What Is Gospel?

by Song Jiayin

“Gospel” means “good tidings.” It was written in Isaiah 61:1, “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on me; because the LORD has anointed me to preach good tidings to the meek; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound.”

Speaking of gospel, the verses come into my mind are 2 Corinthians 1:10, “Who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us.” From these verses we see that we can only be delivered from death through God’s three salvations. The Old Testament records that after Adam and Eve ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they were corrupted by Satan. Since then, mankind has to face death. Thus, God has begun the work of saving us humans. The first salvation was brought by Jehovah God. At that time, the Israelites could only take care of the basic necessities of life, but they did not know the basic knowledge about daily life, nor did they know what kind of a God Jehovah was, much less how they should worship Him. Without God’s guidance, the whole mankind would have worshiped idols instead of worshiping Jehovah God, and would have lived in promiscuity and corruption because of not knowing the daily life of normal humanity. In the end, they would have been trampled upon by Satan and punished by God and returned to nothingness. Therefore, God used Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt and then He decreed laws and commandments through Moses and officially led the human race to live their lives on earth. God demanded them strictly to abide by the laws and to worship and exalt Him. If God hadn’t decreed the laws and commandments, people at that time would not have known how to lead the daily life. Because of the restrictions of the laws and commandments, people knew that those who abided by Jehovah God’s laws would be blessed by Him, and those who violated the laws would be stoned to death or burnt by the fire from heaven. As a result, the Israelites under the law strictly abided by Jehovah God’s laws, honored His name as holy and received His blessings. Meanwhile, they spread the gospel of Jehovah God to the denominations and sects outside of Israel. Those who accepted the gospel would receive His blessings, while those who didn’t would not.

At the end of the Age of Law, the human race became so increasingly corrupt that they were unable to keep the law and were in constant danger of being putted to death for violating the law. God loves mankind. He couldn’t bear to see us living under Satan’s domain and being putted to death for offending the law. Therefore, He personally became flesh to do the work of saving mankind on earth. In order to redeem us, He was crucified and served as the sin offering for the whole mankind. In the end, He redeemed us from Satan’s hand. From then on, corrupt mankind could be forgiven of their sins for accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior. This is the gospel of the kingdom. Just as Matthew 9:35 says, “And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.” All those who accepted the gospel of the kingdom brought by the Lord Jesus could be forgiven of their sins. And as long as they called on the name of “the Lord Jesus,” they could receive abundant grace. For example, the blind could see and the paralyzed could walk. While those people who stubbornly rejected His gospel couldn’t be forgiven of their sins forever, nor could they receive the abundant grace that the Lord Jesus bestowed on man. Now the gospel of the Lord Jesus has spread to the ends of the earth, and many people have accepted the gospel of the kingdom.

Though we have been forgiven of our sins through the Lord Jesus’ redemption, our sinful nature still remains. We still often sin and are not fully gained by God. We corrupt mankind have only received the salvation of the forgiveness for our sins, but do not attain sanctity. Thus we cannot enter into God’s kingdom. Hebrews 9:28 says, “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and to them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin to salvation.” And Revelation 14:6 says, “And I saw another angel fly in the middle of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.” From these verses, we see that those who have been redeemed by the Lord Jesus still need to receive the everlasting gospel from God. Only by accepting the third salvation can we thoroughly free ourselves from our sinful nature and be brought into the kingdom of heaven by God and achieve eternal life. Obviously, it is very important for every brother and sister who truly believes in the Lord and longs for His return to be able to accept the everlasting gospel in the last days. When someone preaches the gospel to us, we should treat it cautiously and seek and investigate it more. Do not jump to conclusions blindly so as not to miss the final opportunity of accepting the everlasting gospel and not to bring us everlasting grief because of one false step. Let us watch and pray more to wait for the second coming of the Lord!

Recommendation: Eastern Lightning | The Church of Almighty God was founded by Almighty God personally