The Gospel

1 Timothy 1:11 says that we have been entrusted with "the gospel of glory of the blessed God." We have the gospel of glory and yet false teachers are continually trying to distort the gospel. Even evangelicals are guilty more and more of adding to or subtracting from the gospel. So what is the gospel. Well many definitions have been offered but here are some that I have read recently which are comprehensive and right on target!

“What is the gospel? That man is a sinner of such depth and profundity that he cannot redeem himself. But Jesus Christ—God in human flesh—came into the world, died on a cross, was raised the third day for our justification, and through faith in Him and by the grace of God we can be forgiven of our sins. Thus to rightly define the law is part of that gospel. Initially, the good news is bad. The gospel says man is a sinner: he is lost without Christ, his sin is unforgiven, which damns him forever in an eternal hell."—John Macarthur

“The gospel is the good news of God’s saving activity in the person and work of Christ. This includes his incarnation in which he took to himself full (yet sinless) human nature; his sinless life which fulfilled the perfect law of God; his substitutionary death which paid the penalty for man’s sin and satisfied the righteous wrath of God; his resurrection demonstrating God’s satisfaction with his sacrifice; and his glorification and ascension to the right hand of the Father where he now reigns and intercedes for the church.

“Such news is specific: there is a defined ‘thatness’ to the gospel which sets forth the content of both our saving faith and our proclamation. It is objective, and not to be confused with our response. It is sufficient: we can add nothing to what Christ has accomplished for us—it falls to us simply to believe this news, turning from our sins and receiving by faith all that God has done for us in Christ.” —Jeff Purswell

"I would define the Gospel as the good news that God saves sinners through the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ [1 Cor. 15:3-4]. This good news tells us that we are sinners, who deserve only death and cannot save ourselves. The Gospel points to the cross of Christ as the propitiation for our sins, the substitutionary sacrifice for our transgressions [Romans 3:21-26] and to the empty tomb as the promise of our resurrection unto eternal life [1 Cor. 15]. This Gospel is God’s gift, as is the faith that justifies sinners. Salvation is all of grace, so that no sinner can boast of his salvation. Saving faith is made visible in those who confess with their lips that Jesus Christ is Lord and believe in their hearts that God raised Him from the dead [Romans 10:9]".—Mohler

How important it is that we get the gospel right!