Articles
The Gospel
The word “gospel” appears over 100 times in the New King James Translation of the Bible. All of its uses occur in the New Testament. The word “gospel” comes from a Greek word meaning “good news.” Let’s consider some things the Bible teaches us about the gospel.
What is the Gospel?
The gospel is a message preached containing glad tidings (Romans 10:15) and is the means by which God calls us (2 Thessalonians 2:14). The gospel is something taught by Jesus (Matthew 4:23; Mark 1:14) and the apostles (Luke 9:6). The gospel contains information regarding the kingdom (Matthew 4:23). The gospel contains information about God’s grace (Acts 20:24). The gospel contains information relating to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). The gospel provides instruction for how to live our lives. Many people want to think of the gospel as simply certain facts about who Jesus is and what He did. Yet the gospel demands a certain type of conduct out of us. Philippians 1:27 urges us, “Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ” (NKJV). Also in 1 Timothy 1:9-10 there are various sinful behaviors which the law and sound doctrine condemns. 1 Timothy 1:11 points out such behaviors are also contrary, “to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust” (NKJV). The gospel involves instructions about how one is and is not to conduct oneself. Galatians 2:5, 14 deals with conflict over whether Gentiles had to be circumcised in order to be acceptable to God. People who acted as though Gentiles were required to be circumcised were not acting according to the truth of the gospel. Therefore, the truth of the gospel concerns more than just facts about the life of Jesus but would also address such topics like whether a Gentile needed to be circumcised or not. The gospel is the standard by which we will be judged (Romans 2:16). The gospel could be identified as the good news contained for us in the New Testament.
How Should We Respond to the Gospel?
The gospel message is something we need to respond to. The gospel message is something we should believe (Mark 1:15). Yet a person cannot stop at the point of believing some of the facts taught by the gospel. A person needs to also obey the gospel. Romans 10:16 and 1 Peter 4:17 speak about people who do not obey the gospel. 2 Thessalonians 1:8 plainly demonstrates the importance of obeying the gospel. It teaches what will happen to do who do not obey the gospel. Jesus will come, “in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ” (NKJV). The gospel is a message to be obeyed. Sadly many in the religious world around us want to say a lot about believing the gospel but fail to also emphasize the need to obey the gospel. The gospel message is something we might be called upon to suffer for at times (Mark 8:35; 2 Timothy 1:8). The gospel message is something which needs to be defended (Philippians 1:7, 17). The gospel needs to be defended because there are people teaching a different, perverted gospel (Galatians 1:6-9). Remember once again what was being taught by the people referenced in Galatians 1:6-9. As far as I can tell they were not teaching Jesus did not die or rise from the dead. They were teaching Gentiles had to be circumcised in order to be saved and yet such is a different gospel. It does not take much tampering with the truth in order for a person to be teaching a different gospel. Let’s be people who cling to the truth of the gospel so one day we might receive “the hope of the gospel” (Colossians 1:5, 23).
