What is the Gospel?

Anyone who is familiar with the biblical doctrine of salvation will know the importance of the gospel. The Bible is clear that a person must hear and believe the gospel in order to be saved. This makes the knowledge of the gospel the most important thing in the Bible, and therefore the most important knowledge a man can possess.

But it is sad that many people do not know or understand the gospel, even among those who claim to be born again. So, if the Bible teaches that a person must hear and believe the gospel to be saved, anyone who claim to be saved should not have problem explaining the gospel. Yet, there are many so-called Christians who cannot articulate the gospel to a layman. I have met and spoken to many of these people.

The Bible is clear that a person must hear and believe the gospel in order to be saved.

Today’s Text:

1 Corinthians 15:1-4 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; 2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. 3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures

The Alternative to the Gospel

Among some so-called soul winners, the true gospel is very absent. They have replaced the message with a list of do’s and don’t’s. What they tell people is to do this, and do that, and change something in their lifestyle so that they can become Christians. But this approach only shows the people how to look or act like Christians and not how to become Christians.

Out of fairness with some of these people who have replaced the gospel with their own messages, they do it at times in an effort to see people change their ways. But they do it the wrong way, putting the cart before the horse. Telling a non-Christian to act like a Christian is like building a house without a foundation. The construction will surely commence, but the building will not stand the test of time. You can only impersonate for so much time before returning to your real self!

My intent with this lesson is to present the simple message of the gospel to all people. Whether you’re saved or not, the gospel is still an important message to keep in mind. It is even more important for you if you’re yet to be saved for sure. For more on this topic, please refer to these articles: The Gospel in Four Points and The Gospel is Simple.

Telling a non-Christian to act like a Christian is like building a house without a foundation.

There is no doctrine in the Bible that is more important than that of salvation. But our salvation depends on our belief in the gospel. And we can all agree that believing a message requires that you understand what it is. We are asked a series of question in Romans 10 about this. Verses 9 through 13 tells us:

Romans 10:9-13 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation…13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

And the question follows thus:

Romans 10:14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?

So what exactly is the gospel? Let’s dive into the discussion.

The Meaning

The gospel of course is not Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in your Bible. Those Books are collectively referred to as The Gospels because of the messages contain in them. The gospel is a message, and it is a unique one!

The word gospel (Gr. εὐαγγέλιον pronounced euangélion) means good tidings, or good news. Without going to the Greek root of the word, the rendering of Isaiah 61:1-2 by Jesus Christ in Luke 4:18-19 makes this meaning quite clear. Compare the following two passages and pay attention to the words emphasized:

Isaiah 61:1-2 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; 2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;

Luke 4:18-19 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, 19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

The context of the above passages is outside of the scope of this article. I referenced them simply to show the use the word gospel. So if the gospel means good news, then the next question becomes: What is this good news? This is where many stumble, even among those who claim to be saved.

The Message

The message of the gospel is that of the love that God has for the world in sending His only begotten Son into the world to die on the cross to take the punishment for our sins (John 3:16). One of the amazing things about this is that Christ did this for us even while we were still sinners (Romans 8:5). (Note: We cannot ignore the problem of sins as we share the gospel. But we must not tell people to clean themselves first before coming to Christ. That is contrary to the true gospel.)

The good news continues that if we admit that we are sinners, unable to save or wash ourselves, and believe that Jesus died and rose again to take the punishment for our sins, we will be saved (Romans 10:9-10). This is truly good news, especially for someone like me unable to live righteously on my own.

The Apostle Paul clearly presents this message in our text, let’s take a look.

1 Corinthians 15:1-2 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; 2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.

Notice that Paul makes three very important points in those verses

1. the people “have received” the gospel, the good news – this means that they heard, understood, and believed it.
2. the people are to remain or “stand” in the gospel – this means that they are not to stop trusting in Christ alone for their justification.
3. “By which also ye are saved” – means they are saved by believing the gospel.

After this, Paul proceeds to spell out the exact message to be believed:

1 Corinthians 15:3-4 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.

The message is not complicated after all, it states that Christ died for our sins. He was buried, and He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, that is, according to how it had been written concerning Him in the Scriptures.

For many people, this sounds way too simple. But this is all it takes to be saved: Admit your sins (this is been convicted and repenting of your wrong doings, but not to tell people to stop committing sins before they can be saved). Understand that you cannot save yourself, no amount of works or self discipline will do. Believe that Christ died on the cross and took the punishment for your sins, believe that He was buried and He rose again. And you will be saved. This is exactly what it means to believe in Jesus Christ or to accept Jesus Christ as your Saviour!

When we accept Jesus as our Saviour, we are promised eternal life and a home in heaven with Jesus for all eternity. For more about the blessing of salvation and what it means to be saved, please refer to What It Means To Be Saved.

Have You Believed?

A very straight forward question was asked in the Bible to which a straight forward answer was also given. Listen to the exchange:

Acts 16:30-31 And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? 31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

The Apostles did not give this Philippian jailor a list of things to do, no! Instead, they just told the man to simply “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ”, and he will “be saved”. Today, you’ve learned what it means to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and exactly what to believe. You can be saved now only if you will believe this message with all your heart. I hope and pray that you do if you haven’t already done so.

Thank you for reading!