What is the Gospel?

1. What is the Gospel – 30thJuly 2017
“By thisgospel you are saved,if youholdfirmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise,you have
believed invain.”(1Corinthians15:1).
Gospel isdefinedasthe teachingsof Jesusandthe apostles; The storyof Christ'slife andteachings,
especiallyascontainedinthe firstfourbooksof the New Testament,namelyMatthew,Mark,Luke,and
John. The Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia summarizesthe gospel message thisway: The central truthof the
gospel is thatGod has providedaway of salvationformenthroughthe giftof Hisson to the world.He
sufferedasa sacrifice forsin,overcame death,andnow offersashare inHis triumphtoall who will
accept it.The gospel isgoodnewsbecause itisa giftof God, notsomethingthatmustbe earnedby
penance orby self-improvement.Itisagiftof God as statedin John3:16,“For Godso lovedthe world
that he gave his one andonlySon, that whoever believes inhim shall notperish but have eternal life.”
He gave humanityagiftto save ourselves whichwe know asthe Goodnew gospel. We can learnmore
aboutsame fromRom 5:8–11; II Cor5:14–19; Tit 2:11–14). The apostle Paul summarizesthe basic
ingredientsof the gospel messageinaNutshell,in 1Corinthians15:1-8 . Here he tellsusabout the
death,burial,resurrection,andappearancesof the resurrectedChrist.
We can readin 1 Corinthians15:1-5 “Now, brothers andsisters, I want to remindyou of the gospel I
preached to you, whichyou received and onwhich youhave taken your stand. 2
By thisgospel youare
saved,if you holdfirmlyto the word I preachedto you.Otherwise, you havebelieved in vain.3
For
what I received I passedon to you asof first importance:that Christdied for our sinsaccordingto the
Scriptures, 4
that he wasburied, that he was raisedon the third day accordingto the Scriptures, 5
and
that he appeared to Cephas,andthen to the Twelve.” These verses,whichwereanearlyChristian
confession, thatgivesusthe heartof the gospel andshow that the resurrectionisanintegral partof the
gospel.Note thatPaul describedthisas“of firstimportance”—aphrase thatstressespriority,nottime.
The stressis on the centralityof these truthstothe gospel message.
The central ingredientof the gospel message isatwo-foldconfession: FirstChristdiedforoursins.
Secondisthat He wasraisedon the thirdday. The realityof these twoelementscanbe verifiedbythe
Scripturesandby historical evidenceasthe emptytombandthe manyof eye witnesses includingthe
Apostles. Thus,the twoelementsmentionedhere accomplishtwoimportantfactsregardingthe gospel.
The fact that He was buried verifiedHisdeath, andthe fact that He appearedto others verifiedHis
resurrection.
The Gospel isveryoftenmodifiedbyvarioustermsthatfocuson a particularaspectof the gospel.Itis
modifiedbyvariousdescriptive phrases,suchas,“the Good news of God” foundin Mark 1:14, “After
Johnwas put in prison,Jesuswent intoGalilee,proclaimingthe goodnews of God.” Paul referstoitas
“the gospel of God,” as foundin Romans15:16, “…tobe a ministerof ChristJesus to the Gentiles.He
gave me the priestlyduty ofproclaiming the gospel of God,sothat the Gentilesmightbecome an
offeringacceptableto God,sanctifiedby the Holy Spirit.” We can see Paul alsousingthe term the
gospel of hisSonas we can readfrom Romans1:9, “God,whomI serve inmy spirit inpreaching the
gospel of hisSon, ismy witness how constantlyI remember you.” Paul alsousesthe term the gospel of

2. Christas we can observe from 1 Corinthians9:12, “Ifothers have thisright of supportfrom you,
shouldn’twe have it all the more? But we did notuse this right. Onthe contrary,we put up with
anythingrather than hinderthe gospel ofChrist.”
In the NewTestament,the variousmodifiers whentranslatingthe oldtext, bringoutsome aspectof the
gospel thatisbeingstressedinthe contextandisa part of the goodnewsof whatGod offersusin
Christ. These are some of the termsusedforthe Gospel that we come across.
The gospel of JesusChrist(1 Cor.9:12) andthe gospel ofHis Son (Romans1:9). These twodescriptions
speakof the goodnewsof salvationthatcomesthroughthe personand workof JesusChristwhois the
verySon of God inhuman flesh.Again,thisisagoodnewsof deliverancefromsin’spenalty,powerand
presence throughthe twoadventsof Christ.
The Goodnews of the grace of God (Acts20:24) emphasizesthatsalvationinall of itsaspectsison the
basisof grace rather thanon some meritorioussystemof works.
The gospel ofthe kingdom (Matthew4:23; 9:35; 24:14) Here it refersto the good newsthatGod will
establishHiskingdomonearththroughthe twoadventsof the Lord JesusChrist.
The gospel ofpeace (Ephesians) describeshow thisgoodnewsof salvationinChristbringspeace inall
itsmany aspects(peace withGod,the peace of God, peace withothers,andworldpeace) throughthe
victoryaccomplishedbythe Savior.
The eternal or everlastinggospel (Revelations14:6) expandsourperspectiveof gospel aswe normally
thinkof it. Thisgospel asproclaimedbythe angel hasseveral keyelementsof gloriouslygoodnewsthat
are developedinthree commands asfollows:
Command 1: “FearGod.” Thisreferstoa holyreverence thatrecognizesthe sovereignauthorityand
powerof God to deal withmanin Hisholywrath and thus,to bringan endto the worldof sinas we now
knowit.To fear God isto recognize Himasthe true God whocan destroythe soul andnot justthe body.
Command 2: “Give Himglory.” Thisrefersto the praise andhonor thatshouldaccrue to God from
mankinddue toour recognitionandhighestimationof Godas the sovereignCreatorof the universe.
Command 3: “Andworship Him who made …” The word“worship”meanstoshow reverence or
respect.Thiswordemphasizesthe externaldisplayasseeninourobedience,prayer,andformal
worship.The word“fear”emphasizesthe reverential mental attitudebehindthe worship.Inthe
Tribulationpeople will be forcedtofearandformallyacknowledge the beastandhisimage.Inthis
message the angel isdemandingthatmankindrejectthe beastandformallyturntoGod to worshipHim
as we can read in Revelation 14:11,“And the smoke oftheir torment will rise forever and ever. There
will be no rest dayor nightfor those whoworshipthe beast andits image,or for anyone whoreceives
the mark of its name.”