Proverbs repeatedly say that wise people are committed to and deeply care about social justice—to help the poor, powerless, sick, and oppressed. The church has historically been committed to social justice. Christians started hospitals, orphanages, schools, recovery ministries, homeless shelters and missions, fought against slavery, and fought for human rights in numerous contexts. Yet, about 100 years ago, in an over-reaction to liberal churches’ commitment to social justice and abandonment of historic Christianity, many evangelical churches have stopped focusing on social justice in the name of focusing on evangelism/gospel of saving souls. They threw the baby out with the bath water. They threw away social justice with liberalism. However, the gospel of Jesus is much broader and more robust than just evangelism/gospel of saving souls.

The gospel can be summed up as the narrative of Jesus that he came, he died for us, and he is coming back: incarnation, atonement, and restoration. Each element of the gospel narrative has major implications on social justice.

In this study, we will review these implications of the gospel on social justice and seek ways to apply them in our lives.