What Is the Gospel?

Opening Up Romans—2

Exploring the riches of God’s grace, one passage at a time.

As we continue our journey through Romans, we come to the most important question any Christian could answer: What is the gospel?

We use that word all the time—“gospel truth,” “gospel-centered,” “sharing the gospel.” But what do we really mean by it? If someone asked you to explain it over coffee, could you do it clearly?

Many people today think of the gospel as “being good” or “doing good.” One recent survey found that over half of self-identified Christians believe they’ll get to heaven by being good people. But that’s not the gospel—it’s the opposite of it. The gospel isn’t about what we do for God; it’s about what God has done for us.

In Romans 1:2–4, Paul tells us what this message is all about. He calls it “the gospel of God”—God’s own message to the world, promised long ago, and centered on His Son, Jesus Christ.

God’s Message to the World

The gospel begins with God, not us. Paul calls it the gospel of God because He’s the author, source, and sender of the message. This isn’t something Paul invented or inherited from religious tradition—it came from heaven itself.

That means the gospel isn’t a new idea, a moral philosophy, or a human discovery. It’s God breaking through human history to bring good news. As Isaiah once wrote,

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news… who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!’” (Isa. 52:7)

The gospel is that kind of news—news that God reigns, God saves, and God has done something about our sin and separation from Him. It’s not a set of instructions to follow, but a message to believe: God rescues sinners.

Promised Long Ago

Paul adds that this gospel “was promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures.” In other words, it’s not new. It’s ancient.

From the moment Adam and Eve fell, God promised a Redeemer who would crush the serpent (Gen. 3:15). He told Abraham that all nations would be blessed through his family. Through the sacrifices, priesthood, and kings of Israel, He gave glimpses of a greater Savior to come.

And then, through the prophets, God became specific—this Redeemer would be born of a virgin (Isa. 7:14), in Bethlehem (Mic. 5:2), and would suffer and die for His people (Isa. 53).

God didn’t improvise the gospel in the New Testament. He wrote it into the story from the very beginning. That’s how much He wanted to make Himself known—and how far He would go to rescue us.

An Old Testament scroll

About His Son

Finally, Paul says this gospel is “concerning his Son.” That’s the heart of it all. The gospel isn’t just a message about Jesus—it is Jesus:

He is the good news.
He is the promise fulfilled.
He is the one who did everything we could never do.

Paul describes Him as “descended from David according to the flesh” (v. 3)—the true human King who fulfills God’s ancient promises—and as the one “declared to be the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead” (v. 4).

In His humanity, Jesus humbled Himself for us. In His resurrection, He was exalted to reign for us. That’s why Martin Luther said, “Everything in Scripture must be understood in relation to Christ,” and John Calvin echoed, “The whole gospel is contained in Christ.”

The Heart of It All

So, what is the gospel? It’s God’s message to the world—promised long ago, fulfilled in His Son, Jesus Christ.

It’s not advice about how to live; it’s an announcement about what God has done.

It’s not about being good; it’s about being made new.

And it’s not just good news in general—it’s the best news for you.

Jesus is the gospel. And through Him, God is still speaking good news to the world.