What is the Gospel?

The Gospel — the Good News — is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 15:1-4). We are all born physically alive but spiritually dead, separated from God because of sin (Gen. 2:17; Rom. 5:12; 6:23). The Gospel is God's answer: Christ died for our sins as our substitute, was buried — truly dead — and was raised from the dead, which is the only basis for the Christian's hope. When we believe this Good News, we are turned around: identified with Christ in His death and resurrection, we are made dead to sin and alive to God, a new creation (Rom. 5:8; 1 Cor. 15:22; 2 Cor. 5:21). The Gospel is not advice about how to live; it is the announcement of what God has already done. Man can neither earn it nor deserve it — God does the work, God gets the credit, and man receives the blessing.