Gospel

Death is swallowed up in victory (1 Corinthians 15:54)

The word gospel (euangelion in Greek) means good news. The word is used in three different ways in the Bible, two of which are predominant. i

  1. Nonreligious meaning. This is simply good news of some sort. In 1 Thes 3:6 Timothy returned to Paul with good news of the Thessalonians faith and love.
  2. Gospel of the Kingdom.During His earthly ministry Jesus went out preaching the gospel of the kingdom. This refers to the good news of the kingdom Christ would establish if the Jews received Him as their long promised Messiah, and will still be established – Luke 1:32-33.
  3. The gospel of the grace of God in Christ: Grace means unmerited favor, so this message is good news concerning the unmerited favor of God toward us.
    Acts 20:24; Rom 1:16-17; 10:15; 1 Cor 9:12, 18; 2 Cor 2:12; 4:4; 10:14; 11:7; Gal 1:6-7; Eph 6:15; Phil 1:27; 1 Thes 2:2, 8-9; 3:2; 2 Thes 1:8; 1 Tim 1:11; 1 Pet 4:17; Rev 14:6.
The Good News of the Gospel: Christ died for our sins and arose.ii
  1. Christ Died: “Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures” (1 Cor 15:3). Christ died as our substitute. Had He not taken our punishment, we would all bear it ourselves.
  2. Christ was Buried: “He was buried” (1 Cor 15:4). The proof of death is burial.
  3. Christ Rose: “He rose again on the third day according to the scriptures” (1 Cor 15:4).
  4. Christ was Seen: “He appeared to Cephas, then to the 12…. He appeared to more than 500 brethren… to James…to all the apostles…to Paul” (1 Cor 15:5-8). This is proof that He arose. These were not people who had not known Him and, therefore, might have mistaken Him for someone else. These were people familiar to Him.

The gospel has four unique qualities. It is objective, finished, proven, and never changing:

  1. Objective: It focuses on what Christ has done and not on what we want Christ to do in our lives.
  2. Finished: Christ died for our sins, was buried, and arose from the dead. It’s finished.
  3. Proven: Christ’s death and resurrection are proven historical facts, they are part of history.
  4. Never-changing: Regardless of time or culture, the message remains the same.

i R. Larry Moyer. Free and Clear: Understanding and Communicating God’s Offer of Eternal Life. (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1997), 14-15.

ii Moyer, 15-18.


Next →