I Corinthians 15:3-4 declares the gospel as the message about Jesus’ death on a Roman cross, His burial, followed by His resurrection from His tomb, thus defeating both death and the grave.
The Gospel is about Jesus! It is not about church membership or attendance, giving, loving, social awareness, separation from the world or any other host of pursuits – even mentioned in the Bible (love of neighbor), declared critical by a religious entity (membership) or viewed godly by people (church attendance). The Gospel is about the life, work and victory of Jesus over sin and its curse and the rescue that He offers to those who embrace Him!
The Gospel is the good news that a person can be freed from the bondage – the bondage of guilt, fear, anger, selfishness, greed, coveting, immorality and a lack of life purpose.
The Gospel is the great news that a new life is offered in Jesus, but… on His terms! Which are, per Mark 1:1, The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. And then, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel,” Mark 1:15. Jesus was about the Gospel and laid out the terms.
Jesus came preaching that the time was fulfilled, meaning that which was foretold in the Old Testament was now present in Him. And His first announcement was that there was a kingdom about to be established and that citizenship was available in two steps – Repent and Believe.
The first step to citizenship that He declared was to Repent. That is, to be a citizen one must acknowledge their rebellious, evil, selfish and angry self and loathe it. Repentance means there is a strong desire to be free of the old means and mentality and to go in another direction. To repent is to detest and confess the old and desire a new.
Step two for citizenship is to Believe. Not to believe in a church or AA or self or education or good works, but to believe in Jesus. Believing in Jesus means accepting Him as sinless, submissive, and fully God and embracing what He did – He took God’s wrath for the sins of those who are genuinely repentant and cry out to Him for a new life – His life. His life of selflessness, rejection of sin, and faithfulness to His Father – to God.
So, the Gospel is a negative and a positive: you are not in the kingdom and are in trouble with a holy and just God, yet by a simple faith in the work of Jesus evidenced by a confession and asking for His life, you can become a citizen of His realm.
The Gospel is about the death and victory of Jesus because of God’s great mercy and love for His creation – man. God’s salvation is rooted in Jesus’ payment of the sin debt owed by those who embrace Him as their Shepherd.
The Gospel is about people being confronted with their sin, transgressions, and rebellion in light of God’s full knowledge and coming judgment. Such a realization should bring a person to fear and to desire to stop their ways and want to change – to repent and now! Therefore, those saved need to inform those not saved of the work of Jesus at Calvary and His call to Repent and Believe.
The Gospel is not love and love and more love of people in hopes that they will want to join the journey with others to Heaven. Those Heaven-bound have come face-to-face with their sins and the coming judgment from a holy, just, and all-knowing God. God calls His people to boldly declare the completed work of Jesus as the one and only way to a right relationship with God and thus an eternal future of glory – which is good news – the Gospel!
Let us proclaim Jesus’ kingdom and the path to citizenship – Repent and Believe – the Gospel!
a PK Musing 
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