Jesus Christ is the Gospel

The best examples and instructions–the best doctrines–will not relieve me of the battle with indwelling sin until I draw my last breath.  Find me on my best day–especially if you have access to my hidden motives, thoughts, and attitudes–and I will always provide fodder for the hypocrisy charge and will let down those who would become Christians because they think I and my fellow Christians are the gospel.  I am a Christian not because I think that I can walk in Jesus’s footsteps but because he is the only one who can carry me.  I am not the gospel; Jesus Christ alone is the gospel.  His story saves me, not only by bringing me justification but by baptizing me into his resurrection life.

Michael Horton, Christless Christianity, p. 117