The short answer is: The word “gospel” means “good news.” It’s the good news message that men can be saved from the penalty of their sin and receive eternal life in Heaven with God through the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. The only true gospel is that which we find in the Bible, as it is written:
"For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time." [1 Corinthians 15:3-8]
God is holy and just. He created the world and everything in it, and He rules over everything. He deserves our devotion and praise, and His plan for us is that we would not devote our praise to anything other than Him.
We are born with deceitful hearts that seek to praise and devote ourselves to things that are not God. Mankind sinned against God in the garden, and sin has dwelled in the hearts of men and women since that day. We are born sinners, and we choose sin.
"...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” [Romans 3:23]
Sin is in the thoughts, it’s in the desires, and it’s in the cravings of the human heart. Sin pervades the mind, the will, and the heart. The thoughts, desires, and affections that we all have are corrupted by sin.
God, in His all-knowing kindness, had the way of reconciliation prepared from the beginning of time: His name is Jesus. He was there in the beginning. Jesus came as the God-man and lived a perfect life, died a gruesome death that included taking on our deserved wrath, and conquered death.
"But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed." [Isaiah 53:5]
Throughout the Bible, God’s work of redemption points to Jesus as the supreme Redeemer of humanity
There is one more necessary element to the Gospel: Our response. When we hear or read the gospel message, what are we expect to do?
Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” [Mark 1:14-15]
As you can see, Jesus came to earth calling men to repent and believe in the gospel. Throughout the bible we can see that the call to “repent” yielded a response where certain ones “believed” (Acts 17:30-34). The context reveals that faith and repentance are two sides to one coin, meaning they are always manifested together. How then does the bible define what is to repent and believe the gospel?
The gospel is God's offer of reconciliation through His Son Jesus Christ. This was God's promise since man sin against Him. Believing in the gospel means to:
The message of the gospel never leaves anyone unaffected—ever. So, as you read the rest of this article, ask yourself: Today, which of the following will be my response to the Gospel?
To reject the gospel is to embrace the bad news. Condemnation before God is to receive the just punishment for all the sin you commited in your entire life. This means to spend eternity in hell under the wrath of God. This is what all men can expect from a glorious God that loves what is good and hates what is evil. The lack of faith in the Son of God means you are rejecting God’s only provision for salvation.
“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son” [John 3:17–18]
God has given a doomed world good news: the Gospel of Jesus Christ!
