You have probably heard someone use the term “good news.” The term Gospel means good news. When someone ones to share the gospel they want to tell you the good news.
I want to share the good news of Jesus with you today. I would like to invite you on a journey to exploring what the gospel of Jesus is and give pause for you to decide if your life is as good as it can get.
All of God is very simple. We humans like to complicate His Word. The gospel is so simple that a child can understand it and yet it is so profound, we will spend an entire lifetime exploring and experiencing its fullness.
We first must agree that there is only one gospel of Jesus out there. There are other so-called “gospels”, but the better you know the true gospel, the easier it is to spot counterfeits.
So what is the gospel?
I think the best place to start is with the apostle Paul, who was inspired by God to write much of the New Testament (the latter part of the Bible after the life of Jesus.)
1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God 2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures 3 concerning his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who was a descendant of David according to the flesh Romans 1:1-3 CSB
These seven words highlight two important truths about the gospel. First, it is the message that has come to us from God. It does not originate in any person or church. It is “the gospel of God.” Second, it is a message about Jesus, God’s Son. That is what makes it so important and life-changing. The gospel is the message that God has given you so that you can experience Jesus Christ as your Savior (the One who saves you from your sins) and Lord (the One who guides and is in charge of your life).
To wrap your mind around this life-changing message, you’ll find it helpful to think of the gospel in both its essence and its fullness.
The essence of the gospel
The gospel can be distilled down to an essence. While not everyone might explain the gospel the same way every time, there are critical elements that should always be included. What are those elements? They are who Jesus is, what He has done and why He has done it.
Paul tells us from 1 Corinthians 15:
15 Now I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel I preached to you, which you received, on which you have taken your stand 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold to the message I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve. 6 Then he appeared to over five hundred brothers and sisters at one time; most of them are still alive, but some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one born at the wrong time, he also appeared to me. 1 Corinthians 15:1-8
The gospel that Paul was praching can be framed with five questions. Each of the elements he preaches are found in a similar passage of the book of Luke.
45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. 46 He also said to them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead the third day, 47 and repentance for forgiveness of sins will be proclaimed in his name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 And look, I am sending you what my Father promised. As for you, stay in the city until you are empowered from on high.” Luke 24:45-49
Here, Jesus is explaining His life and mission.
| The Gospel Elements | 1 Corinthians 15:1-8 | Luke 24:45-49 |
| Who is Jesus? | Christ | The Christ |
| What has He done? | Died…was buried..raised on the third day. | has to suffer and on the third day rise from the dead. |
| Why has he done this? | For our sins | For the forgiveness of our sins |
| How Can we know this is true? | It is in accordance to the scriptures. He appeared to Cephas, then the twelve…to more than 500 brothers…to James…to all the apostles…also to me. | This is what is written The disciples are witness of these things |
| How do we respond? | You received and believed | Repentance for forgiveness of sins will be preached in HIs name to all nations |
We can now summarize these questions:
Who is Jesus: He is the Christ. That is His title as our Savior, Lord and King.
What has Jesus done: He died on the cross and rose from the dead. This is the work of salvation — what Christ did to save us.
Why has Jesus done this: He has done this to forgive your sins and bestow on you the benefits that come with salvation.
How can we know that it is true: Because it fulfills the Old Testament Scriptures, and many eyewitnesses have testified to His resurrection.
How should we respond: With repentance (that is, by turning to God) and faith.
The gospel in its fullness
The essence of the gospel is not to have said everything important about it. There is a much greater “fullness” to the gospel. Its truths, themes and implications are so vast and rich that it will take you your lifetime to explore, understand and experience.
To start, think of the first four books in the New Testament. They are titled the Gospel According to Matthew, the Gospel According to Mark, the Gospel According to Luke and the Gospel According to John. They communicate the same gospel (that is, who is Jesus, what has He done and why), but they do so in a fuller narrative form, each sharing the story of Jesus’ life, ministry, death and resurrection with its own theme or emphasis. That is why these gospels are so loved.
For example, Matthew builds his book around “the gospel of the kingdom,” or how Jesus came as Israel’s long-expected king — only in quite unexpected ways. John emphasizes (among other things) eternal life. They emphasize different things but present one message, and by reading both, you gain a fuller understanding of the one true gospel and of Jesus Christ. My recommendation is to read the Book of John. Give the book an honest reading.
As you move on into the book of the Bible called the Acts of the Apostles, you read various “gospel messages.” If you look closely, you will discover that each communicates the essence of the gospel. So when Peter spoke to the Jews on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2) and Paul to the philosophers in Athens (Acts 17:22-32), they both shared Jesus, but each did so in a manner relevant to his particular audience and situation.
After this, if you continue reading the New Testament, you will reach the epistles — letters that the earliest Christian leaders wrote to local churches.
The theme of Paul’s letter to the Romans is the gospel (see Romans 1:1-4,15-17). Like Galatians and the other New Testament letters, it explains the gospel while unpacking its fuller theological and practical implications.
For instance, one of the benefits that come through Christ’s saving work is that we are adopted into the family of God, the community of all true believers. The gospel not only brings us into a right relationship with God, it’s the foundation for our relationships with one another. Learning to love each other well — or, as Jesus said, to love one another as He has loved us (John 13:34-35) — is a direct outworking of the gospel.
This is just one of many examples of how the gospel leads us to Jesus and how Jesus transforms all of life.
But there is more. Jesus taught the disciples to see that the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms (that is, all the Old Testament Scriptures — the parts of the Bible written before Jesus’ life) speak of Him (Luke 24:44-49). They all point to gospel truth.
The gospel, at its core, is always a message about Jesus, and all of the Bible communicates gospel truth. No wonder it takes a lifetime to explore.
Experiencing the Gospel
To experience the gospel involves more than simply understanding its truths. It involves the ongoing experience of the presence and power of Jesus Christ. This is why the gospel is life-changing.
It is through the gospel that you can receive Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord and begin experiencing the new life that only He can give. Knowing four truths has helped many people enter into this relationship with Jesus.
#1 God’s love
The gospel reveals God’s great love for us:
9 God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his one and only Son into the world so that we might live through him. 1 John 4:9
#2 Our problem
Through the gospel, we also grow in the awareness of our own failure and need. Each of us has turned from God and gone astray at many times and in many ways. This is what the Bible calls sin. The result is that we are spiritually dead or separated from God and the life He gives.
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23
#3 Christ’s solution
This is the heart of the gospel, its essence, which meets our need. As the Savior and Lord, Jesus died in our place, paying the penalty for our sins. But He did not just die. He rose from the dead and is alive today, reigning as the Lord of all.
8 But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
#4 Our response
As we understand who Jesus is and what He has done for us, we realize there is nothing we could do on our own to earn or merit salvation from our sin and its consequences. Jesus Christ has done it all. So now we can receive Him into our lives through faith
12 But to all who did receive him, he gave them the right to be[a] children of God, to those who believe in his name, John 1:12
Paul describes this as the gift of God’s grace:
8 For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— 9 not from works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:8-9
Has Christ entered your life, forgiven your sin, given you eternal life and begun changing you into the kind of person you were meant to be?
Perhaps you haven’t yet made this change of course in your life journey. If not, you can receive Christ right now by faith through prayer.
In your own words, honestly admit to God that you have sinned and fallen short. Thank God that Jesus died in your place, paying the penalty for your sin, and now lives to be your Savior and Lord. Ask Jesus to enter your life, forgive your sin and begin changing you into the person He wants you to be. As an expression of your faith, thank Him for answering your prayer.
© Kimberlee Smith 2025 http://www.itstartssmall.com All rights reserved.
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