The gospel is a message. Not just any message, but according to the Bible, “it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16). This makes the gospel the most important message that you’ll ever hear. In fact, we can see the importance of this message as our Lord Jesus Christ, after He had died on the cross, resurrected and appeared to His disciples emphasized the importance of this message. “And He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature’” (Mark 16:15).
Although it is true that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation and that Jesus Christ emphasized the message of the gospel throughout His ministry, it is a sad reality that many professing Christians do not know what the gospel message is, and much less, what the correct response to the gospel is. The word “gospel” is used in the New Testament 103 times, and it always means “good news”. It comes from the Greek word euangelion, where eu means “good” and angelion means “news”. If you know Spanish, as many do here in South Texas, you might recognize that it is very similar to the Spanish word “evangelio”.
So we’ve established that the gospel is an important message of good news from God to the world. So what is the gospel message? Well, there are a great many places in the Bible that tell us what the gospel is; however, one of the clearest places is in 1 Corinthians 15, where the Apostle Paul states in verse 1 “I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you…” Paul goes on to declare the gospel as:
1 Corinthians 15:3-4
For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: 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
The gospel is that Christ died for our sins and rose again the third day. Notice that Paul tells us this is “according to the Scriptures”. That means Christ died according to God’s plan and rose again the third day, according to God’s plan. So why is this good news: That Christ died and rose again? Well, in order to understand the good news, you need to first understand the bad news.
The bad news starts with the fact that we are all sinners before a perfect and holy God. There are many that believe the way to heaven is by living a good life, doing the right things, or obeying God’s law (10 commandments). The problem with this is that people define “good” and “right” according to their own personal standard, not by God’s standard. God’s standard is a perfect one, not a “good enough” one, or a “better than the next person” standard. An example of God telling us what His standard is can be seen in Matthew 5 as Jesus says:
Matthew 5:21–22
“You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not commit murder’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’ “But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.
Also, as God establishes His standard of what He considers adultery, He says:
Matthew 5:27–28
You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
If you consider the 10 commandments in light of God’s standard, and you are honest in your assessment, you would agree that you are a sinner. Who hasn’t lied? Gotten angry? Desired what someone else has (coveted)? Have you ever dishonored your parents? Used God’s name in vain? Further, the Bible says in James 2:10 “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.” Keeping the law in order to attain salvation is called a works based salvation, which is no salvation at all according to the Bible, which states in Romans 3:20, “Because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.” The Apostle Paul declares in Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”.
Now, the fact that you and I are sinners is not entirely the bad news. The bad news is the just consequence for sin – death. God will have nothing to do with sin and rightfully demands a penalty of death be paid for sin. Romans 6:23 says “For the wages of sin is death” and Ezekiel 18:4 says “The soul who sins shall die”. The bad news is that we deserve death; to be forever separated from God because of our sin, but there is good news.
The good news is that the penalty of death required by God for your sins has been paid for you by Jesus Christ. Remember what the gospel message is? Christ died for your sins and rose again. Your sins along with the penalty were charged to Jesus Christ, although Jesus Christ had no sin of himself. This is how the Bible says it in just a sampling of verses:
Isaiah 53:6
All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.1 Peter 2:24
He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.2 Corinthians 5:21
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
God punished His own Son in our place:
Isaiah 53:5
But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed.
Through His death, Jesus Christ completely satisfied the righteous requirement of God‘s justice. There was nothing more to do. In fact, right before Jesus died on the cross, He said “It is finished!” (John 19:30). It is finished because Jesus Christ is God and He is infinite.
John 8:23–24
And He was saying to them, “You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. “Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”
And because He is infinite, His payment is infinite, and the salvation that He offers to us is infinite. It’s an eternal salvation. The Bible says that we can receive this gift of eternal salvation by grace through faith. In other words, as a free gift by believing in the gospel message: That Christ died for your sins and rose again. The word “grace” in the context of salvation in the Bible means “an undeserved gift”. Notice its use in Ephesians 2:8-9:
Ephesians 2:8–9
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Notice also other verses that tells us the salvation that God offers to us through Jesus Christ is eternal and received as a free gift by believing in the finished work of Jesus Christ.
John 3:16
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.Romans 4:5
But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness,Galatians 2:16
Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.Titus 3:5
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit
This is God’s amazing good news to the world – the gospel message. Christ died for your sins and rose again. If you’ve never heard this message before, you can settle this right now by believing that on the cross Jesus Christ died in your place and paid for your sin penalty in full. This was satisfactory to God as evidenced by the fact that Jesus Christ did not stay on the cross or stay buried, but was risen.
John 5:24
Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.