Gospel

The gospel message underlies the entire scriptural record. It is found in seed form in Genesis 3:15, where the first promise of a deliverer was made, and is expanded upon through the remainder of the Bible, until its fullness is realized in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Paul summarized the gospel in his first letter to the Corinthians:

He considered the gospel message to be the “most important” thing that he had received from God. It was, therefore, the “most important” message that he could preach to others. In his inspired summary of the gospel, we find four important elements.

1. The gospel is a message about sin. The gospel tells us that we need to be “saved”—specifically, because of “our sins.” The very fact that we need to be “saved” implies that we are in danger. While Paul does not here specify the danger we are in, the danger is made plain as you continue reading the chapter.

He uses words like “perished” (v. 18) and “death” (v. 26) to describe the danger that sinners find themselves in. Far from being a natural part of the human existence, death is an enemy—the last enemy—that has yet to be defeated (v. 26). Death is the result of sin. Indeed, it is the “wages” that we earn because of our sin (Romans 6:23).

The Bible’s teaching on sin only makes sense as we consider it in the light of who God is. Scripture affirms that there is one God, who created everything we see and know—including human beings. When he created the first humans—Adam and Eve—he placed them in a beautiful garden with abundant provision and a single restriction: They were not permitted to eat from the tree that was in the middle of the garden. This tree, known as the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, was off bounds, “for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die” (Genesis 3:17). The sentence for disobedience was death, and no appeal would be heard. They would “certainly” come under a divine death sentence “on the day” they ate from that tree.

Sadly, Adam and Eve did not obey God. Though he had been so kind to them, and had provided for their every need, they rebelled against his command and ate the forbidden fruit. They thereby brought, not only themselves, but also their descendants, under the sentence of death. “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death spread to all people, because all sinned” (Romans 5:12). Adam’s sin was imputed to us, and because of that, we commit sins in our own bodies of our own volition. Sin is anything—word, thought or deed—that is contrary to God’s commands, either by commission or omission. The penalty for sin is death—not merely temporal death, which comes upon all, but eternal death, which is what we need to be saved from.

2. The gospel is a message about a Savior. God did not leave humanity helpless. Almost as soon as Adam and Eve sinned, he offered the promise of a deliverer: A particular descendant of the woman would one day come to deal the decisive death blow to the work of sin and Satan. This particular “offspring” of the woman would “strike” the serpent’s head, even as the serpent would “strike his heel” (Genesis 3:15). Adam and Eve did not know who the deliverer would be, but the New Testament makes it clear that God’s deliverer was Jesus of Nazareth, who was born to a virgin in Bethlehem of Judea. As God in the flesh, Jesus lived a sinless life. He died a sacrificial death, not for his own sins (for he had none), but for the sins of those he came to save. Three days later, he rose from the grave, proving that his sacrifice had been accepted by his Father, and securing eternal salvation for those he had come to save. Forty days after his resurrection, he ascended bodily into heaven, where he reigns from the right hand of his Father. At that time, he gave the promise that, one day, he would return in the same way that he ascended—visibly and bodily—to receive his own and exact vengeance upon those who remain in their sin.

3. The gospel is a message about faith. This was the message that the Corinthians had “received” and “believed,” and in which they had “taken [their] stand.” The gospel is not a message about what we must do to please God, but about what Christ did (on our behalf) to please God. The promise of the gospel is that, as Adam’s sin was imputed to us, so Christ’s righteousness can be imputed to us. This imputation takes place by faith alone. Christ gives his righteousness, and the promise of eternal life, to those who receive the gospel message and believe in him.

The gospel demands repentance and faith. It demands that we agree with God about our sin—that our sin warrants eternal death. It demands that we agree with God about the person and work of Christ—that he did everything that needed to be done in order to secure God’s favor on our behalf. It demands that we believe the historical facts of the death and resurrection of Christ. It demands that we repent of our sins and call, in faith, upon the Lord Jesus Christ to forgive us. If we believe and respond in faith, we can be saved and take our stand in the gospel.

4. The gospel is a message about life. “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). Christ was raised from the dead as “the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:20). The Bible teaches that a day of resurrection is coming in which “all who are in the graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done good things, to the resurrection of life, but those who have done wicked things, to the resurrection of condemnation” (John 5:29–30). The general resurrection of all humanity will result in one of two eternal destinies: eternal life, or eternal condemnation. In his death and resurrection, “our Savior Jesus Christ … has abolished death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Timothy 1:10). Those who embrace the gospel embrace the promise of “life and immortality,” while those who do not receive Christ inherit “death.”

These are the options before us: life and death. What makes the difference is how we respond to the gospel. If you hear the gospel of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, but reject his offer of life, you will inherit the eternal death that your sins deserve. If you will renounce any merit of your own and instead call, in faith, upon the resurrected Jesus Christ for forgiveness and salvation, you will inherit eternal life. Through the gospel, God says to us what he said to the Israelites of old: “I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, love the LORD your God, obey him, and remain faithful to him. For he is your life” (Deuteronomy 30:19–20). “See, now is the acceptable time; now is the day of salvation!” (2 Corinthians 6:2).