The Gospel - Part 1: What is the Gospel-And Why Does It Matter?
Introduction
You might be a new believer—a fresh follower of Jesus—or someone who’s walked with Him for a while and wants to refresh that part of your life. Whatever brought you here, welcome! At the heart of discipleship is understanding the gospel.
My family and I attend a church that practices formal membership. I’ll be honest: I wasn’t always a fan of the membership model. But when we found this church, it felt right for our family, and we decided to get involved.
As part of joining, we sat down for an interview with one of the elders. During that conversation, each of us was asked a simple but powerful question:
“How would you describe the gospel?”
We hear the word “gospel” in church every day, but when we’re asked to articulate it, our thoughts can tangle and our confidence can waver. That moment made me realize how important it is to be able to express the gospel clearly.
Often, when we begin talking about the Gospel with someone, the initial reaction is, “Whoa, this sounds really complicated.” And the reason for that is simple: we all carry an existing paradigm—a mental framework that shapes how we interpret everything we hear.
One of my favorite teachers, Bill Scofield, said to think of a paradigm like a file folder. Your brain, which is amazingly efficient, takes new information and automatically files it under categories you’ve already created. The problem is, most of us aren’t even aware of the labels on those folders. So when we hear something that challenges our assumptions, it can feel confusing or even uncomfortable.
Here’s a silly little illustration that Bill Scofield gave that might help. Imagine a Venn diagram with three overlapping scenarios:
Someone starting a fight
Someone petting a dog
Someone consoling a child
Venn Diagram
Now think about these phrases:
Both the person petting a dog and the person consoling a child might say, “Hey buddy.”
Both the person petting a dog and the person starting a fight might say, “Do you want to go outside?”
Both the person starting a fight and the person consoling a child might say, “Do you want to call your mommy?”
And believe it or not, all three could say, “Hey buddy.”
The point? Context Matters! The same words can mean very different things depending on the situation.
As we study the Bible, it’s important that we make a real effort to rebuild our paradigm—to reshape the way we think—so we can better understand the mindset of the average first-century Jew who would have been hearing Jesus speak. That historical and cultural lens is essential if we truly want to grasp what He was saying.
Starting with the Right Foundation
As a new believer, it's essential to understand what the Gospel is and what it truly means.
The modern church rightly emphasizes the importance of preaching the Gospel—it's the foundation of global missions and the reason so many have come to faith, including, hopefully, you. But if we don’t understand the very message that brought us to Jesus, how can we follow Him with clarity and purpose? If we can’t explain why we believe in Him, then what are we really doing—and why?
In this life, we face countless decisions—but the decision to follow Jesus is often called the most important one of all. But why? What makes this message so crucial?
As we begin our journey to answer the question, “What is the Gospel?”, we need to acknowledge something important: the modern church—and the many denominations within it—often answer this question in slightly different ways. I don’t say this to criticize the church, but to be honest about a reality that often goes unnoticed. Denying it doesn’t help anyone—especially new believers. If you were to sit ten Christians from ten different backgrounds in the same room, you'd likely hear eleven different opinions on just about any Bible topic—including the Gospel. For someone new to the faith, that kind of diversity can feel more overwhelming than helpful.
That’s why, in this Roots to Discipleship study, we’re taking a different approach. Rather than filtering our understanding through modern traditions or theological systems developed over the past 2,000 years, we’ll aim to understand the Gospel the way the original authors of the Bible did.
The primary human authors of Scripture were Jewish. They lived in a particular cultural, historical, and linguistic context—and that context matters. Today, the Jewish people and the nation of Israel are often misunderstood, criticized, or marginalized. Tragically, even within Christianity, many have been taught to see Israel as cast aside, especially because many have rejected Jesus as the Messiah. But this perspective overlooks the vital role they still play in God’s redemptive plan.
Christian doctrines have evolved over centuries, shaping how churches interpret Scripture today. But if we want to understand the Gospel clearly and faithfully, we must go back to the beginning—back to the Jewish roots of the faith. When you open your Bible and read about Jesus, the apostles, Paul, Peter, and James, you're stepping into a deeply Jewish world. To truly grasp their message, we need to learn to see the world through their eyes.
As you grow in your faith, you’ll encounter many ideas, interpretations, and opinions about Scripture. You may even find yourself visiting different churches, searching for one that aligns with how you understand the Bible. But remember this: there is only one truth.
There is the truth—and then there’s everything else. Even beliefs that seem close to the truth can still fall short. As followers of Jesus, we are called to be seekers of truth. That means we shouldn’t accept anything blindly—not from a pastor, a book, a church tradition, or even this study. Instead, we must be like the Bereans in Acts 17 (17:11)—searching the Scriptures diligently to see whether what we’re being taught is true.
This kind of pursuit takes time. It will challenge you. It requires patience, humility, and effort. But the reward is worth it. Jesus said, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32)
History Has Affected How We Understand the Gospel
We’ve chosen to return to the Jewish roots of the Christian faith because they reflect the world Jesus and the apostles actually lived in. It’s the closest and most authentic context for understanding their message. Everything that developed after that—even with good intentions—has, to some degree, shifted or reinterpreted the original meaning.
To help illustrate this, think back to a childhood game you might remember—“telephone.” One person whispers a message to the next, who then whispers it to the next, and so on down the line. By the time it reaches the last person, the message is usually distorted—sometimes to the point of being completely unrecognizable. It’s often funny, but it shows how easily a message can change as it’s passed along.
Sometimes the distortion is unintentional—just a simple misunderstanding. Other times, it’s the result of someone tweaking the message, whether deliberately or not. Either way, what reaches the end is often far from what was originally said.
Sadly, something similar can happen with the message of the Bible. Over generations, the Gospel has sometimes been passed along in ways that have distorted or diluted its original meaning. While the church has done incredible good and carried the message of Jesus to the world, it has also had its highs and lows. Movements like the Protestant Reformation (a time in the 1500s when Christians protested corruption and sought to return to biblical teaching) brought much-needed reform—but they weren’t the starting point of the story. Even though the Reformation was a significant step in the right direction, by that point, the vehicle had already veered far off course from the original path laid out by the apostles. It helped correct some serious problems, but the journey had long since drifted from its original destination.
Briefly, I must defend what I just said because I know especially in Protestant circles making any claim that the gospel message could have been distorted can ruffle some feathers. But there is historical evidence for this claim.
When Jesus walked the earth, He was a Jewish teacher — the long-promised Messiah of Israel — and all His first followers were Jewish. They saw His life, death, and resurrection as the fulfillment of God’s promises in the Hebrew Scriptures. In the beginning, the “church” wasn’t a new religion. It was a movement within Judaism that believed the Messiah had come.
But as the message spread beyond Israel to the wider Roman world, something happened. More and more Gentiles (non-Jews) came to believe in Jesus. Within a couple decades after the death of Jesus, there was already distortion of the gospel within the followers of Jesus. Paul documents distortion of the message in one of his letters:
“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you… to a different gospel—not that there is another gospel, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.” (Galatians 1:6–7)
Many Gentile believers, especially after the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD and the Jewish Bar Kokhba revolt in 132–135 AD, began distancing themselves from Judaism — often because of political pressure, persecution, or misunderstanding.
By the 2nd–4th centuries, Christian leaders were writing in ways that rejected Jewish customs entirely — sometimes even banning practices Jesus and His disciples followed. Church councils later cemented this separation.
Over the centuries, the church grew very large and powerful. Many leaders stayed faithful to the Bible, but others began to add extra rules, traditions, and teachings that weren’t in Scripture. Slowly, the clear message of Jesus became mixed with man-made traditions.
By the Middle Ages (about 500–1500 AD), most people couldn’t even read the Bible for themselves—it wasn’t in their language. Church leaders held nearly all the religious power, and some even used that power to sell things like “indulgences” (certificates claiming to reduce time in purgatory), which had no basis in the teachings of Jesus.
Some Christians saw that the church had wandered away from the Bible. Long before Martin Luther, men like John Wycliffe spoke up, saying, “We need to get back to the Scriptures.”
Then in the 1500s, Luther and others pushed for big changes (The Reformation). Their goal wasn’t to start a brand-new religion—it was to go back to the original Gospel message found in the Bible. One of their main ideas was “Sola Scriptura”—a Latin phrase meaning “Scripture alone.” That meant the Bible should be the highest authority for what Christians believe, not human traditions. By the time of the Reformation, the “Jewishness” of the faith was almost entirely absent from church life and theology.
The Reformation was basically a rescue mission—to pull the Gospel out from under layers of man-made ideas and bring it back into the light for everyone to hear and understand.
Like the intent of the Reformation, in this study, we’re going back to scripture and to the Jewish understanding of the Gospel message..
Rather than picking up the message halfway through the game of “telephone,” we’ll go back to the source—to the original context, the original audience, and the people through whom the message first came: the Jewish people.
This is why, if we want to truly understand the Gospel, we can’t just start at the Reformation or even in the later church. We have to go back to the source — to Jesus, His apostles, and the Scriptures they taught from — and see it in its original Jewish context. Only then can we recover the depth, clarity, and hope of the message as it was first given.
How the Church Defines the Gospel Today
Now that we understand the Gospel has been shaped over time by the history of the Christian church, it becomes clear why defining it precisely can be challenging. Many additional influences have contributed to how it's understood today. That’s why, in this study, we are choosing to define the Gospel within the original context of the New Testament—through the lens of its first audience: a Jewish audience living in the first-century world for whom the Scriptures were first written.
How is the Gospel commonly defined in churches today? Depending on the church you attend, you’ve likely heard the Gospel explained in a number of different ways. For example, some churches emphasize a personal decision: “Pray this prayer and invite Jesus into your heart.” Others focus on moral transformation: “Jesus helps you live a better, cleaner life.” In some circles, the Gospel is framed as a path to blessing: “Believe in Jesus, and God will bless you with health, wealth, and success.” Still others highlight social impact: “Jesus came to bring justice, equality, and healing to the marginalized.” A common version in more traditional settings sounds like this: “You are guilty under God’s law, and Jesus paid your legal debt.”
There are many other variations as well. The Gospel has been interpreted and emphasized in different ways throughout history, often shaped by tradition, culture, or theological background. In most cases, Christians have tried to simplify the message to make it easier for others to understand and respond to. And that makes sense—the Gospel should be simple. After all, if it were too complex, many people might feel overwhelmed or lose interest before they ever grasp its truth. But as you can see from these examples, even simple versions can look and sound very different from one another.
The Gospel in Its Original Language and Context
Simply put, the word Gospel means “Good News.” The word Gospel comes from the Greek word euangelion, which literally means “Good News.” In the time of Jesus, the Hebrew Scriptures—what we now call the Old Testament—were widely available in Greek, known as the Septuagint. Greek was the common language across much of the Roman world, making it accessible to both Jews and Gentiles. In fact, the majority of the earliest New Testament manuscripts, from which our modern Bibles are translated, were written in Greek.
The Greek word euangelion (εὐαγγέλιον), meaning “Good News,” was commonly used in the ancient world to announce significant events—like a military victory, a rescue, or the arrival of a new king. It wasn’t just religious language; it was a public declaration that something history-shaping had taken place—news that demanded a response. In the Roman Empire, for example, a herald might announce “good news” about a military victory or the birth of a new emperor.
But this wasn’t a brand-new idea invented in the New Testament. The roots of the Gospel go back much further—to the Hebrew Scriptures. In books like Isaiah, the word “good news” is used to describe the message that God is returning to rescue His people, restore justice, and reign as King:
“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns.’” (Isaiah 52:7, ESV Bible)
This verse comes during a pivotal section of Isaiah (chapters 40–55). It’s written to a people either in exile or anticipating exile—Jewish people who have seen Jerusalem devastated and are longing for hope, justice, and restoration. In this context, the Good News isn’t just about individuals being saved from sin—it’s about God keeping His promises (the ones He made in the Old Testament), rescuing His people, and restoring a broken world.
So when Jesus begins His ministry by proclaiming, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:15, ESV Bible), He’s not just offering a private spiritual experience. He’s declaring that the long-awaited moment has arrived—God is stepping into history to make things right, and He is doing it through His appointed King: Jesus.
When the New Testament writers—especially Paul in Romans 10:15—quote Isaiah 52:7, they are tying the Gospel of Jesus directly to this prophetic vision. Paul writes:
“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” (Romans 10:15, ESV)
By using Isaiah’s words, Paul is affirming that the Gospel—the announcement that Jesus is the Messiah and the appointed King—is deeply rooted in the prophetic hope of Israel. Jesus came proclaiming this message and offering a foretaste of what is to come, but the full peace, salvation, and reign that Isaiah described still await their complete fulfillment. While the message of restoration has now gone out to all nations, the promises to Jerusalem and Israel remain central and will be fully realized when the Messiah returns again.
The Gospel message is not just good advice or a spiritual idea—it’s a powerful announcement. The Gospel is the message that God is fixing everything that’s gone wrong in the world. The pain, injustice, and death we see around us are not the end of the story. The Gospel declares that God is intervening in human history, and He is accomplishing His plan of redemption through His chosen Messiah, Jesus.
The word Messiah comes from the Hebrew word “Mashiach” (מָשִׁיחַ), which means “anointed one.” In ancient Israel, people were anointed with oil to set them apart for a special role—usually as a king, priest, or prophet. The act of anointing symbolized being chosen and empowered by God for a divine purpose.
Over time, the Hebrew Scriptures began pointing toward a future anointed one—a royal figure from the line of former King David of Israel—who would come to:
Deliver Israel from oppression,
Restore justice and righteousness,
Reign as King over God’s Kingdom,
And bring blessing to all nations.
This long-awaited figure became known as the Messiah—God’s chosen King who would fulfill His promises and restore the world.
In Greek, the word for Messiah is translated as Christos (Χριστός), which is where we get the title Christ. So when we say Jesus Christ, we’re not using a last name—we’re declaring a title: Jesus is the Messiah, the anointed King of Israel sent by God to bring salvation, rule in justice, and complete the story that began with Abraham and Israel.
The Full Gospel Message
In this study, we’ll explore what I call the full Gospel message—one that goes beyond the familiar phrase, “Jesus died for your sins.” While that truth is central, the typical Gospel presentation found in many Protestant churches tends to focus on a simplified version of the good news, which is usually summarized like this:
God loves us and created us to have a relationship with Him.
Sin separates us from God. Sin—our rejection of God’s ways—leads to brokenness in our lives and separation from Him.
Jesus died and rose again to restore that relationship. Jesus' sacrifice on the cross and His resurrection offers us new life.
Salvation is a gift. Through faith in Jesus as the Messiah, the one who God has appointed to rule and reign, we are forgiven, made new, and brought into a right relationship with God.
This message of the good news isn’t about what we do to earn God’s love—it’s about what God has already done for us through Jesus. This message is accurate and true—but here’s the amazing part: there’s even more. The Gospel is deeper and more expansive than most people realize, and we’ll continue to uncover its full meaning as we walk through this study together.
The Gospel is Bigger Than The Cross
Now, I realize what I’m about to say might sound controversial—maybe even enough to push me to the fringes of certain corners of the Christian world—but here it is: The Gospel is bigger than the cross.
Let me be clear: I’m not saying the cross is unimportant. Far from it. I’m not diminishing the power of the cross, nor am I minimizing the sacrifice Jesus made for us. The cross is central—but it’s not the whole story. It is a critical part of the Good News, but it is not all of the Good News.
Here’s the issue: in many churches today, the message of the Gospel has become so hyper-focused on the cross that we’ve unintentionally reduced the broader biblical narrative. And while most Christian denominations may disagree on many theological points, nearly all stand united on the importance of the cross—and rightly so. It is a non-negotiable, closed-handed truth. The cross stands as one of the most profound demonstrations of love the world has ever known—“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son…” (John 3:16).
But the cross is not the end of the story. It’s the turning point—but not the final chapter. How can we know that the gospel message is bigger than the cross? Simple, Jesus was preaching the gospel before the cross, early in his ministry, and he said nothing about the cross at all. Take a look at Luke 3 and Mark 1:
"One who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. And with many other words, John exhorted the people and proclaimed the good news to them." (Luke 3:16-18)
Notice the phrase “proclaimed the good news.” The Greek word here is euangelion, which we said means good news or gospel. It’s the same word later used in Romans 1:16 and 1 Corinthians 15:1-5. John the Baptist, is preaching the Gospel—he’s proclaiming the coming of one more powerful who will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. Now let’s look at Mark 1:
"After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 'The time has come,' he said. 'The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!'" (Mark 1:14-15)
Here’s something interesting: In Mark’s Gospel, Jesus often keeps His identity a secret—telling people not to speak about Him after performing miracles. Yet at the very beginning of His ministry, He publicly proclaims, “Repent and believe the good news!” What’s striking is that no one seems confused by this announcement. There’s no indication in the text that the Jewish audience stops to ask, “What is He talking about?” They seem to understand what the Gospel—the good news—is referring to.
Even before the cross, we see John the Baptist and Jesus proclaiming the good news. The Gospel doesn’t appear to be only tied to the cross—it’s rooted in a much bigger narrative. We will explore this larger narrative in more detail throughout this study.
Why Do We Need This Good News?
As we begin this journey toward a clearer understanding of the Gospel, it’s important to first ask: Why does this matter?Why is the Gospel—this “Good News”—so important, and why should we care about defining it accurately? Before we go any further, we need to understand why getting this right is not just helpful, but essential.
The answer is all around us. Just look at the world. Turn on the news. It doesn’t take long to realize—we live in a broken world.
People die.
Injustice prevails.
Families are torn apart.
Our hearts often choose what’s wrong.
People are hurting—physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
Some lack food, shelter, and basic necessities.
And the list goes on. Even within the church—among people who know and love Jesus—we still see pain, sin, and struggle. Spend just a year in any church, and you’ll quickly realize that Christians aren’t immune to the same challenges the rest of the world faces. The difference, we hope, is that within the body of Christ, those struggles are met with grace, accountability, healing, and growth.
But the truth remains: we are not in the kingdom of God yet.
If this present world is all the hope believers have, then—quoting an unknown commentator—“I want my money back.”
The Bible refers to this broken time we’re living in as “this present age.”
But long ago, God promised it wouldn’t last forever. Through the prophets of Israel, He declared that a day would come when He would send a King—a Messiah—who would set everything right.
The message of Jesus stands at the very heart of this Good News. His first coming, as recorded in the New Testament, was not only to offer forgiveness of sins, but to make a bold and visible declaration: God is reclaiming His world. Through Jesus, God has announced His coming kingdom—one marked by justice for the oppressed, healing for the broken, and hope for the hopeless.
The Gospel doesn’t just tell us what happened at the cross—it points us to where the story is headed. Jesus’ death and resurrection secured the promise of God’s final plan, but the fulfillment—the restoration of all things, the return of the King, the establishment of justice and peace on the earth—is still ahead.
The Gospel is far more than a message about going to heaven someday—it’s the announcement of God’s redemptive reign. Even now, we catch glimpses of His Kingdom breaking into the present: transforming lives, healing hearts, and restoring creation. But the fullness of that Kingdom won’t arrive until this present age comes to an end and gives way to what the Bible calls the age to come.
We’ll explore these two ages more deeply in a future lesson.
As a new believer, it’s essential not only to grasp the significance of the cross, but to understand the full scope of the Gospel. The Good News is more than a moment in history—it’s the unfolding story of God’s redemptive plan. To truly understand it, we must look at the whole picture: how it all began, what has taken place so far, what God has accomplished through Jesus, and what He has promised to complete in the future.
For a new Christian, the Good News of the Gospel is a constant reminder that your relationship with God isn’t based on how “good” you are, but on His love, mercy, and grace. God is in control, and He has gone above and beyond to make a way for you—a path that frees you from guilt, empowers you to live a transformed life, and keeps your eyes fixed on the ultimate hope: the coming of God’s Kingdom—the glorious climax of His redemptive plan.
As a new believer, your invitation is clear: choose to be part of that plan, and begin learning the role God has for you in it.
Conclusion
In this first lesson, we laid the foundation for understanding the Gospel by looking beyond modern interpretations and returning to its original context. We explored how the Gospel message has been shaped by history, tradition, and culture—and why that matters for our faith today. We learned that the word “Gospel” means “Good News,” and that this good news is more than just a message about personal salvation or going to heaven. It is the announcement of God’s redemptive reign, the fulfillment of His promises through Jesus the Messiah, and the hope of the coming Kingdom.
We discussed how even within the church, different understandings of the Gospel can lead to confusion—especially for new believers. That’s why this study is committed to examining the Gospel through the eyes of the first-century Jewish audience, recognizing their language, expectations, and Scriptural context.
We also challenged the idea that the Gospel begins and ends at the cross. While the cross is central, the good news is much bigger—it includes the full redemptive story that stretches from creation to restoration.
Ultimately, this lesson reminds us that to follow Jesus with clarity and purpose, we need to know the message we’ve received and the story we’ve joined. The Gospel is not just an event in the past—it’s a transformative reality that shapes our future and invites us into God’s plan for the world.
Our Gospel Definition (Based on Lesson 1)
The Gospel is the Good News that God is actively stepping into human history to make things right through His appointed King, Jesus the Messiah.
It is the fulfillment of Israel’s prophetic hope—the declaration that God is fixing everything that has gone wrong in the world by restoring creation, healing brokenness, and establishing His Kingdom.
At its heart, the Gospel is not just about individual salvation, but about God's entire redemptive plan. It proclaims that:
Jesus is the promised Messiah, the King sent to reign with justice and mercy.
God’s love, grace, and mercy—not our performance—are the foundation of our relationship with Him.
Through Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and promised return, God has made a way for us to be forgiven, transformed, and brought into His coming Kingdom.
The Gospel invites us to live now in light of that Kingdom—to experience glimpses of His reign even in this present age, while we wait in hope for the restoration of all things.
Reflection Questions for Personal Study
What did you believe the Gospel was before reading this lesson? Has your understanding changed?
Why do you think it’s important to return to the original context of the Bible when learning about the Gospel?
What stands out to you about the meaning of the word “Gospel” (Good News) in the time of Jesus?
In what ways have you seen the Gospel presented in your life, and how do those presentations compare to what this module teaches?
How does knowing that the Gospel is a part of a bigger story (not just the cross) impact your faith?
Key Scriptures for New Believers to Read and Meditate On
Isaiah 52:7 – “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news…”
Mark 1:15 – “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
Romans 10:15 – “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
Prayer Topics
Gratitude: Thank God for revealing the truth of His Gospel and including you in His redemptive plan.
Wisdom: Ask for discernment as you seek to understand the Gospel more clearly and deeply.
Humility: Pray for a teachable spirit, open to correction, learning, and transformation.
Boldness: Ask God to give you the courage to live out and share this Good News.
Unity: Pray that the Church would be united in truth, even amid doctrinal diversity.
Group Discussion Prompts
Why do you think there are so many different versions or summaries of the Gospel today?
What do you think are the dangers of only focusing on the cross and not the full biblical story?
How does understanding the Jewish context of Jesus and the apostles change the way we understand the Gospel?
What is something you heard in this lesson that you had never heard before?
Why do you think so many people today are unfamiliar with the “big picture” of the Bible?