Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures

— 1 Corinthians 15:3a

46 And He [Jesus] told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day,

47 and in His name repentance and forgiveness of sins will be proclaimed to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem.

— Luke 24:46-47

2 the gospel He promised beforehand through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures,

3 regarding His Son, who was a descendant of David according to the flesh,

4 and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by His resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.

— Romans 1:2-4

as we await the blessed hope and glorious appearance of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.

— Titus 2:13

Thoughts on Today’s Reading

Grace, mercy and love from Christ to you.

The gospel is an objective message and the news report of the event concerning what Jesus did in history. It is not a subjective, how-to message or a step-by-step method used to herd people through a process that leads to salvation. The gospel does not change from person to person. It is the historically verifiable account of how God brought salvation to mankind through the person and work of His Son Jesus Christ.

There are essential components of the gospel. First of all, Christ died. Christ is the person in whom we must believe for salvation. Jesus is the Christ, the promised Messiah from the Old Testament. He is the principal person the gospel message. In order to be saved, a person’s faith must rest exclusively on Jesus Christ. Christ, or CHRISTO in Greek, is the translation of the Hebrew word Messiah. The term Christ has both deity and humanity built into its meaning. God foretold that the Christ would be a human being, the Seed of the woman. God also foretold that the Christ would be deity. He was Emmanuel, God with us. The gospel is about this wonderful God-Man Christ Jesus.