The Gospel

By D.R. Brooker @ http://drbrooker.net

The gospel is:

The gospel is God’s message to man; an expression of His grace to sinners (Acts 20:24).
The gospel is the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God (Mark 1:1).
The gospel is the power of God to save sinners (Romans 1:16).
The gospel is the revelation of the righteousness of God (Romans 1:17).
The gospel is the declaration that the sin of believers has been imputed to Christ (Isaiah 53:6).
The gospel is the message that Christ’s righteousness has been imputed to us (Rom. 4:24).
The gospel is a message that men are commanded to believe, and is always accompanied by repentance (Mark 1:15).
The gospel is a message we are commanded to obey (Romans 10:16).
The gospel is specific; it deals with a specific Jesus and a specific message (2 Corinthians 11:4).
The gospel has its counterfeits and carries God’s curse upon those who preach ‘another gospel’ (Galatians 1:9).
The gospel is a gospel of peace; the soul is calmed because there is no longer enmity between God and man (Romans 10:15).
The gospel is a message that is both preached and taught (Acts 14:21).
The gospel is a complete message that must be preached in its fullness (Romans 15:19).
The gospel will bring great ‘woe’ upon those who pervert it (1 Corinthians 9:16).
The gospel saves both Old and New Covenant believers (Galatians 3:8).
The gospel is a message that contains truth, and is true (Ephesians 1:13).
The gospel is something that believers must defend (Philippians 1:17).
The gospel has been entrusted to us by God; therefore, our aim is to please Him and not men (1Thessalonians 2:4).
The gospel must be accompanied by a Spirit-wrought faith for it to be of profit (Hebrews 4:2).
The gospel is a message given to the church to take into all the world (Matthew 24:14).
The gospel is the standard by which all men will be judged (1 Peter 4:17).
The gospel is simple. It commands all men to “repent and believe” (Mark 1:15).

The gospel is not:

The gospel is not a message to ‘believe’, but one that calls us to ‘repent and believe.’
The gospel is not a work to be done, but a command to believe what Christ has done.
The gospel is not a message of God’s love only, but a message of God’s wrath, love, and mercy.
The gospel is not social justice, but the cause of us caring for others.
The gospel is not a political message, but a message that will reform the nations.
The gospel is not that the creation will be restored, but the means by which it will be restored.
The gospel is not an experience; nor is it a feeling.

Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. Let us not confuse the “saving” with what the “saved” are then called to do. The gospel is the good news that a man can be made right with God through faith alone in both the person and work of Jesus Christ; who He is and what He has done. It tells us of Christ’s work for us; which should not be confused with the Spirit’s work in us. There is only one gospel.