What exactly is meant by 'Gospel'?

What is the Gospel?

In today’s culture, and sadly in many of our churches, the term Gospel means different things to different people.  This should not be the case, yet it is a glaring reality.  Let us first deal with what the Gospel is not.

First of all, the Gospel is not simply believing in God.  Even the demons believe that God is God and that He is one just like the Jews do, yet look where the demons ended up (Jam. 2:19).  When asking an individual about their religious background or spiritual life, generally people will answer with something along the lines of having a belief in God, however loose of a belief that may be.  And to many in our world, this is sufficient for being right with that god.  This is simply not the case.  There is far more to the Gospel than a surface-level, even superficial, belief in God, a god, or in some “Higher Power.”

Second, the Gospel is not about being a good person.  The most common answer I have experienced from people when witnessing to them about Jesus is that they feel they are good people, good enough in fact to get to heaven.  The argumentation is all too predictable: I have done some bad things, but I have not killed anyone or raped anyone so when I get to Judgment Day, and God judges me, I think He will see I have more good than bad and I think He will/should let me into heaven.  Scripture is abundantly clear that we all fall short of the necessary standard of absolute moral perfection to enter heaven on our own merits (Rom. 3:23).

Third, the Gospel is not about being religious or sincere in one’s beliefs.  This is a belief that has been around for ages, yet in our culture it has been made popular by influential voices of celebrities, namely Oprah.  Oprah’s proclamation on her television show several years ago that it does not matter what one calls God as long as he or she believes sincerely has become the battle cry of our progressive culture.  "All roads lead to heaven" is the general belief among the masses, yet this is diametrically opposed to Scripture and to the very words of Jesus.

Finally, the Gospel is not about heritage or tradition.  In other words, one’s family faith or traditional belief system, even if it is Christian, does not automatically bring some inherited salvation upon the entire family.  A person is only forgiven and born again through repentance and ultimately faith in the Person and work of Christ.  Simply because a person’s parents, grandparents or ancestors were believers in Christ does not make that person a believer.  Furthermore, growing up in a local church or even “being born on the back pew”, to use a southern phrase, no more makes someone a redeemed Christian than standing in the garage makes me a car.  Again, this view of the salvific work of the Gospel is against that of Scripture.

So, what then is the Gospel?  The Gospel is the message of the Almighty Creator coming down to His broken, lost creation to save it from eternal judgment and separation from Him in Hell.  God created mankind, beginning first with Adam and Eve.  Everything God created, including those first two human beings, was “very good” (Gen. 1:31). 

Satan then entered the picture and tempted Adam and Eve into going against the one command God had given them, to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  In so doing, innocence would have been lost, sin would have entered the picture for the first time in human history, and the relationship and fellowship between man and God would be broken.  Adam and Eve fell for the temptation, they sinned against God, and they were cast out of His presence into a newly cursed world.  The sin nature and the spiritual deadness it brings would now be passed on to every human after Adam and Eve.

Over time, God began to work out His plan of redemption for fallen mankind.  He so chose to form a people for Himself, a people who would represent Him on the earth, to be the light in a dark world, and through whom ultimately a Savior, the Messiah, would come.  He would give them peculiar laws, and they would be many, to demonstrate His call for His people to be holy, or set apart, amongst the rest of the peoples of the world.  It would also demonstrate His own holiness. 

It would be a law that would bring a heavy burden, a burden no man could ever uphold, thus sacrifices would need to be made to atone for man’s continual sinning.  God made it clear that “life was in the blood” (Lev. 17:11) and since “the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 3:23), echoing the Garden curse (Gen. 2:17), a substitutionary death had to be made for sin, otherwise human death would be required.  All of this was to point to the Lamb of God who would come to save His people once and for all.

Eventually, the prophesied Messiah, found in the person of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, would arrive on the scene.  He would perform miracles, work wondrous signs, and teach with greater authority than anyone had ever taught before to prove He was the One prophesied to come.  He would fulfill all the Old Testament prophecies which spoke of Messiah and He would claim to be God (John 8:48-59).  This would be the last straw for those who had rejected Him.

When it was made clear who Jesus claimed to be, the plans were set in motion by the Jewish religious leaders to have Him killed.  They felt that in killing Jesus, they were doing the work of God, however, they did not realize that they were playing right into the redemptive plan of God all along.  It was arranged with one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, to betray Jesus into their hands while He was praying at a prayer spot He frequented, the Garden of Gethsemane.  From there, the trials would begin, followed by being turned over to the Romans, horrendous beatings and scourging, and His ultimate crucifixion on the cross. 

At the cross, Jesus cried something out before giving up His life in death.  Jesus proclaimed, “It is finished.” (John 19:30) Immediately after that, the earth quaked and the veil in the temple that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies was torn in two.  Jesus would be buried shortly after, but as predicted, He would rise back to life three days later defeating death on behalf of those who would believe.  What did all this mean?  It meant that final atonement had been made for the sins of all who would repent and believe.  It meant that the need for daily sacrifices of lambs, goats, rams and doves for the sins of the people was over.  It meant that there was no longer a need for a priest in the temple.  It meant that the ultimate price of a perfect life that had kept the full Law of God had been paid.  It meant that the perfect Advocate, High Priest, and Mediator between God and man, Jesus Christ, was seated in His rightful position as the King!  And all who now come to Him in repentant faith, seeking Him as Lord and Savior, will truly be saved and forgiven of all trespasses.

This is the Gospel.  It is in the Gospel, and namely at the cross, that we see love, grace, mercy, forgiveness, sacrifice, submission, judgment of sin, and atonement.

To all who repent of their sins and believe in Jesus Christ, calling upon Him to not only be Savior but Lord, will be saved from the effects of sin and the judgment of Hell.  To all who repent and believe, they will be made sons and daughters of God as co-heirs with Christ in the Kingdom that is being built which will one day reign for eternity on the New Earth under the New Heaven – it will be the New Jerusalem.

This is the Gospel.