What is the Gospel?

In our Gospel-Centered Life series, we have defined the gospel as:

The good news...

...that God saves sinners...

...through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The gospel is news, not advice. It is news concerning the nature of God (his holiness, perfection, and glory) and the nature of humanity (sinners separated from God by our rebellion and self-worship) which reveals our need for salvation. And it is news about how God has provided for that salvation through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, who lived the life we should have lived, died the death we deserved to die, and rose in victory over all His enemies and ours.Last week Justin quoted Martin Luther's famous saying that the gospel is "the principle article of Christian doctrine... most necessary is it that we know [the gospel] well, teach it to others, and beat it into their heads continually." As we think about developing a "gospel-centered life" - a life rooted in and continually centered on the good news of who Jesus is and what he's done - this quote is a good way to assess our progress. Some of us are still at the place of learning the gospel well (and we need to stay there as long as it takes for us to truly know it well). Some of us know it well and need to teach it to others (while reminding ourselves of it constantly). And after we have known it well and taught it to others, we still need to "beat it into their (and our) heads continually" by making sure that all our teaching, all our discipleship, all our counseling and leadership and influence constantly comes back to the gospel.