{"id":36344,"date":"2014-07-25T05:00:42","date_gmt":"2014-07-25T13:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/?p=36344"},"modified":"2017-06-09T18:29:30","modified_gmt":"2017-06-10T01:29:30","slug":"what-is-the-gospel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/what-is-the-gospel\/","title":{"rendered":"What is the Gospel?"},"content":{"rendered":"

You don’t have to believe the entire gospel to receive eternal life. And even if you believed in the gospel, you might not be saved.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Do such statements shock you?<\/p>\n

They should\u2014especially if you hold to one of the traditional (yet not so biblical) definitions for the words \u201cgospel\u201d and \u201csaved.\u201d<\/p>\n

When most people today hear the sentence \u201cYou must believe the gospel to be saved\u201d what actually goes through their mind is this: \u201cHere are the things you must believe in order to go to heaven when you die\u201d (And of course, everyone has a different idea about what we must believe).<\/p>\n

So people are often shocked to learn that the biblical word \u201cgospel\u201d (Gk., euangelion<\/em>) means way more than what a person need to believe to receive eternal life. Similarly, the biblical word for \u201csalvation\u201d (Gk., s\u014dteria<\/em>) has very little to do with going to heaven when you die.<\/p>\n

To see what each word means, we will look at the word \u201cgospel\u201d in the next couple posts,\u00a0and the word \u201csalvation\u201d in a few posts after that.<\/p>\n

\"what<\/p>\n

The Definition of “Gospel”<\/h2>\n

The word \u201cgospel\u201d means \u201cgood news.\u201d<\/p>\n

And although “gospel” almost universally today refers to good news about forgiveness of sin and the offer of eternal life through Jesus Christ, the word itself carries no such connotations.<\/p>\n

In ancient and biblical times,<\/strong> the word is often used regarding things like children who recovered from sickness, a battle which was won, or a successful trading voyage (See my article on the gospel<\/a> where I document this in more detail).<\/p>\n

Just as the words \u201cgood news\u201d can refer to almost any sort of happy event or positive outcome today, so also, the words\u00a0“good news” or “gospel” could refer to almost anything good in biblical times as well.<\/p>\n

In the New Testament itself,<\/strong> though, the phrase “good news” or “gospel” has a more focused meaning.<\/p>\n

\"gospelThough it can sometimes refer simply to an encouraging message (1 Thess 3:6), and Jesus often used the term to describe the coming of the Kingdom of God (cf. Matt 4:23; 9:35), Paul is the one who used the word in his writings, and he uses the word most often in reference to describe the complete chain of events regarding what God has done for sinful humanity through Jesus Christ to provide eternal life for them.<\/p>\n

And when I write \u201cthe complete chain of events\u201d I mean the complete chain, <\/em>beginning with God eternal love for humanity, including the creation of mankind and their subsequent fall, and going through God\u2019s calling of Israel, His work through them during their checkered history, the birth, life, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus, and looking forward to the return of Jesus and the new heavens, the new earth, and our eternal existence with God. The biblical \u201cgospel\u201d includes all <\/em>of this. Every bit. <\/p>\n

While the term gospel <\/em>is a non-technical term for any good news, the NT usage seems to define it as good news for everybody, whether Jew or Gentile, believer or unbeliever, regarding the benefits and blessings which come to us from the person and work of Jesus Christ. It includes everything from \u201cthe eschatological expectation, the proclamation of the [kingdom of God] … the introduction of the Gentiles into salvation history, [and] the rejection of the ordinary religion of cult and Law.\u201d This gospel contains everything related to the person and work of Jesus Christ, including all of the events leading up to His birth, and all the ramifications from Christ\u2019s life, death, and resurrection for unbelievers and believers. (see p. 50 of my article on the gospel<\/a>).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So what is the gospel? It is everything<\/em> about Jesus.<\/p>\n

So do you see why you don’t have to believe “the gospel” to receive eternal life? The reason is because you cannot believe everything about Jesus. It’s impossible to know<\/em> everything about Jesus, let alone believe<\/em> everything (we will talk about Mark 1:15 in a later post). To receive eternal life, you simply believe in Jesus for it (John 3:16; 5:24; 6:47, etc.). This is a truth within the gospel, but is not itself “the gospel.”<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>Want to learn more about the gospel?<\/strong> Take my new course, \"The Gospel According to Scripture.\"<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n

The entire course is free for those who join my online Discipleship group here on RedeemingGod.com<\/a>. I can't wait to see you inside the course!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You don’t have to believe the entire gospel to receive eternal life. This is because the gospel is a lot more than what people think. So much more, it is impossible to believe the entire gospel. Since the gospel is everything related to the person and work of Jesus Christ – EVERYTHING – it is impossible to know or believe the entire gospel. Thankfully, eternal life depends only on believing in Jesus. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":36348,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2296],"tags":[14,1534,1246,1242,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-36344","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-z","8":"tag-books-by-jeremy-myers","9":"tag-calvinism","10":"tag-eternal-life","11":"tag-gospel","12":"tag-theology-salvation","13":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nWhat is the Gospel?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The gospel is a lot more than what people think. 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