What exactly is the Gospel?

The word of God makes it clear that the gospel is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes (Rom. 1:16) and that it pleased God to save those who believe by the foolishness of preaching of the gospel (1 Cor. 1:21). However, right since the days of the apostles up till now, the devil has kept on deceiving many with numerous counterfeit versions and renditions of the glorious gospel (Gal. 1:6). There have been so many lies from the pits of hell to distort the gospel and so many pulpits propagating inaccurate messages in the name of teaching the gospel. So what exactly is the authentic gospel of Christ? 

Around 55 AD, during his third missionary journey, Paul reiterated the gospel in his first letter to the Corinthian church: “Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, He appeared to more than five hundred of His followers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all He appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born late” (1 Cor. 15:1-8). 

It is expedient to understand that every single part of the foregoing statement by Paul has a profound meaning and any gospel that omits any of these four key points is no gospel at all. The first point is that Jesus died for our sins according to the scriptures. Be careful to note that Jesus didn’t just die, but He died in accordance to what had been written in the scriptures about His death. Why wasn’t Jesus beheaded, or stoned to death? Why did He have to be hung on a cross after being tortured? This is the reason: “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities, the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5), so there was a clear reason for every suffering He went through and “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree” (Gal. 3:13). Christ had to die on the cross of Calvary for it to be possible for any man to be saved. No one will come to salvation except he/she comes to that personal realization that Christ died for his/her sins. He said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (John 12:24). So it was when Jesus died that the seed of our deliverance and salvation was sown, and it was because of His death that any one of us could be brought to glory (Heb. 2:10). It wasn’t because we cried or prayed or gave money or offering or did some work for Him. We only became the children of God because Jesus died and brought many sons to glory which made us heirs of God and of all that belongs to Him. He took our sins and nailed it to the cross. “God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2Cor. 5:21). Jesus tasted death for every man and the only thing that acquits a sinner is that Jesus paid the ransom. The reason I am saved is because Jesus died for my sin and God forgave me because He accepted the death of Jesus credited to my account, He won’t punish me for a debt that has been paid.

The implication of His death, however, goes beyond the full payment for our sins, if not we will still continue wallowing in sin. Therefore, in His death He made the provision for the demise of the old man, that nature which made us sinners. “Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with Him like this in His death, we will certainly also be united with Him in His resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin – because anyone who has died has been freed from sin” (Rom 6:3-7).  In His death I found my own death and find my freedom from sin, because He who is dead is free from sin. A man is not a sinner because he sins, he sins because he is a sinner, because of the sin nature in Him. Hence, in His death Jesus provided the death of my sinful nature. For, if one man died for all, then all died (2 Cor. 5:14). So, it is because He died that my old nature died. If He didn’t die, nothing would have terminated the enmity that was in me. Hence, any gospel that does not include the crucifixion of the old nature of man is not a gospel at all. This is the reason many people are not victorious over sin.

Secondly, He was buried. His burial is a significant component of the gospel. Why did He have to be buried? He could have avoided burial. He could have resurrected immediately after his death and ascended into heaven. But He had to be buried because He had to go down to the grave. He went to hell and in hell, when the demons were jubilating that they had gotten Him, on the third day, God declared Him as His Son when He raised Him from the dead by the Spirit of Holiness (Rom 1:4). And He led captivity captive (Eph. 4:8), He dismantled the powers of darkness (Col 2:15) and collected the keys of hell and death (Rev 1:18).

Thirdly, He was raised on the third day according to the scriptures. In fact the gospel won’t be good news at all if Jesus wasn’t resurrected. The implication of His resurrection is that as the Father raised Him up far above all principality and power (Eph. 1:21), we were also raised with Him since we were buried together with Him. As He was being raised, I was raised with Him to sit with him in heavenly places and to live a new life entirely (Eph. 2:6). His resurrection brought me a whole new life. “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20). So the moment you receive the correct gospel, that same day sin no longer has power over you, demons no longer have power over you, the devil or any ancestral spirit has no power over you. It is not a matter of praying for 3 years before getting victory, you get the victory the same day you receive the gospel. Therefore, if the gospel is properly preached, we can conclude and say of anyone who has received it that, “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things have passed away (not that old things are passing away) behold all things have become new” (2 Cor. 5:17).

Finally, the fourth key point is that He appeared to people. Why is His appearance important anyway? It means He is alive!!! He is not a ghost; He did not just arise in the Spirit. People saw Him and touched Him (John 20:28); He even ate with them (John 21:12). He is a man and He is in heaven. He is the firstborn from among the dead (Col. 1:18). So Jesus is a man we can relate with on a daily basis and talk to constantly. He is a person. He hears, He feels, He knows, He loves you and He is coming back again!   

This is the gospel. This is the good news.