“MOREOVER, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how 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:” (1Corinthians 15:1-4)
What is the Gospel and why is it important? We have heard many religious people proclaiming the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, but what is the Gospel according to the Scriptures?
We understand generally that the four Gospels are referred to the four books of the New Testament namely: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. We heard it being read by religious leaders every Masses or Church services.
But what is the Gospel? The Apostle Paul, writing to the Corinthian believers, said that he was declaring the Gospel to them, that through the Gospel which they received and stood for, they were saved if they truly believed in it.
Then he said that the Gospel or the Good News is about the Lord Jesus Christ who died on the cross for our sins; that he was buried but rose again from the dead the third day, and he said, this is according to the Scriptures.
So, to get a straight forward meaning of the Gospel, it is actually the Good News about Jesus Christ who died, was buried, and rose again in order to be our only Savior who paid for the penalty of our sins. It is the Good News because that Scripture also declares the Bad News that, “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God,” Romans 3:23), and “The wages of sin is death,” (Romans 6:23a).
So the Bad News is, all of us are sinners and the consequence is that we will die and be separated from God for all eternity. It is also Bad News if we keep telling people that they have to obey the law and to live a good life in order to go to heaven. We have already discussed that in my previous articles that we cannot pay for our sins to God by our good deeds or trying to obey the law because we all fall short of His glory.
So, the Bad News is we are going to spend eternity in the Lake of Fire if we don’t accept the gift of eternal life provided by God through Christ His Son.
The Gospel or Good News tells us that the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. That’s why I call Romans 6:23 as the Bad and the Good News. “For the wages of sin is death; (this is the Bad News), but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord, (this is the Good News),” Romans 6:23.
Paul wrote in Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” The Good News about what Christ did is the power of God unto salvation means that the only way that we can be saved and be with God forever is to believe in the Death, Burial, and Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.
“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” Romans 10:9. You can read the whole chapter of 1 Corinthians 15 if you want to know more about the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, and what Good News it is that if we believe this truth, we will also be resurrected one day and will have a glorified body patterned to that of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15 tells us about the hope of resurrection which is the whole matter of the Gospel!
We Filipinos consider the Holy Week as a very important event because every year we remember it and others even go to the extent of doing it by dramatizing the Crucifixion of Christ and allowing themselves to be beaten and be tied on the wooden cross (some being nailed using sterilized nails) thinking that they give honor to God.
It would be best if we just believe that Christ did it for us and not undergo such sacrifice that God will not even accept, because the only sacrifice that God will accept as payment for our sins was the sacrifice of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, at the cross of Calvary.
The Prophet Isaiah wrote regarding the death of our Lord Jesus Christ, “Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities,” (Isaiah 53:10-11). “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all,” (Isaiah 53:6).
The writer of Hebrews wrote, “By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” (Hebrews 10:10).
So, the Gospel or the Good News is about the Lord Jesus Christ. It is Good News that even though we are all condemned to Hell because of our sins, God sent His only begotten Son to die at the cruel cross of Calvary to pay for all our sins. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life,” (John 3:16).
Let us therefore remember that there is only one Gospel. Paul warned the Galatian believers about the consequence of those who propagate the perverted version of the Gospel, for he said that there is no such thing as another Gospel. If there is, then it is the perversion of the Gospel, and the consequence is that those who propagate it will be accursed.
“I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.” (Galatians 1:6-9).
Friends, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. This is the real Gospel. “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” (Romans 10:9).
God bless you.
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Pastor Pedro Etabag is the regional director of Lifeword-Asia Pacific and senior pastor of Tangub Missionary Baptist Church in Bacolod City.