What is the gospel?
Gospel simply means good news.
This was the Apostle Paul’s explanation of the gospel:
“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 . . .” -1 Corinthians 15:1–4
A good summary of the good news of the gospel can be understood in view of God, Man, Christ, & Response.
God. God is the creator of all things (Gen. 1:1). He is perfectly holy, worthy of all worship, and will punish sin (1 John 1:5, Rev. 4:11, Rom. 2:5-8).
Man. All people, though created good, have become sinful by nature (Gen. 1:26-28, Ps. 51:5, Rom. 3:23). From birth, all people are alienated from God, hostile to God, and subject to the wrath of God (Eph. 2:1-3).
Christ. Jesus Christ, who is fully God and fully man, lived a sinless life, died on the cross to bear God’s wrath in the place of all who would believe in him, and rose from the grave in order to give his people eternal life (John 1:1, 1 Tim. 2:5, Heb. 7:26, Rom. 3:21-26, 2 Cor. 5:21, 1 Cor. 15:20-22).
Response. God calls everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and trust in Christ in order to be saved (Mark 1:15, Acts 20:21, Rom. 10:9-10).
(Adapted from The Gospel and Personal Evangelism by Mark Dever, p. 43)
Jonathan Leeman gives a great and concise overview of the gospel when he states,
“God who is perfectly holy, just, and good, created us to display His glorious character and rule (being created in His image). We rebelled, choosing to display our own glory and follow our own rule, earning God’s just wrath against such sin. God sent His son to reestablish God’s rule by living the perfect God imaging life, dying on the cross to pay the penalty for God’s wrath against sin, and rising in victory over sin and death. We are called to repent of our sinful self –rule, confess Jesus as Lord, put our trust in His finished work on the cross, and live the obedient and free life He means for us to live.” (Reverberation, 195)
This is the gospel and it is a free gift of grace to those, who like Paul, receive it!
We believe it is the greatest news of all!
(Additional resources on understanding the gospel can be found on our page, resources.)