Photo by Hugues de BUYER-MIMEURE

What Is the Gospel?

The Gospel.

It is a word that is familiar to most people. However, it is a word that not many people know what it means. What is the gospel? How would you answer that question? Is it a type of music genre? Is it an adjective to describe Christian or church things?

The answer is the gospel is the good news of the Lord Jesus. What is this good news? The good news of the Lord Jesus is that you, a sinner, have hope for the forgiveness of your sins and to be reconciled to know and to love God. For the bad news is that you have been separated from the Holy God who created you. You have been separated from him by your sin, your disobedience to his holy law. For God is holy and sinners can’t dwell in his presence. Not only are you separated from God because of your sin, but you are also condemned by god because of your sin. You stand guilty before the Thrice Holy God of Creation as a sinner who has committed cosmic treason against Him.

This is where the good news comes in. God has made a way for sinners to be forgiven of their sins and to be reconciled to Himself. How so? Through the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus. For God so loved the world, that he sent his one and only begotten Son so that whoever would believe upon Him will not perish, but have everlasting life. The Lord Jesus is the incarnate Son of God who came to live the perfectly righteous life that none of us could live, died the death on the cross for the punishment of sins that we deserve, and rose three days later conquering sin, Satan, and death for his people.

The good news of Jesus is that Jesus died for the sins of his people, was buried, and rose again victoriously. Jesus who knew no sin became sin so that his people might become the righteousness of God. You can be saved, reconciled to God, have everlasting life, and truly know and love God. To be saved, you must repent of your sins and call upon Jesus to save you, trusting in the good news that he lived, died, and resurrected on your behalf. You are saved by grace through faith in Christ alone.