The gospel is good news. It is the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ (Romans 1:16). It is the good news of forgiveness, transformation and eternal life in Heaven (Titus 3:4-7, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Philippians 3:20-21). The Bible, however, makes it clear that you cannot appreciate the good news unless you understand the bad news. The bad news is that every person is deeply flawed. We have a sin problem that separates us from God (Isaiah 59:1-2, Romans 3:23). The problem of sin, imbedded in our DNA, causes us to passively or actively rebel against God and break His commandments (Ephesians 2:1-3, 1 John 3:4) The result is that apart from salvation in Jesus Christ, every person is guilty before God and under His judgment (Romans 1:18-25, Romans 2:1-5, Romans 3:9-20). That is the bad news. The good news, the gospel, is that Christ died for our sins, rose from the dead and through Him we can be forgiven and restored to fellowship with God (1 Corinthians 15:3-4, Romans 5:8-11).
To personalize the gospel, every person must “cross the line” and commit themselves to Jesus Christ. The Bible clearly states, “That by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not as a result of works lest any man should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9) Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone. It is as simple as ABC:
A-admit you are a sinner in need of God’s forgiveness
B-believe that Jesus Christ died for your sins and rose again on your behalf
C-commit your life to Christ by receiving Him into your life as Savior and Lord
The promise of God is, “That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raise Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). That’s the gospel. That’s good news!