Years ago, a "four-step plan of salvation" was used widely in presenting the gospel in evangelistic settings. While that method bore much fruit, many questioned (rightly, I think) whether that was reducing the message too much. Professor Scot McKnight at Jesus Creed recently posted in response to a letter he received from a seeker. His concise definition is one of the best I have read (and one which I would use and endorse in evangelism).
The gospel is:
1. The work of God, who is Father, Son, and Spirit,
2. In the context of the community of faith (Israel then the Church)
3. To restore cracked Eikons (we are made in God’s image [Eikons] but we ruined it by sin)
4. Through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and
5. The gift of the Holy Spirit
6. To union with God and self and
7. To union with one with one another
8. To be missional agents for the good of the world.
It’s not a four-pointer. In fact, it is twice that. We are made to be in union with God, with self, with others, and with the world. Our sin cracked our relationships in each of those four relationships so we are “cracked” in our relationship with God, self, others, and the world. The gospel is the work of God to restore us — to heal us through exposure and transformation — so we will become the Eikons God meant us to be. When that happens, we will be holistically healed and will becomes “agents of embracing grace” with everything we encounter. We will become Eikons who glow with God’s presence because we are rightly related to God, self, others, and the world. It takes time, though, Emily. For some of us a long time. Some heal up quicker than others, but don’t kid yourself — this glowing is not easy stuff.