If you search the internet for a definition, you will find the primary meaning from the Greek language is “good news”. The “Faith Facts” website quotes the Evangelical Dictionary of Theology as stating, “The gospel is the joyous proclamation of God’s redemptive activity in Christ Jesus on behalf of man enslaved to sin”. It also states the word (gospel) is used over 75 times in the New Testament. And of course, we know it is used as titles to the first four books of the New Testament.
But what is the gospel? The best description I have found begins in John 3:1-18. A man named Nichodemus who was a leader among the Pharisees visited with Jesus to try to understand who Jesus was and what was His message. Jesus quickly explained, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” Nichodemus, like many people didn’t understand what Jesus was saying. He questioned about the need to be born physically twice.
Jesus tried to help Nicodemus understand. “He replied, ‘I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit’.” Then Jesus explained what He meant. “Humans can reproduce only human life (water), but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. So don’t be surprised when I say, you must be born again’.”
Jesus then went on to explain what was going to happen by using an illustration from the Old Testament when the Israelites were in the wilderness with Moses. The Israelites had sinned by worshipping a false god or gods, and God became angry with them and sent poisonous snakes to bite the guilty. God told Moses to make a bronze snake, put it on a pole, and have someone carry it throughout the camp. Anyone who looked at the snake on the pole would be healed. Jesus said, “And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in Him will have eternal life.” Jesus was lifted up on a cross.
Jesus next explained why God was going to do this; it was because He loves us. “For this is how God loves the world: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent His Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through Him.
Jesus further explained the process. “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in Him. But anyone who does not believe in Him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son.” Now the significance of this verse 18 is that when Christ died on the cross He paid the price for every sin that ever was or will be committed. John wrote in his first letter, “He Himself is the sacrifice that atones for sins – and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.” The word atones means “paid for”. In other words, people may go to hell in their sins but not because of their sins; they will go to hell because they refused to put their faith in what Christ did for them on the cross.
A friend talked with me about his church experience. He loved his church and his pastor who was also his brother-in-law. He told me that all his pastor would preach was salvation sermons, and he didn’t think he was being helped in his walk with God because of that. So is salvation all there is in the gospel? That evidently was what the Jewish believers thought in the first century.
In his letter to the Jewish church, Paul dealt with this very issue. In Hebrews 5:11-14, Paul wrote, “There is much more we would like to explain, especially since you are spiritually dull and don’t seem to listen. You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s word. You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food. For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do what is right. Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between what is right and wrong.”
Now that rebuke came after he had spent the first four and a half chapters showing how Christ is so much greater than all that came before. Evidently these Jewish Christians were still involved in some of their old religious practices; we really don’t know, but in 5:7-10, Paul explained how Jesus became the perfect high priest.
Beginning in Chapter 6:1-3, Paul encouraged these Christians to move on from their old religious worship. “So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go instead and become mature in our understanding. Surely we don’t need to start again with the fundamental importance of repentance from evil deeds and placing our faith in God. You don’t need further instruction about baptism, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And so, God willing we will move forward to further understanding.” The good news (gospel) is so much greater than the beginning of salvation. It is something it will take us a lifetime to learn everything God wants us to know and follow.
For those who read farther into Chapter 6, especially with verses 4-8, there may appear to be a problem. In verses 4-6, Paul appears to be addressing what happens in most churches. People may have joined the Jewish church either by profession of faith and baptism or some other means available in their era and then left the church because of discouragement or because of sin. Paul says that some of these cases are so far gone they won’t listen when approached with church discipline. Then in verses 7 and 8, he uses an illustration farmers had practiced for centuries even until recent times. When a field became so overgrown with weeds (thorns and thistles) that it was useless for farming, the farmer would set it on fire to burn all of the unwanted vegetation hoping to also destroy the seeds and root system. Once the field was burned, the farmer would then replant the field hoping for an abundant crop.
While some people and denominations have misinterpreted this passage to mean loss of salvation, Paul was simply saying that the farmer (God) will have to do something drastic to get these people to repent and return. And, of course, it is the church’s responsibility to pray for these people. There are also prescriptive methods for church discipline in the New Testament and we should follow.
So if salvation is just the beginning of the good news (gospel), what is the rest of it? A few examples of this just from Paul would include Romans, a church Paul had not yet visited but where he wrote about why we need salvation (sinfulness), how we are saved (justification), what is God’s plan for us now (sanctification), and practical ways for us to reach God’s goals for us. In 1st & 2nd Corinthians, Paul dealt with how to handle sin among some members, answered some questions about eternal life, and encouraged people to live for Christ.
In Galatians, Paul got specific about preachers who were trying to revive Jewish legalism and described how the true children of Abraham were not natural descendants but descendants of faith. And of course, Hebrews that pictures the benefits we have in our glorious High Priest.
The word of God is filled with wonderful illustrations of how God looks at us as His children. If you are a parent, you know that children are naturally curious, and you have to tell them over and over “don’t do that”, don’t touch that”, and “don’t go there. I think so often God must look at us and think, “He’s at it again; will he never learn?” But like a parent, He still loves us and tries to correct us. The way He loves to correct us is by opening our hearts and minds as we read His word! He only slaps our hand when He can’t get our attention any other way.