Gospel is a word many people have heard, whether or not they’re Christians. But what do they think it means?
Is the gospel the moral teachings of Jesus? Is it his command to love people? That’s a common answer. Is it the idea that you can ask Jesus into your heart or make a “decision for Christ”? That’s another popular way of thinking.
Is the gospel everything that happens in the Gospels, the biblical books that describe Jesus and his life? That might be something else that comes to mind.
But when the New Testament talks about the gospel, it’s not talking about any of these things. The gospel is an announcement—it’s a particular piece of “good news.”
So, What’s the News?
It’s so important to define the words that we use over and over again. In the church, we can easily take certain terms or phrases for granted. And the word gospel is one of our most important.
So, what’s the gospel?
The gospel is good news about our salvation. The apostle Paul says: “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” (1 Cor. 15:1–2). In another letter, Paul says, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Rom. 1:16).
Specifically, the gospel is a message, an announcement, that is proclaimed to the world. That message is about salvation through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and it is declared to us through the eye-witness testimonies contained in the Bible.
Think of somebody bringing good news that leads you to rejoice in singing. The Greek translation of Isaiah 52:7 uses the word gospel to describethe good news of salvation for the people of God. It’s news about the reign of God and the rescue of his people. It’s news about what God did in history to save us.
So, the gospel isn’t something we do. You don’t “live the gospel.” It’s not a way of life. The gospel leads to a new life, but that new life isn’t the gospel.
So the gospel is good news about personal salvation. But what, exactly, did God do to save us?
Paul tells us: “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 Cephus, then to the twelve” (1 Cor. 15:3–4). The gospel message—the good news—is about Jesus and his redemptive work.
Jesus Christ died for our sins, in accordance with the Holy Scriptures. But he didn’t stay dead. He rose again on the third day. Then, he appeared to the disciples and ascended into heaven.
Is the Good News also True News?
Of course, there’s a lot of news that turns out to be false. Is the gospel actually believable?
The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus isn’t a myth. It’s not an inspiring, fictional story that teaches “spiritual truths.” It’s history.
We know that the gospel is news about historical events because Paul emphasizes the witnesses to the resurrection. It’s like trying to establish the truth about what happened in a courtroom trial. You call witnesses who testify to what they saw. This helps establish the facts of the case.
The risen Jesus—not a ghost, but a flesh-and-blood human—appeared to Paul and the other apostles. More than 500 witnesses saw him, according to Paul (1 Cor. 15:6). Paul himself is a witness, and he points to a large number of people—most of whom would still have been alive when Paul wrote—who can testify to the same thing.
As history, then, this message demands something from each and every one of us. We’re presented not just with wild claims, but instead with claims backed up by evidence. We’ll either believe it or reject it. God calls all people to hear what he’s done to save the world through the life, death, and resurrection of his Son—and to respond with faith and repentance.
If you embrace this good news, your sins are washed away. Through this gospel message, you can have a personal relationship with God and the hope of eternal life. At the end of history, everyone who has trusted in Jesus will rise from dead—physical and whole—just as he did.
The Greatest News in History
No one obeys God perfectly. The Bible says, “By the works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight” (Rom. 3:20). We needed someone morally perfect, someone who was both God and man, to stand in our place.
That’s why God the Father sent Jesus. God “so loved the world, that he gave us his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Through Jesus, God offers righteousness and life as free gifts. We don’t earn them; we receive them by faith.
That’s what God has done. That’s the gospel. That’s the good news.
That’s the core of Christianity—the greatest news in history.
What Does the Bible Say?
- Isa. 52:7; John 3:16–17; Acts 2:38; Rom. 1:16–17; 5:1; 1 Cor. 15; Gal. 3:7–9; Eph. 2:8
