ray Ortlund Jr.
“Becoming a Christian doesn’t just add something to the old you; it creates a new you. The risen Christ indwells you now, never to leave (Rom. 8:10–11).”
― Ray Ortlund Jr.
“It is joyous for a church to stand together as one and say: “We don’t know exactly how this is going to play out. But we’re going to trust the Lord and move forward, because all that matters to us is the greater glory of Jesus in our world today.”
― Ray Ortlund Jr.
“If the church is what it should be, young people will be there. But they will not just ‘be there’—they will be there with the blowing of horns and the clashing of high-sounding cymbals, and they will come dancing with flowers in their hair.”
― Ray Ortlund Jr.
“Pablo escribe: «Porque para Dios somos grato olor de Cristo en los que se salvan, y en los que se pierden» (2 Co. 2:15). Las palabras enfáticas son de Cristo. Es el fuerte aroma de Cristo lo que la gente detecta cuando nuestras iglesias están llenas del evangelio. ¡Es increíble que experimenten a Cristo mismo a través de nosotros! Somos tan diferentes a él en tantos aspectos. Y aun así, su perfume pasa a través de nosotros.”
― Ray Ortlund Jr.
“God, through the perfect life, atoning death, and bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ, rescues all his people from the wrath of God into peace with God, with a promise of the full restoration of his created order forever—all to the praise of the glory of his grace.”
― Ray Ortlund Jr.
“In response to the good news of all that Jesus has done, I hurl myself at him as my only hope.”
― Ray Ortlund Jr.
“One way to neutralize the impact of a faithful church is to allow a spirit of improper self-doubt. Charles Haddon Spurgeon says: 'Oh, 'tis terribly and solemnly true, that of all sinners, some sanctuary sinners are the worst. Those who can dive deepest into sin, and have the most quiet consciences and hardest hearts, are some who are to be found in God's house.' When such people stir up controversy within a church, some well-meaning person often complicates the difficulty by saying, 'But in every conflict, there is always wrong on both sides.' Really? In many conflicts, yes. But in every conflict? That is not what the Bible says.”
― Ray Ortlund Jr.
“But no one is static. No one is not responding to the gospel. Everyone is moving further along one path or the other.”
― Ray Ortlund Jr.
“Solamente la poderosa presencia del Señor resucitado puede hacer que una iglesia esté centrada en el evangelio.”
― Ray Ortlund Jr.
“In his powerful essay 2 Contents, 2 Realities, Francis Schaeffer proposes four things that should mark a gospel-created church: sound doctrine, honest answers to honest questions, true spirituality, and the beauty of human relationships.”
― Ray Ortlund Jr.
“Solamente en una iglesia somos miembros de Cristo, y los unos de los otros, avanzando juntos como un cuerpo bien coordinado (1 Co. 12:12-27). Sufrimos y crecemos estando juntos. Estando juntos alabamos, crecemos y servimos, conforme a la Palabra de Dios. Esto es tu iglesia; la zona cero de un nuevo tipo de comunidad que Cristo está creando en el mundo hoy para mostrar su gloria. Esto es una cultura del evangelio.”
― Ray Ortlund Jr.
“A church can offer living and palpable proof that the gospel makes a real difference for real people living in the real world.”
― Ray Ortlund Jr.
“We didn’t ruin God’s plan; we are his plan, his eternal plan to love the undeserving, for the display of his glory alone.”
― Ray Ortlund Jr.
“Churches don’t make the gospel true. It is true even when the household of God behaves badly. But people can see that it is true, and doubters are converted when “the sweetness of the Lord” is upon us (Ps. 90:17, JB).”
― Ray Ortlund Jr.
Ray Ortlund Jr.

Ray Ortlund Jr.

Pastor Ray Ortlund received a B.A. from Wheaton College, Th.M. from Dallas Theological Seminary, M.A. from The University of California, Berkeley, and Ph.D. from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. Pastor Ortlund served as Associate Professor of Old Testament and Semitic Languages, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, Illinois, from 1989-1998. He was ordained by Lake Avenue Congregational Church, Pasadena, California, in 1975

In addition to a number of essays and articles, he has published several books. Ray also participated in The New Living Translation and the English Standard Version of the Bible. He contributed the introduction and study notes to the book of Isaiah in The ESV Study Bible.

Ray is the President of Renewal Ministries, a regional director in the Acts29 Network and serves on the council of The Gospel Coalition.

Ray and his wife Jani have been married for forty-one happy years, and they have four delightful children. Ray says, "I have the most wonderful wife, I love my kids and grandkids, and I love Immanuel Church. My dream is that God would use us for true revival in our city."... Show more
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