In the following sermon, R C Sproul explains the gospel in a basic but very complete manner. Most Christians don’t know all the points he covered.
R C opened by mentioning the preachers who has preceded him and the topics of their sermons: Mike Horton and John MacArthur regarding Christianity and American culture; Peter Jones on the modern resurgence of Gnosticism [my series on Paganism is based on one of Jones’ books].
Sproul noted that these preachers delivered sophisticated messages, whereas, he was requested to give a message ‘Back to the Basics.’
He opened with an anecdote about his task: Vince Lombardi was trying to get his team back to basics because they were ignoring them as they tried to perform more sophisticated plays… and he said to them, gentlemen, this is a football, am I going to fast; he began to talk about blocking and tackling.
The anecdote applies to Sproul’s task, as we currently have in American culture, a Christianity without the gospel.
He then spent a few moments talking about what the gospel is NOT: God has a wonderful plan…; God has a purpose for you…; your personal testimony…
[The following sermon HIGHLIGHT points begin around the 8-minute mark; bracketed statements, underscoring and emboldening are mine]:
- The basic question to be answered is, What is the gospel?
- Three meanings of biblical word gospel
- Definition of the term gospel: euaggelion [yoo-ang-ghel’-ee – on]
- #1 “Good News”
- [See end of post for a fuller definition of that term from three biblical dictionaries]
- #2 Used by John the Baptist and Jesus at the beginning of their public ministries: Matthew 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
- In 1 and 2, the gospel message is about the good news of the kingdom of God
- A first century Jew who comprehended what was going on would have described the gospel as follows:
- The good message of the arrival of the Kingdom of God in the form of the crown Prince who is now present and on His way to His enthronement via His ascension to the right hand of God in heaven, to be King of kings, and Lord of lords
- #3, at the writing of the epistles, there was a shift in the meaning of the gospel; away from the kingdom in general to the King, in particular
- = The person and work of Christ; = the work of Jesus Christ
- Therefore, when we talk about the gospel, we are not talking about you and your testimony, we’re talking of the Message of Jesus
- The ROOT of this message [17:45 – 21:45 minute marks]
- The protoevangelium: Genesis 3:15ff, reviewed and explained by Sproul:
- It was an indirect expression of the gospel on the flip-side of a curse
- Luke 1:26 – 56 Sproul reviews this text to provide a New Testament meaning of the gospel
- That gospel message was preached by an arch angel and angels in its initial two announcements
- The first occurrence in Luke 1:28 was preached to a single person, Mary
- Secondly, angels proclaimed the gospel to shepherds in Bethlehem
- The angel’s message was about Jesus
- If all the sermons in the book of Acts were distilled, then you would see the kerygma [the preaching of the ‘gospel of Christ’ in the early church]
- Sproul used Paul’s initial verses in Romans 1 to show the apostolic emphasis of the gospel message; verse 3, “concerning His Son”
- When it doesn’t concern His Son, it is not the gospel
- Born of the seed of David… the Son of God entered into the world
- Without the message of the incarnation, there is no gospel
- The gospel message has objective and subjective content:
- OBJECTIVE: His person and His work: He was born under the law; lived a perfect obedient life under the law of God, including being baptized by John as other believers (to fulfill all righteousness)
- Jesus submitted to God’s righteous law at every point: He was born, baptized and anointed into His messianic task
- He fulfilled that task by firstly living a sinless life: the significant difference between Him and us
- Being a propitiation before God
- Expiating our sins – via His death, He removed our sins as far as the east is from the west
- That transaction of atonement is essential to the gospel, without it, you have no gospel
- By the power of the Holy Spirit, He was raised for our justification; ascended into heaven to return at the end of the age to consummate His kingdom
- The aforementioned points are essential to the objective sense of the gospel
- If you know the above: that He is truly God; truly Man; the information distilled from all the church councils; if you have an orthodox biblical understanding of His death – imputation of His righteousness to us… you still don’t have all the gospel
- The question then is, So What?
- The Protestant Reformation (the collapse of Christian unity); was not about the infallibility of the Pope; the function of Mary; whether to pray to saints or not; about holy water, confession…
- It was about the question: What must I do to be saved?
- Or, How are the benefits of the work of Christ appropriated to us?
- That is, how does the objective activity impact me subjectively?
- Paul labored in Romans, Ephesians and Galatians to clarify, and I don’t know how anyone can miss it:
- We are justified by faith alone [see the CATEGORY of Justification for explanatory posts on that foundational biblical doctrine]
- In theological shorthand: I can only enter into the kingdom of God by being justified by Christ’s righteousness, NOT mine, even if mine is by grace
- The Roman Catholic Church argued over the word “alone” [see CATEGORIES, Faith for a fuller explanation]
- The moment you put your trust in Christ, all that He has accomplished is yours, NOW and FOREVER, not to be lost via sinning [persistence in sin will result in chastisement, as in the case of David and Bath Sheba, for example]
- The basis of your salvation is an alien righteousness (Luther), Christ’s righteousness
- Christ’s righteousness is appropriated by faith alone (the Judaizers tried to mix faith and works, Paul dealt with that controversy in Galatians)
- In every generation, people have tried to better the gospel by improving it; reducing its offensiveness…
- The gospel is Jesus, who He is; what He does; what He gives to us
Example of ‘gospel’ and the biblical meaning of the term from Bible dictionaries:
Mark 1:15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
e-Sword’s KJV+ [KJV with Strong’s Numbers, many words are given a Greek meaning for Bible student helps]
Mark 1:15 AndG2532 saying,G3004 TheG3588 timeG2540 is fulfilled,G4137 andG2532 theG3588 kingdomG932 of GodG2316 is at hand:G1448 repentG3340 ye, andG2532 believeG4100 theG3588 gospel.G2098
From Strong’s Bible Concordance:
G2098
εὐαγγέλιον
euaggelion
yoo-ang-ghel’-ee-on
From the same as G2097; a good message, that is, the gospel: – gospel.
Total KJV occurrences: 77
From The Complete Word Study Dictionary [a dictionary I added, purchased to add to e-Sword, $40; e-Sword is a free Bible softward download for computer; $2.99 at the App store]
G2098
εὐαγγέλιον
euaggélion; gen. euaggelíou, neut. noun from euággelos (n.f.), bringing good news, which is from eú (G2095), good, well, and aggéllō (n.f.), to proclaim, tell. Originally a reward for good news, later becoming good news. In the Sept.: 2Sa_18:22, 2Sa_18:25. In the NT, spoken only of the glad tidings of Christ and His salvation, the gospel. Found twice in Acts, once in Peter’s epistles, once in the Book of the Revelation, but not found in Luke, nor in the epistles or Gospel of John Related to euaggelízō (G2097), to announce good news. Also from euággelos (n.f.): euaggelízō (G2097), to evangelize, proclaim the good news.
(I) In the books of the NT, particularly in the sense of glad tidings, except in the writings of Paul.
(A) The gospel of the kingdom of God (Mat_4:23; Mat_9:35; Mat_24:14; Mar_1:14). By implication (Mat_26:13; Mar_1:15; Mar_13:10; Mar_14:9; Rev_14:6, “eternal gospel” [a.t. {cf. Luk_2:10}]). See basileía (G932), kingdom. “Kingdom” must be interpreted in this context as the rule which God establishes in the hearts of men when Jesus Christ is received by faith. The gospel of the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God are one and the same thing (Mat_19:23-24). It means first and primarily the rule of God in the human heart because of Christ (Luk_17:20-21). It also refers to the kingdom in its future state during which the believers will reign with Christ forever (Rev_22:1-5). In the above references, however, when it is the gospel of the kingdom of God or the eternal gospel, reference is to the invisible rule of Christ in the hearts of believers. By metonymy, it means annunciation of the gospel through Christ (Mar_1:1), also the gospel of the grace of God as manifested in Christ (Act_20:24).
(B) In respect to the coming and life of Jesus as the Messiah, gospel, glad tidings (Mar_8:35; Mar_10:29; Mar_16:15; Act_15:7; 1Pe_4:17). Later, euaggélion came to mean a history of Jesus’ life such as we have in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
(II) In the writings of Paul, the gospel, that is:
(A) Generally the gospel plan of salvation, its doctrines, declarations, precepts, promises (Rom_2:16, “according to the gospel which I preach” [a.t.]; Rom_11:28; Rom_16:25; 1Co_9:14, 1Co_9:18; 1Co_15:1; 2Co_4:3-4; 2Co_9:13; 2Co_10:14; Gal_1:11, “the gospel which was preached by me” [a.t.]; Gal_2:2, Gal_2:5, Gal_2:14; Eph_1:13; Eph_3:6; Eph_6:19; Php_1:5, Php_1:7, Php_1:17, Php_1:27; Php_2:22; Col_1:5, Col_1:23; 1Th_1:5; 1Th_2:4; 2Ti_1:10; 2Ti_2:8). The gospel of Christ made known by Him as its founder and chief cornerstone (Rom_15:19, Rom_15:29; 1Co_9:12, 1Co_9:18; Gal_1:7; 1Th_3:2; 2Th_1:8). The gospel of God, of which God is the Author through Christ (Rom_15:16; 2Co_11:7; 1Th_2:2, 1Th_2:8-9; 1Ti_1:11). By antithesis, héteron (G2087), another but different gospel, including other precepts (2Co_11:4; Gal_1:6).
(B) By metonymy, the gospel work, i.e., the preaching of the gospel, labor in the gospel (Rom_1:1, Rom_1:9, Rom_1:16; 1Co_4:15; 1Co_9:14, 1Co_9:23; 2Co_2:12; 2Co_8:18; Gal_2:2, Gal_2:7, “I was entrusted to preach the gospel to the Gentiles” [a.t.]; Eph_6:15; Php_1:12; Php_4:3, Php_4:15; 2Th_2:14; 2Ti_1:8; Phm_1:13, “in bonds on account of labors in the gospel” [a.t.]). In Rom_10:16, “all have not obeyed the preaching of the gospel” (a.t.), i.e., the gospel as preached.
From Thayer’s Greek Definitions [free with e-Sword]:
G2098
εὐαγγέλιον
euaggelion
Thayer Definition:
1) a reward for good tidings
2) good tidings
2a) the glad tidings of the kingdom of God soon to be set up, and subsequently also of Jesus the Messiah, the founder of this kingdom. After the death of Christ, the term comprises also the preaching of (concerning) Jesus Christ as having suffered death on the cross to procure eternal salvation for the men in the kingdom of God, but as restored to life and exalted to the right hand of God in heaven, thence to return in majesty to consummate the kingdom of God
2b) the glad tidings of salvation through Christ
2c) the proclamation of the grace of God manifest and pledged in Christ
2d) the gospel
2e) as the messianic rank of Jesus was proved by his words, his deeds, and his death, the narrative of the sayings, deeds, and death of Jesus Christ came to be called the gospel or glad tidings
Part of Speech: noun neuter
A Related Word by Thayer’s/Strong’s Number: from the same as G2097