As a Christian, we are very familiar with the word Gospel.
Every Christian talks about Gospel. There are Gospel meeting, Gospel outreach, Gospel music, Gospel sermon, Gospel evening and so on. But what all these gossip about the Gospel?!
The word Gospel derived from the Old English ‘gud-spell’ i.e. ‘gud’ (good) and ‘spell’ (word).
So the word meaning is ‘good word or good news or good tidings’.
It is a word-to-word translation of the Greek word ‘euangelion’.
i.e. ‘eu’ means, ‘good or well’ and ‘angeleo’ means ‘message/messenger’.
The Greek word ‘euangelion’ is the source of ‘evangelium’ in Latin and ‘evangelism’ in English.
So the ‘Gospel’ is good news for us to ‘go & spell’ to others!
What is this good news all about to go and spell others?
The night when Jesus was born, the angles appeared to the Shepherds and told the Good News that “today in the city of David there has been born for you a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11).
It was, and is, certainly good news because the whole mankind was in need of this Saviour and the Jews in particular were waiting for the birth of their Saviour. (Luke 2:38)
It is the good tidings of the Kingdom of God and salvation through Christ, to be received by faith.
The word Gospel does not appear in Old Testament.
In New Testament alone, the word appears 98 times as the Good News to mankind.
The first four books of the New Testament are known as Gospels which contains the good news of the birth of Jesus, His ministry, His expiatory death, burial and resurrection and ascension.
The Gospel is described as:
The Gospel of God (Romans 1:1)
The Gospel of Christ (Romans 1:16)
The Gospel of the glory of Christ (2 Corinthians 4:4)
The Gospel of your salvation (Ephesians 1:13)
The Gospel of peace (Ephesians 6.15)
The everlasting Gospel (Revelation 14:6)
Paul says:
“I am not ashamed of the gospel” (Romans 1:16)
He was proud to believe it as a man (Acts 27.25)
To confess it as a Christian (Romans 10:9-10)
To proclaim it as a witness (Acts 22;15)
To content for it as a good soldier (Philippians 1;27)
And to suffer and die for it as a martyr (2 Timothy 4:6-8)
Because Paul continue saying:
“I know the one in whom my faith is set and I am convinced that he is able to protect what has been entrusted to me until that day“ (2 Timothy 1:12)
The source of Gospel:
From where does the Gospel come from?
The gospel comes from God Himself.
It’s a Gospel of God and the Gospel of Christ (Romans 1:1 & 16).
As it is from God Himself, it is perfect and does not require amendment or revision.
It is the revelation of God Himself to man as His final word.
The Subject of Gospel:
What is the Gospel about?
Its all about Jesus Christ (Romans 1:3-4)
It says Christ was crucified for our sins (1 Colossians 15;1-3)
It says Christ was raised from the dead (1 Colossians 15:4,
It says Christ is coming again to judge the world (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9)
It is the good news of a Loving God who sent His only Son Jesus Christ to this world to die on the cross for the redemption of man’s sin.
Having done this on the cross, God raised Him from the dead and He is now seated at His right hand and He will come again to fetch His saints. (Hebrews 7 &.25-26)
The sufficiency of the gospel:
Because of Adam’s disobedience, the mankind is fallen and gone away from God.
He needs to be reconciled to God (2 Corinthians 5;20)
He needs to be forgiven (Colossians 2:13)
He needs to be justified (Romans 5:1)
And Gospel is the instrument of God’s power that brings salvation to all who believe in it.
There is no sin that the Blood of Jesus cannot be washed; and
There is no sinner that the Gospel cannot be saved.
The message of Gospel is foolishness to those who are perishing;
But to those who are being saved – it is the power of God! (1 Corinthians. 1:18)
The Importance of Gospel
- It is something important Jesus wanted everyone to hear : Mark 16:15-16
- It reveals God’s righteousness : Romans 1;17
- It reveals God’s love towards man: John 3:16
- It is God’s power unto salvation for everyone who believes: Romans 1:16, 1 Col 15:1-2
- Eternal destruction for those who do not believe Gospel : 2 The 1:7-10
- For those who obey the Gospel, eternal life is promised: Heb 5:9, Romans 6.22-23
The Scope of the Gospel
The Gospel is for “everyone”
There is no age barrier;
There is no sex barrier;
There is no cultural barrier;
There is no social barrier
There is no national barrier.
God loves everybody; and
Lord Jesus can save anybody! (Isaiah 55:1)
Simplicity of the Gospel
If you admit yourself as a sinner, then you are qualified for salvation.
This salvation in the Gospel is free for a sinner and is very simple to attain.
The Word of God tells that you are a sinner and your heart whispers that you are a sinner
(Isaiah 53:6, Romans 3;23) – ADMIT IT !
The Word of God tells that HE put your sin on Christ and was crucified in your place
(Isaiah 53:5-6); 1 Peter 2:24) – ACKNOWLEDGE IT !!
The Word of God tells that HE raised Jesus Christ from the dead and all who believe in Him are justified (Romans 4;25) – ACCEPT IT !!!
The Word of God tells that by faith, you are saved:
(John 1:12, John 3:16, John 3:36, Acts 16:30-31) Romans 10:9-10; Acts 28: 24) – BELIEVE IT !!!!
Have faith in the Word of God;
Have faith in the Gospel;
Have faith in the saving power of the blood of Jesus.
“The righteous man shall live by faith” Romans 1:17
The way you believe your parents;
The way you believe your spouse;
The way you believe your children;
The way you believe your friend;
Just believe Jesus!
Without questioning;
Without ambiguity;
Without suspicions;
Without any reservation in your heart;
And experience the joy of salvation; and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit!
Once you are saved and your consciousness confirms that you are a child of God and you experience being a new creation with the joy of salvation in your heart; just go and speak to others about this free gift of salvation that you found in the Gospel.
Remember!
Those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus…,
will pay the penalty of eternal destruction.
(2 Thessalonians1:8/9/10)