What is the Gospel?
The word gospel means “good news.” The gospel is the good news concerning what God has done for us in Jesus, not what we have done for God. Before considering the good news of the gospel, we have to consider the bad news concerning our human condition.
The gospel is the good news concerning what God has done for us in Jesus, not what we have done for God.
Apart from Christ, all people stand guilty before God. “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). To make matters worse, there is absolutely nothing that anybody can do to ever mend their relationship with God. It is impossible for a human being to ever restore their relationship with God based on their behavior or religious activity. This needs to sink in, because this is really, really bad news.
Fortunately for all of us, God has determined not to leave the world in sin. This is the good news. God has not chosen to leave sinners under his judgment; He has chosen to rescue sinners through the sacrificial death of Jesus. The most often quoted verse in the Bible is “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whoever would believe in Him would not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Jesus lived a perfect, sinless life so that He could die in the place of sinners in order to satisfy the wrath of God. 1 Peter 3:18 declares that “Christ died for sins once and for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.”
Not only is Jesus risen from the dead, he is also coming again. When Jesus returns, His arrival will be the best day of your life or the worst day of your life. At the return of Christ there will be final judgment or final salvation. For those that have bowed to Jesus as their king and trusted Jesus to give them new life, they will experience forgiveness and eternal life. For those that have lived for themselves and rejected Christ as king they will face judgement and death.
We are all involved in this story. We either have eternal life or we do not. If you have not trusted Jesus to be your Lord and Savior, your future will not be good. Embrace the sacrifice of Christ and experience the forgiveness that only Christ can give.
Dr. Benjie Loyd’s favorite gospel presentation on the web: