Everyone is familiar with the Gospel (‘the good news’) but what this concept mean exactly? In modern Christianity, this concept of the good news (the gospel) describes the good news of Jesus Christ, who was crucified for our sins. However, is this statement accurate?
It is interesting that in the gospels records we actually don’t see any confirmation that Yeshua told his disciples to carry ‘the good news’ about his crucifixion for the sins of the world. On the contrary, Yeshua sent out his disciples to evangelize (carrying the ‘good news’ – the gospel) before his crucifixion.
Luk.9:1 Then Yeshua called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. He sent them to preach the kingdom of YHWH and to heal the sick. And he said to them, “Take nothing for the journey, neither staffs nor bag nor bread nor money; and do not have two tunics apiece. Whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart. And whoever will not receive you, when you go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them.” So, they departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel (‘the good news’) and healing everywhere.
Mk.10:29 So Yeshua answered and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel’s, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time – houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions – and in the age to come, eternal life.”
Also, Yeshua preached the gospel in the Temple, but this ‘good news’ was not about his crucifixion:
Luk.20:1 Now it happened on one of those days, as Yeshua taught the people in the temple and preached the gospel, that the chief priests and the scribes, together with the elders, confronted him.
Moreover, when Yeshua told his disciples that he would rise from the dead, they didn’t really understand him:
Mk.9:9 Now as they came down from the mountain, Yeshua commanded them that they should tell no one the things they had seen, till the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So, they kept this word to themselves, questioning what the rising from the dead meant.
Mk.9:30 Then they departed from there and passed through Galilee, and Yeshua did not want anyone to know it. For he taught his disciples and said to them, “The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And after he is killed, he will rise the third day.” But they did not understand this saying, and were afraid to ask Him.
It’s clear that the ‘the good news’ that Yeshua spoke of wasn’t specifically concerning his crucifixion. If that were the case, then the Pharisees wouldn’t have wanted to kill him as much as they did, and Peter wouldn’t have denied him. So, what ‘good news’ was Yeshua talking about?
Luk.4:16 So Yeshua came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. And he was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written: “The Spirit of YHWH is upon Me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; To preach (‘the good news’) and proclaim the acceptable year (the year of His favor) of YHWH.” Then Yeshua closed the Torah, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
Is.61:1 The Spirit of YHWH Elohim is upon me, because YHWH has anointed me to preach the Gospel of good tidings to the meek, the poor, and afflicted; He has sent me to bind up and heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of YHWH (the year of His favor/the year of Jubilee – ‘the good news’).
‘The good news’ is the desire that the Most High has to forgive those who decide to turn to Him, to His Word. YHWH Elohim has no partiality (Acts 10:34, Rom. 2:11). He accepts and forgives everyone, regardless of the severity of sins and their quantities:
Is.1:16 Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil, learn to do good; Seek justice, rebuke the oppressor; Defend the fatherless, plead for the widow. “Come now, and let us reason together”, says YHWH, “though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; But if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword”; For the mouth of YHWH has spoken.
Mk.1:1 The Beginning of the good news (the Gospel) of Yeshua Messayah, (the Son of YHWH). Just as it is written in the prophet Isaiah: ‘Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who will make ready Your way. A voice of one crying in the wilderness (shouting in the desert), Prepare the way of YHWH, make His beaten tracks straight (level and passable)! John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness (desert), preaching a baptism (obligating) repentance (a change of one’s mind for the better, heartily amending one’s ways, with abhorrence of his past sins) in order to obtain forgiveness of and release from sins.
Ez.18:20 The soul that sins shall die. The son shall not bear and be punished for the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear and be punished for the iniquity of the son; the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him only, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon the wicked only. But if the wicked man turns from all his sins that he has committed and keeps all My statutes and does that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of his transgressions which he has committed shall be remembered against him; for his righteousness which he has executed, he shall live. Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked? says YHWH, and not rather that he should turn from his evil way and return to his Elohim and live? But if the righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? None of his righteous deeds which he has done shall be remembered. In his trespass that he has trespassed and in his sin that he has sinned, in them shall he die. Yet you say, “The way of YHWH is not fair and just”. Hear now, O house of Israel! Is not My way fair and just? Are not your ways unfair and unjust? When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity and dies in his sins, for his iniquity that he has done he shall die. Again, when the wicked man turns away from his wickedness which he has committed and does that which is lawful and right, he shall save his life. Because he considers and turns away from all his transgressions which he has committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die. Yet says the house of Israel, “The way of YHWH is not fair and just!” O house of Israel, are not My ways fair and just? Are not your ways unfair and unjust? Therefore, I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, says YHWH Elohim. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be your ruin and so shall they not be a stumbling block to you. Cast away from you all your transgressions by which you have transgressed against Me, and make you a new mind and heart and a new spirit. For why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of him who dies, says YHWH. Therefore turn (be converted) and live!
‘The good news’ (gospel) is YHWH’s perfect plan, which can be seen throughout His Word since the time of Adam. YHWH Elohim is unchanging. His Word is eternal, and He is faithful to His Word! It was this ‘good news’ that John preached:
Mtt.3:1 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of YHWH; Make His paths straight”.
To make the paths straight or to repent – is to realize that we have sinned and offended YHWH and that we need to seek His forgiveness. This can only be done through His Word (His commandments). For by the Law is the knowledge of sin (Rom. 3:20).
Paul himself warned of the wrong gospel:
2Cor.11:4 For if he who comes preaches another Yeshua whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted – you may well put up with it!
Gal.1:6 I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Messiah who called you in the grace of Messiah, to a different gospel, not that there is (or could be) any other; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Messiah!
2Thess.1:8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know YHWH, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Messiah Yeshua.
1Pet.4:17 For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of YHWH; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of YHWH?
What exactly does it mean ‘to obey the gospel’? In the book of Hebrews, we see that because Israel disobeyed YHWH’s Word, Israel wasn’t able to enter the promised land:
Hebr.3:16 For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Mizraim, led by Moses? Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness? And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? So, we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.
Hebr.4:1 Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said: “So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest,’” although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: “And YHWH rested on the seventh day from all His works”; and again, in this place: “They shall not enter My rest.” Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience.
Disobedience to the Word of YHWH equals unbelief. Those who are true believers and love YHWH and His son Yeshua are obedient to His Word and His commandments:
Jn.14:24 He who does not love Me does not keep My Words (Torah). The word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.
Jn.14:15 If you love Me, keep My commandments.
1Jn.5:3 For this is the love of YHWH, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.
Of course, Yeshua’s death and resurrection for our sins is also ‘the good news’! But that’s only part of it. The Gospel in its entirety is that YHWH commands everyone to repent of their sin (Acts 17:30) and that He freely forgives the sins of all those who decide to return to a life of obedience to His Word, to His commandments. This is His perfect will! It starts with the Law of YHWH (Torah) that was created to teach men to recognize their sin which would lead them to true repentance which is defined as a turning away from sin and following the commandments of YHWH.
The Law is made complete and fulfilled through the forgiveness of sins and the justification or reconciliation between YHWH and man through the sacrifice of Yeshua. In order to justify sinners, a sacrifice was needed (Yeshua), which reconciled us with YHWH. Sacrifice always follows repentance. Yeshua’s sacrifice is what justifies us from the sins we have committed before we came to repentance and continues to justify us from further mistakes as we progress in walking in His Word.
In the Gospel of John, Yeshua said to that woman that was accused of adultery to “go and sin no more!” (John 8:11) meaning that she was forgiven. Yeshua extends this to us when we become believers. Go and walk in obedience to the commandments. This is the full Gospel, ‘the good news’!
Paul says:
Hebr.10:26 For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who has rejected Torah dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of YHWH underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?
By grace, YHWH our Father forgives us and wants us to follow His Word. After all, only His Word — His Commandments are a real blessing for men and this is ‘the good news’ for everyone living on earth!