The depth of the Gospel

Gospel. We use that word quite often, at least in our Christian circles, but, have you ever wondered just exactly what the Gospel is? At first, that might sound like a silly question, but let’s look deeper.

Many of us know that Gospel means, “Good News.” Thanks to the great commission, we know that we are to spread the Gospel to all nations. (My women’s Bible study is studying Roman’s . . . for the next two years. You can expect to see a number of posts based on what I’m learning form Romans.)

Let’s look at Romans chapter one and see if we can get a grasp on what it is we are supposed to share.

Romans 1:1-4

“Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, ^[a]called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, ²which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, ³concerning His Son, who was born of a ^[b]descendant of David according to the flesh, ⁴who was declared the Son of God with power ^[c]by the resurrection from the dead, according to the ^[d]Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord,”

Here is a list of things that Romans 1:1-4 tells us about the Gospel:

· Paul says that he is set apart for it

· He refers to it as “the gospel of God”

· It was promised through the prophets

· It concerns God’s Son who is described as a descendant of David according to the flesh and was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead

Verse 9a ^“For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son,”

· Paul serves God in his spirit by preaching the gospel of God’s Son, so the gospel is both God the fathers and God the Sons.

Verses 15-16 “So, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

¹⁶For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”

· Paul is eager to preach the gospel to the Romans, and he is not ashamed of it because:

· It is the power of God for salvation

How do we receive salvation? By believing.

Who can receive salvation? First to the Jew and then to the Greek (or nations)

Now let’s look at 1 Cor. 15:1-8

“Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, ²by which also you are saved, if you hold fast ^[a]the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.

³For I delivered to you ^[b]as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, ⁴and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, ⁵and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. ⁶After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; ⁷then He appeared to ^[c]James, then to all the apostles; ⁸and last of all, as ^[d]to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.”

· Paul preached it

· you received it

· you also stand in it

· By it you were saved

· It is of first importance

Here it is: The Gospel v. 3-4 This is what we believe. (Rom. 1:16)

Christ died for our sins, He was buried and He was raised on the third day! Can I get an AMEN?

How do we know he was raised from the dead?

· He appeared to Cephas

· He appeared to the twelve (Apostles)

· He appeared to more than five hundred people, most of whom are still alive and will bear witness to it (Romans was written about 58 AD, about twenty years after Jesus’ resurrection.)

That’s it. That is the gospel. In a nut shell. Are we eager to preach it like Paul was? Perhaps we’re terrified. We might even fumble our words, wring our hands and break into a cold sweat. Hopefully this explanation will help us be more confident as we share the gospel that is so simple, yet so deep.