What does the word gospel mean? As I listen to Christians use the word, I find several possibilities. Sometimes it is used as an adjective to describe music or truth. For some, this is pejorative, as in, “it was just gospel music.” Still others use the noun form to refer to instructions on how to become a Christian, “He shared the gospel with them.” The result of this reduction is the equation of salvation with justification. These are valid uses, but they don’t capture the totality of the word.
Our word gospel translates a Greek word translated as “good report,” or “good news.” In no sense is the gospel “good advice” about how to live. Tim Keller articulates it well, “The good news is we are worse off than we thought and more loved than we ever dreamed.”
In these verses, Paul says something very similar. To receive the good news, we must acknowledge the trouble caused by our own sin. Paul clarifies this for us in Romans 5:6-10, saying we were powerless to save ourselves, ungodly, sinners and enemies of God. A friend of mine came to realize this in our men’s gathering one Wednesday morning and said, “I see now why we need a Savior.”
Just when all hope seems to be lost for us, Paul shows the other part of the good news: God demonstrates his own love for us through the death of his son. Jesus did not wait for us to “clean up our act,” before he gave his life. While we were still sinners, enemies or literally “haters” of God, Christ died for us justifying us by his blood, saving us from God’s wrath, and reconciling us to the Father. This is such good news, it makes us want to sing, “Nothing in my hand I bring. Simply to thy cross I cling.”
