The Gospel

WHAT IS THE GOSPEL?

The term gospel is the English translation of the Greek word euangelion which occurs 76 times in the Greek New Testament. The underlying meaning of this Greek word is good news and in Classical Greek, it referred to good news particularly one of victory that causes one great joy. In the New Testament, this word has a distinctly Christian sense that the good news of great joy is the victory that was accomplished through the person and work of Lord Jesus Christ for the salvation of mankind from sin and death. Thus the gospel in the New Testament is the good news announced to all men that salvation is offered to all through faith in Christ.

The Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia summarizes the gospel message this way:

The central truth of the gospel is that God has provided a way of salvation for men through the gift of His Son to the world. He suffered as a sacrifice for sin, overcame death, and now offers a share in His triumph to all who will accept it. The gospel is good news because it is a gift of God, not something that must be earned by penance or by self-improvement (Jn 3:16; Rom 5:8–11; II Cor 5:14–19; Tit 2:11–14).

The one true God of all creation, LORD God created mankind as the crown of His creation in His image and in His likeness for man to have blessed fellowship with Him. But our first parents – Adam and Eve – through the deception of the Evil One rebelled against God and disobeyed Him. This Fall of man into sin brought forth many curses upon this creation, especially that of death, both physical death and eternal death bearing the just punishment of God. All descendants of Adam since the Fall receive this corrupt nature and are thus sinners by nature and by choice. We are all thus sinners who have fallen short of the glory of God and live our lives with no affection to honour God or to glorify Him. For belittling the infinitely precious and glorious God, we all deserve everlasting punishment.

To save mankind from this predicament of divine punishment and to glorify Himself, the gracious and merciful LORD in perfect love offers deliverance freely to all but at a great cost to Himself. The LORD sent His eternal divine Son to partake in our humanity, live perfectly without sin as a human being, die in our place for our rebellion, and then rise again defeating death. Thus in Him, we have access to be a new man fully forgiven of our sins, redeemed from our enemies, and reconciled to our God. The gospel is thus the good news that God demonstrated His love for us by freely offering all men salvation from sin and death with the promise of eternal life in His kingdom when Christ will reign on earth with sin, death, and Satan defeated and cast away.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (Jn. 3:16)

HOW DO WE KNOW THE GOSPEL IS TRUE?

Apostle Paul summarized the gospel message in 1 Corinthians 15:1-8 as follows:

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.

Here we find the gospel message is founded on the pillars of these historic events namely, the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ which are all in accordance with the antecedant Scriptures that foretold it. These accomplishments of Lord Jesus are also attested by history. That Jesus died is attested by His burial and that Jesus rose again is attested by His appearance to many. As apostle Paul goes onto elaborate in 1 Cor.15:13-19, the message of the gospel is not some religious fable or myth, but one that is historically verifiable and thus not a mere matter of subjective religious preference.

But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied (1 Cor.15:13-19).

We, therefore, trust the Word of God that delcares that God has, however, tangibly and decisively acted in history to bring forth our salvation through the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ (1Cor.15:20-23).

HOW DO WE RECEIVE THE GOSPEL?

The gospel is good news not only in that God has worked out our deliverance from our sin and death, but also that it is offered freely to all through faith in Christ alone. In other words, anyone can be forgiven of their sins and reconciled to God by trusting in the merits of the person and work of Christ alone. Thus the gospel is a message full of God’s grace (Rom. 4:4-5; Eph. 2:8-9; Tit. 3:4-5). Salvation is neither earned nor merited by us, but freely and graciously given by God in Christ alone (Rom. 3:19-20; Gal. 2:16). Faith is the empty hands that receive this gift. Though a genuine faith in Christ produces good works, none of our works merit our reception of this free gift of salvation in Lord Jesus Christ.

WARNINGS AGAINST FALSE GOSPELS

Apostle Paul warns us against receiving any gospel other than the genuine apostolic gospel that teaches free salvation for all by grace through faith in the finished work of Christ alone (Gal. 1:6-10). Any teaching that requires the merits of our works as to how we receive this gift of salvation from God is a false gospel and should be avoided by all, for it is no gospel at all (Acts 15:1-5; Gal. 2:4-5; 1:7).

HAVE YOU RECEIVED THE GOSPEL?

As we have seen, the gospel is the good news of great joy for all men because, through the Lord Jesus Christ, you can be fully forgiven of all your sins, be delivered from the future judgement that is awaiting you, have the eternal life that is free from the dominion of sin and death, be reconciled to God enjoying sweet communion with your Maker as a child of God, and be assured of living one day in the kingdom of Christ’s reign on earth.

Do you believe that you are a sinner who has not honoured God with all your heart?

Do you believe that you deserve eternal punishment from God for belittling Him with your rebellion?

Do you believe that God is so perfect in love that He has offered free salvation from your just punishment through the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ?

Do you believe none of your works or merits can earn this perfect salvation accomplished for you in the finished work of Lord Jesus Christ alone?

If you have a heart-felt conviction in these truths from the Word of God and have never expressed your faith in these truths to God, then take a moment and express your faith in the gospel through a word of prayer. Prayer is the chief means by which we express our trust in God. Hence take a moment and in your own words, confess to God that you are a sinner who was walked in deliberate negligence of Him in your life and that you are thankful for His free and gracious provision of salvation in His Son, Lord Jesus. Ask him to give you the gift of salvation as He has promised in the Scriptures for all who seek Him in faith.

Here is a model prayer that you can use as a guide:

“Lord God and maker of heaven and earth, I humbly confess I have lived my life so far in ignorance and negligence of You as my Creator. I have lived for my own selfish purposes and have not had any desire or purpose to honour and glorify You with all that I am and have from You. I recognize and confess I am a sinner who has fallen short of the glory of God. I agree with You that for belittling such a great and infinite God like You, I justly deserve Your everlasting punishment. I express my thanks, however, that You have not left me to die in my sins, but in Your perfect love has prepared a way to save me. Thank you for sending Your Son, Lord Jesus to be a man who can live the life I should have lived in perfect obedience glorifying You always and who can die the death I should have died bearing the shame of my sins on the Cross. I believe that on the third day, Jesus rose again from the grave and thus finished His work of accomplishing victory over sin and death. I confess with all my heart that Jesus Christ is my Lord and that You raised Him from the dead. In keeping with your promise to all who receive Christ as Lord and Saviour, please give me the gift of salvation from my sins and make me a child of God. Thank you for the gift of salvation in your Son, Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.”

If you prayed with wholehearted conviction and trust in the gospel of Lord Jesus Christ, then the Scripture assures all such believers with the comfort of salvation.

For if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved (Rom.10:9).

To all who did receive him [Jesus], who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God (Jn. 1:12).