Acknowledgments7
Introduction11
One Does My Life Have Any Meaning?
Ravi Zacharias31
Two Doing It My Way: Are We Bom Rebels?
J. I. Packer57
Three Jesus Christ: Who Do We Say That He Is?
Kevin J. Vanhoozer81
Four Am I Not Good Enough? Why Jesus Had to Die for My Sins
Scott Hafemann105
Five Did Jesus Christ Really Rise from the Dead? Thomas C. Oden135
Six Being a Christian: What Difference Does It Make?
Ajith Fernando163
Seven Power for Christian Living: Am I on
My Own?
Maxie Dunnam 187
Eight Is This Life All There Is? Why Heaven Is Worth the Wait
Joni Eareckson Tada213
Nine Does the World Really Need to Hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ?
Tite Timou235
Ten How Can I Share My Faith with Others?
Lee Strobel251
Eleven The Evangelical Family: Its Blessings and Boundaries
Joseph M. Stowell277
Twelve The Big Picture: Does God Have a Plan for the World?
Timothy George299
The Statement:
“The Gospel of Jesus Christ: An Evangelical Celebration” 323
Signatories to the Statement 337
A Personal Affirmation 341

As we Christians embark on the third millennium, we face-more than ever the need to define our faith. In a world that resists truth and pays the price in escalating evil, Jesus says we are the salt of the earth—people of truth advancing the Gospel of peace. But how well do we understand what we preach?
A group of prominent church leaders and scholars did more than just ask that question. They drafted a clear, definitive statement of the essentials of the Gospel titled "The Gospel of Jesus Christ: An Evangelical Celebration." Leaders from across the denominational landscape have endorsed it, and the list of names, already impressive, continues to grow. This remarkable show of unity affirms the core beliefs about our salvation that evangelicals hold in common. In the face of our differences, these are what bind us together as the church of Jesus Christ and make the Gospel the Good News of Great Joy.
THIS WE BELIEVE helps you understand the statement's key points. If you want to know exactly what the Gospel is, this book tells you. Sponsored by the statement's drafting committee, it includes contributions from such well-known communicators as J. I. Packer, Joseph Stowell, Lee Strobel, Joni Eareckson Tada, and Ravi Zacharias. With clarity and passion, they help you understand the Gospel's simple, profound, and priceless message.
The book concludes with a copy of the actual statement and a place for you to sign your name in affirmation. It is your invitation to celebrate the tremendous gift of God's grace to us through Jesus, and our unity as the body of Christ.