WHAT I UNDERSTAND BY THE WORD ‘GOSPEL’
(Prepared by Peter Orchard)
It is appropriate to start with a definition. The word translated ‘Gospel’ in the New
Testament is from a Greek word meaning ‘Good News’. The New Bible Dictionary
has an excellent definition so I will begin with a substantial quote from it. “In
classical (Greek) literature, the word designated the reward given for good tidings. It
also indicated the message itself, originally the announcement of victory, but later
applied to other messages bringing joy. That it is found more than 75 times in the
New Testament indicates a distinctly Christian connotation. The gospel is the good
news that God in Jesus Christ has fulfilled his promise to Israel, and that a way of
salvation has been opened to all. The gospel is not set over and against the Old
Testament as if God had changed his way of dealing with mankind, but is the
fulfilment on Old Testament promise (Matt. 11:2-5). Jesus himself saw in the
prophecies of Isaiah a description of his own ministry (Luke 4:16-21).
Mark defines the ‘gospel of God’ as, ‘The time has come; the kingdom of God is
near’ (Mk.1:14, 15). To believe means salvation: to reject is damnation (Mk. 16:15,
16). This same Gospel is proclaimed by the first heralds of Christianity, but now the
essential message is made more explicit by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
While the gospel came with Jesus, it was anticipated in God’s promise of blessing to
Abraham (Gal. 3:8) and promised in prophetic Scripture (Romans 1:2).
The use of ‘Gospels’ as a designation of the first 4 books of the New Testament is
post-biblical (2nd century AD)” (New Bible Dictionary published by Tyndale).
‘Reformed’ churches (Presbyterians come under that broad umbrella) believe that
Christians are those who have submitted to God and accepted by faith Christ’s
atoning sacrifice for their sins. As Jesus puts it, they have ‘repented and believed the
gospel’ (Mark 1:15). The inestimable gift of salvation that the gospel proclaims
comes only by the grace of God through faith. It can never be earned by good works,
‘so that no one can boast’ (Ephesians 2:8, 9).
Christians are commanded by the Lord to share this gospel with those who do not
know him (Matthew 28:18-20). This may be by preaching, sharing in a group or one
to one, or in writing. The Apostle Peter talks about sharing the gospel in this way,
“Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason
for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness & respect” (1 Peter 3:15, 16).
UNDERSTANDING THE MEANING OF THE WORD “GOSPEL” FROM A
PENTACOSTAL/CHARISMATIC PERSPECTIVE
Roland Seow
Why do the Charismatics/Pentacostals use the term “Full Gospel”?
The “Full Gospel” movement came as a result of the charismatic movement which
started in the 1960s. This resulted in the formation of Full Gospel churches and
ministries or organisations such as the Full Gospel Businessmen’s Fellowship
International. Some of the largest local churches in the world are Full Gospel
churches, e.g., Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul, Korea (led by Rev. Yonggi Cho)
which has a membership of about 750,000 members. Even the Catholics and various
denominations have their “Full Gospel” movement, commonly known as the
charismatic stream.
The “Good News” was fully manifested at Pentacost when the Holy Spirit was sent
by Christ to empower the redeemed church with the “dunamis” power and gifts of the
Holy Spirit. This infilling or baptism of the Holy Spirit enabled the church to be an
effective witness to the world (Acts1:8) and live a life glorifying to God. Part of the
good news is that believers could now bear forth the fruit of the Spirit, thereby
displaying the character of Christ (Gal. 5:22-23).
The Full Gospel movement believes that the Gospel is good news for the whole
person, i.e., body, soul and spirit. Often the “Good News” is only associated with the
salvation of our soul and the rebirth of our spirit. Without doubt, this is the core or
essence of the gospel but “Full Gospel” Christians believe that the good news that
Jesus preached includes healing and deliverance for those who are physically and
emotionally sick and oppressed of the devil.
Salvation (“soteria”) is derived from its cognate Greek word “sozo” - its definition
includes salvation, healing, and deliverance. “Sozo” describes God's awesome plan to
change our lives inside and out, and includes transforming the spirit, soul, and body.
Many in-depth studies of the Septuagint indicate that “sozo” (save) means “[to]
deliver[ance] from temporal calamaties” – such as circumstances that cause death, from
enemies, troubles, physical maladies, etc.; both individually and nationally - in the
greatest majority of the times they are found, upwards of 98% of occurences. Only a
relatively few passages have spiritual contexts to the salvation of our souls.
In the New Testament the emphasis is probably more spiritual but it also has a strong
practical and pastoral element as well. This phrase “save your souls,” as mentioned in
James 1:21 (“sozo” with “psyche” as its object), is found eleven times in the Septuagint
(LXX), and in each case it has the notion of preserving one’s physical life. Powerful
evidence has been adduced to support the interpretation that James 1:21 is discussing
practical and temporal deliverance from calamitous trials, tribulations, and circumstances,
including the physical death-dealing consequences of sin.
James 1:21 “Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive
with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls (psyche – meaning
life)” NKJV
Mankind's need for this kind of redemption goes back to the story of the Garden of Eden.
When man sinned in the Garden of Eden it affected his body, soul and spirit. Hence,
when Christ came to save or redeem us it should also affect our body, soul and spirit.
Hence, Jesus was anointed of the Holy Spirit to preach the gospel to the poor, heal the
broken hearted, proclaim liberty to the captives (set the captives free), and recovery of
sight to the blind and proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord (Lk 4:18).
In essence, the Full Gospel proponents believe that the full benefits of the Gospel could
and should be experienced here now on earth and not just in heaven – reflecting part of
Jesus’ model prayer: “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”
(Lk. 11:2).
"THE GOSPEL" IN CATHOLIC THEOLOGY AND TRADITION
(David Schütz)
I. "The Gospel is the revelation in Jesus Christ of God's mercy to sinners" [CCC
§1846].
II. Various meanings of "the gospel" in the teaching of the Catholic Church:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
The Good News which Jesus proclaimed
Jesus' teachings ("The New Law")
The Paschal Mystery of Christ's death and resurrection
The Church's proclamation of Jesus Christ in word and sacrament
The Scriptural "Fourfold Gospel"
III. Foundational Scripture Passages:
1. Mark 16:15-16 "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole
creation. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not
believe will be condemned."
2. Mt 28:19-20 "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in
the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to
observe all that I have commanded you; and Lo, I am with you always, until
the close of the age"
3. John 20:21-23 "As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.” And when he
had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any,
they are retained.”
IV. Thus the Church universally proclaims the Gospel by word and sacrament.
1. The Gospel is for "the whole creation/all nations", ie. universal:
"Having been divinely sent to the nations that she might be 'the universal
sacrament of salvation,' the Church, in obedience to the command of her
founder and because it is demanded by her own essential universality, strives
to preach the Gospel to all men" [Vat II, AG 1]:
2. The Gospel is not only a message but includes sacramental ministry (ie.
baptism, reconciliation) and authoritative teaching
"Accordingly, just as Christ was sent by the Father so also he sent the apostles,
filled with the Holy Spirit. This he did so that they might preach the Gospel to
every creature and proclaim that the Son of God by his death and resurrection
had freed us from the power of Satan and from death and brought us into the
Kingdom of his Father. But he also willed that the work of salvation which
they preached should be set in train through the sacrifice and sacraments,
around which the entire liturgical life revolves" [Vat II, SC 6].
V. The Gospel was foreshadowed in the Old Covenant and fully revealed in the
New
1. Eg. Genesis 3:15 is known as the Proto-evangelion – the "first Gospel". God
gave promises to Abraham and his descendants (they were "justified" by faith
in these promises, Hebrews 11).
2. "But when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman,
born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might
receive adoption as sons." [Gal 4:4-5] The Catechism (§422) calls this "the
gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God" [Mk 1:1]
3. Thus the Gospel is the Father's self-communication made through his Word in
the Holy Spirit [CCC §79; cf. John 1:14-18] .
VI. Jesus proclaimed "the good news of the Kingdom" [Matt 4:23]
1. Jesus preached the gospel of God, saying: 'The time is fulfilled, and the
kingdom of God is at hand: repent, and believe in the gospel.'" [Mk 1:14-15]
2. "The gospel was preached even to the dead" [I Pt 4:6] (Christ's descent into
hell)
3. Jesus Christ commanded the apostles to preach the gospel to all people as both
a "saving truth and moral discipline" [cf. Mt 28:19-20; Mk 16:15; CCC §75]
VII. The Apostles "handed on" ("traditioned") the Gospel
1. The apostles handed on the gospel in two ways: orally and in writing
2. The apostles also appointed successors (the Bishops) to exercise their authority
so that the Gospel might always be preserved in the Church.
The Bishops, "as successors of the apostles, receive from the Lord…the
mission to teach all nations and to preach the Gospel to every creature, so that
all men may attain to salvation by faith, baptism and the fulfilment of the
commandments" [Vat II, LG 24].
3. "The obligation of spreading the faith is imposed on every disciple of Christ,
according to his state" [Vat II, LG 17].
"Each individual layman must stand before the world as a witness to the
resurrection and life of the Lord Jesus and a symbol of the living God." [LG
38]
VIII. The Four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) are at the foundation
and heart of the faith.
1. Vatican II called the "fourfold Gospel" the "foundation of faith" [DV 18]; they
are central to the faith because Christ is their centre. [ CCC § 139]
2. The Catholic Church "firmly and with absolute constancy" holds "that the four
Gospels…, whose historical character the Church unhesitatingly asserts,
faithfully hand on what Jesus Christ, while living among men, really did and
taught for their eternal salvation until the day He was taken up into heaven."
[DV 19]
IX. Jesus calls all people to conversion through the Gospel
1. Jesus calls to conversion. In the Church's preaching this call is addressed first
to those who do not yet know Christ and his Gospel.
2. Baptism is the principal place for the first and fundamental conversion. It is by
faith in the Gospel and by Baptism [cf. Acts 2:38] that one renounces evil and
gains salvation, that is, the forgiveness of all sins and the gift of new life.
[CCC §1427]
3. Acceptance of the Gospel entails "conversion, profession of faith, Baptism
itself, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and admission to Eucharistic
communion" [CCC § 1229]
4. Reception of the Eucharist completes the reception of the Gospel, as it is the
sacrament of redemption: "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured
out for many for the forgiveness of sins"115 [Mt 26:28]
X. The Gospel as the "New Law" or the "Law of Love"
1. Catholic theology does not use the distinction of "law and gospel" that is found
in reformed theology.
2. Phrases such as "the law of the gospel" or the "law of love" are common
3. "There are different expressions of the moral law, all of them interrelated:
1) eternal law - the source, in God, of all law;
2) natural law;
3) revealed law, comprising the Old Law and the New Law or Law of the
Gospel;
4) finally, civil and ecclesiastical laws." [ CCC § 1952]
4. The Old Law (summed up in the Ten Commandments but containing many
truths accessible to reason) is a preparation for the Gospel. [CCC § 19801982]
5. The New Law (or "the Law of the Gospel") is the grace of the Holy Spirit
received by faith in Christ, operating through love (eg. Sermon on the Mount)
and uses the sacraments to communicate this grace to us.
6. The Law of the Gospel fulfills and surpasses the Old Law and brings it to
perfection: its promises, through the Beatitudes of the Kingdom of heaven; its
commandments, by reforming the heart, the root of human acts.
7. The New Law is a law of love, a law of grace, a law of freedom. [ CCC
§1983-1985]
XI. Thus the Gospel also informs the social doctrine of the Church.
1. The Church receives from the Gospel the full revelation of the truth about
man. When she fulfills her mission of proclaiming the Gospel, she bears
witness to man, in the name of Christ, to his dignity and his vocation to the
communion of persons. She teaches him the demands of justice and peace in
conformity with divine wisdom. [ CCC §2419]
2. "There exist also sinful inequalities that affect millions of men and women.
These are in open contradiction of the Gospel " [ CCC § 1938]
3. "Where sin has perverted the social climate, it is necessary to call for the
conversion of hearts and appeal to the grace of God. Charity urges just
reforms. There is no solution to the social question apart from the Gospel [cf.
JPII CA 3, 5]."
XII. A very important footnote about those who have not yet received the Gospel
(Vat II, LG 16):
1. God gives life and breath and all things to all people, and the Saviour wills that
all people be saved.
2. Those who have not yet received the Gospel are related in various ways to the
people of God, each in their own way: the Jewish people, Muslims, and those
who "seek the unknown God".
3. Whatever good or truth is found amongst them is looked upon by the Church
as a preparation for the Gospel.
4. "Those also can attain to salvation who through no fault of their own do not
know the Gospel of Christ or His Church, yet sincerely seek God and moved
by grace strive by their deeds to do His will as it is known to them through the
dictates of conscience."
5. But because people are "often" deceived by the Evil One, they either exchange
the truth of God for a lie, serving the creature rather than the Creator, or live
and die in this world completely without God, exposed to final despair.
6. Therefore, mindful of the command of the Lord to "preach the Gospel to every
creature", the Church fosters missions with care and attention in order to
promote the glory of God and procure the salvation of all.