What is the gospel? - by John Hendryx

"...Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?...If you would enter life, keep the commandments."
- Matthew 19:15-17

"God bids us do what we cannot, that we may know what we ought to seek from him."
- Augustine

"For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin."
- Rom 3:20

In short, the Gospel is the life-altering news that Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man, lived a sinless life under the Law, died for sinners and rose again to reconcile them to himself, eternally victorious over every enemy that stood between God and man. Now, because of this redemptive work, there is nothing that separates those who believe from their Creator and all the benefits that He promises in him. D.A. Carson says the gospel centers "upon Jesus Christ and what God has done through him. The essential points of the gospel are Jesus Christ's status as the Son of God, his genuine humanity, his death for our sins, his burial, resurrection, subsequent appearances, and future coming in judgment. That no one is justified but in the gracious work of Jesus Christ in his death and resurrection. It is not merely a recital of theological truths and historical events; rather, it relates these truths and events to situations of every individual believer."

But in order to fully understand what the Gospel is, it is important to understand why the Gospel is needed.

Read rest of article here at Monergism.com