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What Is the Gospel?

The gospel is the powerful, life-changing message at the heart of the Bible: the good news of great joy about a person named Jesus, and what he has done for us.

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Short Content

What Is the Gospel?

We open our Bible and read that on one night long ago, heaven opened up to a few ordinary men on a hill and the world was never the same after that. Here is what they heard from the mouths of angels:

“‘Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord’” (Luke 2:10-11 ESV).

There was a day when in the little Middle Eastern town of Bethlehem, the Lord, the very God who created the world, was born. And he was born for a reason. He knew we could not find our way to him, so he came to us.

Jesus came on a mission. He did not come to condemn us (John 3:17) for our rebellion against God, but to save us from our sins through the greatest demonstration of love the world has ever known (Romans 5:8). 

What is the gospel? It’s the great climax of the Bible: the good news of great joy that if we repent of our sins, believing in Jesus for forgiveness, we will be saved from God's wrath, and be given new and eternal life (John 3:16). 

by Bibles.net

OPEN YOUR BIBLE

Paul’s Letter Explaining the Gospel
I am eager to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome...
(Romans 1:15)
Read Romans
Isaiah’s Prophecy about the Salvation to Come in Jesus
“Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your salvation comes; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.’”
(Isaiah 62:11)
Read Isaiah 61 and 62
The Gospel and the Importance of Jesus’ Resurrection
Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and in which you stand...
(1 Corinthians 15:1 ESV)
Read 1 Corinthians 15
Theme Verse

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.

Romans 1:16 ESV

What Is the Gospel?
Article: 7 Min

What Is the Gospel?

by Bibles.net
READ ARTICLE
Quote

The gospel is
the message about Jesus:
who he is,
what he did,
and how
we receive his benefits.

R.C. Sproul
Verse
1 Corinthians 15:3-5 NIV

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.

Article: 6 Min

The Wrath of God and the Good News

READ NOW

by Bibles.net

Messages: 40 Min

He Brings Life

by Colin Smith

LISTEN NOW
Quote

We have good news,
and that good news
has a name,
and that name is
Jesus Christ.

Chris Llewellyn
Verse
John 3:16 NLT

For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

GO TO PAGE
Image

Jesus told him,
“I am the way,
the truth,
and the life.
No one can
come to the
Father
except through me.”

John 14:6 ESV
Article: 15 Min

The Gospel Invitation: How to Be Saved

READ NOW

by Mark Spence and Eric Hovind at Creation Today

Verse
Romans 3:23-24 NIV

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus

Hymns

Come Behold the Wondrous Mystery

by Matt Boswell and Matt Papa feat. Kristyn Getty
Spotify Apple Youtube
Image

For the
wages of sin
is death,
but the free gift of God
is eternal life
through
Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 6:23 NLT
Messages: 40 Min

The Gospel for Life

by Britt Merrick

WATCH NOW
Verse
John 17:3 NIV
Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
How Do I Respond to The Gospel?
Quote

If there's anything
in the world that
you cannot afford to ignore,
it is the voice
of God saying,
"Good news!
Here is how you can be
saved from my judgment."

Greg Gilbert
Image

Everyone
who calls
on the name
of the Lord
will be saved.

Romans 10:13 NIV
Verse
Luke 24:45-47 NIV

Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem."

Verse
Romans 1:17 NLT

The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God.

Verse
2 Thessalonians 1:8-9 NIV
He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might.
Image

Repent
and believe
in the gospel.

Mark 1:15 ESV
Quote

What Does It Mean to Repent?

Question #88: What is the true repentance or conversion of man?

Answer: It is the dying of the old nature and the coming to life of the new. 

Question #89: What is the dying of the old nature?

Answer: It is to grieve with heartfelt sorrow that we have offended God by our sin, and more and more to hate it and flee from it.

Question #90: What is the coming to life of the new nature?

Answer: It is a heartfelt joy in God through Christ, and a love and delight to live according to the will of God in all good works.

Question #91: But what are good works?

Answer: Only those which are done out of true faith, in accordance with the law of God, and to his glory, and not those based on our own opinion or on precepts of men.

Heidelberg Catechism, Q&A #88-91, Lord’s Day 33 | Source
How to Avoid False Gospels
Article: 7 Min

Three Ways You Might Drift from the Gospel

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by Colin Smith at Open the Bible

Image

I am not
ashamed
of the gospel,
for it is
the power of God
for salvation
to everyone
who believes.

Romans 1:16 ESV
Verse
Galatians 2:20 NIV

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Messages: 51 Min

Boasting in Nothing

Except the Cross

by Tim Keller

WATCH NOW
Article: 10 Min

Which of These False Gospels Do You Believe?

READ NOW

by J.D. Greear at his blog

Article: 7 Min

Beware These Seven Counterfeit Gospels 

READ NOW

by Kristen Wetherell at Open the Bible

Messages: 40 Min

What to Expect When

You Start Following Jesus

by Joe Jones

WATCH NOW
Verse
1 Corinthians 15:1-2 ESV

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

Verse
Galatians 2:16 ESV

Yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

Article: 10 Min

Moralism Is Not the Gospel

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by Al Mohler at his blog

Quote

The gospel is not
a summons to work harder
to reach God—
 it’s the grand
message of how
God worked
all things together
for good to reach us.

Burk Parsons
Quote

Introduction to the Book of Romans

"Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, to all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."

Romans 1:1-7 ESV | Source
Background of Romans
Read Introduction
the book of

Romans

Genre: Letter
This book of the Bible is a grand explanation of the gospel, written by God through the Apostle Paul to the church in Rome around 57 AD. If you want to discover the message at the heart of the Bible, open Romans for yourself and ask God to help you hear his voice as you read his Word.
read romans Learn More
Book of the Bible
The Four Gospels
The gospel is the message of good news at the heart of the Bible. However, there are four books in the Bible that we refer to as “Gospels”—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. These four books tell the true story of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, from eyewitness testimony. Without the events that take place in the Gospels, we would have no good news message. For Jesus himself—who he is and what he has done for us—is our good news.
Discover Matthew
Discover Mark
Discover Luke
Discover John