What exactly is "the Gospel"?

[forsha]

The Good News is the availability of eternal life through Jesus,
not commands.
The Gospel is defined clearly in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8, and is not commands, but Christ.

How do we live out the Gospel? By living like Christ, because He is the Good News, the Word made flesh.

I believe that you may be overlooking some of the commands in the new testament. Gal 5:14, for example, For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, but if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of the other. This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Gal 6:2 Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. verse 9, Let us not be weary in well-doing; for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. There are many, many more, and am surprised that you overlooked them.

 

[Sophia]

I believe that you may be overlooking some of the commands in the new testament. Gal 5:14, for example, For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, but if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of the other. This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Gal 6:2 Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. verse 9, Let us not be weary in well-doing; for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. There are many, many more, and am surprised that you overlooked them.

Not overlooking them, but separating them from the definition of the Gospel, because the word "gospel" is not in those passages.
The good news is not about us fulfilling the Law, but that Christ came and fulfilled the Law and paid the price of the Law for us, that we owed,
and that there is now availability of the Kingdom of God to all who believe on Christ.
I take my definition of the "Gospel" from Scriptures that use the word gospel in them.

 

[Sophia]

There is only one Gospel.
The good news of the Kingdom is that Christ has come.
There is no other Gospel than the one that saved us, and that is Christ.

We were chosen long before we heard the Gospel (before the earth was formed actually),
but it is made effectual upon us hearing the Word, being given Faith, believing on Christ, being baptized(cleansed) in His Blood(death, burial, and resurrection), and being sealed by the Spirit.
The next question is "what do we do now that we believe?" We live out the Gospel by following the teachings of Christ.
1st John makes all this pretty clear, and sticks to One Salvation.

 

[forsha]

Not overlooking them, but separating them from the definition of the Gospel, because the word "gospel" is not in those passages.
The good news is not about us fulfilling the Law, but that Christ came and fulfilled the Law and paid the price of the Law for us, that we owed,
and that there is now availability of the Kingdom of God to all who believe on Christ.
I take my definition of the "Gospel" from Scriptures that use the word gospel in them.

I'll admit that I am old and sometimes forgetful, but did you not say, in another post, that you did not see commanding scriptures in the new testament? In my own words, God tells us", if you will do this for me, I will bless you with this" Just because the word "gospel" is not in a verse does not mean that it is not gospel. All of the inspired words of the four gospels are gospel. If God tells us to do something and he blesses us for doing it, that's gospel, good news. That is also a timely salvation(deliverance). Jesus has been reining in his kingdom, which is his church, as king, ever sense he set the church up. His church is not a building, but is all of those that he saved eternally, which are those that God gave to his Son. John 6:39

 

[forsha]

There is only one Gospel.
The good news of the Kingdom is that Christ has come.
There is no other Gospel than the one that saved us, and that is Christ.

We were chosen long before we heard the Gospel (before the earth was formed actually),
but it is made effectual upon us hearing the Word, being given Faith, believing on Christ, being baptized(cleansed) in His Blood(death, burial, and resurrection), and being sealed by the Spirit.
The next question is "what do we do now that we believe?" We live out the Gospel by following the teachings of Christ.
1st John makes all this pretty clear, and sticks to One Salvation.

Let me ask you this question and see if throws a light on what I am trying to say about deliverances we receive here on earth. If you sin, and all of us still do even though we have been born of the Spirit and are eternally saved, and you ask God to forgive you, then when God delivers you from that sin, there is a timely salvation (deliverance). salvation is defined as a deliverance when Jesus died for us on the cross there was a deliverance(salvation), He delivered us from this wicked world to a home in heaven with him.

 

[forsha]

There is only one Gospel.
The good news of the Kingdom is that Christ has come.
There is no other Gospel than the one that saved us, and that is Christ.

We were chosen long before we heard the Gospel (before the earth was formed actually),
but it is made effectual upon us hearing the Word, being given Faith, believing on Christ, being baptized(cleansed) in His Blood(death, burial, and resurrection), and being sealed by the Spirit.
The next question is "what do we do now that we believe?" We live out the Gospel by following the teachings of Christ.
1st John makes all this pretty clear, and sticks to One Salvation.

The gospel does not save us eternally, but it does save us timely when we, in verse 9 of 1 John 1:, confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If you apply this scripture as eternal, then you will be advocating that eternal salvation is by the work of man, because confessing and repenting requires an action on the part of man.

 

[Sophia]

The gospel does not save us eternally, but it does save us timely when we, in verse 9 of 1 John 1:, confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If you apply this scripture as eternal, then you will be advocating that eternal salvation is by the work of man, because confessing and repenting requires an action on the part of man.

Now you are seeing the distinction between the Gospel and then living out our calling.
The commands to live it out are what display our faith in Christ.

The Gospel is like an Immigration Ceremony that has no requirement other than invitation from the president. If it is guaranteeing entrance into a good country, then it is very good news.
The commands are like the laws of the new land. If it is a good country, then they are good laws, and obeying them displays your appreciation for being let in.
In Christ, the laws are not part of the Immigration Ceremony, but are part of living like a citizen!
If you are truly a citizen, then you cannot be deported... but you can be chastised.
If you never received the presidential invitation, but snuck in (wolf in sheep's clothing/apostate)... then you will be thrown out when the great census happens. (Wheat and tares)
Unlike a physical country where the laws are upon your own shoulders to obey, in Christ we are given the Spirit to guide us.

(Not a perfect example, but hopefully it was useful)

 

[BradC]

The gospel of Jesus Christ and him crucified is the gospel of grace. We receive the gospel by faith and it is the power of God unto salvation. The salvation is not temporal or earthly but is eternal and with power. In that power we have been translated from the power of darkness into the kingdom of God's dear Son. That kingdom is not on earth nor is it of the earth but from above in heaven where we have been positionally made to sit together in heavenly places in Christ. We are members of Christ's body here on earth which is represented by the church as ambassadors of Christ. The message of this gospel is not of the kingdom but is a word and ministry of reconciliation through the blood of Christ.

This gospel is one of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ and it involves God's imputed righteousness, justification by faith and the cleansing of all sin, including the purging of all dead works from the conscience through the blood of Christ. Christ is the head of the church and we are the members of his body, flesh and bones. The body is a living organism and each member has a supply of the Spirit to contribute. We have need of one another and through the supply of the Spirit we contribute to that which is lacking. Each member is one in particular being born of the Spirit and the incorruptible seed of God's word. We are a kingdom of royal priests but we function as a body of believers in the royal law of love. We are here to be a partakers of Christ's sufferings for a servant is not greater than his master.

We are to lay our life down for one another as servants and we wash one another's feet. We bear one another's burden and in doing so we fulfill the law of Christ. We edify and build up one another and comfort one another in the forbearance of God. We are to live in the Spirit and walk in the Spirit being filled with the fruit of the Spirit instead of walking in the flesh. We have no continuing city but we seek one to come. We are to be occupied with Christ, building ourselves up in the most holy faith and love of God and abstaining from fleshly lusts that war against the soul as sojourners, strangers and pilgrims in this life. This is part of the life of the believer in the body of Christ, the church.

2 Peter 1:1-11

1 Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:
2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.
10 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:
11 For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.