Basics

John 3:16 (KJV) For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

(Proverbs 22 also read)

It has struck me lately how often I hear preachers and Bible teachers mentioning the word “gospel”.  They go on talking and don’t explain what they mean.  They just assume everybody knows.

Sunday I heard repeated references to the gospel and how important the gospel was, and how we need to keep presenting the gospel.  Not once was there an explanation of what he meant by that and the sermon itself didn’t explain it.

So what is the gospel?  That’s been going through my head this morning.  In trying to break it down and summarize it John 3:16 finally came to mind.  Here in a nutshell, summarized by Jesus Himself, are the basics of the gospel.  It’s all you really need to get started following Jesus.

Now I would be the first to concede that there is much more involved and that this is the beginning of a life of study and growing and grace.  You can get into the Greek, you can get into the theology, you can get into the history, you can get into the application, but the basics are there.

So?  The gospel is the good news that God loved us enough to send Jesus who died for us and gives us hope of eternal life.