What is the Gospel?

There has been much discussion in evangelical circles lately about how Christians should define the Gospel—whether the Gospel should be seen as solely the message that sinners can receive forgiveness for their sins through repentance and faith in the crucified Christ, or whether it is something broader.

This conversation has sometimes become tense, if not heated, with representatives of one camp claiming that the others are downplaying the Gospel, and those in turn responding that their accusers are actually watering down the Gospel and distracting the Church from its divine mission.

I think we can disentangle some of these misunderstandings by making a few careful observations. I believe there are two main camps in this debate:

1. those who claim that the Gospel is the good news that God reconciles sinners to Himself through the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus (let's call them "A"),
2. and those who believe that the Gospel is the good news that God is going to restore and transform the whole world through Christ ("B") —

are largely talking past each other. In other words, I don't think "A" and "B" answer the same question.

Of course, both camps claim to answer the question, «What is the Gospel?» and so there is a tension between the two different answers. But if we look closely, I think we will see that they are actually answering two very different and yet biblical questions.

These two questions are:

1. What is the Gospel? In other words, what message must a person believe in order to be saved?
2. What is the Gospel? In other words, what is the Good News of Christianity?

When a person from camp "A" hears the question "What is the Gospel?", he understands it as "what message must a person believe in order to be saved?" and answers it by telling about Christ's death in place of sinners and the call to repentance and faith.

When a person from Camp B hears the question, «What is the Gospel?» he understands it as «what is the Good News of Christianity?» and answers by speaking of God’s purpose to restore the world through Christ.

You can see why there is tension between the two. If you answer the first question by talking about the new creation, people will understandably say that your answer is too broad and that you are moving the cross from its central place. When people in Scripture asked the question, «What must I do to be saved?» the answer they received was to repent of their sins and believe in Jesus, not something about a future new creation.

However, it is also true that the Bible sometimes (even often) speaks of the «Gospel» in the context of the new creation. So, to answer question (2) by only speaking of Christ’s death in the place of sinners and to claim that everything else is by definition not the Gospel (but merely a consequence of it) is indeed too narrow an approach. It would be like saying that promises such as the resurrection of the body, the reconciliation of Jews and Gentiles, the new heavens and a new earth, and many others, are somehow not part of what the Bible offers as the «Good News» of Christianity.

What we need to understand is that neither of these two questions is wrong, and neither is more biblical than the other. The Bible asks and answers both of these questions. Let me now show from Scripture why I believe both of these questions are legitimate and biblical.

Two meanings of the word "Gospel"«

It seems to me that the Bible uses the word "Gospel" in two different but closely related meanings.

• Sometimes she uses «Gospel» in a very broad sense, that is, to describe all the promises that God intends to fulfill in Christ, including not only the forgiveness of sins but also everything that follows from that—the establishment of the Kingdom, the new heavens and new earth, and so on.
• There are other instances where she uses «Gospel» in a very narrow sense, that is, specifically describing the forgiveness of sins through the substitutionary death and resurrection of Christ. In these places, the broader promises seem less apparent.

Here are some of the clearest places, in my opinion, where the Bible uses the word «Gospel» in a narrow sense:

1. Acts 10:36-43: «He sent the word to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ. He is Lord of all, . . . To him all the prophets testify, that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name!» Peter says that the Gospel is «peace through Jesus Christ,» by which he means specifically the Good News of the forgiveness of sins.
2. Romans 1:16-17: «For I am not ashamed of the gospel [of Christ], for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes… For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith…» Paul defines the gospel in terms of «salvation» and the righteousness of God revealed through faith. His emphasis in Romans is not on the coming Kingdom, but on how to become a part of it (through justification). And he calls it «the gospel.».
3. 1 Corinthians 1:17-18: «For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel; and not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing…» The gospel that Paul was sent to preach is «the word of the cross.».
4. 1 Corinthians 15:1-5: «For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures…» The gospel that Paul preached and that was received was that «Christ died for our sins… [and] was raised again.» The constant references to the appearance of Christ are intended to establish the resurrection as a real and historical fact.

There are numerous places in the Bible where the term "Gospel" is used in a broad sense. Here are some of the clearest examples:

1. Matthew 4:23: «And [Jesus] went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every infirmity among the people.» This is the first mention of the word «gospel» in Matthew. The content of the «gospel of the kingdom» is: a) the kingdom has come, and b) those who repent can enter it («Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!», verse 17).
2. Mark 1:14-15: «Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel [of the kingdom of God], and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.» The «gospel of God» is the message that a) the kingdom is at hand, and b) those who repent and believe can enter it.
3. Luke 4:18: «The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor; he hath sent me [to heal the brokenhearted], to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised.» This is a passage from Isaiah 61, with which Jesus begins his public ministry.
4. Acts 13:32-33: «And we bring you good news that the promise made to the fathers, God has fulfilled it to us their children by raising up Jesus…» The good news is not only the forgiveness of sins (verse 38), but also «what God promised to the fathers he has fulfilled… by raising up Jesus.» God’s promises to the fathers, fulfilled in Jesus, included, but were not limited to, the forgiveness of sins.

So, by carefully analyzing the New Testament, we can see that the word "Gospel" is used in both a broad and a narrow sense.

• In its broadest sense (Matthew 4, Mark 1, Luke 4, and Acts 13), it refers to the entire complex of God’s promises that were made possible through the life and ministry of Christ—not only the forgiveness of sins, but also resurrection, reconciliation, sanctification, glorification, the coming Kingdom, the new heavens and the new earth. We might call this the Gospel of the Kingdom.
• In a narrow sense (Acts 10, Romans, 1 Corinthians 1, 15), the «Gospel» refers specifically to the redemptive death and resurrection of Jesus and the call for all people to repent and believe in Him. This could be called the Gospel of the Cross.

Relationship between two values

Now let me make two more things clear.

First, the broad use of the word "Gospel" necessarily includes the narrow one.

Jesus is not just proclaiming the beginning of the Kingdom. He is proclaiming the beginning of the Kingdom and the means of entering it. Jesus did not preach the Gospel by saying, «The Kingdom of Heaven has come!» He was proclaiming the Gospel by saying, «The Kingdom of Heaven has come. Therefore, repent and believe!».

This is the crucial point. To proclaim the coming of the Kingdom, the new creation, and other important aspects without telling how people can enter into it—through repentance and the forgiveness of sins through faith in Christ and His atoning death—is to preach the non-Gospel. It is to proclaim bad news, for you give people no hope that they can be included in this new creation.

Second, the New Testament calls the specific, narrow message of forgiveness of sins through Christ the "Gospel.".

Therefore, those who claim that «if you simply preach the forgiveness of sins through Christ, and not the purpose of God to transform the world, you are not preaching the Gospel» are mistaken. Both Paul and Peter seem quite content to say that they preached the «Gospel» if they told people about the forgiveness of sins through the substitutionary death of Jesus.

The Gospel of the Cross as the Gate to the Kingdom

How are the Gospel of the Kingdom and the Gospel of the Cross related? I have already argued that the Gospel of the Kingdom inevitably includes the Gospel of the Cross.

Is the Gospel of the Cross just a part of the Gospel of the Kingdom, or is it something more? Is it central, peripheral, core, or something else?

I believe that the Gospel of the Cross is not just any part of the Gospel of the Kingdom. Rather, the Gospel of the Cross is the gateway, the source, even the seed, if I may say so, of the Gospel of the Kingdom. Read the entire New Testament, and you will quickly realize that man cannot receive the full blessings of the Kingdom except through the forgiveness of sins through the death of Christ. This is the source from which all else flows.

I believe that is why it is entirely appropriate for the biblical writers to call this source «the Gospel,» even as they also call the whole complex—including forgiveness, justification, resurrection, new creation, and so on—«the Gospel.» Since the broad blessings of the Gospel are only obtained through the narrow (redemption, forgiveness, faith, and repentance), and since these blessings are inevitably obtained through the narrow, it is entirely appropriate for the New Testament writers to call this gate/seed/source promise «the Gospel.».

It is also quite appropriate for the New Testament to call this source «the Gospel,» without calling any other specific grace in the larger package «the Gospel.» So we do not call human reconciliation «the Gospel.» We do not even call the new heavens and new earth «the Gospel.» But we do call forgiveness through redemption «the Gospel,» because it is the source and gateway to everything else.

Important consequences

This has some important consequences.

First: Those who claim that the «Gospel» is merely the proclamation of the Kingdom are mistaken. The Gospel is (in a broad sense) the proclamation of the Kingdom together with the means of entering it.

Second: To claim that the Gospel of the Cross is somehow not the Gospel or is less than the Gospel is wrong. As long as the question is «what message must a person believe in order to be saved,» the Gospel of the Cross is the Gospel.

Third: To claim that the Gospel of the Kingdom is somehow a «Gospel Plus» or a diversion from the true Gospel is also wrong. As long as the question is «what is the Good News of Christianity,» the Gospel of the Kingdom is not a «Gospel Plus»; it is the Gospel.

Fourth, it is wrong to call a person a Christian simply because he does good works and «follows the example of Jesus.» To be a Christian, to be a partaker of the blessings of the Kingdom, one must first pass through the gate—that is, come to Christ in faith and be forgiven of sins and redeemed. In Pilgrim’s Progress, Bunyan tells the characters of Mr. Formalist and Mr. Hypocrite who jumped over the wall rather than pass through the Gate. To change the characters, we could say that Mr. Follower of Jesus and Mrs. Kingdom Living are not Christians unless they have come to the crucified Jesus in repentance and faith for the forgiveness of their sins.

Fifth: I believe it is wrong to ever say that unbelievers are doing «Kingdom work.» An unbeliever working for human reconciliation or justice is doing a good deed, but it is not «Kingdom work» because it is not done in the name of the King. C.S. Lewis was wrong: you cannot do good deeds in the name of Tasha and expect Aslan to be happy about it.

Sixth: The ultimate goal of any ministry of mercy—whether from an individual Christian or the Church—should be to point the world back to the gate. When you renovate a barbershop in the name of Jesus, for example, you need to tell the owner (to put it succinctly), «Look, I’m doing this because I serve a God who cares about things like beauty, order, and peace… God will one day remake this world and proclaim a Kingdom where paint won’t peel and trees won’t die. But [and here we come to the point] I don’t think you’ll be a part of it. Because of your sins. Unless you repent and believe in Christ.» And then you tell him the good news of the Cross. If you just renovate the premises and proclaim the coming Kingdom, you’re not getting the point across.

Seventh: I believe that many in the so-called «new church» have completely missed what is truly amazing about the Gospel. That Jesus is King and has proclaimed a Kingdom of love and compassion is not something extraordinary. Every Jew knew that this would happen someday. The real wonder is that the Messianic King dies to save his people; that the Divine Son of Man… The Davidic Messiah and the Suffering Servant of Isaiah are revealed to be the same person. This is how we connect the Gospel of the Kingdom and the Gospel of the Cross. Jesus is not just a King, but a Crucified King.

Eighth: The primary emphasis of evangelists, missionaries, and pastors in this age must be on the Gospel of the Cross—the source, the gateway to the broader Gospel of the Kingdom. For all else remains unreachable and, in fact, becomes bad news if we do not point the way. Moreover, God’s universal command to every person in the world is in effect today: «Repent and believe.» This is the primary obligation placed upon people in this age, and it must remain our primary emphasis in preaching.

[1] Jesus very clearly proclaims the Gospel of the Cross (for example, in Mark 10:45), even though in his recorded words he does not use the term «Gospel». More generally, while acknowledging the importance of examining the meaning of words, we should not tie the definition of Gospel or its identification in the text too closely to the occurrences of this word. Otherwise we would have to assume that the apostle John does not mention the Gospel at all, since in all his New Testament epistles he never uses the term.