What is the Gospel?
There are so many different answers to this question - can they all be correct? Sometimes different definitions the Gospel can just be a matter of a different emphasis.?Oft-times personal definitions of the Gospel rely too heavily on what someone else told you the word means.
Intention
After a lot of informal reading and thinking I decided for my own edification to answer the question myself - What is the Gospel??I share this journey with you.
The word Gospel
To begin the process I suspect we should take a few lines to explore the etymology of the English word Gospel itself.?It derives from the Anglo-Saxon word god-spell meaning good story[1].?This was a way of rendering the Greek word euangelion[2].
Popular Meanings
Popular Meanings of the word Gospel can include:
a)?????The first 4 books of the New Testament (NT) - the ?Gospels Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.[3]?These are each recounting of the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth.
b)?????Gospel music - a style of music with its genesis in African-American Christian experience either with Christian themes, or music simply borrowing as style or genre.
c)?????This is gospel truth – a kind of slang useage meaning truth that cannot be challenged e.g. ‘this actually happened – believe me – it’s the gospel truth.’
The Process
Aided by Glenn Davis’ helpful resource[4] on the pre-Christian uses of “Gospel” I have examined the uses of the word euangalion closest to the time of the New Testament (NT) writers.?
Whether it is the Septuagint (LXX) (1st-3rd C BCE), Diodorus Siculous (1st C BCE), Cicero (1st C BCE), Josephus (1st C CE), Plutarch (1st C CE), Aeschines (4th C CE). Isocrates Areopagiticus (4th C CE) or Xenophon (4th C CE), the word euangelion has a specific set of meanings? either to announce a victory (or the pretence of one), the elevation of a new king, or of some other great accomplishment. In the cited sources above the spread of meaning is as follows:
Victory
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A New King
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A Great Accomplishment
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An orthodox view of ‘Gospel’
In the Church the word Gospel nowadays tends to have a religious meaning rather than the primarily secular meaning used around the time of the NT. The Gospel these days is commonly couched in these kinds of terms: Jesus, the Son of God, died on the cross for the forgiveness of your sins and then rose from the dead.?If you put your trust in Him you can live forever in heaven.
Questions
This view of the Gospel is quite common within evangelical circles but (1) Is this the way Jesus, the four Gospel writers, Paul or the other NT writers framed the word? (2) Why did they use a word which until Jesus, had meant the announcement of a victory, a new king, or a great accomplishment?
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1.?????Is this the way Jesus, the four Gospel writers, Paul or the other NT writers framed the word?
The Gospel is the good news of the Kingdom (Matt 4:23, 24:14) and it is God’s good news (Rom 1:1, 15:16, 1 Thess 2:8, 1 Tim 1:11, 1 Pet 4:17).?It is the good news of Jesus Christ, God’s son (Mk 1:1). The Gospel is the good news of Christ (Rom1:1. 1 Cor 9:18, 2 Cor 4:4, Gal 1:7, Phil 1:27, 1 Thes 3:2). This good news of Christ is both salvific and unifying (Rom 1:16). The Gospel is about the giving of Grace by God (Eph 3:2, Acts 20:24). The Gospel is good news of salvation and peace (Eph 1:13, 6:15), the good news of God’s Kingdom (Lk 16:16).?It is the announcement of Jesus the Christ (Rom 16:25), a mystery about Jesus revealed (Eph 3:4-5, 6:19).?It is God’s announcement to us (1 Thess 2:8-13).
If we are to equate Gospel with sent word, this message contains salvation (Acts 13:26), and it is the word of Christ (Col 3:16), and this is a true word (Eph 1:13), it is the word of life (Phil 2:16).
2.?????Why did they use a word meaning the announcement of a victory, a new king, or a great accomplishment?
In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus is proclaiming the good news?of the kingdom alongside his teaching and healing ministries.?The proclaiming of this gospel of the kingdom was to be a sign to all people of the world.?In Luke’s Gospel, the Gospel is the good news of the kingdom of God.?Mark puts it even more plainly - the time has come, the kingdom of God is near, repent and believe the Good News. Luke & Mark say plainly Kingdom of God, while Matthew tends to use the phrase Kingdom of Heaven as a periphrasis, to avoid using the sacred name of God, but they are talking about the same thing - the kingly rule of God. The Kingly Rule of God is what Psalm 103:19 is refering to… “The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all.” - God’s rightful place is in reigning of all things.?Most of the parables are used by Jesus to flesh out what the Kingdom looks like.
But is the Kingdom of God some kind of deist notion of a celestial watchmaker who created the universe and let it run??In Jesus’ reply to Pilate’s question “Are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus eventually replies (John 18) fairly clearly with the retort:
36?Jesus said,?“My kingdom?is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders.?But now my kingdom is from another place.”
37?“You are a king, then!” said Pilate.
Jesus answered,?“You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth.?Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”
This kingdom is more than the rule of a distant absentee God, but it is the rule of the God who came near?the Immanuel.
Gospel from an NT Perspective
So what can we say??The Gospel is the announcement of the Kingdom of God - His Kingly Rule.?It is God who is doing the announcing.?His announcement is focussed on Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God.?But it doesn’t stop there?this announcement is made in the Person of Jesus the Christ, the Son.
When it comes to the Kingly rule of God there tend to be 2 types of people ?those who are at least trying to be obedient servants, and those who rebel.?Does it sound like the story of the Hebrew people throughout the OT??But before we get too self-satisfied and haughty, it also sounds like the story of the Church doesn’t it?
The Kingly Rule of God is a theme that extends from the first page of Genesis to the final page of Revelation.?Psalm 103 quoted earlier, dates back a thousand years before Jesus. So this is not a novel concept.
The announcement of God’s Kingdom is gracious on God’s part.?He didn’t need to do it but he made the announcement anyway.?This Gospel of Christ is indeed both salvific and unifying.?In Jesus’ death we have the offer of forgiveness and peace with God.?Our former uprising against the King has been forgiven as we lay down the weapons of our rebellion, and with the estrangement removed, peace is restored with our Abba - who is both our Father and our King.?This is the reality – the true word of God.?The Gospel is the mystery of the coming Messiah revealed against the backdrop of the knowing disobedience of people - and that revelation is to us!
Jesus, the Son of God, died on the cross for the forgiveness of your sins and then rose from the dead.?If you put your trust in Him you can live forever in heaven. Yes it is all that…but it is so much more.
The King whom we rebelled against forgave our rebellion, offered us peace and reconnection hoping that we would lay down our weapons and accept the offer of a cease-fire.?He even poured out His Spirit on us to enable us to live as obedient servants within the Kingdom.
This is certainly Good News - the Gospel of the Lord.
[1] And probably from the German “Gott spiel” God speak/story
[2] ε?αγγ?λιον
[3] The first 3 called synoptic Gospels, and John which is quite a bit different in style.
Well written for a young bloke like you David. As for me - Gospel - eu-angelion is something that stirs me inside me - keeps me moving and makes me a human. It is something that makes me also Divine. I am under the good spell of my Lord Jesus Christ and I would not exists without Him. Enough said ...