What are the basic elements of the "Gospel"?

Jonaitis

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This thread is inspired, in part, by Bible Highlighter's thread 'What is the Gospel?', so I have a question for you all:

What are the essential elements or theological points of the gospel in your view? Does it include predestination? Or hell? What are the essential points that constitute the gospel? I placed this in the controversial theology section for those whose views may not be mainstream.
 
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Clare73

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This thread is inspired, in part, by Bible Highlighter's thread 'What is the Gospel?', so I have a question for you all:

What are the essential elements or theological points of the gospel in your view? Does it include predestination? Or hell? What are the essential points that constitute the gospel? I placed this in the controversial theology section for those whose views may not be mainstream.
I think they can be summed up in Jn 3:18: "Whoever does not believe in the Son is condemned already."

That is: salvation from God's condemnation is only by faith in Jesus Christ.

The rest is about the content, nature and life of that faith.
 
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Jonaitis

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I think they can be summed up in Jn 3:18: "Whoever does not believe in the Son is condemned already."

That is: salvation from God's condemnation is only by faith in Jesus Christ.
So, this verse is sufficient to save a person, and that by faith in Jesus?
 
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Clare73

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So, this verse is sufficient to save a person, and that by faith in Jesus?
Yes, faith in and trust on the person and atoning sacrifice (blood, Ro 3:25) of Jesus Christ for the remission of one's sin saves a person.

Keeping in mind that is just entrance into the kingdom.
 
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d taylor

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Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life.

But with the stated verse posted above, i define faith as being persuaded that the above promise of God is receive through trust, That is faith is define as simply believing God's promise. That i do not define faith as obedience to The Messiah through actions a person must do to receive eternal life. The only action is a passive one time and one moment in time, act of faith is required to receive God's free gift of Eternal Life.
 
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sandman

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I know there are different schools of thought when it comes to the purpose the four gospels. Since the prophets of old foretold of four different aspects of Jesus Christ ministry in regard to the BRANCH (Jesus) in the OT. I have to believe that is why God placed them where he did.


Matthew - as King.

Mark - as Servant.

Luke – as Man.

John – as Son of God.

Below gives the Scripture reference and more details. ….



~KING~
(Matthew)

One quality of the coming BRANCH prophesied by Jeremiah would be that of a King descended from David.

In order for Jesus to be the Messiah He would have to be a descendant of David inherit the right to the throne and come as King to Israel.

Jeremiah 23:5 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous BRANCH, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.

Jeremiah 33:15 In those days, and at that time, will I cause the BRANCH of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land.

Only in the book of Matthew do you find the phrase “Kingdom of Heaven” and it’s used 32 times.

There are 10 parables unique to Matthew which relate to a King. Plus, the royal genealogy chap 1, and the phrase son of David occurs more in Matthew than any other gospel.



~SERVANT~
(Mark)

As the promised BRANCH one of the aspects of Jesus Christ ministry would be the role of a Servant.

Zechariah 3:8 Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH.


The gospel of Mark emphasizes Jesus as a Servant. There is no genealogy as a position gained by descendant. The word “lord” or “sir” Greek (kurios) is used only 3 times of Jesus in Mark….. whereas it is used 73 times in the other three gospels.

There is a great emphasis in Mark on Jesus’s actions and responsibility in serving and helping others.



~MAN~
(Luke)

Another characteristic of the promised BRANCH is Jesus’s humanity …in other words, the Branch would be a man.

Zechariah 6:12 And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD:


Luke clearly emphasizes Jesus Christ as a man. Luk 3:23 - 38 is the genealogy tracing Jesus’ legal ancestry …through Joseph (who adopted him) back to Adam the first man.

There are 11 parables particular to Luke which emphasize the human aspect of his walk. The entire gospel emphasizes His relationship with common man, including publicans and sinners…..It shows Jesus to be a full of human tenderness and compassion as the perfect man.

~SON OF GOD~
(John)


Isaiah 4:2 In that day shall the BRANCH of the LORD be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel.

Jesus Christ was the Branch …the offspring of the Lord God. The gospel which clearly depicts and emphasizes Jesus as the son of God is John as seen in the following verses.

Jhn 1:14, Jhn 1:18, Jhn 1:34, Jhn 3:16, Jhn 20:31

1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
1:18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

1:34 And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.

3:16 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.

20:31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.



While every gospel encompasses all of these characteristics of Jesus Christ, each gospel specifically emphasizes one of them.
 
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Jonaitis

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Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life.

But with the stated verse posted above, i define faith as being persuaded that the above promise of God is receive through trust, That is faith is define as simply believing God's promise. That i do not define faith as obedience to The Messiah through actions a person must do to receive eternal life. The only action is a passive one time and one moment in time, act of faith is required to receive God's free gift of Eternal Life.
I never heard of this before, but I find it interesting.

Faith = Persuasion (to trust)
Faith ≠ Trust

Some may argue that you cannot separate the two.
 
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Maria Billingsley

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This thread is inspired, in part, by Bible Highlighter's thread 'What is the Gospel?', so I have a question for you all:

What are the essential elements or theological points of the gospel in your view? Does it include predestination? Or hell? What are the essential points that constitute the gospel? I placed this in the controversial theology section for those whose views may not be mainstream.
Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
 
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d taylor

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I never heard of this before, but I find it interesting.

Faith = Persuasion (to trust)
Faith ≠ Trust

Some may argue that you cannot separate the two.

Well faith, belief, trust all are basically the same passive action.

You say tomorrow you will bring me a gift, well if i believe you i have exercised faith, belief or trust in your promise that you will. Now the only difference between your promise and God's promised that all who believe in The Messiah receive the free gift of Eternal Life. Is that you being a sinful human could lie about bringing a gift, but as God can not lie. We know His promise is true and trustworthy.
 
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HTacianas

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This thread is inspired, in part, by Bible Highlighter's thread 'What is the Gospel?', so I have a question for you all:

What are the essential elements or theological points of the gospel in your view? Does it include predestination? Or hell? What are the essential points that constitute the gospel? I placed this in the controversial theology section for those whose views may not be mainstream.

The writer of Hebrews, writing in the form of a lecture, said that for the sake of discussion he would move on from the elementary principles of the gospel. In doing so, he re-stated those elementary principles:

Heb 6:1 Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,

Heb 6:2 of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.

So, the elementary principles are repentance from dead works, i.e., sin; faith towards God; baptism; laying on of hands (chrismation); the resurrection of the dead; and the final judgment.
 
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Daniel9v9

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Regrettably, we get different answers to that question depending on what church body we ask. Though seeing as you're Protestant, I can say that what the Reformed and their daughter bodies believe, along with Lutherans and Anglicans, is that the Bible uses the word "gospel" in two primary senses:

(1) In a broad sense, it includes conviction of sins through the Law and repentance, and the message of forgiveness of sins worked by Christ. However (2), in its narrow and proper sense, it is the good news of Jesus Christ, that He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, and that whoever believes in Him will be saved.

Normally, when we say "Gospel", it should be in the narrow sense, for "Gospel" quite literally means "good news".

So, answering your question from a Lutheran perspective, if we talk about Predestination, then that belongs to the Gospel, for it is always used in the Bible to comfort contrite sinners and never to threaten. Hell or damnation, however, belongs to the Law, for it is used to convict people of their sins and to grant them repentance.
 
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Guojing

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This thread is inspired, in part, by Bible Highlighter's thread 'What is the Gospel?', so I have a question for you all:

What are the essential elements or theological points of the gospel in your view? Does it include predestination? Or hell? What are the essential points that constitute the gospel? I placed this in the controversial theology section for those whose views may not be mainstream.

gospel means "good news".

There are various types of good news found in scripture, with different content and different audience.
 
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disciple Clint

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This thread is inspired, in part, by Bible Highlighter's thread 'What is the Gospel?', so I have a question for you all:

What are the essential elements or theological points of the gospel in your view? Does it include predestination? Or hell? What are the essential points that constitute the gospel? I placed this in the controversial theology section for those whose views may not be mainstream.
I believe it is all in the Prologue to the Gospel of John
 
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Neogaia777

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This thread is inspired, in part, by Bible Highlighter's thread 'What is the Gospel?', so I have a question for you all:

What are the essential elements or theological points of the gospel in your view? Does it include predestination? Or hell? What are the essential points that constitute the gospel? I placed this in the controversial theology section for those whose views may not be mainstream.
The basic gospel is "Christ and him crucified", as Paul so puts it, etc, and beyond this is whatever any other thinks he or she needs to know or believe or obey in his or her heart about God or Jesus Christ in order to be or stay saved, etc...

God Bless!
 
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Neogaia777

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The basic gospel is "Christ and him crucified", as Paul so puts it, etc, and beyond this is whatever any other thinks he or she needs to know or believe or obey in his or her heart about God or Jesus Christ in order to be or stay saved, etc...

God Bless!
"Christ and him crucified", is, at first, "Christ", believing that he was a real man or real person that walked the earth among us when the Bible says he did, etc, and that the Bible, and all reports about him in it are 100% accurate and true, and is no lie, including the miracles, and that those miracles are because he came from God, and is the proof of him (Jesus) having come from God, etc, and then "him crucified", because he lived a totally sinless life, which none of the rest of us could do, and that he died in yours/mine/our place so that we could be forgiven and reconciled to God and be put back in right standing and right relationship with Him again, etc, and then that he (Jesus Christ), when he was crucified for our sins, rose again from the dead three days after he was crucified, and afterward showed himself to many, and after 40 days, ascended back into the position he had with God the Father before creation ever was, or time ever even began, etc...

That is the basics, etc, and anything beyond it/them/this, is what I just said in post #16 just now, etc...

You'll want to have faith/hope that he will return one day to save us in our mortal bodies as well, and set up his Kingdom here on earth, that will last until the end of this time as well maybe, even if you don't know all of the full details of it all yet, etc...

You'll probably also want to know that He gave us the Holy Spirit, which is his Spirit, and is also God, etc, in the meantime, etc...

God Bless!
 
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Oneofhope

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gospel means "good news".

But, can you explain the Gospel? That's the question.

We have to do more than describe the Gospel with simple catchphrases. We need to do what Philip did as he got up and into the chariot . . . Philip explained the Gospel, showing Christ to the eunuch through the Old Testament Scrolls that he, the eunuch, had.
 
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Oneofhope

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When we share the True Gospel, it MUST include the Circumcision of Christ, for this is the act that takes a person from Spiritual death to Spiritual Life. And I will say it again, the shared Gospel MUST include the Spiritual Circumcision of Christ, for all translations speak of this Holy Work of Jesus Christ.

Colossians 2:9-15 NKJV - 9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; 10 and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power. 11 In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with [Him] through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. 13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, 14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15 Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.
 
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Neogaia777

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When we share the True Gospel, it MUST include the Circumcision of Christ, for this is the act that takes a person from Spiritual death to Spiritual Life. And I will say it again, the shared Gospel MUST include the Spiritual Circumcision of Christ, for all translations speak of this Holy Work of Jesus Christ.

Colossians 2:9-15 NKJV - 9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; 10 and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power. 11 In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with [Him] through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. 13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, 14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15 Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.
The addition of us must having to be "born again", etc, yes, that is also important, etc...

Many people will get into much debate about "what that is" though...

But it is, essentially, a "changed heart", or a great heart change, etc...

This heart will be patient and kind and gentle and loving with people and themselves, but will also hate the propensity toward evil everywhere, etc...

God Bless!
 
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