A lot is being said today about just what is contained in the gospel. This study is to help the Bible student better understand what the Scriptures say on this subject.
There is a growing movement in the religious world to define the gospel as simply the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ and to use I Cor. 15:1-4 as the supporting documentation. The reason that many in denominationalism have taken this position and the reason that many untaught members of the church have readily accepted it is because of the desire to have open “fellowship” with people of divergent positions on varying issues of doctrine. By accepting this position as accurate many dismiss doctrine concerning issues of worship, morality, and other such subjects as unimportant and certainly not issues of division. Thus the “unity in diversity” theory (perhaps I should refer to it as the unity in diversity heresy – rw) is promoted as viable and acceptable within the confines of the church. Nothing could be further from the truth as we soon shall see.
As an observation, if one should accept the premise that the gospel includes only the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ then one eliminates the following from the gospel: the virgin birth, the sinless life of Christ, the deity and lordship of Christ, the sonship of Christ, the need of repentance, confession, baptism, Godly living, good works, sacrifice, worship, and the list goes on ad infinitum. This observation alone shows the absurdity of this position. Certainly such a position is not based in Scripture.
The Greek word translated gospel is used around 100 times in the new testament. The following is a lexical study of this word.
euaggelizo – means to announce good news. This word is a combination of two other words which create the word gospel. These two words are: eu – meaning good or well, and aggelos – meaning a messenger or an angel.
A similar form of this word we need to consider is as follows: euaggelion – meaning a good message or the gospel.
A third word is used in reference to Abraham (Gal. 3:8) and is as follows: proeuaggelizomai – to announce good news in advance. This word comes from a combination of two words. They are: pro – meaning prior or in front of, and euaggelizo – meaning to announce good news.
The following is simply a listing of some of the parts of the gospel to demonstrate that it includes more than simply the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.
Prophesy
In Abraham all the nations of the world would be blessed(Gen. 12:3, Gal. 3:8)
The life and work of John the Baptist(Mal. 4:5-6, Luke 1:17-19, Is. 40:3, Mark 1:1-3)
The specific time Christ was to come(Dan. 9:25, Mark 1:14-15, Gal. 4:4)
The start and purpose of Christ’s ministry(Is. 61:1-2, Luke 4:16-21)
Jesus’ Birth
(Luke 2:8-14)
The Apostles’ Sermons
(Mark 16:15-16, Acts 2:14-36, 37-40, Acts 8:25, 35-37)
The End of the Law
(Gal. 1:6-12, Gal. 2:11-14, 16)
Judgment
(Rom. 2:16, II Cor. 5:10)
How We Live
By faith (Rom. 1:15-17)
By the word (Rom. 10:13-17, I Pet. 1:22-25)
Conversation (conduct) (Phil. 1:23-30, I Tim. 1:9-11, II Tim. 1:8)
This brief listing should document conclusively that there is much more to the gospel than just the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.
“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.”
Mark 16:15-16
“And Jesus said and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe al things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”
Matthew 28:18-20.
In these two parallel passages we find that the gospel is equated to teaching, both before and after the act of baptizing, all things that Christ had commanded. The gospel, then, includes the entire new covenant with Christ.
“I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
There are several interesting things found in this passage, particularly in the use of the term ‘another’ found in verses six and seven. Actually there are two separate and distinct words in this text, each translated “another” but each having shades of difference in meaning from the other. They are: heteron – another of a different kind, and allo – another of the same kind (a simple distinction between individual things).
This difference makes our text actually say “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel of a different kind (heteros) which is not another of the same kind (allos).” Now the question arises as to what they had done to the gospel that was so terrible that it was perverted into a totally different gospel, not even resembling the true gospel of Christ. Did they pervert the teachings of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ? No they did not! What they did was to rely on part of the old law and try to add it to the new (Either the reliance on the law generally – Gal. 2:11-14, 16 or the reliance on circumcision specifically – Gal. 2:1-5). This one corruption changed the gospel totally into something perverted and unacceptable.
This section of our study is not intended to be exhaustive nor will every supporting citation be included. But ample documentation will be presented to sustain our point of inquiry.
The Bible is the culmination of all of the efforts of God to redeem mankind from sin. This is the purpose of the word, to save humanity. Consider the following:
All scripture is given by God:
to make man perfect – II Tim. 3:16-17
to guide man – Psalm 119:105
for our learning – Rom. 15:4
to testify of Christ – John 5:39
to bring us to Christ – Gal. 3:23-25.
It was Jesus, himself, that taught the gospel from the law, the psalms, and the prophets (Luke 24:44-49).
While we are not under the old covenant, it still is part of God’s redemptive plan and, therefore, part of the good news (gospel) concerning redemption. All of God’s word from Gen. 1:1 to Rev. 22:21 is designed and recorded to bring about man’s redemption. The Bible in its entirety is truly the good news from God.