John 3:16

While the gospel is very big and very multifaceted, some believers tend to make it a sort of catch-all word for anything that has to do with God. The most common way is in the context of the phrase "living out the gospel." What people generally mean by this is "doing good things for other people." So the gospel must be translated, in this instance, to "good things for others." This is a gross misunderstanding of what the gospel is.

First, gospel is a word that comes from an old English translation of the Greek word euangelion, which means "good news." More specifically, the gospel is an announcement. But it has to be a good announcement. The announcement that you must "love the Lord your God with all you heart, soul, mind, and strength" is news, but it's not particularly good if you're a human being like me. Historically, Christians have defined the gospel as the announcement that Jesus has died to save sinners. So the phrase "living out the gospel" makes no sense when the gospel is understood in this way: an announcement of good news.

If you watch newscasts, you know you can't "live out" the news. You can react to it, certainly, and knowledge of it may well influence the things you do. The gospel is the same way. It will, no doubt, impact your life. But that impact is not the gospel. It can't be. It's the impact of the gospel. And it should be noted that the gospel itself does not demand a certain response. It makes no demands at all. Remember, it is an announcement. Hearers of the gospel, from the apostle Paul to the atheist Richard Dawkins, have recommended responses, but again, these responses are not the gospel.

The gospel is that Jesus has died to save sinners like me, and like you.

Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,