The Gospel

The gospel (euangelion, “good news”) [1] is often misunderstood and misrepresented. Having once contributed to these misconceptions,[2] [3] I humbly present what I believe to be the most pivotal gospel verses in the New Testament: the apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans—his magnum opus among his thirteen epistles—where he declares that the power of the gospel lies in the revelation of the righteousness of God:

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written: “But the righteous one will live by faith.” — Romans 1:16–17 NASB.

Paul was not ashamed of the gospel—and for good reason. While still Saul of Tarsus, he experienced God’s saving power when he encountered the risen Christ on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1–9). Later, as the apostle Paul, He witnessed that same power at work in the lives of both Jews and Gentiles. It is therefore no surprise that he was unafraid to preach the gospel.

What may surprise you, however, is that the power of the gospel lies in the revelation of the “righteousness of God,” not merely in the forgiveness of sins. Paul explains that the gospel is “the power of God for salvation” precisely because “in it the righteousness of God is revealed.” Romans 4 clarifies that this “righteousness” refers to what God imputes (logizomai, “to impute, credit, reckon, or count”), rather than simply one of His divine attributes.

Without epignosis—full, accurate, and personal knowledge—of the righteousness of God (Romans 10:2–3), the gospel is stripped of the very power by which He saves.

And this righteousness is revealed “from faith to faith”—from the Spirit-wrought (John 6:63; 1 Peter 1:2) act of faith in the person and redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ, by which God imputes His righteousness and justifies (dikaioō, “to declare righteous”) the believer by His grace (Romans 3:24), to an ongoing life characterized by faith. As the prophet Habakkuk originally wrote, “The righteous one will live by faith” (Habakkuk 2:4).

Having already cited Habakkuk 2:4 in Galatians 3:11 to defend justification apart from works of the law (nomos, “the Mosaic law”), Paul quoted it once more in Romans 1:17. In doing so, he demonstrates the continuity and consistency of justification by faith throughout both the Old and New Testaments (see also Genesis 15:6; Romans 4:3). He also emphasizes that faith is not just the beginning of the Christian life but its continual way of life: the righteous live by faith.

This message is indeed good news. Yet I believe Romans 1:16–17—and the argument Paul develops through Romans 3:21–5:21—are the most pivotal passages in the New Testament: they establish the standard by which we will ultimately be judged in the courtroom of heaven. “On the day when, according to my gospel,[4] God will judge the secrets of mankind through Christ Jesus” (Romans 2:16, emphasis added).

This imminent judgment will take place between the visible return of Christ (Acts 1:9–11) and the consummation of all things (Revelation 21–22). Those who have believed Paul’s gospel—namely, that God imputes His righteousness to the elect when, through the work of the Holy Spirit, they believe in Jesus Christ, thereby justifying them by grace—will have eternal life. But those who have despised the kindness of God that leads to repentance (metanoia, “a change of mind”) and faith in Paul’s gospel will face everlasting punishment (Matthew 25:46; Romans 2:4).

You might also enjoy reading a rough draft of my book, A Snapshot of Christianity: From Eternity Past to Eternity Future.

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[1] Greek definitions follow standard lexical usage; see Walter Bauer, Frederick W. Danker, William Arndt, and F. Wilbur Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed. (BDAG).

[2] Because I misunderstood the gospel, my self-righteous “dead works” (Hebrews 6:1) took the form of Lordship Salvation—a heretical system that blends the gift of salvation (Romans 3:24) with the costly works of discipleship (Luke 14:25–33) and grounds assurance in works rather than in Christ Himself (Hebrews 12:2).

[3] Even after repenting of Lordship Salvation, I continued to hold to the doctrine of imputed righteousness—the idea that believers are imputed the righteousness of Christ. However, Scripture consistently shows that God the Father imputes His own righteousness to believers (Romans 4:5–6; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Philippians 3:9).

[4] Based on the Greek evidence across the Textus Receptus, the Critical Text, and the Majority Text, the word τῆς in Galatians 2:7 is properly translated as “of,” not “to” or “for.” This renders the phrases “the gospel of the uncircumcision” (committed to Paul) and “the gospel of the circumcision” (committed to Peter). This grammatical distinction supports the view that these were distinct gospels. Consequently, when Paul refers to “my gospel” in Romans 2:16, he means the gospel specifically entrusted to him through divine revelation (Acts 26:16; Galatians 1:11–17).