“I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes,”-Romans 1:16
If the gospel of Christ is the power of God unto salvation, and it is; can I articulate it to someone who needs to be saved? It is a very serious question (I Peter 3:15).
To start with “what is the gospel?” If you ask that question you may get several responses; “the first four books of the Bible,” “hear, believe, repent, confess, and be baptized,” or “the good news.” These are all good answers but they are all wrong.
The gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) tell the story of the gospel but are not the gospel themselves. Hear, believe, repent, confess, and be baptized are the proper responses to the gospel but are nothing without it. The gospel is the good news. But what is the news?
The gospel is this: Jesus was God in heaven. He came down and lived as a man, died as a man for my sins, was buried. He was resurrected to prove God’s power over death, and now he lives in heaven waiting for me. It is articulated beautifully in the song Alleluia.
After the fourth verse of Alleluia1 (song number 13), we repeat the first verse while the sopranos sing what is called “descant number two.” Here are the words:
He was born to die on Calvary,
To redeem a lost humanity;
From the grave He rose triumphantly,
Now He reigns thru all eternity.
As awe inspiring as the melody is to listen to, the words are just as moving and important. They are the gospel in poetry.
He Was Born to Die on Calvary
Jesus existed at the creation of the world (Genesis 1:26; Colossians 1:15-17) and John tells us, “All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.”-John 1:3. This Jesus, who was God in heaven; “became flesh and dwelt among us,”-John 1:14.
Before Jesus of Nazareth walked among men, he made a conscious choice to be born, live, and die as a man. The Hebrew writer tells us Jesus came into this world via a body prepared for him. The burnt offerings and sacrifices of the Old Covenant could not take away sins. So our Savior decided to leave heaven, enter a body, and die on Calvary so we could be “sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”-Hebrews 10:10.
To Redeem a Lost Humanity
We are all familiar with Romans 3:23 which says, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” The fact we need salvation is the starting point of all Christian discussion. Why should I seek a Savior if I don’t feel the need for salvation? We all start out “as little children” who are innocent and belong to the kingdom of God (Mark 10:13-16; Luke 18:15-17). But we all “have gone astray” to obey our will and not the will of God (Isaiah 53:6). We all need salvation.
II Corinthians 5:21 tells us God made a sinless Jesus to become sin for us. Romans 5:8 and I Corinthians 15:3 tell us he died for our sins. Romans 6:3-11 tells us if we are “buried therefore with him by baptism,” we have, “been set free from sin,” and “we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.”-Romans 6:4-7. Jesus indeed died to redeem a lost humanity. “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved;”-Mark 16:16.
From the Grave He Rose Triumphantly
There is no fact more essential to the gospel than the resurrection of Jesus. His resurrection from the dead proved he was the Son of God and the judge of all mankind (Romans 1:4; Acts 17:31).
Jesus rose from the dead never to die again. This makes him different from others who were raised back to life in the Bible (I Kings 17:22; Matthew 9:25; John 11:44; et al.). All of these rose from the dead only to die again. Not so with Jesus. He died, was buried, and rose never to die again (Romans 6:3-9).
The importance of Jesus resurrection to eternal life is seen in I Thessalonians chapter four. Paul speaks for all Christians when he says, “we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.”-I Thessalonians 4:15. The dead in Christ will rise never to die again and those living in Him will be, “caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.”-I Thessalonians 4:17.
Now He Reigns Thru All Eternity
Because Jesus humbled himself to live and die as a man, God raised him from the dead and has seated him at His right hand (Acts 2:32-33). Jesus is not waiting to reign, he is reigning in heaven (Colossians 1:13).
Jesus told his disciples he was leaving to prepare us a place in our Father’s house where there, “are many mansions.”-John 14:2 (KJV). He also promised he would return from heaven to take us to heaven, “that where I am you may be also.”-John 14:3.
Philippians 2:5-10 sums it all up very nicely. At the close of that section of scripture we are told, “every knee should bow” and “every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,”-Philippians 2:10-11. Jesus came from heaven, died for my sins, rose to die no more, and is reigning in heaven. That is the gospel. You can have salvation in his kingdom. Do you believe? Will you confess him as you Lord? Will you enter the kingdom by being baptized into Jesus Christ?
It makes you want to sing doesn’t it? Alleluia means, “Praise the Lord!”
[Editor’s note: This ran as a two part series April 26th and May 3rd of 2026.-JS]
1 Shepard, Dane. “Alleluia” Hymns for Worship (Revised) Bowling Green, KY: Guardian of Truth Foundation, 2003. 13
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