I like to make sure a seeker can easily find the gospel message on my blog, while I still have the freedom to do it, and while the seeker is still free enough to seek. The most important truth to share with anyone at anytime, anywhere, is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Some people spend all their time on trivial things and ignore the most profound, consequential matters in all time and space. Of all those profound things, the gospel message is at the top of the list.

The Greek word translated “gospel” in the New Testament means “good news”, and in the context of the Bible the gospel is the “good news” about Jesus Christ.

THE BAD NEWS. We need to be aware of the bad news before we can accept the need for the good, so here it is in very brief form. Our creator is perfect, but we are not. We are all unacceptable to Him in our natural state, and because of our sin – our condition in relation to Him – we could not survive in the presence of His holiness.

THE GOOD NEWS. Because God loves us so much He sent His son to be a sacrifice in our place. Though he was perfect and because he was perfect, Jesus willingly paid the price of our sin. He suffered in our place. This opened up the way for us to be forgiven and acceptable to God, so long as we accept His son. We cannot be good enough for God but Jesus is, so placing our life in Christ delivers us from the wrath of God which will come upon all those who reject Him. Before Jesus died on the cross, he said this:

“I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be  condemned; he has crossed over from death to life” (John 5:24).

The Bible speaks of a love-gift from God. That gift is forgiveness of all our sin and eternal life. You can dismiss it as being “fake”, “made up”, “stupid” or unfounded if you wish, but if you do you’re making the biggest mistake of your life: you are rejecting the hope of eternal life with the creator of all things.

AUTHENTICITY. Contrary to the common view on the street, as promoted by Hollywood and by certain authors, the gospel, the scriptures and the essential Christian doctrines were not all invented hundreds of years after the time of Christ’s life on earth. Lee Stroebel, with an MA in Law from Yale University, in his fantastic book, “The Case for Christ”, interviewed a number of believing scholars such as Cambridge educated Sir Norman Anderson. Anderson was a Professor at Harvard and lectured at Princeton. He was also the Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of London. Anderson said that Paul’s letter to the Corinthians can be confidently dated to around 55 AD (1).

Dr. Gary R Habermas, a New Testament historian, received his Ph D from Michigan State University and his DD from Emmanuel College, Oxford. In his book “The Historical Jesus”, Habermas discusses the creed quoted below as found in 1st Corinthians, and writes:

“That this confession (below) is an early Christian, pre-Pauline creed is recognized by virtually all critical scholars across a wide theological spectrum” (2).

THE GOSPEL. Here, then, is Paul’s first century definition of the gospel of Jesus Christ, which he had given his life to, despite all opposition and threats, having once been a persecutor of Christians:

“… what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve.  After that he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time… “Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also…” (1 Corinthians 15: 1 – 8).

A SUMMARY OF THE GOSPEL: 1/ Christ died for our sins, as prophesied in Old Testament Scriptures (we can be forgiven for all our sin because of Christ’s death on the cross).

2/ He was buried.

3/ He was raised from the dead on the third day.

4/ He appeared alive to his disciples after his resurrection.

HOW TO ACCEPT THE GOOD NEWS. In another letter Paul described the necessary steps to take advantage of this good news:

“… If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.  As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.”  ….”for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:8-13).

NOTES

1 Lee Stroebel “The Case For Christ” (Pub. By Zondervan, © 1998) p. 230.

2 Gary R Habermas “The Historical Jesus: Ancient Evidence for the Life of Christ” (College Press Publishing Company, Joplin, Missouri, © 1996 Gary Habermas) p 153.

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