Theology Thursday: What is the Gospel?

Gospel. This word is one of the most commonly used words in all of Christianity, so much so that it’s become almost like a catchphrase to us, in which we add it to every idea. Gospel-centered, Gospel-focused, Gospel-first, Gospel-living, Gospel music… hey you get the idea. But if you ask a Christian, ‘what is the Gospel?’ What response will you get? The more we ask that question and hear the many responses, the more we realize that the word ‘Gospel’ is being used for anything and everything in between, and has lost its true definition in the process. Now, I’m not intending to write this in a demeaning or belittling way nor do I believe that I’m writing to unintelligent people. However, my concern is that we throw around this word in Christianity and it’s become so widely used that the term ‘gospel’ no longer actually refers to the real Gospel.
What do we mean by ‘Gospel’?
Let’s get one of the more obvious ones out of the way. The word ‘gospel’ comes from the Greek word εὐαγγέλιον (euangelion) which literally means ‘good news’. An example is Romans 1:16 (CSB) “For I am not ashamed of the gospel (εὐαγγέλιον [euangelion]), because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek.” Easy enough right? Here’s where the rubber meets the road:
 
We know that the word Gospel means Good News… but what is that Good News?



That question not only separates Christianity from every other religion but it’s what separates whole denominations of Christianity such as Protestants and Roman Catholicism. Why? Because the Gospel isn’t just about its content but also about its reception. Typically, people outside of Christendom (the worldwide of people who identify as Christians), disagree with the contents of the Gospel, whereas Christians within Christendom (Protestants, Roman Catholics, and Eastern Orthodox) disagree on the reception of the Gospel. I’ll explain these two in a minute. Nevertheless, I first want to explain what the Gospel is not in terms of content.

1. The Gospel is NOT that Jesus loves you.
    

I’ve seen posts like this come up so much that now it’s practically burned into my skull and now it’s yours… forgive your brother in Christ. Anyway, all jokes aside, does Jesus love us? Absolutely!! If the Triune God did not love us, then we are hopeless doomed in our sin. I’m so grateful and humbled that God would love a wretched sinner like me. However, Jesus loving you is NOT the Gospel. Let’s look at the famous verse of John 3:16 (ESV) “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” Notice what this verse says. Does God love the whole world? Of course He does, that’s why God sent Jesus to die on the cross, why Jesus willingly laid down His life, and why the Holy Spirit is the guarantee of our salvation. However, John 3:16 still says that those in the world will perish because of their sin if they don’t believe in Jesus Christ for their salvation. Therefore, does Jesus love you? Yes. But to summarize theologians like Dr. Frank Turek: God loves you enough to send you to Hell, because if you didn’t love Him on earth, why do you think you’ll love Him more in heaven?

2. The Gospel is NOT Jesus is our example.

This one. This one right here? Lord, have mercy! The Gospel is NOT Jesus as our example. Is Christ our example? Yes! The very word ‘Christian’ means ‘Christ-like’ and, to be fair, there is much significance in Jesus being our example as the perfect Man. 1 Corinthians 15:48-49 (CSB) says, “Like the man of dust, so are those who are of the dust; like the man of heaven, so are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we will also bear the image of the man of heaven.” We are in many ways called to follow the example set before us by Jesus Christ. HOWEVER, this understanding of the Gospel has taken an astronomical hold on the local church especially amongst young people due to social media. Many people honor, respect, and learn about the teachings of Jesus Christ, but even the Pharisees called Jesus Teacher and they crucified Him. His followers call Him Lord and that distinction is literally the difference between eternal life and death.

3. The Gospel is NOT the Two Great Commandments.

Now before you get the pitchforks, let me explain. I know how much we love to quote the two great commandments to love God and love people. Absolutely we are supposed to do this. However, this is part of the Law; NOT the Gospel. Consider the discussion between Jesus and the teacher of the Law in Mark 12:28-34 (CSB, emphasis mine) “One  of the scribes  approached. When he heard them debating and saw that Jesus answered them well, he asked him, ‘Which command is the most important of all?’ Jesus answered, ‘The most important is Listen, Israel! The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is, Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other command greater than these.’ Then the scribe said to him, ‘You are right, teacher. You have correctly said that he is one, and there is no one else except him. And to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself, is far more important than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices.’ When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God.’ And no one dared to question him any longer.”
Notice the last thing Jesus said: You are not far from the kingdom of God. The teacher of the Law stated the two Great Commands but he was still NOT saved. He missed the Gospel. I can’t express this enough: the Law (including the 2 Great Commandments) is NOT the Gospel. However, this does not mean that the Gospel and the Great Commandments are not connected! Are Christians commanded to love God and their neighbor? Absolutely! Regardless, it’s important to note that these Great Commandments are NOT the Gospel.

What IS the Gospel?
Once again, before I answer this question, we have to look at both sides of the Gospel: the content and the reception. To put it another way, we must ask ‘what is the Gospel’ (content) and ‘how does one become saved by the Gospel’ (reception). Let’s first look at the content of the Gospel and finally answer the question: ‘what is the Gospel?’
Though there are countless Scriptures that talk about the Gospel, I think the text that gives the most succinct understanding of the Good News is 1 Corinthians 15:1-8 (CSB, emphasis mine), “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 and by which you are being saved, if you hold to the message I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: 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 Cephas, then to the Twelve. Then he appeared to over five hundred brothers and sisters at one time; most of them are still alive, but some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one born at the wrong time, he also appeared to me.”
Why did I choose this verse? Because it explains what the Gospel is: that Jesus Christ came as Man and lived the perfect life free of sin that we could never live, He died on the cross for our sins, He was buried in a grave, meaning He wasn’t simply ‘injured’ but actually dead, and He was resurrected on the third day. What’s also so important, that oftentimes gets overlooked, is His resurrected appearance which implies His bodily ascension since He appeared before 500 people bodily. Next, I also believe that it is important to include the apostles who laid the foundation for the global Church. Lastly, it can’t be overstated that all of this happened according to the Scriptures which means that Christ is not only the fulfilment of Scripture, but it is also the basis and authority for the Christian life.
Now, do I believe that you’ll go through each one of these parts in every Gospel conversation? Of course not! When we share the Gospel, sometimes we only have 30 seconds, sometimes 30 minutes. However, what cannot be avoided about the Gospel is Christ and Him crucified. The Gospel is Jesus dying on the cross for our sins and rising from the grave so that we can be saved, if we place our faith in Him alone. We cannot have the Gospel without the Person of Jesus Christ and we cannot have the Gospel without the Cross. This is why Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2:2, “I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” Without Christ, His Cross, and His Resurrection, all of Christianity is in vain!
This leads to the second point on how we can receive the Gospel and I think the famous verse of Romans 10:9-10 (CSB) answers this for us: “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation.” Belief. Faith. Confession. Trust. Many words point to the same idea of how we receive the salvation that the Good News offers: we have to believe that Jesus is Lord and that God raised Him from the dead and if we do, we are saved.
Now we’re getting into the many heated disputes between Protestants, Roman Catholics, and Eastern Orthodox. All of us generally agree on the contents of the Gospel, but we do not agree on the reception of the Gospel.



I want to be fair here. There’s a reason why when some Christians within these 3 different camps are asked if the other camps are saved, they’ll say ‘it’s complicated.’ It’s because of this distinction between content and reception. Believe it or not, yes Protestants, Catholics, and Orthodox Christians all agree on the content of the Gospel. Jesus is the God-Man that lived a sinless life, died on the cross for our sins, and was raised from the dead, and if we believe in Him, we can be saved. They also believe that He is the only Way to the Father. (Despite what Pope Francis said last year that there are multiple ways to God. Even devout Catholics disagreed with him, so I don’t want to throw them under the bus with his error.) The reason why there is so much dispute within the 3 camps, is because of the reception of the Gospel: ‘how do I become saved?’ Catholics and Orthodox will say it’s faith + works, whereas Protestants believe that we are saved by faith alone and that faith will produce good works.
Though I will dive deeper into the differences of these church denominations (namely Protestant vs Roman Catholicism), the Protestant view, which I believe to be the proper biblical view of the Gospel, stems from Ephesians 2:8-10 (CSB) “For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— not from works, so that no one can boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.” Though there are many other verses that explain the reception of the Gospel, I wanted to use this verse because it utterly destroys two falsehoods that often come up in the church.

1. Legalism

Legalism is the false belief that we are saved by our work, not by our faith at all, that we are saved by our faith plus our works, or that we have to do something to earn our salvation. Now I don’t want to gaslight or strawman this argument to point all of the blame at Roman Catholicism because there are many Protestants who also fall into this heresy. Both Protestants and Catholics deny Pelagianism which means that we are saved by our work and that we can earn our salvation. However, Catholics do believe that it’s a requirement to have good works with your faith to be saved.  It’s quite easy to fall into this trap because there are multiple verses that talk about the good works of Christians and that Christians who are saved show their salvation through Gospel fruit. If a person is ‘saved’ but they live an utterly debaucherous lifestyle, then it’s safe to say that they aren’t truly Christian. And no, this isn’t my opinion; rather this is what Jesus, John, and Paul speak about themselves (Matt. 7:15-23, 18:15-20,  Rev. 22:15, 1 Cor. 6:9-10, Gal. 5:19-21, etc).
The error isn’t that Christians expect each other to have good fruit/works, the error is when we conflate Ephesians 2:10 into Ephesians 2:8-9. Notice the distinction. In verses 8-9, Paul clearly states that we are saved by grace through faith apart from works meaning that we are not saved by our works but by faith alone. This, including many other verses, is why Protestant and Reformed Christians like myself, say that we agree with the 5 Solas (alone): we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, according to the Scriptures alone, to the glory of God alone.
Furthermore, the Bible even makes this distinction between faith plus works for salvation and faith-alone salvation that produces good works. Consider the Judiazers in the New Testament, also known as the circumcision party in Acts 15 and Philippians 3. They believed that the Gentiles were not truly saved unless they were circumcised according to the Mosaic Law. Acts 15:5 says, “But some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, ‘It is necessary to circumcise them and to command them to keep the law of Moses.’” However, look at what Peter responded in verse 7-11, “After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you are aware that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the gospel message and believe. And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he also did to us. He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith. Now then, why are you testing God by putting a yoke on the disciples’ necks that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear? On the contrary, we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus in the same way they are.”
Peter is making a clear distinction that the Gentiles were saved by faith through grace APART from any works of the Law including circumcision. However, now that the Gentiles are considered saved by faith through grace alone, they were still expected to do good works as fruit of their salvation. In verse 19-20, it says, “Therefore, in my judgment, we should not cause difficulties for those among the Gentiles who turn to God, but instead we should write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from eating anything that has been strangled, and from blood.” Notice the distinction here. Peter shuts down the idea that the Gentiles had to do any works of the Law to be saved by faith through grace. However, the Gentiles who turned to God (i.e. those who are NOW saved), should do good works and live righteously.
Here’s a rudimentary example. A couple that first gets married in good faith and then has intercourse is considered holy and righteous. A couple that first has intercourse, before getting married, is considered sinful and sexually immortal. The action is still the same but on which side of the line of marriage it’s done, is what makes it considered a sinful act vs a righteous one. The same with good works. Protestants do not deny good works, despite what many Roman Catholics like to say, however, we believe that the right place for those good works is to be on the other side of the line of salvation by faith through grace alone, and not on the front side of salvation in Christ.

2. Antinomianism (Anti-law)

Despite this beautiful doctrine of salvation/justification, it’s easy for Christians to fall into the other pitfall which is antinomianism, also known as anti-law. What this means is that as long as Christians just say ‘Jesus is Lord’, they are not obligated to obey any of the commandments and they can live a lawless life. They essentially supersede Ephesians 2:8-9 over verse 10 and nullify it completely. Again, this is false. Let’s look back again at Ephesians 2:10 (emphasis mine): “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.” I emphasized the word ‘for’ because it shows that verse 10 is based upon verses 8-9 which means that they’re inseparable. To be saved by grace through faith alone means that you are also God’s workmanship and created in Christ Jesus for good works. This is why salvation (justification) and sanctification (good works) are distinct AND inseparable. As stated earlier, the Gospel does not deny good works but the difference is that we are saved to do good works, rather than saved by our good works.

Side Note: Paul vs James ‘Controversy’

      
Some people like to point out that Paul and James are against each other in terms of the reception of the Gospel; namely that Paul and James have different views of justification.
Paul - “For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.” (Rom. 3:28)
James - “You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.” (James 2:24)

Now before you think this is a biblical contradiction or that Roman Catholicism is correct in salvation being faith plus works, let’s dive into this for a little bit. Notice that throughout this article, I mainly used the word salvation rather than justification, not because they are different but because you can become confused if you read verses like this. (Also, I avoided using theologically dense words such as propitiation, atonement, etc for simplicity. So just because I didn’t say these words, don’t think that I don’t believe them!)  Let’s consider 2 things.

1. People in the Bible use the same words for different things.

For example, both Jesus and Paul use the word ‘called’ in the New Testament. However, Jesus uses the word ‘called’ in a general sense such as when a pastor gives a general call to salvation or when a street preacher calls all people to repent. Here’s an example from Matthew 22:14, “For many are called, but few are chosen.” This verse is talking about salvation through the parable of the wedding feast, and here, Jesus uses the term called as a general proclamation of salvation, and chosen for those who are genuinely saved. Paul, on the other hand says in Romans 1:7, “To all who are in Rome, loved by God, called as saints. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Clearly, Paul is using this ‘called’ as those who are saved NOT listeners to a general proclamation. Even John uses it in a salvific way in Revelations 17:14, “These will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will conquer them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings. Those with him are called, chosen, and faithful.” (And yes, for the Greek nerds out there, the same word for ‘called’ which is κλητός [klētos] in the Greek, is used in all of these examples). The point is that the biblical authors can use the same words for different purposes which leads to the second point.

2. Paul and James are using the word ‘justified’ in two different ways.

Paul is using the word ‘justified’ more famously as being saved before God by being in right standing with God. James is using the word ‘justified’ to mean that a claim of faith is proven to be reasonably true. To put it in an easier way: Paul is using justification as righteous salvation while James is using justification as proof for salvation. Don’t believe me? Let’s look at James 2:22 which says, “You see that faith was active together with his works, and by works, faith was made complete.” When James is saying faith without works is dead and that by works faith is made complete, he’s battling against the issue of antinomianism, NOT salvation. He’s saying that, if you are truly saved, then it will be an active faith that produces good works which will prove your faith. Not that works produce a saving faith. Meanwhile, Paul focuses more of his writings on justification against the issue of legalism, in which people believed they had to obey the Mosaic Law in order to be saved.
In fact, James actually agrees with Paul on being justified(saved) by faith alone. James 1:21-22 says, “Therefore, ridding yourselves of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent, humbly receive the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” On the surface, reading the first part of the verse seems to be counteracting the point of being saved by grace through faith alone. However, notice the first sentence again. What is able to save our souls? Humbly receiving the implanted word. James is talking in a completely passive way here and this small sentence is filled with theological depth. James says that we humbly receive the implanted word. ‘Humbly receive’ is just that: reception. We receive salvation not earn salvation and that is, once again, contradictory to any idea that we can work our way to being saved or that there is faith plus some work. In verse 17-18 right before, James says, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. By his own choice, he(God) gave us birth by the word of truth so that we would be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.”
Who does James say gives us birth by the word of truth? God not us. (Mind you, this birth by the Word of truth is the same way of saying being ‘born again’ in salvation). He says that it is a gift from the Father of lights and it was ‘by His own choice.’ By definition, a gift CANNOT be earned. Furthermore, back to verse 21, James says the implanted word. This comes from Jesus’ famous parable of the seed and the sower with the seed being the Gospel Word of God. Those with good soil, heard the Word of God and accepted it and then it brought forth good fruit (good works). He agrees with Jesus and Paul that salvation is by grace in receiving the Gospel and by faith in believing and accepting the Gospel, and as a result, you will produce good works.
Again, I’m not grabbing this out of thin air, nor am I grasping for straws. Consider verse James 1:22 which says, “But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” How do we receive the Gospel? By hearing. We get this from Romans 10:17, “So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the message(word) about Christ.” He’s not saying that we do not receive the Gospel by faith through hearing the Gospel of Christ but that we should not merely just hear the Word but live it out as well! In essence, James is preaching the same Gospel as Paul but fighting a different enemy. As stated before, while Paul is fighting against the error of legalism, James is fighting the error of antinomianism. Furthermore, though it may seem like Paul and James are contradictory to each other, they are in support of one another just using the same word in different ways but still supporting the same Gospel.


By the way, if you still believe that Roman Catholicism is correct in that work is a requirement for receiving salvation and that James is using ‘justified’ in a salvific sense, then you’re going to run into 2 problems. (a) The Roman Catholics still believe that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God. If that is true, then they’re faced with a contradiction error if they’re using ‘justified’ in the exact same way: either James is right or Paul is right but both can’t be right. It’s a contradiction and, if the Bible is a contradiction, then the Bible is no longer inerrant. (b) Not only would this be a contradiction with Paul and other authors, but this means that James would be contradicting himself in his own letter. James 1 sets the precedent that salvation is by humbly receiving the implanted word. Yes we are currently ridding ourselves of moral filth in sanctification, but our salvation (which has to come first) came through receiving the implanted Word of the Gospel. In both the parable of the Sower and in Romans 10, we learn that we receive the Word by hearing and we have saving faith that comes from hearing the Gospel of Christ.

Conclusion (Finally)
Just as a reminder, to answer the question, ‘what is the Gospel’, the Bible shows us that Gospel is the Good News of Jesus Christ, who’s both God and Man, lived the perfect life free of sin, died on the cross for our sins in our place, was risen from the grave on the third day, and ascended into heaven to be seated at the right hand of God. As stated earlier, without Christ, the Cross, and the Resurrection, there is no Christianity. Furthermore, I strongly believe that the biblical view of how we receive the Gospel and become saved, which is also the Protestant (namely, the Reformed view) is the 5 Solas: we are saved by grace alone, by faith alone, in Christ alone, according to the Scriptures alone, to the glory of God alone.
Lastly, I want to note that we don’t ‘outgrow the Gospel’. People think that maturity comes in us growing away from the Cross and moving on to ‘more important things’ but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Spiritual maturity comes when we see our sin more clearly and our need for the Cross more desperately. Maturity doesn’t happen when we walk away from the Cross but when we grab hold of His feet that much more firmly. This is why many Christian leaders say things like Gospel-centered, Gospel-focus, or Gospel-living, not because they’re trying to be smart or savvy (though some are), but because we understand that Gospel should be the lens in which we see and do everything in this life, so much so, that we can declare with Paul in Philippians 1:21, “As for me, to live is Christ; to die is gain.” Therefore, though not everything in the Bible is the Gospel such as the Great Commandments or the Great Commission, everything in the Bible points to the Gospel. Without the Gospel, there is no salvation and we are still doomed in our sin. The Gospel of Jesus Christ, is truly Good News for sinners!