• Home
  • About This Blog
  • Contact Me
  • Subscribe
  • Comment Policy

Attempts at Honesty

Reflections on the interplay of the Bible and Culture

  • Westminster Shorter Catechism Series
  • Sermon on the Mount Series
Home Bible Reflection What is the gospel?

What is the gospel?

Posted on December 31, 2016 Written by Mark McIntyre Leave a Comment


gospel
Copyright: enterline / 123RF Stock Photo

Like many organizations, the church has its own jargon. The danger with jargon is that we can use words for which we have a fuzzy understanding. One of the words in common usage in the church is the word gospel.

At its core, the word gospel means “good news.” The English word gospel comes from the Old English and is a compound of god (good) and spel (story or message). It is a direct translation of the Greek word euanggelion which is also a compound of eu (good) and anggelion (message or announcement). This is the word from which we get our English words “evangelism” and evangelical.

But what is the gospel? How should we define it in a Christian context?

As I thought about this, I thought that I should use my Bible software to do a search of the word gospel in the New Testament to see how the gospel is described. Here is a list of things that I learned about the gospel from looking over the list along with a reference to where I found it. The list is not exhaustive; some of these appear in multiple places and I only list the reference to the first mention.

  • It is the gospel of the kingdom [of God] – Matthew 4:23
  • It is preached to the poor – Matthew 11:5
  • It should be preached in the whole world – Matthew 24:14
  • It is the gospel of Jesus Christ – Mark 1:1
  • It is the gospel of God – Mark 1:14
  • It is the gospel of the grace of God – Acts 20:24
  • It was promised beforehand – Romans 1:2
  • It is concerning [God’s] son – Romans 1:3
  • It is the power of God for salvation – Romans 1:16
  • Paul calls it “my gospel” – Romans 16:25
  • Paul felt compelled to preach the gospel – 1 Corinthians 9:16
  • It is free – 1 Corinthians 9:18
  • It is the gospel of the glory of Christ – 2 Corinthians 4:4
  • It can be counterfeited – 2 Corinthians 11:4
  • It can be distorted – Galatians 1:7
  • It is not according to man – Galatians 1:11
  • It contains truth – Galatians 2:14
  • It was preached to Abraham – Galatians 3:8
  • It is the gospel of your salvation – Ephesians 1:13
  • We become partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the Gospel – Ephesians 3:6
  • It is the gospel of peace – Ephesians 6:15
  • It was a mystery (something previously hidden) – Ephesian 6:19
  • It should be defended – Philippians 1:16
  • It will change our behavior – Philippians 1:27
  • It is a message of hope – Colossians 1:5
  • It comes in power and in the Holy Spirit – 1 Thessalonians 1:5
  • The gospel is opposed – 1 Thessalonians 2:2
  • It is entrusted to men – 1 Thessalonians 2:4
  • It is the gospel of our Lord Jesus – 2 Thessalonians 1:8
  • God calls us through the gospel – 2 Thessalonians 2:14
  • It is the gospel of the blessed God – 1 Timothy 1:11
  • It is something worth suffering for – 2 Timothy 1:8
  • The gospel brings life and immortality to light – 2 Timothy 1:10
  • It is about Jesus Christ, risen from the dead and a descendant of David – 2 Timothy 2:8
  • It caused Paul to be imprisoned – Philemon 13
  • It is preached by the Holy Spirit – 1 Peter 1:12
  • It is something that the angels want to understand – 1 Peter 1:12
  • It demands obedience – 1 Peter 4:17
  • It is eternal – Revelation 14:6

Perhaps there is no better way to end one year and begin another than by reflecting on the may facets of the gospel of Jesus Christ. What a gift we have been given!


Filed Under: Bible Reflection Tagged With: Gospel, list

About Mark McIntyre

A follower of Jesus Christ who shares observations about how Scripture should impact the church and the world. Mark is the original author and editor of Attempts at Honesty.

Follow Attempts at Honesty

Honesty in your Inbox

Do they feel welcome and will they come back?

If people feel welcome in your church, it is more likely that they will return and grow in discipleship. Do they feel welcome and will they come back?

Barnhouse Romans Commentary

Barnhouse on the Love of God

But we must not be confused into thinking that God is love apart from any other attribute. In fact, if you say that God is love without realizing that God is hate of sin, you have no gospel at all because you do not have God.

An AHA moment

The only problem with this distortion is that in a fallen, broken world, there is a lot of stuff to be angry about. Even as very young children we encounter things that should make us angry.

Summary of Christian Religion

Louis Berkhof on the origin of religion

Particular attention was devoted during the last fifty years to the problem of the origin of religion. Repeated attempts were made to give a natural explanation of it, but without success. Some spoke of it as an invention of cunning and deceptive priests, who regarded it as an easy source of revenue; but this explanation […]

A man laying brics

We Are Designed by God to Create, Build and Accomplish

The drive for acheivment is a good thing if it is in obedience to the two great commands given us by Jesus. That drive is God-given and is part of what it means to be created in his image.

Post Series

  • Westminster Shorter Catechism Series
  • Sermon on the Mount Series

Categories

Archives

Blogger Grid
Follow me on Blogarama

Copyright © 2022 · Focus Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in