What is the Gospel?

Understanding 1 Corinthians 15:1-4

The word 'gospel' comes from the Greek euangelion (εὐαγγέλιον), meaning 'good news' or 'glad tidings.' In the Roman world, an euangelion was a public announcement of a great victory or the accession of a new emperor. The early Christians deliberately adopted this word: the gospel is the announcement that a new King has come, death has been defeated, and the world has changed.

The core content — 1 Corinthians 15:1-4:

Paul provides the earliest and most concise summary of the gospel in his first letter to the Corinthians, written around AD 55 (within 25 years of the crucifixion). He identifies four essential facts 'of first importance':

1. Christ died for our sins — His death was substitutionary (in our place) and atoning (dealing with the problem of sin). 'According to the Scriptures' means this was not an accident but the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy (Isaiah 53, Psalm 22).

2. He was buried — This confirms the reality of His death. He was not merely unconscious or in a trance. He was dead and placed in a tomb.

3. He was raised on the third day — The resurrection is not a metaphor or a spiritual idea. Paul insists on a bodily, historical resurrection. 'According to the Scriptures' again ties this to Old Testament prophecy (Psalm 16:10, Hosea 6:2).

4. He appeared — Paul goes on to list eyewitnesses: Peter, the Twelve, over 500 people at once, James, all the apostles, and finally Paul himself (vv. 5-8). The gospel is not a philosophical system but a claim about events that happened in history, verified by witnesses.

Why is this 'good news'?

The gospel addresses the fundamental human problem described throughout Scripture: humanity is separated from God by sin (Romans 3:23), and the penalty of sin is death (Romans 6:23). No amount of moral effort, religious ritual, or good works can bridge this gap (Ephesians 2:8-9). We are, as Paul puts it, 'dead in our transgressions' (Ephesians 2:1).

The good news is that God Himself has acted to solve the problem we could not solve. In Christ's death, the penalty for sin is paid. In Christ's resurrection, death itself is defeated. Through faith — trusting in what Christ has done rather than what we can do — we are reconciled to God, declared righteous (justified), and given the Holy Spirit as a guarantee of eternal life.

The gospel is not:

• Merely moral teaching ('be a good person')
• A self-help program ('your best life now')
• A political ideology (left or right)
• A cultural tradition
• A set of rules to follow

The gospel is an announcement of something that happened — and an invitation to respond with faith. As Paul writes in Romans 1:16: 'For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes.'