What is the gospel of Jesus Christ?
The word "gospel" simply means good news, and the New Testament attaches several names to it — the gospel of God, of His Son, of the grace of God, of our salvation. Each name answers a different question: where it comes from, who it is about, what it offers, and what it does in anyone who believes it.
Its source and its subject
The names given to this message are not interchangeable labels; they mark out who sends it and who fills it. One writer draws the line sharply, and then applies it to preaching:
W. W. FeredayIn Romans 1:9 it is called "the gospel of His Son," and elsewhere "the gospel of Christ." This means that if God is the source of the heavenly message, His Son is the theme of it. The gospel is the proclamation of divine facts — the incarnation, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Here we have something substantial on which both conscience and heart can safely rest. Anyone whose words are not charged with these great facts should never speak of "preaching the gospel." Mere ethical teaching is not the gospel, still less is a political speech, even if delivered from a pulpit.
Facts, not advice
Because it is news, the gospel reports something that happened outside us before it asks anything of us. Paul's own summary puts the death of Christ first:
A. J. PollockWhat, then, is the gospel? In presenting it the Apostle Paul wrote, "I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures" (1 Cor. 15:3). It is the meaning and the results of the death of Christ that make up the gospel.
That report does not stop at the cross. When Paul and Silas answered the jailer in Philippi with the words "Believe in the Lord Jesus," the title itself carried the whole story:
Edward DennettThe fact that the term "the Lord Jesus Christ" is used shows that it was a full gospel they preached — the gospel concerning His person, His death and resurrection, and His present exaltation as Lord at the right hand of God.
Grace, not a joint effort
Since the work is already finished, nothing can be added to it. One writer names the popular alternative bluntly:
W. T. P. WolstonThe gospel is not, as someone once described it, like a boat pulled by two oars, one oar "faith" and the other oar "works." That is the devil's gospel — you do your part, and Christ will do His! No, no. He saves the soul; He puts away sin; He brings in redemption; He settles everything with God; He brings us to God, and then He says, "You will walk differently now, of course, now that you belong to Me."
What it actually hands over
Preaching in Antioch, Paul told his hearers that forgiveness of sins was being announced to them through Jesus. Note what that turns the message into:
William KellyWhat does a sinner supremely need? Forgiveness of sins. This the gospel proclaims: it is not a question of a promise only. Forgiveness of sins through Christ dead and risen is preached. It is a free gift of grace, as is eternal life in Christ: the two needs of a sinner are found there alone, and are freely given by Him. It is preached to all; there is no limit to the grace of Christ, any more than to the power of His blood. Among those who hear the gospel it takes effect only in all who believe.
Power, not persuasion
Paul was not ashamed of this message because it is God's power for salvation to everyone who believes. That power is located in the message itself, not in the skill of the speaker:
J. Wilson SmithThat is where the power of God lies — not in clever arguments, nor in human reasoning, but in the gospel. Suppose you succeeded in out-arguing the unbeliever and proved to him that your belief was true, so that he felt he had to abandon his own line of thought. If that were all you did, you had not got lower than the region of his brain. You had altered his views and ideas, but you had not reached his conscience or heart.
How it is received
The call attached to the message is to repent and believe. One writer reduces both halves to a single sentence:
George CuttingNo worthiness on your side is expected. You have simply to condemn yourself for what you have done, and thankfully receive the news of what He has done; or, in other words, to "repent and believe the gospel."
What it leads to
The good news does not end at pardon. It carries the believer as far as the place where Christ Himself now is:
W. T. TurpinThe gospel is the good news of God about His Son the Lord Jesus Christ, for a sinner such as you — that for you, even for such as you, God has forgiveness, peace, glory, a place with Christ where Christ is now. It is His joy to give and to receive; His delight to make you a child of day and of light. Christ has died, has risen again, is now in glory, the author of eternal salvation to every poor soul that looks to Him.
Summary
- From God. He is the source of the message; without His facts about Christ, a talk may be moral or clever, but it is not the gospel.
- About His Son. Its content is His person, His death for our sins, His resurrection, and His present place as Lord at God's right hand.
- For sinners. It hands over forgiveness and eternal life as a free gift, not a promise to be earned — one oar, not two.
- By faith. The response asked is to condemn yourself for what you have done and thankfully receive what He has done.
- Forever. It reaches past pardon to peace, glory, and a place with Christ where He now is.