The Gospel is under serious attack in today’s secularized church. It’s impossible to properly stress the imperative need of getting the Gospel right … understanding both the person, the message, and the completed / finished work of Jesus Christ. In addition, we must permanently lock-on-to the personal dimension of how we, as individual believers, benefit from the Gospel through the means of GRACE (unmerited/undeserved/unearned favor) combined with genuine FAITH.
Preachers, Pastors, Evangelists, Bible Teachers, etc. say they “preach the gospel” — but if one listens carefully, with a biblical mindset (world view), we may find very little “Gospel” in what’s being presented. The term “Gospel” has become a nickname for preaching almost anything, rather than something with definitive scriptural-based content and objective. The word for “GOSPEL” comes from the Greek word euangelion. Notice it has the prefix “eu” which is translated into English meaning something “good” or “pleasant”. The Greek word angelos or angelion is translated into English as “message”. Combined, euangelion, basically and simply means a “good message” or “good news”. Matthew 4:23 declares:
Jesus was going throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people.
In ancient times, when armies marched out into battle, the people waited anxiously for a report from the battlefield concerning the outcome of the conflict. Once the results were known, a highly skilled / trained marathon runner would dash back and give a report. This is the concept found in Isaiah 52:7 when God’s prophet penned:
How lovely on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who announces peace and brings good news of happiness!
The watchman in the tower would gaze out as far as he could see, hoping to catch a glimpse of the runner. Eventually he would see the dust flying as the runner approached the city, and an excellent watchman could even tell by the way the runner’s legs were churning whether it was going to be good news or not. If the runner was struggling, it indicated a grim, forbidding report, but if his legs were flying, with dust kicking up, that meant good news … which is the fundamental concept of the Gospel!
While the term “Gospel” may be used in literature referring to the first 4 books of the New Testament, as previously stated, Gospel means good news. Christ’s forerunner, John the Baptist, boldly proclaimed as good news, “the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!” Putting it simply, nonetheless, the Gospel (good news message) is Jesus Christ!
The announcement of MESSIAH, who He is, and what He accomplished, is the pinnacle, as well as the culmination of GOOD NEWS! If we share our salvation testimony with others saying, “I became a Christian last year, or I gave my heart to Jesus,” we are certainly and unashamedly bearing witness about Christ, but we are not sharing the Gospel. The gospel is not about us! The gospel is only about Jesus Christ – all that He accomplished … His sinless life of perfect obedience, His atoning and sacrificial death on the cross, His victorious resurrection from the dead (conquering forever sin and death), His ascension into heaven, and the powerful outpouring of God’s Holy Spirit upon Christ’s Church on that glorious day of PENTECOST!
These crucial elements are the objective aspects of the Gospel as presented and reiterated time and time again throughout the New Testament scriptures. So as believers, will we be determined to stand with the Apostle Paul and the pure good news of Christ’s message, or yield to the influence of another or different gospel? (See Galatians 1:6-8)
It’s certainly time to consider and verify your position.
His & Yours, Pastor Frank
For 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.
For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written,
“BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.”
Romans 1:16-17