What Is the Gospel?

What is the Gospel? A Biblical Explanation of the Good News

The good news of the Gospel is that Jesus lived a life of perfect righteousness, of perfect obedience to God, not for His own well being but for His people. He has done for me what I couldn’t possibly do for myself. But not only has He lived that life of perfect obedience, He offered Himself as a perfect sacrifice to satisfy the justice and the righteousness of God.
RC Sproul

The gospel is the good news about what Jesus Christ has done to reconcile sinners to God. Here’s the whole story:

Quick Answer

The Gospel, as presented by Westminster Presbyterian Church, is the good news of what Jesus Christ has done to reconcile sinners to God. It proclaims that Jesus lived a perfectly righteous life, offered himself as a perfect sacrifice to satisfy God's justice for sins, and rose from the dead, demonstrating God's acceptance of his sacrifice. Through these actions, Jesus established his kingdom and calls people to repent of their sins and trust in him alone for forgiveness, leading to new and eternal life with God.

  1. The one and only God, who is holy, made us in his image to know him (Gen. 1:26-28).
  2. But we sinned and cut ourselves off from him (Gen. 3; Rom. 3:23).
  3. In his great love, God sent his Son Jesus to come as king and rescue his people from their enemies—most significantly their own sin (Ps. 2; Luke 1:67-79).
  4. Jesus established his kingdom by acting as both a mediating priest and a priestly sacrifice—he lived a perfect life and died on the cross, thus fulfilling the law himself and taking on himself the punishment for the sins of many (Mark 10:45; John 1:14; Heb. 7:26; Rom. 3:21-26, 5:12-21); then he rose again from the dead, showing that God accepted his sacrifice and that God’s wrath against us had been exhausted (Acts 2:24, Rom. 4:25).
  5. He now calls us to repent of our sins and trust in Christ alone for our forgiveness (Acts 17:30, John 1:12). If we repent of our sins and trust in Christ, we are born again into a new life, an eternal life with God (John 3:16). We believe the Holy Spirit draws sinners to Christ, gives saving faith and repentance, and instructs us and equips us to live lives of obedience to the Lord within the fellowship of his people, the church (John 3:8; Tit 3:5; 1 Cor 2:10-14; Gal 5:16; Eph. 4).

Now that’s good news.

A good way to summarize this good news is to biblically unpack the words God, Man, Christ, Response.

  1. God. God is the creator of all things (Gen. 1:1). He is perfectly holy, worthy of all worship, and will punish sin (1 John 1:5, Rev. 4:11, Rom. 2:5-8).
  2. Man. All people, though created good, have become sinful by nature (Gen. 1:26-28, Ps. 51:5, Rom. 3:23). From birth, all people are alienated from God, hostile to God, and subject to the wrath of God (Eph. 2:1-3).
  3. Christ. Jesus Christ, who is fully God and fully man, lived a sinless life, died on the cross to bear God’s wrath in the place of all who would believe in him, and rose from the grave in order to give his people eternal life (John 1:1, 1 Tim. 2:5, Heb. 7:26, Rom. 3:21-26, 2 Cor. 5:21, 1 Cor. 15:20-22).
  4. Response. God calls everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and trust in Christ in order to be saved. He calls us to live this life of trust, discipleship, and ongoing growth within the context of a fellowship of other Christians, the church (Mark 1:15, Acts 20:21, Rom. 10:9-10; Eph. 4).

Frequently Asked Questions

1 What is the Gospel?

The Gospel is the good news about what Jesus Christ has done to reconcile sinners to God. It proclaims that Jesus lived a life of perfect obedience, offered Himself as a perfect sacrifice for sins, and rose again from the dead, showing God accepted His sacrifice.

2 Why do I need the Gospel?

All people have sinned and cut themselves off from God, becoming alienated and subject to His wrath. The Gospel explains that Jesus Christ bore God's wrath in the place of all who believe in Him, providing the only way to be reconciled to God and receive forgiveness.

3 How do I respond to the Gospel?

God calls everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and trust in Christ alone for their forgiveness. If you repent and trust in Christ, you are born again into a new, eternal life with God, and the Holy Spirit equips you to live in obedience.

4 What is the significance of Jesus' perfect life and sacrifice?

Jesus lived a sinless life, fulfilling the law himself, and then died on the cross to bear God's wrath in the place of believers. This perfect sacrifice satisfied God's justice and righteousness, and His resurrection showed that God accepted it and His wrath against us had been exhausted.