Opus 2025-462: What Gospel?

In a recent conversation, I mentioned how most people don’t understand what the gospel is.  We hear the word over and over again at church on Sunday.  In talking to believers, it comes up and is mentioned quite frequently.  I don’t think we understand what we’re saying.  Is there more than one gospel?  That’s one of those yes and no questions. It’s not an either /or.

There is a simple explanation of what the gospel is.  It can be as simple as “Jesus saves,” but that leaves a lot to be desired.  Let me give you my simple definition that comes to mind right now.  The gospel is that Jesus died on a cross to pay the price for your sin, and if you believe in Him and that His death was adequate for your sin, you will be saved.  Now that is the gospel in a nutshell.  It is not the entire gospel.  If you think that I would present the gospel the same way if I ever had the opportunity to preach to a group of unbelievers that I would if I were talking to a bunch of well-established saints, you’ve got another think coming.  They would be so different that you might think that I had two different gospels.  But the basics don’t change.

Let me give you an example in common everyday English.  Let’s take the word “trip”.  First of all, we have to realize that there are certain definitions of the word that are obvious in context.  If I tell you be careful not to trip on the rug, you know what I mean.  If I say he took an overdose of LSD and it sent him on a trip, you know what I mean.  If I say I’m going on a trip, you know what I mean and yet you don’t know what I mean.

You see there the basic definition of trip is that I am leaving where I’m at now and going to someplace else.  That’s all you really need to know if I say I’m going on a trip.  However, I can use the same word to say I’m going to the grocery store or if I’m going to fly to Japan to be able to hold my first grandchild when she’s born.  You’re talking to totally different experiences.  One involves knowing where to turn right and where to park.  The other involves arranging transportation to the airport, switching planes three times, passports, visas, credit cards, taxi cabs, and the list could go on.  I went twice and each would be explained radically different, but the basics would be the same.

The same with the gospel.  The basic is the same, but it’s going to be explained at different ways and different times using different terminology, and even sometimes meaning different things using the same words, possibly.  It’s called communication and being aware of your audience.

So when you ask, “What does it mean when you say ‘gospel’”, I need to know what you’re really asking and whether it’s just a trick question.

homo unius libri