The Gospel
If you attend one of our services, it won't take you long to come across the idea of 'the Gospel'. When we come together, we spend almost all of our time talking, singing, preaching and praying about it. Even before you arrive, you will come across the word - it is so important that we included it in the name of our building! But what is the Gospel? Why is it so important? Not only are these good questions to ask, but obtaining the answers to them can change your life.
The word 'gospel' simply means 'good news'. When Christians use the terms, they use it to refer to the good news about Jesus Christ (Mark 1:1). And what is this good news? Perhaps the simplest summary of it was given by the apostle Paul in telling the Christians in a place called Corinth that "Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures..." (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).
While these verses certainly contain the heart of the Gospel, there is much more that can be said about it. In fact, in many ways it takes the whole of the New Testament to expound and explain the Gospel. The rest of this page contains a number of resources and links to better help you understand the Gospel and how it can change your life.
Not only would we love you to watch the videos, follow the links and read the materials on this page, but we'd love to meet and discuss the Gospel with you ourselves! Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions or would like some more resources. Or if you are near central London, why don't you come along to one of our services, meet us and hear all about the Gospel there? In addition to the resources on this page, we have a free copy of Greg Gilbert's book entitled What is the Gospel? available for visitors to our services who want to know more about the Gospel.
SUMMARY OF THE GOSPEL
1. GOD - WHO IS HE?
God is the creator of all things (Genesis 1:1). He is perfectly holy, worthy of all worship, and will punish sin (1 John 1:5; Revelation 4:11; Romans 2:5-8). God is one and triune, revealing Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Deuteronomy 6:4–5; Matthew 18:19–20; John 14:16-17; 1 Corinthians 3:16; Titus 2:13).
2. MAN - WHO ARE WE?
God, who is holy, made us in his image to know him (Genesis 1:26-28). However, all people, though created good, have become sinful by nature (Genesis 1:26-28; Psalm 51:5; Romans 3:23). From birth, all people are alienated from God, hostile to God, and subject to the wrath of God (Ephesians 2:1-3).
3. CHRIST - WHAT DID HE DO?
In his great love, God the Father sent his Son Jesus to come as king and rescue his people from their enemies — most significantly their own sin (Psalm 2; Luke 1:67-79). 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 sinners, and rose from the grave in order to give his people eternal life (John 1:1; 1 Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 7:26; Romans 3:21-26; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Corinthians 15:20-22).
4. RESPONSE - WHAT MUST WE DO?
God calls everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and trust in Christ alone for our forgiveness in order to be saved (Mark 1:15; John 1:12; Acts 17:30; Acts 20:21; Romans 10:9-10). 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).
(This summary is adapted from an article entitled 'What is the Gospel' found here).