What is the gospel message?

amariselle

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So how do we speak "gospelese" to a lost person?

Paul says in Romans that he is not ashamed of the GOSPEL which is the power of God for salvation, but what is "the gospel"?

I have an idea but I want to hear some other responses first.

1 Corinthians 15:1-4
 
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Well there are some classics in the gospel that don't sound too idealistic.
'he who exalts himself will be humbled". That just makes sense to a lot of people, that the proud and arrogant will fall one day.
"blessed are the peacemakers". Again this is commonsense when war just creates carnage on both sides.
 
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So how do we speak "gospelese" to a lost person?

Paul says in Romans that he is not ashamed of the GOSPEL which is the power of God for salvation, but what is "the gospel"?

I have an idea but I want to hear some other responses first.

The one and only God who is holy and perfect, the creator of the universe, made us in His image to love, know and obey Him. We sin by disobeying and turning away from God. This condemns us to death and to eternal punishment.

In love, Jesus Christ, who is God, came to us as a human, died on the cross for us, and took the punishment of all who will turn to and trust in Him. He rose from death on the third day defeating death itself.

All people are to repent of their rebellion against God, turn away from sin, and turn to Jesus Christ.

To live with God forever in Heaven, we must develop and maintain an active relationship with Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord.

874d101e720b011f2e628b8717f5fb65.gif
 
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stuart lawrence

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So how do we speak "gospelese" to a lost person?

Paul says in Romans that he is not ashamed of the GOSPEL which is the power of God for salvation, but what is "the gospel"?

I have an idea but I want to hear some other responses first.
1cor15:1-4 is good.

Also:

This is the covenant I will make with them after that time says the lord
I will write my laws in their minds and place them on their hearts
Then he adds
Their sins and lawless deeds I will remember no more
Heb10:16&17

The Christian repents and asks Christ to be their saviour. The Holy Spirit enters their life and places the law within their heart God wants them to follow, meaning in their heart they want to obey God. They have been born again. Because, and only because this has happened, they have a saviour from their sin. Their sins and lawless deeds will be remembered no more
 
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Looking at the beginning of Romans, Paul seems to see the Gospel as the news that Christ came as the Son of God to bring us grace and aposleship, and an obedience from faith.

This would be consistent with Rom 6, where Christ's death and resurrection bring us a new life that is no longer controlled by sin.

My impression of Paul is that for him the center of being Christian is being "in Christ," through the Holy Spirit, which is a new life in Christ. Hence it makes sense to the Gospel was the news that Christ came to give us that.

Obviously being accepted in the judgement is an implication. But as in Jesus' own teaching, that's not the only or even primary goal. Following Jesus, and the new life in Christ, are realities for us now. The new life continues beyond death, of course.
 
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actionsub

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I feel like the Supreme Court judge who, when asked to define "inappropriate contentography", famously replied, "I can't define it, but I know it when I see it."
This has been a question on my mind since this morning when the pastor basically defined the gospel as the fight for social justice. I found that definition somewhat insufficient. Jesus did far more than liberate the oppressed, but gave of Himself to hold out a better life that transcends our worldly terminology of "justice" and "liberation".
 
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ByTheSpirit

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The one and only God who is holy and perfect, the creator of the universe, made us in His image to love, know and obey Him. We sin by disobeying and turning away from God. This condemns us to death and to eternal punishment.

In love, Jesus Christ, who is God, came to us as a human, died on the cross for us, and took the punishment of all who will turn to and trust in Him. He rose from death on the third day defeating death itself.

All people are to repent of their rebellion against God, turn away from sin, and turn to Jesus Christ.

To live with God forever in Heaven, we must develop and maintain an active relationship with Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord.

View attachment 204803
This is good. Wouldn't it follow though if God created mankind for fellowship (meaning to love, know and obey Him), and the first man failed that the death of the second man restored that possibility to those who have faith?
 
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ByTheSpirit

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Looking at the beginning of Romans, Paul seems to see the Gospel as the news that Christ came as the Son of God to bring us grace and aposleship, and an obedience from faith.

This would be consistent with Rom 6, where Christ's death and resurrection bring us a new life that is no longer controlled by sin.

My impression of Paul is that for him the center of being Christian is being "in Christ," through the Holy Spirit, which is a new life in Christ. Hence it makes sense to the Gospel was the news that Christ came to give us that.

Obviously being accepted in the judgement is an implication. But as in Jesus' own teaching, that's not the only or even primary goal. Following Jesus, and the new life in Christ, are realities for us now. The new life continues beyond death, of course.

I definitely think Romans 7:6 is a good start to the question as is John 14:6.
 
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ByTheSpirit

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I feel like the Supreme Court judge who, when asked to define "inappropriate contentography", famously replied, "I can't define it, but I know it when I see it."
This has been a question on my mind since this morning when the pastor basically defined the gospel as the fight for social justice. I found that definition somewhat insufficient. Jesus did far more than liberate the oppressed, but gave of Himself to hold out a better life that transcends our worldly terminology of "justice" and "liberation".

My view of "THE GOSPEL" is this:

It is a message:
God came down as a man, in Jesus. He suffered and died for our sins. He was buried and raised to life on the third day, bringing reality to the future resurrection. Those who have faith in Him will live forever with him in God's Kingdom.

It is a lifestyle:
God created man for fellowship. As already hinted at, we were made to know God, obey God, and love God. Adam's sin brought an impasse to this relationship. Man had become an enemy to God. But those who have faith in Christ are restored to that original state of being and are made able to know God, obey God and love God.

It is for this reconciliation that Jesus came. So that we, God's most prized possession and creation, could once again enjoy his presence and fellowship. Only those who continue to believe in Jesus have the reality though.
 
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So how do we speak "gospelese" to a lost person?

Paul says in Romans that he is not ashamed of the GOSPEL which is the power of God for salvation, but what is "the gospel"?

I have an idea but I want to hear some other responses first.

Matthew 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Matthew 4:23 And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.
 
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actionsub

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My view of "THE GOSPEL" is this:

It is a message:
God came down as a man, in Jesus. He suffered and died for our sins. He was buried and raised to life on the third day, bringing reality to the future resurrection. Those who have faith in Him will live forever with him in God's Kingdom.

It is a lifestyle:
God created man for fellowship. As already hinted at, we were made to know God, obey God, and love God. Adam's sin brought an impasse to this relationship. Man had become an enemy to God. But those who have faith in Christ are restored to that original state of being and are made able to know God, obey God and love God.

It is for this reconciliation that Jesus came. So that we, God's most prized possession and creation, could once again enjoy his presence and fellowship. Only those who continue to believe in Jesus have the reality though.

I don't think I could have articulated this any better.
 
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Paul says in Romans that he is not ashamed of the GOSPEL which is the power of God for salvation, but what is "the gospel"?


The gospel is the good news that is for example in this:

"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, Because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim release to the captives, Recovering of sight to the blind, To deliver those who are crushed, And to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord."
Luke 4:18-19

The good news is, your sins has been forgiven, repent and don’t continue in sin. :)

"I must preach the good news of the Kingdom of God to the other cities also. For this reason I have been sent."
Luke 4:43

For God didn't send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through him.
John 3:17

It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.
John 6:63

Truly, truly I tell you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death at all.”
John. 8:51

:)
 
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JIMINZ

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When you say, "Gospelese" you are assuming the Gospel is what is called the Gospel of Salvation.

But just a question, what did Jesus say the Gospel was?

Mat. 24:14
And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
 
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fhansen

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So how do we speak "gospelese" to a lost person?

Paul says in Romans that he is not ashamed of the GOSPEL which is the power of God for salvation, but what is "the gospel"?

I have an idea but I want to hear some other responses first.
Painting in broad strokes, the gospel is all about restored relationship between man and God-a relationship that was shattered at the Fall. It means that God definitively exists, that He's incomparably good and trustworthy and has always had man's best interest at heart; enmity came from man, not Him. And He proves it by hanging on a cross unto death after being humiliated and tortured at the hands of His own wayward creation, forgiving them all the while, if that's what it takes to convince us of a love we're just barely able to begin to grasp.

Now we know: goodness and meaning and love and order and justice and light are foundational to this universe. We're asked to join up with that goodness, being offered the choice of good over the evil we know and experience in this world, the choice of life over the death which is the fruit of sin.

Man is lost without God. Our own goodness and the happiness we all desire is only achievable and maintainable to the extent that we're in communion with Him. "Apart from Me you can do nothing" John 15:5. That's the wisdom we're here to learn.
 
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ByTheSpirit said in post #1:

What is the gospel message?

The Gospel of our salvation (Ephesians 1:13) is we can be initially saved by believing Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ and the human/divine Son of God (John 20:31, John 3:36; 1 John 2:23) and that He suffered and died on the Cross for our sins and rose physically from the dead on the 3rd day (1 Corinthians 15:1-4, Luke 24:39,46-47, Matthew 20:19, Matthew 26:28).

And the Gospel is we can be ultimately saved if we continue to believe this to the end (Hebrews 3:6,12,14, Colossians 1:23), and continue to perform good works of faith to the end (Romans 2:6-8; 1 Thessalonians 1:3), and repent from any sin we commit (Hebrews 10:26-29), and get water-immersion (burial) baptized into Jesus Christ (Mark 16:16, Romans 6:3-11), and partake of Jesus' divine flesh and blood in the bread and wine of Communion (John 6:53; 1 Corinthians 11:23-30), and forgive everyone for everything (Matthew 6:14-15), and do all we can (Romans 12:18) to make reparations to and peace with everyone whom we've ever wronged (Matthew 5:23-26), and help Christians in need (Matthew 25:34-46), and provide for our families (1 Timothy 5:8), and don't blaspheme God's Holy Spirit (Mark 3:29), and don't remove words from the book of Revelation (Revelation 22:19), and don't worship the future Antichrist or his image or willingly receive his mark (Revelation 14:9-12), and continue in God's goodness to the end (Romans 11:22), and overcome to the end (Revelation 3:5, Revelation 2:26).
 
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Korean-American Christian said in post #4:

. . . we must develop and maintain an active relationship with Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord.

That's right.

Also, if people don't feel any relationship with Christ/God, even though they consider themselves to be Christians, it could be because they've subconsciously hardened their heart against God because of something bad which happened in their life, such as the death of a loved one, or the divorce of their parents. They could be subconsciously blaming God for letting that bad thing happen, instead of using His power to keep it from happening. If that's the case, they need to pray and ask God to bring to their mind whatever is coming between them and Him (Psalms 139:23-24), and they need to ask Him to help them not to harden their heart against Him (Hebrews 3:15).

If people haven't become Christians yet, all they need to do to become Christians is believe Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ and the human/divine Son of God (John 20:31, John 3:36; 1 John 2:23), and that He suffered and died on the Cross for our sins and rose physically from the dead on the 3rd day (1 Corinthians 15:1-4, Luke 24:39,46-47, Matthew 20:19, Matthew 26:28).

After people become Christians, to help develop and keep up their relationship with God, they should pray to Him every day, such as with the Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13), praising and worshipping Him (Revelation 4:11), confessing their sins to Him (1 John 1:9), asking Him for what they need today (Luke 11:3), and thanking Him for everything He has given them (Philippians 4:6). And throughout the day they should immediately bring to Him in prayer anything they become worried about (Philippians 4:6-7).

They should also fellowship with other Christians every day (Hebrews 3:13, Hebrews 10:25), at least in some fashion (Matthew 18:20), such as on this forum, being exhorted by them and exhorting them in turn (Hebrews 3:13).

They also need to examine themselves to make sure they're truly in the Christian faith (2 Corinthians 13:5, Proverbs 28:26, Proverbs 14:12). The way to do this is to read every word of the Bible (Hebrews 4:12, Matthew 4:4) and see if they accept everything it teaches came from God (John 8:47; 2 Timothy 3:16). For just as true Christian faith will initially come from reading (or hearing) what the Bible teaches (Romans 10:17; 2 Timothy 3:15), so people can know they're remaining in the true Christian faith if they continue to believe everything the Bible teaches came from God (John 8:31b; 2 Timothy 4:2-4; 1 Timothy 4:1, Mark 8:35-38).

In order to have any real relationship with Jesus, and God the Father, and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19), most importantly people must believe the right things about Jesus (John 14:6-7): that He's God the Word made flesh (John 1:1,14), that He's the Christ (1 John 5:1; 1 John 2:22), and that He's the only begotten (only born) Son of God (John 3:16,36; 1 John 2:23), meaning He's the only person ever born without any human father (Luke 1:34-35). And people must believe Jesus lived a perfectly sinless life (Hebrews 4:15; 2 Corinthians 5:21) and so could suffer and die on the Cross for our sins and rise from the dead on the 3rd day (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). He rose and will remain forever in an immortal flesh and bones human body (Luke 24:39; 2 John 1:7) as Christians' eternally-human high priest/mediator (1 Timothy 2:5, Hebrews 2:16-17, Hebrews 7:24-26).

Once people come into faith in Jesus Christ, they must obey Him, and God the Father, and the Holy Spirit by repenting from their sins and getting water-immersion (burial) baptized into Jesus (Acts 2:38, Romans 6:3-5, Galatians 3:27). And they must partake of the divine flesh and blood of the bread and wine of Communion (John 6:53, Matthew 26:26-28; 1 Corinthians 10:16; 1 Corinthians 11:27-30). And they should get hands laid on them to receive Holy Spirit baptism (Acts 8:17) and one or more of the Holy Spirit's wonderful Spiritual gifts (Acts 19:6; 1 Corinthians 12:8-10). Then, washed from their sins by water baptism (Acts 22:16) and empowered by the Holy Spirit within them (Acts 1:8, Ephesians 3:16), they must each and every day for the rest of their lives deny themselves, take up their crosses and follow Jesus (Luke 9:23; 2 Corinthians 5:15) by continuing in the faith to the end (Hebrews 3:6,12,14, Hebrews 6:4-8, John 15:6; 2 Timothy 2:12), by repenting from every sin they commit (Hebrews 10:26-29; 1 Corinthians 9:27, Luke 12:45-46) and by doing to the end the particular spiritual works He has given them as individuals to do (Mark 13:34, Romans 12:6-8, Titus 3:8).

But if they as Christians wrongly employ their free will to refuse to do these things, they can't expect to have any continued real relationship with Jesus, and God the Father, and the Holy Spirit. For a continued real relationship with them requires people not only continue to believe in them but also continue to obey them (John 15:10, John 14:21,23). Faith without works is dead (James 2:20) and can't ultimately save people (James 2:14-26, Romans 2:6-8, Matthew 7:21, Hebrews 5:9).
 
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JIMINZ said in post #14:

Mat. 24:14
And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

Presently the Kingdom of God is in heaven (2 Timothy 4:18, Hebrews 12:22-24) and is on the earth spiritually within Christians (Romans 14:17, Luke 17:21). But in the future the Kingdom will come fully upon the earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10). It will also be physically (Luke 22:30, Matthew 19:28) on the earth (Revelation 5:10), first during the future Millennium (Revelation 20:4-6, Revelation 2:26-29, Psalms 66:3-4, Psalms 72:8-11, Zechariah 14:3-21) and then on the New Earth (Revelation 21:1-8).

Jesus Christ's Kingdom is Israel (John 1:49, John 12:13-15, John 19:19, Luke 22:30). And at His future, Second Coming, He will sit on the earthly throne of King David (Luke 1:32-33, Isaiah 9:7) and restore the kingdom to Israel (Acts 1:6-7, Acts 3:20-21). Jesus is, in His humanity, the son of David (Matthew 1:1, Matthew 21:15-16, Romans 1:3), of the house of David (Luke 1:69). So at Jesus' Second Coming, He will restore the tabernacle, the house, of David (Isaiah 16:5, Amos 9:11) to its royal glory (2 Samuel 5:12), which it had lost (2 Kings 17:21a). And Jesus will fulfill the prophecy and prayer of 2 Samuel 7:16-29. And He will bring salvation to all the still-living, non-Christian elect Jews of the house of David. For they (along with all other still-living, non-Christian elect Jews) will become Christians when they see Jesus at His Second Coming (Zechariah 12:10-14, Zechariah 13:1,6, Romans 11:26-31). And so they will all become part of the Church at that time. For there are no Christians outside of the Church (Ephesians 4:4-6).

After Jesus Christ's Second Coming (Revelation 19:7 to 20:3, Zechariah 14:3-5) will occur the Millennium (Revelation 20:4-6, Zechariah 14:8-21), during which time the Gentile nations will come to seek the returned Jesus ruling the whole earth (Zechariah 8:22, Zechariah 14:9, Psalms 72:8-11) on the restored throne of David (Isaiah 9:7) in the earthly Jerusalem (Isaiah 2:1-4, Zechariah 14:8-11,16-19). And the physically resurrected Church will reign on the earth with Jesus during the Millennium (Revelation 20:4-6, Revelation 5:10, Revelation 2:26-29). For the Church is Israel (Romans 11:1,17,24, Ephesians 2:12,19, Galatians 3:29, Revelation 21:9,12; 1 Peter 2:9-10).
 
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So how do we speak "gospelese" to a lost person?

Paul says in Romans that he is not ashamed of the GOSPEL which is the power of God for salvation, but what is "the gospel"?

I have an idea but I want to hear some other responses first.

This is it. All you have to tell them.

2For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. 3And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. 4And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: 5That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
 
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