What is the Gospel?

The “gospel” literally means “good news”. It is the good news that “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). 

Why is this good news? To understand why it is good news that Christ died for our sins, we first must understand the bad news: we are sinners against a holy God. 

Who Is God?

God is the eternal Creator who owns all things. He existed before anything else and is the One who brought all things into existence. Everything belongs to Him, including us (Psalm 90:2, Psalm 24:1).

God is holy and perfectly righteous. He is completely pure, without any evil or corruption, and everything He does is right and just (Habakkuk 1:13, Deuteronomy 32:4). 

God is the one Lawgiver and Judge. He alone has the authority to establish what is right and wrong and to judge His creatures according to His perfect standard. He is a perfect Judge who never leaves the guilty unpunished (James 4:12, Psalm 7:11, Nahum 1:2-3). 

Who Are We?

We were created in His image (Genesis 1:27) to perfectly reflect His glory and live in sweet fellowship with Him forever. When God created us, He declared His creation to be “very good” (Genesis 1:31). 

However, Adam and Eve, the first humans, disobeyed God. Through their rebellion, sin and death entered the world, and all of humanity was separated from the intimate fellowship with God for which we were created (Genesis 3, Romans 5:12).

Therefore all of us, descending from Adam and Eve, are born with a heart that is darkened, broken and corrupted beyond self-repair; we are spiritually dead, unable to know and respond to God as we should because of our sin (Genesis 6:5, Jeremiah 17:9, Ephesians 2:1).

In this state of deadness we are still spiritually active, but in a way that is hostile towards and separated from the true God; we are unwilling to recognise, and submit to, His authority (Ephesians 2:1-3, Romans 8:7-8, Romans 1:18-25).

This is a hopeless state from which we are unable to free ourselves; we are slaves of sin. We are so lost, we are not only unable to find our way, we actively resist the true way (John 8:34, Romans 3:10-12, John 3:19-20). 

Even when we do things that are outwardly good for others, our deeds are still stained by sin, as they are not done with perfectly pure hearts and motives, wholly out of love for God and a desire to glorify Him. These are considered filthy in the sight of God who is the standard and benchmark of moral purity (Isaiah 64:6).

Just as a rotten apple cannot become wholesome and of use by itself, so too are we unable to reverse our state of rottenness by ourselves.

We have all sinned, broken God’s law, and stand guilty before our holy, righteous, eternal God (Romans 3:23, James 2:10).

Even those of us who have never read the Bible have done things we know are wrong e.g. lying, stealing, cheating, acting selfishly, disobeying parents, and more (Romans 2:14-15).

What Do We Deserve For Our Sin?

Therefore, we all deserve God's righteous judgment, wrath and eternal punishment in hell (Romans 2:5-6, 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9, Revelation 21:8).

Just as a criminal on earth cannot escape his sentence by how sorry he is, how many good things he does, changing his behaviour, or asking for forgiveness, there is nothing we can do to undo the crimes we have committed against God or escape our sentence to hell.

This leaves us in an utterly helpless state where we desperately need a Saviour to do for us what we could never do for ourselves. This is where the good news of what Jesus Christ accomplished for us on the cross comes in.

What Did God Do To Rescue Us?

God, being rich in mercy and love, didn’t leave us in that helpless state. He Himself provided a solution; a solution that would enable Him to graciously forgive sinners yet not compromise His justice and holiness.

The eternal Son of God humbled himself and came into the world as a man, Jesus of Nazareth (John 1:14, Philippians 2:6-8). Remaining fully God, as He was from eternity past, He became fully man, born of the virgin Mary, and was tempted in every way just as we are—yet He never sinned (Hebrews 4:15).

Jesus lived in perfect obedience to the Father and perfectly fulfilled God's perfect standard of right and wrong, which we have failed to meet. Because He lived a perfect, sinless life, He has no sin of His own to pay for and is therefore able to rescue us from our helpless position under the crushing weight of God’s law (Galatians 4:4-5). He was everything we failed to be. Where Adam failed, Jesus succeeded (Romans 5:19).

This sinless man then showed the greatest act of love by willingly dying on the cross in the place of sinners, taking upon Himself the punishment our sins deserved (Isaiah 53:5-6, 1 Peter 3:18, 1 John 4:10). Because God is perfectly just, He cannot simply overlook sin; the penalty must be paid, and the penalty for sin is death (Romans 6:23, Hebrews 9:22). Jesus, as a sinless man, could stand in our place, and as God, His sacrifice was of infinite worth, enough to pay for the sins of all who trust in Him. The guilt was ours, yet He paid the full price for sin, so that all who believe could be no longer condemned or held guilty before God. (Colossians 2:14).

On the third day, He physically rose from the dead and was seen by hundreds of witnesses (1 Corinthians 15:3-8). This proves that He is who He claimed to be, that God accepted His sacrifice as full payment for sin, that death itself has been defeated, and that forgiveness and eternal life are now secured for all who trust in Him (John 2:19-21, 1 Corinthians 15:17, Acts 2:24, John 11:25-26).

Forty days later, He ascended into heaven, where He now reigns as Lord over all, and He will one day return to judge the world and make all things new (Acts 1:9-11, Acts 17:31).

How Can We Receive Salvation?

The good news is that, although we all deserve the righteous wrath of God, Jesus did all the work necessary to rescue us and give us eternal life!

The Bible promises this as a free gift. We can’t earn it by our good works, our own wisdom, religious activity, family heritage, money or possessions (Romans 6:23, Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 4:4-5).

Anyone who changes their mind about their sin and turns to God in faith, abandons trust in themselves and trusts simply in Jesus’ finished work on the cross, receives full forgiveness of sins, peace with God and eternal life (Luke 18:9-14, Acts 10:43, John 5:24)!

But everyone who does not obey the call to believe and receive this free gift is still in their sins, and the wrath of God remains on them (John 3:36, John 8:24).

How Does This Change The Way We Live?

When we truly believe and receive the free gift of salvation, the Bible tells us that God has given us His Holy Spirit to live within us forever and a new heart with new desires and capacities to love Him, know Him, and obey Him (Ezekiel 36:26-27, Ephesians 1:13-14).

Though we were once dead in our sin, we have been given new spiritual life by God, with a changed heart and new desires (Ephesians 2:1-5, John 3:3). Our old self, who was hostile to God and unwilling to submit to His authority, is gone, and we are a new person who now seeks to live for the One who died for us (2 Corinthians 5:14-17, Romans 8:7-9).

We now submit to Christ as Lord, not so that He will save us, but because He has saved us (Ephesians 2:8-10, Titus 2:11-14).

The Spirit assures us that we are God’s children, gives us new sight, understanding and power to obey, and steadily transforms us to become more like Jesus (Romans 8:15-16, 2 Corinthians 3:14-18).

What Hope Does This Give Us For The Future?

And it gets better; our hope does not end there. When believers die, they go immediately to be with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8).

One day Jesus will return, and all believers will be given new, imperishable bodies, free from all sin and disease (1 Corinthians 15:51-53).

God will set all creation free from its bondage to decay and make a new heaven and a new earth, where He will wipe away every tear, and there will be no more death, mourning or pain.

Believers will dwell with God and enjoy perfect fellowship with Him forever—the very purpose for which we were created (Romans 8:18-23, Revelation 21:1-4).

How Should I Respond Today?

So, Jesus is our only hope (Acts 4:12). We all know we have sinned and therefore deserve judgment. But God has provided a rescue.

Just like someone with a life-threatening disease shouldn’t refuse the cure because they don’t want to admit they are sick, don’t reject your only hope in Christ because you don’t want to admit you’re a sinner (Mark 2:17).

Salvation is a free gift, but following Jesus is costly; it may cost you relationships, it may cost you short-term pleasures, you may be hated for it, it may even cost you your life (2 Timothy 3:12, 1 Peter 4:3-4, Matthew 10:34-39). But whatever it costs you now, what you will gain in eternity is far greater (Mark 8:36, Romans 8:18). Even in this life, having true peace, joy and purpose is better than the fleeting pleasures of sin (John 16:33, Psalm 16:11, Romans 8:28).

You don’t know when your last moment will be, and after death comes judgment (James 4:14, Hebrews 9:27). Don’t wait until you are standing before God relying on your own righteousness that can’t save you; be accepted by God because of Christ's perfect righteousness now by trusting in Him. The longer you wait, the harder your heart becomes (Hebrews 3:13).

No matter what you have done, you are not beyond His mercy. You can come to Him with confidence; Jesus promises that whoever comes to Him He will never cast out (John 6:37). Today, while you are hearing the good news, believe it and be saved (Acts 16:30-31, Hebrews 3:15).

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