In many of our churches there is a particular time when
the Gospel is read. The people typically
stand and the Bible is open and the Gospel is read. However, what is actually read are some
verses from one of the four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke or John.
If people are asked, ‘what is the Gospel?’ there would undoubtedly be many different
answers. I know that for a long time I
would reply that the Gospel is the “good news” as I had learned that the word
gospel was in fact a translation of the Greek word for ‘good news’.
However, "What is the Gospel" is an all-important question and the reason
I’m mentioning it is not to criticize any particular answer, as there are many
‘right’ answers to the question, but to remind us all that it is the Gospel
that is the essential truth that actually unites all believers as the Body of
Christ.
Paul tells us what the Gospel is
The Apostle Paul wrote to the Christians in Corinth in
response to what appears to have been a number of questions that they had
regarding not only beliefs but practices and the structure of the church. In his first letter to these Christians at
Corinth he defines the actual gospel that he had preached to them as well as
well of all the other churches that he founded:
Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. (1 Corinthians 15: 1-6)
The Apostle Paul recounts the essential truths that he
identifies as the Gospel: Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures had
foretold, he was buried and then rose on the third day also as the Scriptures
had foretold.
This gospel truth is fortified when Paul talks about the
witnesses of these events; that the apostles had seen the risen Christ but also
there was five hundred at one time.
Development of our Creeds
The early church took these truths, encapsulated and developed them
in what we know now as the Nicene Creed and also the Apostles Creed. These Creeds contain these essential truths
that to this day are the identifying marks of a disciple of Jesus Christ.
When we embrace these truths, this Gospel that the
Apostle Paul recounts, we not only experience unity within the diverse Body of
Christ but we also experience revival.
Preach the Gospel, live the Gospel, share the
Gospel.
