What is the Gospel?

The word gospel literally means “good news”. It occurs 93 times in the Bible, exclusively in the New Testament. Broadly speaking, the gospel is the whole of Scripture (66 books of the Bible). Narrowly speaking, the gospel is the good news concerning redemption of sinners and realization of God’s Kingdom on earth, done by God through Jesus Christ for His glory.

To understand the gospel, we must understand why it is called “good news”. It is good news because, first, we have bad news. We learn about the bad news because God’s law is written in our hearts (Rom 2:14-15), revealed through all creation (Rom 1:20), seen in the providence of God in history (Ps 19:1-4), and, most importantly revealed in God’s law in the Bible (2 Tim 3:16). All of these bear witness to two honest realities. First, there is a holy God who is the ruler and sovereign of all creation, deserving our worship and devotion. Second, despite this fact, mankind, represented by Adam in Eden, rebelled against Him and has lived according to our sinful desires (Isa 53:5; Rom 3:23). This rebellion, properly called sin, results in our lost communion with God and our condemnation before the just God, hence making us “liable to all the miseries in this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell forever” (Westminster Shorter Catechism Q.19). Moreover, the Bible describes man’s sinful condition as death (Eph 2:1). No one is able to save himself from the just wrath of God since all aspects of our lives are marred by sin (Rom 7:18; Tit 1:15-16), so much so that even our good works are but a filthy rag before the holy God (Isa 64:6).

This, however, is not the end of the story! The Bible says, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:4-7). This is the good news: that despite their rebellions, God saves mankind from their sins and from His holy wrath through Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ, who, being the eternal Son of God (Ps 2:7), became man (John 1:14), lived a perfect life (1 Pet 2:22), fulfilling all of God’s law (Gal 4:4), and despite His sinless life, died on the cross on Calvary’s hill (Luke 23:33-46), bearing the punishment for sin and the judgment of God, as the second Adam, representing God’s people (1 Cor 15:45). He then rose again, defeated death as a victorious King (Acts 2:24), and gives eternal life to those who believe in Him (John 3:16). He ascended to heaven (Luke 24:51) and sits at the right hand of God the Father (Eph 120). He sent the Holy Spirit to dwell in every believer as the seal of their salvation and to guide them to live a new life of obedience to God’s law as they persevere, by faith, in this sinful world (Rom 8:9-11; Eph 1:13-14) to the world to come (Heb 11:39-40). This Jesus will return as King of Kings to fully manifest His Kingdom on earth and make everything new according to His perfect will (2 Thes 1:6; 1 Pet 5:10-11).

The Gospel is a message of grace. It is grace (Greek word Charis means gift) because salvation is freely given to sinners who repent of their sin and believe in Jesus for their salvation. “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through Him!” (Rom 5:8-9).

This is the Gospel. It is “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Rom 1:16). Do you believe such news? It is the most wonderful news ever told. Come to the church that you may hear about this Gospel and you will find rest for your soul!