Now that we understand what the gospel is (https://oneforthegospel.org/the-definition-of-the-gospel/), some may wonder, “Where did the gospel come from?” Or someone may assume that since the gospel is first mentioned in the Book of Matthew, the first book of the New Testament, it must be a New Testament concept. However, that is not true. The gospel, which was revealed in the New Testament, was promised and foretold by the prophets of the Old Testament (Rom. 1:2). It is not something completely new God introduced at the time of Jesus. Certain aspects of the gospel have been kept hidden for ages (Rom. 16:25), but it has always been God’s plan for the salvation of humanity. Therefore, the basis of the gospel is God, who demonstrated His power by raising Jesus from the dead.
The God who brought Jesus back to life is also the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who sent prophets to His people with a promise of salvation. He is holy, perfectly righteous, and completely just. His holy nature created a big problem because of our lack of holiness, righteousness, and justice. How can a holy God permit sinful people who are unholy to come into His presence in His kingdom? How can a God of justice and righteousness allow the unjust and unrighteous to be free from punishment at the judgment? Because of our sins, at the end of life on earth, we were going to be cast away from God’s presence into everlasting punishment.
This is the part where the good news comes in. To save humanity from sin and death, God sent His son Jesus into the world. Jesus was born of the virgin Mary and was unstained of sin (yes, the virgin birth matters). Being fully God and fully man (yes, who Jesus is matters), Jesus lived a spotless, blameless, righteous life on our behalf. Jesus, the Lamb of God, was the perfect offering to meet God’s perfect Law and righteousness. God laid all our iniquities on Jesus, and He, who was sinless, became sin and died for sins once and for all. Jesus redeemed us from the curse by taking on the curse Himself. Jesus bore our sins in His body on the cross, suffered and died in our place, and on the third day, rose again to satisfy the righteousness of God and give us the hope of eternal life. God provided the way to salvation through His own sacrifice. While it was very costly for God, He gave the gift, the good news, to humanity in the name of Jesus Christ.
Hence, the gospel is God’s message. Apostle Paul proclaims that the gospel is God’s power and salvation to everyone who believes (Romans 1:16). The gospel is not of human invention, nor is our salvation something we can achieve ourselves. God alone is the source of this glorious message of salvation. Because it is God’s message, and it is His power for salvation, we are not to alter or water down the gospel. For this reason, the apostle Paul wrote in Galatians 1:6-10 for Christians to uphold the integrity of the gospel. Because of the great magnitude of the gospel, the apostle proclaimed, “If any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!” (Gal. 1:9).
James Kim currently serves as a pastor/elder at House to House Memphis in Memphis, Tennessee. He holds a Master of Arts in Biblical Studies (MABS) from Bob Jones University Seminary and is a doctoral student (DMIN in Theology and Apologetics) at Liberty University’s John W. Rawlings School of Divinity. He is married to his amazing wife Mina and is the father of five wonderful children.
