Daily Good News – The Gospel Defined

Jul 2, 2015 1571

 

“Therefore, brothers and sisters, know this: Through Jesus we proclaim forgiveness of sins to you. From all those sins from which you couldn’t be put in right relationship with God through Moses’ Law, through Jesus everyone who believes is put in right relationship with God” (Acts 13:38, 39).

In this passage, we find a definition of the Gospel by the apostle Paul, the greatest theologian of Christianity, and a divinely inspired theologian no less. People argue here and there about what the Gospel is. If those discussions were based on the New Testament, there would be no question to be debated. Here is one of the many clear definitions of the Gospel. The Gospel is the proclamation of the forgiveness of sin, so that through the death and resurrection of Jesus, everyone who believes is put in a right relationship with God.

This is not part of the Gospel; it is not a summary of the Gospel; it is not a cut-down Gospel. It is the Gospel.

Everywhere in the world today, the Gospel has been replaced by other things. Our contemporary world has replaced the Gospel with self-centred living, materialism, science, fantasy, loneliness, and alienation. The Christian world has also replaced the Gospel.

For some Christians the Gospel is far too simple, and needs to be augmented, supplemented, and covered up by all kinds of doctrinal stipulations. Many of them are good, but they are not the Gospel. For some Christians the Gospel is far too complicated, and needs to be replaced by simplistic feel-good slogans that mean little, and lack power. The world needs to rediscover the Scriptural, apostolic Gospel.

 

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