What is the Gospel?

“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. 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” (1 Corinthians 15:1-3).

The Gospel (which means “good news”) is the power of God unto salvation for all who believe (Romans 1:16). The Bible teaches that God created man to glorify him and to enjoy him forever. In the beginning, when God created man, He created him in His image and after His likeness. God created them male and female and He said that it was “good”. Shortly after creation, man rebelled against God by listening to the devil, desiring to be his own god. By this rebellion mankind was separated from fellowship with God and the life that is in God. Now, mankind by nature is spiritually dead; we are enslaved by the world, the flesh, and the devil. We find ourselves in this sinful state and under the wrath of a holy and almighty God. The Bible teaches that there is no righteous act we can do to fix this problem and justify ourselves before God because all our righteousness is like presenting a soiled garment to the Holy God of the universe. We cannot save ourselves by any action, thought, or sacrifice. Man needs a savior. This savior must be holy, not a sinner, and also human, flesh and blood. The Bible presents Jesus of Nazareth as the Savior of the world. God, not willing that any should perish, sent His only, one of a kind Son, Jesus the Christ. He lived a perfect and sinless life, gave up that perfect life by dying on the cross as a substitute for the sins of mankind, and rose the third day for our justification. This is all a complete work of God’s love, mercy, and grace towards his creation.

The good news truly is that Jesus has restored our relationship with God, our Creator. We are now able to have fellowship with God because the work of salvation that has been accomplished by Jesus. Since God has accomplished the work of salvation through Jesus, there is nothing for you to do except repent and believe in the finished work of Christ on your behalf. Repentance is simply turning to God and away from your sin. The Bible says, when you believe in what Jesus has done, God declares you righteous. This means that God applies the sinless, perfect life of Jesus to your account because Jesus took your punishment and place upon the cross. Believe in Jesus and you will be saved.