What is the gospel?

The word “gospel” means “good news”. That already tells us something: the gospel is not first a set of rules or a method for living better. It is news, the announcement of something God has done.

The New Testament answers the question in several places. Together they show a message that is simple enough for a child and deep enough to fill the whole Bible.

Good news from the lips of Jesus

Jesus began His public ministry in Galilee by preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God.

And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
Mark 1:15 · King James Version (1769)

Albert Barnes explains that “the time is fulfilled” means that the time of the Messiah, long foretold, had arrived. John MacArthur adds that the point is not the calendar but that this was the moment for God’s decisive action, and that “at hand” means the King Himself was present. William MacDonald reads Jesus’ words in the same way: the long-promised King had come, and people were called to turn from sin and believe the good news about Him.

Notice that Jesus joined two things together. Matthew Henry writes that by repentance we give glory to our Creator, whom we have offended, and by faith we give glory to the Redeemer who came to save us from our sins. Christ has joined them, and no one should try to separate them. Repentance and faith are the two sides of one response, as we describe in What is repentance?.

The gospel in a few facts

Years later Paul wrote to the church in Corinth to remind them what he had preached to them, and he put it in the most compact form we have.

Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures:
1 Cor 15:1–4 · King James Version (1769)

Charles Spurgeon noticed that Paul does not give a list of doctrines but a set of facts: Christ died, was buried and rose again. Adam Clarke notes that Paul calls these things of first importance, the fundamental truths.

MacDonald draws out the first fact: Christ died for our sins. This stresses that His death was in our place. He was not dying for His own sins, nor only as a martyr, but to take the punishment our sins deserve. And all of it happened “according to the Scriptures”: MacDonald points to Isaiah 53 for His death and burial and to the Psalms for His resurrection, and MacArthur says that the Old Testament spoke of Christ’s suffering and resurrection. Henry adds that without the death and resurrection of Christ, Christian hope would sink.

The resurrection is part of the gospel, not an extra. A Savior who died and stayed in the grave could not give life. The one who rose is the one who can promise it. More on this in Why did Jesus have to die?.

The gospel is God’s power

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
Rom 1:16 · King James Version (1769)

John Wesley points out that, to the world, the gospel is folly and weakness, and Paul was writing to Rome, the head and theatre of the world, where one might expect him to be ashamed. Henry lists what could embarrass him: the Savior was crucified, the teaching was plain, and its followers were mostly of low standing. MacArthur notes that the Greek word for “power” is the one from which we get “dynamite”, and that only God’s power can overcome human sinfulness and give new life.

The word “salvation” holds two ideas: rescue from evil and ruin, and the gift of the good, eternal life with God. Both come not by what we do but by believing. The gospel does not tell us to climb up to God. It announces that God has come down to us.

There is only one gospel

Because so much depends on this message, Paul defends it fiercely. He writes to the Galatians that anyone who preaches a different gospel stands under God’s judgment (Galatians 1:6–9).

MacDonald explains that the Galatians had traded the true gospel for a mixture of law and grace. The New Geneva Study Bible notes that the teachers troubling them insisted that Gentiles must be circumcised as well as believe, and that adding any requirement to faith in Jesus distorts the gospel. MacArthur says that adding the law turns a message of undeserved mercy into one of earned favor.

So the gospel does not say “do this and you will be saved”. It says “this has been done for you; trust Him”. Our part is to respond as Jesus asked: turn from sin, believe, and receive what God gives. To see how God’s free gift works, read What is grace?.