What is the Gospel

So for my Impact camp, one of our main goals is to ensure that every freshmen coming into Texas A&M knows the Gospel, and I came to realize that many of the freshmen(and a surprising number of Christians in general) don't know the story of what God did for us by sending his Son to die on the cross for us. As a camp, we were assigned a project: each counselor is to describe the Gospel by finding Bible verses for each aspect of the Gospel and briefly describe each verse to show its significance. So that is what this post will be today, my Gospel assignment. But my list is by no means the only way to understand the Gospel, rather mine is more elaborate and descriptive, and so I will include several other examples of the Gospel in Bible that are shorter and easier to remember and pull out at a moment's notice.

So first, this is what I have found to describe the Gospel:

• 2 Peter 1:20-21 – “Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophets own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”
  • Before anything, we must accept the word of God as true and reliable, that the Gospel we hear and preach is exactly as God designed it.
• Mark 10:6 – “But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female.”
  • God created Adam and Eve, and everything in this world.
• Romans 5:12 – “Therefore just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all the people, because all sinned—“
  • Adam and Eve were the first to sin, bringing sin into this world. The punishment for sin is death, and everyone has sinned.
• Isaiah 59:2 – “But your inequities have separated; Your sins have hidden his face from you; so that he will not hear.”
  • Sin permanently separates us from God.
• James 1:15 – “Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full grown, gives birth to death.”
  • Sin is death, and nothing less. By ourselves, it is ridiculously easy for us to sin and not even realize that it is killing us.
• Matthew 1:21 – “She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
  • God sent his son Jesus to this earth to rescue us from the pain of death.
• Romans 5:8 - "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
  • God loves us so much that he sent his own son to die for our failures.
• Hebrews 4:15 – “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who was in every way tempted, just as we were—yet he did not sin.”
  • Jesus was fully man, but he never sinned.
• Colossians 1:19-20 – “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on this earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”
  • Jesus is fully God, and fully man. By his living a sinless life and dying for our sins on the cross, we have been reconciled to God rather than permanently separated.
• 1 Corinthians 15:14 – “And if Christ had not been raised, our preaching is useless, and so is your faith.”
  • Jesus defeated sin and rose from the dead victorious. Because Jesus overcame death, he overcame Satan, and by his sacrifice we are now able to defeat death and enter the kingdom of Heaven to join him.
• Romans 3:28-30 – “For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, sin there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith.”
  • The gift of Heaven is free to everyone; no one is without the hope of salvation, because everyone is justified freely.
• Romans 10:9 – _“If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”
  • Salvation is as simple as believing with your whole heart that Jesus died for our sins and rose again. Our sins are forgiven, we are justified, and we are saved from Hell solely by faith in Jesus Christ.
• Galatians 2:19-21 – “For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing.”
  • It is by living according to the Law, God’s Word, that we came to know how to live for God. We are not simply changed people, but we are reborn again in Christ with Christ in us, and we have the desire to follow the law. But we also know that following the law does not save us from death, only Jesus, who loves us enough to die for us, can save us from death.
• Galatians 5:13 – “You my brothers and sisters were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.”
  • We may be forgiven for our sins, but that doesn’t mean we should keep on sinning. We have been raised again in Christ to live like Christ, by being a humble servant and by not living for the sinful pleasures of this world.
• Matthew 24:36, 44 – “³⁶ But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father… ⁴⁴ So you must also be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”
  • Jesus is coming back to save all who believe in him, and to punish everyone who does not. Therefore we must always be ready. Do not delay in knowing Christ, because we may never get another day to believe, and why would you ever want to delay knowing the best gift that has ever been given to us?
• Leviticus 11:45 – “Be holy, because I am holy.”
  • So in order to prepare ourselves for Jesus’ return, simply be holy.

This is called the Roman Road to Salvation. It consists of short verses from the book of Romans that is easy to memorize and describes the Gospel very succinctly:

• Romans 3:23 - "For all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God."
• Romans 6:23a - "For the wages of sin is death."
• Romans 3:10 - "There is no one righteous, not even one."
• Romans 5:8 - "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
• Romans 6:23b - "but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
• Romans 10:9 - _“If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”
• Romans 8:1-2 - "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Jesus Christ, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death."

And lastly, this is a passage from Colossians that is a bit longer, but is just a single place. This is good to memorize which verse it is and is easy to find for reference when sharing the Gospel.

• Colossians 1:15-23 - The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

So whether you know God or not, have a relationship with Jesus or not, it is my prayer that these will help you understand what Jesus has done for us, and the significance of this coming Easter Sunday when he rose from the dead victorious. To Him be all glory.