What is the Gospel?
Posted: July 10, 2009 Filed under: Gospel, Scripture Lessons | Tags: bible, Christ, Christianity, faith, God, Jesus, Paul, salvation, Theology 2 Comments »
Is it easy to understand the Gospel? Or do we have a twisted view of it?
I think if you polled Christians around the world, you would find that not many can fully answer what the Gospel is. You might get answers like, “Matthew, Mark, Luke, John” or “What Jesus taught” and you wouldn’t get much more of an answer than that. Yes, these answers are true, but it’s not what the Gospel is.
I think Paul sums up the Gospel best in Colossians when describing the supremacy of Christ:
Colossians 1:21-23 – Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
The Gospel is broken down to the bare basics here by Paul. Quite simply, the Gospel is:
- You were once alienated from God by your sins, but Christ’s death and resurrection has made you blameless in His sight.
- You will remain holy in God’s sight if you place your life firmly in the hope that Christ’s resurrection saved you and if you continue your faith in Him.
One thing I find interesting is that Paul makes the point that it’s nothing that you’ve done to deserve it, the only catch is that you remain firm in your faith. You cannot win God’s affection and the gift of salvation is there, but He will not force you to accept it; you must remain “established and firm” in your faith. Paul says, “This is the Gospel that you heard which I have become a servant.” Notice he calls himself a “servant,” this is much different than, “I believe in God.”
It’s pretty simple. As Paul also says in Romans, “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” You aren’t perfect, you can’t be. That’s okay, the cross took care of that. As long as we stand firm and continue serving Him, we are washed clean by His blood. This is a continual service to Him.
I wish I had some deep, philosophical points that are going to blow your minds but none are necessary. Christ died for us and we don’t deserve it.
That, my friends, is the Gospel.
That’s the key to it Brandon. It’s very simple – it’s a gift that just needs to be accepted.
“Christ died for us and we don’t deserve it. That, my friends, is the Gospel.”
Amen. Paul goes out of his way to not make the Gosepl needlessly complicated. He does not try to influence his audience with smooth sounding speech or crafty cunningness. Gospel literally means “good news.” If what we are sharing doesn’t sound like good news, it’s time to re-evaluate.