The word “gospel” is defined as “good news” and “glad tidings”. The apostle Paul said, “And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! (Romans 10:15).
The good news of Christ is that He loved us so much that He died in our place, for our sins, that He was buried, and that He triumphed over death, in His resurrection from the grave. It is because of these facts that we can be save from our sins and have the hope of eternal life.
The apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthian Christians, “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how 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: (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).
The Bible not only teaches that we must believe the facts of the Gospel but there are also commands of the Gospel which must be obeyed if one expects to be saved. Just before Jesus returned to His Father in heaven (Acts 1:9-11), He instructed the apostles, “And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16:15). Of course they were to preach that Christ has died on the cross, had been buried, and had been resurrected from the grave on the third day as had been prophesied. But they were told to preach, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” (Mark 16:16)
Paul was inspired to write to the church at Thessalonica, “And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power” (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9). Peter wrote, “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?” (1 Peter 4:17)
To help us better understand how we can obey the Gospel, keep in mind that the Gospel – the good news – itself is the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord. Then, as we obey the commands of the Gospel, first believing in God and in Christ as the Son of God, turning away from a life of sin, confessing our faith in Jesus, finally we come to the point of being buried by baptism in water as He was buried in the grave, and being raised to walk in newness of life. Through picturing our actions a form of what Jesus did for us, through obeying what He has asked us to do, the Lord saves us from our sins and adds us to His church (Mark 16:15,16; Acts 2:38; Romans 10:10; Acts 2:47).
Concerning this obedience, Paul said, “But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness,” (Romans 6:16-17). That is, just as Christ died for our sins, we die to sin; as Christ was buried in the grave, we are buried in the waters of baptism to live a new life. That is the significance of the Gospel and of obeying a “form” of it.
God saves all those who obey the Gospel from heart, as is explained in detail in the second chapter of Acts, where the Gospel was preached for the first time and people were able to obey it.
Have you obeyed the Gospel? You must do so if you want to be forgiven of your sins, so that you may enter Christ and His church, which is His Family, composed of the saved people.