What is the Gospel?

If you have your Bibles this morning, I invite you to find two texts: Mark 10:32 and 1 Corinthians 15:1.  Today, I want to ask you this question, “What is the gospel?”  If you were asked this question, what would you say?  If you had to share the gospel, what would you share? 

 

I did a word search this past week for the word “gospel,” and in the NKJV of the Bible, you will find that word 101 times in the New Testament.  However, you will only find it defined in one text: 1 Corinthians 15:1-4.  Let’s look at that text first.

 

1 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.  3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures…

 

Now, let’s look at Mark 10:32 and see if Paul’s words match those of Jesus.

 

In Mark 10:32, Jesus and His disciples were on their way to Jerusalem, their final destination.  As they were on their way, Jesus was lead the pack as was according to rabbinic tradition.  Mark says they were going up to Jerusalem because the city is almost 3000 feet above sea level. 

Verse 32 indicates that His disciples were both amazed and afraid.  It seems that they were amazed perhaps at Jesus’ courage and determination.  However, why were they afraid?

 

Even though they didn’t understand fully, the language of the NT indicates they could tell or feel that something was not right.  There was tension in the air. 

 

At the end of verse 32, Jesus pulled the twelve aside and reminded them of what would happen in the very near future.  In verses 33-34, Jesus used eight future tense verbs to describe the end of His time on the earth.

 

This was the third time in Mark’s gospel that Jesus would do such.

 

Mark 8:31, 31 And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.

 

Mark 9:31, 31 For He taught His disciples and said to them, “The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him. And after He is killed, He will rise the third day.”

 

However, before we look at verses 33-34 and answer, “What is the Gospel,” let me answer another important question that will help us in the end.

 

First, what is not the gospel?  The gospel is not feel-good sermons that say: we are all okay and just need some positive therapy.  The gospel is not that God is only love.  The gospel is not that Jesus wants to be our friend or co-pilot, and the gospel is not that God has a wonderful plan or purpose for our life as often quoted from Jeremiah 29:11.

 

Second, the gospel is not churchy experiences.  The gospel is not walking the isle or coming forward.  The gospel is not praying the sinners’ prayer.  The gospel is not joining a church.  The gospel is not even being baptized.

 

Third, the gospel is not simply positive emotions such as peace, happiness, fulfillment or satisfaction, positive self-esteem, or love.  When something other than the gospel is proclaimed, churches just like ours can see false conversions and meaningless church membership lists.

 

 

Therefore, what is the gospel?  First, the gospel begins with Holy God.

 

Leviticus 11:44, 44 For I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy.

 

Psalm 99:9, 9 Exalt the Lord our God, And worship at His holy hill; For the Lord our God is holy.

 

Isaiah 40:25, 25 “To whom then will you liken Me, Or to whom shall I be equal?” says the Holy One.

 

John 17:11, 11 Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are.

 

1 Peter 1:15-16, 15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”

 

And when the Bible says that God is holy, that does not mean that He is sometimes holy and sometimes not holy.  That does not mean that He is 50% holy or 75% holy or 99.9% holy.  When the Bible says that God is holy, that means He is completely holy all of the time.

 

 

Second, the gospel includes sinful humanity.  We are sinners because of who are parents were.

 

Genesis 3:1-7, Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”  2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ”  4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”  6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.

 

However, we are also sinners because of the choices we make each and every day.

 

Romans 5:12-19, 12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned— 13 (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. 15 But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. 16 And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. 17 For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)  18 Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. 19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.

 

The sinfulness of humanity applies to every person who has ever lived, every person who has breathed the breath of life because of who our parents are and what we have done.  Man’s sinfulness created a divide between a holy God and sinful.  We desperately needed a solution or in other words a Savior.

 

 

Third, the gospel includes a perfect Savior named Jesus.

 

Mark 10:33-34, 33 “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles; 34 and they will mock Him, and scourge Him, and spit on Him, and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again.”

 

Jesus died on the cross and in our place and for our sins.   

 

In Jesus, we have the solution.  We have a perfect Savior.  This is the heart of the gospel.  This is the doctrine of justification.  This is substitutionary atonement.  The heart of the gospel is Jesus dying in our place. 

 

However, do not forget about the resurrection.  Jesus dying and being resurrected are equally important.  If He did not die, He could not have been resurrected.  If He was not resurrected, it would not have mattered that He died. 

 

The gospel can be defined as Holy God, Sinful Man, and Perfect Savior!

 

 

Conclusion

What then do we do with the gospel defined?  If you have never received it as truth and applied it to your life, you can do that this morning through faith and repentance.

 

John 1:12, 12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.

 

Mark 1:14-15, 14 Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

 

If you have already received the gospel, your job now is to share it.

 

George W. Truett, “The supreme indictment that you can bring against a church…is that such a church lacks in passion and compassion for human souls.  A church is nothing better than an ethical club if its sympathies for lost souls do not overflow, and if it does not go out to seek to point lost souls to the knowledge of Jesus Christ.”  A Quest for Souls, 1917, p. 67.

 

 

Invitation

Today, will you receive the gospel and Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord and eternal life in heaven?

 

Today, will you commit to sharing the gospel with that neighbor and co-worker and friend and family member?