What Is the Gospel? What You Should Know about the Good News
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For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. (Rom. 1:16)
What is the gospel? Like many questions, it really depends on who you ask. However, as followers of Christ, this message that we call the gospel stands as the bedrock foundation of our faith. The powerful truth held within the message of the gospel has been transforming lives, breaking chains, and setting captives free for over two thousand years. Yet what is the gospel, and why does it matter so much? Is it possible that we have heard this word so much or been around Christian circles so long that we have forgotten the profound depth and wonder found in the gospel? My mission today is to reconnect you with the message of the gospel and to help you understand why this message is so special and why we must never stop proclaiming it.
Why You Must Understand the Gospel
Before I define what the gospel is, it is important to recognize that many, especially those in America, are losing touch with the genuine message of the gospel. In an American Worldview Inventory 2020 survey by the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University, here is what they found:
- (48%) of Americans believe that if a person is generally good, or does enough good things during their life, they will “earn” a place in Heaven.
- (52%) who describe themselves as Christian accept a “works-oriented” means to God’s acceptance.
Some of these things sound logical and reasonable; however, as you will soon see, they are not the gospel. That’s why it is critical that if you are a follower of Christ, you should know what the gospel is and be able to explain it to someone else. You should be able to do this using simple language that anyone can understand, which I will try to do.
5 Unshakeable Truths of the Gospel That Will Transform Your Life
The word gospel means "good news" or "good message." But what is so good about it that makes this message so extraordinary? To grasp the depth of the message, you need to understand five essential truths that underscore the message of the gospel.
1. The Reality of Our Condition: We Are All Sinners
Let's begin with the hard truth first. We are all sinners. The Bible doesn't tiptoe around this but boldly declares that all have sinned and fall short of God's glory (Rom. 3:23). You can look all around you and, most importantly, in the mirror, and you will see people who have sinned and fallen short of what God desires. This matters for one simple reason. Sin separates you from God. It creates a chasm between you and God that is impossible to cross. As sinners, we stand isolated from a relationship with God and deserve his judgment for the sins we have committed. To bridge that gap, you would have to live a perfect life and never break any of God’s commands. Since we are all sinners, that is impossible to do, so that option has been closed shut.
2. The Revolutionary Truth: God Loves Us Despite Our Sin
Here's where the message takes an unexpected turn. Even though we are sinners, God loves us anyway. Not because we deserve it. Not because we've earned it. But because it's His nature to love. This unconditional love forms the heartbeat of the gospel message and answers the profound question of "why?" Why would a holy God even bother with sinful humanity? The answer is simple yet profound: He loves us. Because God loves us and desires to be in a relationship with us, he refused to leave us in our helpless state. He chose instead to provide a way of forgiveness that would bridge the gap of separation that we could never cross on our own.
3. The Remarkable Solution: Jesus
Motivated by his great love for us, God sent Jesus. God's love for us notwithstanding, his justice demanded payment for our sins. There is this saying that if you do the crime, you do the time. That means sinners must pay the full penalty for their sins before justice is served. For us to do that, it would require an eternal payment, which would mean separation from God forever. But this is where God’s love takes over. Jesus came to be the perfect sacrifice to fulfill God’s justice and provide a way of salvation for us all. God poured on Jesus all the sins of the world. A sinless, perfect Jesus became the sin bearer, not for his own sins but for ours. Jesus paid my debt for sin, opening the door for my sins to be forgiven and to become part of God’s family. I heard someone put it like this. Our forgiveness of sin is like a judge who pardons the criminal and then adopts him into his family. In Christ, we find pardon and adoption. We are no longer strangers but can now be sons and daughters of the living God.
4. The Reward: Eternal Life
The message of the gospel brings the hope and promise of now and later. Salvation as a reward is like a gift that never stops giving. The promise of now allows you to walk in fellowship with God today, talking with him, knowing him, living in and experiencing his presence. Yet, as wonderful as this present fellowship is, it gets interrupted and hindered by the issues of life and the fact that we still wrestle with our sinful nature. But here's where the promise of later steps in. The promise of eternal life means one day we will experience perfect, unhindered fellowship with God. There will be no more struggling with sin or battling the impulses of our flesh. All the harsh realities of life that can be painful will be gone. Here is why this gift keeps on giving. This perfect fellowship will never end. It's permanent. It's complete. It's eternal. This is the full message of hope that comes with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
5. The Response required: Faith
Here is the most important aspect of the gospel. Your response. What makes the gospel unique is that finding forgiveness is not connected to what you do, but who you believe in. The promise, hope, and salvation that is found in the gospel's message are all unlocked with your faith.
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. (Eph. 2:8-9)
This makes the gospel special. It is available to everyone. Your education, social status, or income level don’t matter. If you will put your faith in Jesus Christ alone, you will find God’s grace and forgiveness, which brings with it an eternal salvation.
If I were to sum up the message of the gospel in one sentence, this would be it. The love of God, revealed through Jesus Christ's sacrifice, confronts helpless sinners, offering forgiveness, a new relationship with God, and the promise of eternal life.
With all that, there is still one thing the message of the gospel requires. It requires a response. For those who hear the message, they must decide whether they will believe or not believe. Whether they will try to live a perfect life, which can’t be done, and fail, or put faith in the work Jesus has done for you. That is the simple message of the gospel. It is one of the few things in life that is not only too good but also true.
Photo credit: Unsplash/benwhitephotography
