What is the gospel? By Kevin Rogers
March 16, 2024
When I was a young Christian (in my teens), I thought I knew what the gospel was. It was an explanation of how a person became a Christian. I joined a church youth group, and we explained the gospel to people on Rundle Street using a booklet containing the 4 spiritual laws:
- God loves you and offers a wonderful plan for your life,
- Man is sinful and separated from God,
- Jesus Christ is God’s only provision for man’s sin, and
- We must individually receive Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord to be saved.
Eventually, I suspected this definition was simplistic and so I went back to reading the Bible to find out what it said about what the gospel was.
So, I did a word search on ‘gospel’, especially in the 4 gospels. I found this approach to be frustrating. There are numerous mentions of Jesus preaching the gospel in the 4 gospels, but the meaning seemed to be assumed rather than defined. Try it yourself and you will see what I mean. However, others have asked the same question as me and there are good answers. The gospel includes how a person becomes a Christian, but there is much more. It also describes how we live in this world and what is our ultimate aim and destiny. It is very important.
The presentation can be viewed on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxBwxlrMN9U&t=2805s
Kevin Rogers is the director of Reasonable Faith Adelaide. He was a practising electrical engineer and then became a lecturer, researcher, and research supervisor at the University of South Australia. He is now mostly retired but continues with part-time research. He is also learning New Testament Greek, attends Ingle Farm Baptist Church and is blessed with a wife, 4 children and 8 grandchildren.
