The word Gospel* means good news, and we’ve got the best news of all: Jesus Christ has conquered sin, death, Hell, and the grave, and we can live forever with Him. That's good news. When you have good news, you tell it. Paul told it:
For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: 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. (1 Corinthians 15:3-4)
The bad news is “our sins.” Sin is a clinched fist in the face of God, who said,
For the wages of sin is death. (Romans 6:23)
The soul who sins shall die. (Ezekiel 18:20)
Through one man, sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned (Romans 5:12).
If you say, “I’ve only sinned just a little,” the Bible replies, “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:10). How many of the Ten Commandments do you have to break to be a sinner? Just one.
The problem is not what we do but what we are. These things come out of the heart (Proverbs 4:23; Matthew 15:18). When the Holy Spirit convicts you of sin, you understand you need a Savior.
The Gospel’s Source
God’s good news comes from the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Sin Brings a Penalty We Must Pay
If God knowingly overlooked sin, He would no longer be holy. But the good news is, Jesus died as full payment for our sin. That wasn’t an after-thought—it was planned “according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3). Seven hundred years before Christ was born, Isaiah wrote, “All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way. And the Lord has laid on Him [on Messiah] the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6).
Our sins were laid upon Jesus, who paid for them on the cross.
Sin Brings Pollution
When Jesus was buried, the pollution of sin was buried with Him in the grave of God's forgetfulness. When you accept Him as your Savior, God not only pardons you from the penalty of sin, He cleanses you on the inside. The old person you used to be is dead and buried (Romans 6:4).
Sin Has Power
But Satan’s power over you was broken when Jesus was raised by God the Father, triumphant over sin, death, Hell, and the grave. His resurrection was God's stamp of approval on His life (Romans 1:4). He is now and will always be risen.
The Gospel’s Force
It Saves
There's no way to be saved apart from the Gospel, "for it is the power of God to salvation” (Romans 1:16). “There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
It Sanctifies
The Gospel saves us in this present day from the penalty and power of sin, and one day when we’re in Heaven, we’ll be saved even from the presence of sin.
It Stabilizes
Once we’re saved, we can never lose it. That’s glorious news. The Gospel is a stabilizing force “in which you stand” (1 Corinthians 15:1). When you get saved, you don't keep Him—He keeps you (Romans 14:4).
The Gospel’s Course
The Gospel runs a course extending to every person. Anyone, any place, anywhere on Earth, no matter what you’ve done—murderer, adulterer, whoever—He will save you if you’ll trust Him (Romans 10:13).
You will never be done with Jesus. You can refuse Him, and if you do, you'll rise in the judgment of the damned, and there sitting on the throne will be Jesus Christ.
No other plan or way, apart from the Gospel, can answer our problem of sin, sorrow, and death. The Good News of the Gospel is that Jesus Christ has conquered death, Hell, and the grave. Every problem you have is answered in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
*The word Gospel when used with a capital “G” comes from the Old English term god meaning "good" and spel meaning "news, a story." In Christianity, the term good news refers to the story of Jesus Christ's birth, death, and resurrection as recorded in the first four books of the New Testament. When used more generally with a lower case “g” the word gospel means “an unquestionable truth.” SOURCE: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/gospel.
