Isn't the gospel a way of life?
1 Corinthians 15, Romans 1, and Galatians 1.
The short answer Settled
No. It is news about what Christ did. The gospel that saves is that "Christ died for our sins," was buried, and rose again the third day. What a person does in response to it is not the gospel itself.
What Paul delivered first
Paul reminded the Corinthians of "the gospel which I preached to you," the gospel "by which also you are saved" (). Then he said what it is: "For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures" ().
Every item on that list is something Christ did or something that happened to Him. None of it is something the hearer does. The hearers' part shows only in what they did with the message: they "received" it (), and "so you believed" ().
The burial and the witnesses stand beside the two great events. He was buried because He had truly died. He "was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve," and then by "over five hundred brethren at once" (), because He had truly risen.
A soldier still hiding in the jungle years after his war has ended does not need a battle plan. He needs someone to bring him the news, and he needs to believe it.
The power of God
Paul says why this message matters so much: "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes" (). God saves people through this message, so what it says is what a person must hear.
It was not a new message. God "promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures" () a gospel "concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord" (), who was "declared to be the Son of God with power" when He rose, "by the resurrection from the dead" ().
Only one gospel
The other apostles preached the same message. Paul says, "whether it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed" ().
And there is no second gospel. Some of the Galatians were turning "to a different gospel, which is not another" (), and Paul wrote, "But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed" (). To be accursed is to be placed under God's curse. A message that changes what the gospel says is not a second way to be saved. It is not the gospel at all.
The usual objection
Many people think of the gospel as a message about how to live: turn from sin, be baptized, keep the commandments, and follow the teaching of Jesus. On this view the good news is a way of life, and whoever follows it faithfully is saved. Christ's death and rising are part of the story, but the saving message is the instruction.
Paul names the gospel by which the Corinthians were saved, and everything in it is what Christ did. What a person does in response to the gospel matters, but it is not the gospel. Paul would not let even an angel change that message.
The words behind it
| Word | Where | Form | What it shows |
|---|---|---|---|
| τὸ εὐαγγέλιον to euangelion, "the gospel" (Strong's 2098) | Noun | Good news: a message announced. | |
| δι’ οὗ καὶ σῴζεσθε di' hou kai sōzesthe, "by which also you are saved" (1223, 3739, 4982) | Relative pronoun; present passive indicative | "Which" points back to the gospel: the message is what saves. | |
| ὅτι … καὶ ὅτι … καὶ ὅτι hoti … kai hoti … kai hoti, "that … and that … and that" (3754) | Conjunction, repeated | Each item Paul delivered is a "that": a fact about Christ. | |
| ἐγήγερται egēgertai, "He rose again" (1453) | Perfect passive indicative | Raised, and still risen. | |
| δύναμις … θεοῦ … εἰς σωτηρίαν dynamis … theou … eis sōtērian, "the power of God to salvation" (1411, 2316, 4991) | Noun; preposition with noun | The gospel is the means by which God saves. | |
| ἕτερον … ὃ οὐκ ἔστιν ἄλλο heteron … ho ouk estin allo, "a different … which is not another" (2087, 243) | Two different words for "other" | A different message, not a second gospel. | |
| ἀνάθεμα ἔστω anathema estō, "let him be accursed" (331) | Noun; present imperative | Placed under God's curse. |
No textual variants affect the conclusion.
This study checks the Greek Received Text against the Majority Text, and the written Hebrew against its traditional reading. If a difference could change a conclusion, this note explains it. Otherwise it says that none does.