What is the Gospel?

Colin Melbourne

© 01-08 Born-Again-Christian.info

Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel."

"Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." Holy Bible Mk 1:15,16:15 (KJV)

What is the Gospel?

Unless we both understand and believe the Gospel, we can't preach Gospel.

What is Gospel? Some people say, 'Gospel, that's the Christian religion'

No it isn't.

Others say, 'Gospel means going to Church, reading the Bible, praying, and being good to people.'

That's not it at all.

Other people think Gospel means a kind of music.

The Greek New Testament word for Gospel is euangelion and it simply means Good News.

What good news?

In essence the Gospel is the good news that Almighty God has come (as Christ), lived a sinless life, and paid our sin debt by dying in our place. He rose from the dead, and everyone who believes this, and receives Him as Saviour has free access to God the Father, and is assured of forgiveness of sins and a place in Heaven.

That's all perfectly true, doctrinally and biblically accurate. It's Gospel, But it must become personally revealed to us otherwise it's just words and concepts. When you see by revelation from God, the significance of the Gospel, you'll catch on fire, and run around wanting everyone to 'get it' too.

You won't have a problem with faith again. The reason there's so much talk about faith today is that Christians don't understand Gospel, so they don't have peace. They strain to believe God's Word means what it says.

You'll never have strong faith until you have peace. Peace must come first, and you'll never have peace until you understand God's grace. Religion makes you work for peace, but never delivers it. Go ahead, give your life as a missionary, preach the Bible, feed orphans and widows, give all your money to charity. But you'll never get God's peace that way.

Real peace only comes by trusting in God's grace. Grace is the un-merited favour of God. Paul begins nearly all his letters to the Church with the words, 'Grace, mercy and peace to you from God the Father.' Why? Is it just a general greeting? No, it's the vital heart of the message of God, and is the essential truth we need to hear repeated.

Grace is getting what we don't deserve.

Mercy is not getting what we do deserve!

You can't earn God's gift, all you can do is accept it thankfully, and love Him in return.

Don't you stop reading. God's going to bless you through this message. You'll see.

People never seem to get it straight. Your salvation wasn't your idea. You didn't want God, He wanted you. You didn't look for God, He was already looking for you. People get saved and boast about how much they love God. That doesn't impress me.

They tell how they called on God, and found Him. But they forget, God wasn't lost, they were lost. They didn't find God, He found them.

You love God? Big deal. What impresses me, is not that you love God, but that He loves you, even when you were wicked, and sinful, He still kept on loving you.

You believe in God? Good. But what thrills me is that God believes in us. Even when we turned our backs on Him, He made a way for us to return, even as we drove in the nails. That impresses me.

Here's Mark's summary of the whole of Christ's message and ministry.

Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom of God,

"The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel." Mk 1:14-15

Now that encapsulates the heart of Christ's preaching.

"Repent and believe the gospel."

You want to work for peace? Forget it, you'll never have peace with God by working for it. Some people asked Jesus what works they could do to satisfy God.

Jesus answered, The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent. Jn. 6:28-29 NIV

'What? No counting beads, or endless prayers, no offerings, no sacrifices, we don't have to sweat blood and tears? Sounds too easy.'

People still think that way. Look into your heart to see if you do too. But God hasn't changed. The only way to please Him, the only way to come to Him, the only way to pacify His wrath, and lift the condemnation of our sin, is to Trust in Jesus Christ whom He has sent. Is that difficult?

Religion is complicated: Gospel is simple.

Religious people say, 'Okay we do trust in Jesus, we honour Him in our rituals, our Mass, our creed.'

Muslims do honour Jesus as a Prophet of God. But He's more than that. He IS God.

Catholics blasphemously claim to repeat His sacrifice Daily in the Mass.

Hindus, Buddhists and New Agers accept and worship all 'gods' and 'holy men'.

But God says to such people; 'No deal! You trust in Jesus' Sacrifice for your sins, paid in full once and for all, and worship Him only. Or you get nothing.'

By that will, we (believers) have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.

But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God... because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. Heb. 10:10,12,14

God offers forgiveness of sins, perfect righteousness, and eternal life to anyone who trusts 100% in Christ's Perfect Sacrifice. And He offers it for free. He paid the price Himself.

We know we're guilty, separated from God because of the sinful nature we inherited from Adam and Eve. All have sinned and fall short of the glory (standard) of God. Ro.3:23 But preachers rarely mention the verses either side of this one. So they miss the heart of the Gospel, the vital truth of the good news that you must embrace to have real peace.

Look what God promises to all who trust in Jesus.

Now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.

This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.

There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. Ro. 3:21-24 NIV

Don't miss this, don't let religious tradition nullify God's Word.

He says all who believe (ie. Trust 100% in their hearts in Christ alone as Saviour) God calls righteous, better, He gives them His righteousness, they are redeemed (bought back from captivity and debt) and justified by His grace.

Justified means just-as-if-I'd never done it. You're clean, washed of all sin and guilt by simple faith in Christ's Blood offered once and for all two thousand years ago.

A believer is no longer a sinner, but a righteous child of God. Not merely a 'sinner saved by grace' (as the ignorant say, trying to sit on a religious fence), but a new creation, with a new nature, God's righteous life inside you.

You were a sinner, but now you have received Christ and He's made you a righteous Saint, God's child, by His grace.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Co. 5:17, 21

Don't you dare deny what Christ did in making you righteous, by calling yourself a sinner. That's not humility, it's unbelief and ignorance.

Humility is agreeing with God, and saying what He says about you. Why else would God call believers Saints? Alleluia!

That's sacrilege to religious folks, but a joy to the Father's heart. I'm righteous, I have the righteousness of God, it's mine, He gave it to me, and I didn't do a thing to earn or deserve it. All I did was trust in my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Isn't that good news?

They couldn't have this under the Old Covenant. When God described people as righteous in the Old Covenant He was talking about what they did, not what they were by nature.

Now under the New Covenant, any sinner can be made perfectly righteous in nature by faith in Christ.

Are you righteous? If you can't say it, you haven't got it.

Jesus proclaimed, The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel!

What is the Kingdom of God?

Some Christians think this refers to the Millennial reign of Christ on earth, but they miss the point by a country mile.

Jesus was referring to something even more wonderful than that. He was talking about what the prophets foresaw, but could not have until it was introduced in the New Testament. Jeremiah prophesied about it.

"The time is coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.

"It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them," declares the LORD.

"This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time," declares the LORD. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

"No longer will a man teach his neighbour, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest," declares the LORD. "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more." Jer. 31:31-34

Jeremiah, like all the OT generations couldn't have what is available today. The writer of Hebrews confirms this in saying;

These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised.

God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect. Heb. 11: 39-40

The prophets foretold the new birth, the New Covenant. Not until God had come, died and taken His Blood to Heaven, could the promised new deal be sealed and initiated.

Jesus said the Kingdom of God was at hand. Right then it was near, they couldn't have it until He had sealed it with His Blood. Now it is better than at hand, it's freely available.

What is?

The Kingdom of God, Christ ruling inside, residing forever as King enthroned in a believer's heart, leading and empowering them to follow Him.

When the King of kings is in residence, He brings all His righteousness, all His power, all His blessings, and all of His peace. And He says, 'I'll never leave nor forsake you... follow me!'

The born again believer experiences an adventure that King David and Abraham could only dream about.

There's much more Good News.

Salvation includes physical healing

Have you repented and believed the Good News yet?

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