What Is The Gospel?

The word gospel means "good news".   The best description of the gospel is found in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4:

"Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel…by which you are saved, if you hold fast that which I preach to you - unless you believed in vain. Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again on the third day according to the Scriptures."  

Let's break these verses down and see what we discover.


"Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel…by which you are saved, if you hold fast that which I preach to you - unless you believed in vain."

The first thing we learn about the gospel is that it is the message by which men are saved from God's judgment.  The method God chose to save us is grace.  We are "saved by grace and not by works" (Ephesians 2:8) and grace is "the gift of God" (Romans 6:23).  Even though we don’t deserve and cannot earn our salvation, God loves us and has made a way for us to be forgiven and that way is a free gift - that's why it's good news.

Now let's look at the mechanics of the gospel.


"Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures and that He was buried…”

God is perfect and we aren't.  That which makes us imperfect is called sin.  Sin separates us from God.  Now, let's be generous and say that we're 90% good.  If God let us into heaven they way we are then heaven would be 10% wicked.  So before we go to heaven something needs to change.  Our sin needs to be removed.

To remedy the situation God became a man - Jesus Christ - lived the perfect life you and I couldn't, and died on the cross as a payment for our sins.  If we accept Jesus as our Savior our sins are charged to His account and He pays for them (1 John 2:2).  We are then “born again” (1 Peter 1:23) and able to enter heaven (John 3:16).  The coming and purpose of Christ was foretold all throughout the Old Testament (Luke 24:44).  I’m sure the old hymn writer was thinking of these things when he wrote…

"Nothing in my hands I bring…

simply to thy cross I cling!”

“…He rose again on the third day according to the Scriptures."

After Jesus died for our sins He didn’t stay in the grave.  After three days He rose again.  This too was foretold in the Old Testament (Psalm 16:10) and, by raising His Son from the grave, God showed that the sacrifice Jesus made was sufficient.  Because of what Jesus has done we too can look forward to God raising us one day.  If you haven’t accepted His offer of forgiveness it’s not too late. It is still being offered today.

“May now be saved, whoever will;
Our Lord Christ Jesus receives sinners still”

What good news that is!

* For Further Study:

- The Heart Of The Gospel
http://www.biblestudyplanet.com/s84.htm