Gospel

The gospel is not an invitation to a better life. It is the announcement of what God has done in Christ for sinners who deserve judgment. Paul defines it precisely in 1 Corinthians 15: “that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.” The gospel is a declaration of historical events with eternal consequences.

The word “gospel” means good news, and the news is specific: God the Son became man, lived a perfect life under the Law, died as a substitute for sinners, bearing the judgment they deserved, and rose bodily from the dead, defeating death and securing the redemption of all who trust in him. This is not a message that flatters mankind; it presupposes that mankind is guilty, under God’s judgment, and incapable of saving itself. The good news is good precisely because the situation without it is dire.

The gospel is not a New Testament novelty. Paul argues in Romans 1 that it was announced beforehand to Abraham. The sacrificial system, the Passover, the priesthood, the temple: all of it pointed forward to Christ. The whole Old Testament is moving toward the cross and resurrection as its necessary destination. The articles below engage with the gospel directly, tracing both the content of the good news and the passages that anticipate it.