We now turn to Romans in looking at what “gospel” means — and one thing ought to be clear by now. This word is not very often defined. We get things like the gospel “of the kingdom” and the gospel of the death, burial and resurrection, but more often we see things like “preaching” the gospel or just “gospeling” (or evangelizing). Romans 1 now.

1: 1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God– 2 the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures 3 regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, 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.

The gospel is about Jesus Christ — and Jesus is “the Christ” (Messiah) and the Son of God (see also Rom 1:9). There is a powerful royal christology at the heart of the gospel. But we should not convert this into an idea; the gospel is about a Person: Jesus.

The gospel emerges from God’s Story of Israel — the Scripture’s Story.

The gospel involves the Spirit and the Resurrection.

The gospel declares that Jesus Christ is Lord.