A Gospel Primer for Christians: Learning to See the Glories of God's Love

Milton Vincent’s A Gospel Primer for Christians: Learning to See the Glories of God’s Love offers a concise yet deeply impactful resource for believers eager to root their everyday lives in the life-changing truth of the gospel. Reflecting on his personal shift from a faith weighed down by performance, Vincent presents 31 brief meditations—each grounded in Scripture—that urge readers to daily proclaim the gospel to themselves, tackling challenges like guilt, pride, and spiritual exhaustion with insight and compassion. The book’s thoughtful design, weaving together a poetic retelling of the gospel and Vincent’s own story, fosters a reflective, unhurried experience that redirects the heart toward Christ’s all-sufficient grace, proving itself a vital guide for Christians at any point in their journey. Standing apart from often predictable devotional literature, this primer shines with its genuine vulnerability and unwavering emphasis on the gospel as the wellspring of both growth and delight, underscoring that God’s love is not merely a foundation but a constant, sustaining force.

I re-read this book regularly. Tremendous encouragement on living the Christian life. A great reminder that the Gospel applies to our daily life.

Every Christian needs to read this little book. How did we somehow leave the cross behind when we should be going to it every day? You won't be disappointed by ordering this book.

I am not one to write in depth reviews because I am not sure if anyone will actually read it but here is mine for anyone searching… Do you feel like the gospel got you isn’t the kingdom of God but then it stayed there and you’ve been running on exhaustion since you were born again? Like you started there but then moved onto spiritual disciplines/discipleship and completely forgot what the gospel was & what was so glorious about it? Do you desire to pursue holiness & a godly life but find it extremely oppressive & burdensome? Have you come to the end of yourself and fight despair everyday even as a believer? Do you obey God out of fear of punishment or to avoid guilty feelings? Here Milton re-directs us back to the basics of the gospel & preaching it out loud verbally to ourselves & lists 31 reasons why we should, he also has a “prose” & “poetic” version of the gospel for us to recite both or the other to ourselves & at the end of it is His “why” he wrote the gospel primer & it is for that in itself why I am so thankful for it because he has gone through the exact same exhaustion/trying to please the God who saved us, cycle …it is only 97 pages long but my goodness it is so meaty & chain-breaking glorious gems of the gospel, that I read the whole book in under an hour. If you are desperate to stop relating to God based on how well you are performing for Him, please do not hesitate. I also recommend ALL, yes ALL, of Jerry Bridges’ books & C.J. Mahaney “cross centered life”…now reading any self help book will not help you apart from prayer, pray continually through it all! I have only had it for three days now & I delight to re-read the poem one hopefully to memorize it better. Please get it beloved, the gospel is the Glory & power of God & I’m so thankful to have such spirit-led books to help.

I was apprehensive to read a book about the gospel as a Christian of nearly forty years. I wish I read it sooner! It is a great reminder of the need for the gospel, not only for the lost but also for believers alike. The principles are clear and supported heavily with scripture which prompts even more study of God and His Word. I'm an "underliner" when I come across impactful statements. I quickly found myself underlining sentences in nearly every paragraph. The book has been a great help and I have since bought several more copies to give to others to encourage them in their walk with God.

Exactly described.

In my experience, the phrase “gospel centered” has become so common that it often seems to have lost any valuable meaning. It is often used in ways that emphasize what we are to do or have done more so than what God has done and continues to do in our individual lives and through his church. Milton Vincent reminds us of core gospel truths presenting a “mere gospel centeredness” for our own heart and mind to sustain us through the joys, sorrows, and many challenges of life in a broken world. Although this book is written pastorally and with scholarly reflection, he does not write as one who has it all together all the time, but as a fellow pilgrim who at times loses his way. A Gospel Primer is actually the fruit of that experience through which he came to realize he sufficiency of Christ for a life of joy and flourishing. I would encourage reading the final chapter “Surprised by the Gospel” in which he briefly shares his own story. In doing so you may, like me, find reading this book more as a conversation with a friend helpfully sharing his heart and experience rather than simply lessons to be learned. We all need these simple truths, hence the emphasis on daily reminding or “preaching” to oneself; however, if your are experiencing deep struggles and feel separation from God this book is an extraordinarily helpful read to remind us of the magnificent love and grace found in Christ.

This little book was born out of the authors own struggles with a performance driven Christian life, which I can relate with. It is first of all needful in helping you that the Gospel is not just a stepping stone to better things but the framework that keeps everything else together. It is also a helpful book because it teaches you, through the authors own experience, how to apply the gospel to everyday life struggles. I will return often to this little gem and highly recommend it to every Christian wanting to go deeper with the Gospel than just “Jesus died for my sins”.

I recently read "A Gospel Primer for Christians" by Milton Vincent and found it to be a powerful and transformative book. Vincent does an excellent job of explaining the gospel in a way that is both clear and compelling. He helps readers understand the depth and breadth of God's love for us, and how the gospel is relevant to every area of our lives. The book is well-structured, with short chapters that are easy to read and digest. Each chapter includes a prayer and reflection questions that help apply the concepts to our lives. Overall, I would highly recommend "A Gospel Primer for Christians" to anyone who wants to deepen their understanding of the gospel and its implications for daily life. It is a must-read for all Christians who want to grow in their faith and love for God.

Do you find the gospel has faded in it's lustre a little over the years? Does it sit on the shelf while you try to move on to 'deeper' things in the Bible? Do you wrestle with legalism? Or lack of assurance? Or lack of progress despite lots of effort being put in? I suspect that the reason we struggle like this is that we haven't grasped the richness of the gospel. We think it's only for salvation. We think that there are other truths that will help us. We think we need to try harder. But the gospel is what we need - There are no deeper things. We just haven't grasped it deeply enough. Milton Vincent (not a puritan although his name sounds the part!) knows your story for he has been there himself. He has wrestled with the lack of progress, lack of assurance, lack of love, lack of ..., well, many things. Out of his own circumstances, and initially for himself, then for his congregation, he put together a list of ways the gospel connects to our spiritual problems - not simply our sin and guilt. The Gospel Primer is the result. The book divides into four sections: 1. Why we need to preach the gospel to ourselves - 31 ways in which the gospel connects with our spiritual problems. 2. The gospel in propositional form 3. The gospel in poetic form 4. His story of why he wrote the book. It doesn't look terribly enticing (and the cover certainly doesn't entice you to read the book), but it is deceptively simple and effective. I found the first section to be tremendously helpful and soul warming. This is due, in part to the content, but also to the manner in which Vincent writes. He writes in the first person eg, "the gospel is the one great permanent circumstance in which I live and move; and every hardship in my life is allowed by God only because it serves His gospel purposes in me." This device, along with the content, acts like application, and presses truths right in to the heart. He makes them like personal statements of faith - which is what they are, we just haven't realised the implications of what we say we believe. Each of the 31 ways makes vital connections which bring the gospel off the shelf and into everyday life. And this in turn revitalises our appreciation of the gospel, as well as opening up new and living ways (actually, the old and living way!) to grow and make progress as a Christian. The 2nd section of gospel propositions cover who God is, my sin before a holy God, the glorious work of Jesus Christ on the Cross, and life we are called to live for God's glory - all in 41 first person statements. Again the application is almost automatic - old truths, but shaped for the heart, not just the head. Part 3 is the same as part 2 - only in poetic form. The theology is great, the poetry isn't! This barbarian didn't enjoy it as much, but I know others who did. In Part 4 Vincent tells how a came to write the book. At the end of his tether spiritually he opened his Bile at Romans 5 and started to read. As he read he started to ask himself if he really believed this stuff. It is something I think we can all resonate with. This is a deceptively simple little book, but powerfully effective. Because it started out as a personal remedy for the problem this is no dry theory, this is from the heart, and resonates with the reader at many points. As an indicator of how essential I think this book is - we gave it to everyone in the two churches I pastor. Many books are good, only some are worth re-reading. This is one you will find yourself returning to over and over again to be refreshed. ================================ Some thoughts on reading 'The Gospel Primer' 1. Savour it, rather than read it through in one sitting. I read two of the 31 reasons each morning before my bible reading, and then moved on to the propositions - reading 4 or 5 at a time. Although the book is short enough to read in one go - don't rush. 2. Don't read it to be impressed with the book. Read it to be impressed with the gospel. 3. Someone recommended reading part 4 (Vincent's own story) first - I agree. It allows you to see where he is coming from - and that he has been where you probably are.

This book helps you understand and grasp the simple gospel truths that we so easily forget. Definitely a book you could read over and over again.

A friend in the US recommended this to us, and we had not heard of it before. This is gentle and systematic way of meditating upon the core themes of the Christian Gospel, Milton Vincent having correctly understood the transformative power of 'preaching' the message of it to ourselves. The book is well laid out, and lends itself to a quiet, reflective devotional context. My wife and I found it so helpful that we immediately bought 30 copies to give away to friends! It never runs out of oomph, and relevance. Having read it from cover to cover, we then just started again back at the beginning. If you're feeling a bit tired and jaded in your spiritual life, or if you have just lost sight of what's key and important, then this is the book you need.

Sometimes it is good to stop and have a Spiritual MOT, and that is what this book has done for me. Even a Christian a long time, but on reading this little book have found that Ive wandered into trying to earn Gods approval. It’s been liberating to get back on track in this very easy, but very deep book. Would recommend to Christian’s of all ages