In the list below, we find eight matters that encompass the details of what the apostles (from Peter to Paul) meant when they use the term "gospel". However, the critical mass of this list is not on the list. The term "gospel" is not only being borrowed from the Greco-Roman world, but its meaning and its practical implications.
The primary implication is simple: Jesus is a now a King who demands disavowal of former loyalties and then loyal allegiance to Jesus Christ as King as the price of being a current and future member of His kingdom and royal family.
Moreover, the purpose of this life is a test of our demonstrable loyalty framed in the context of a good conscience—that is—that even in our weakness, we have a bent or inclination towards loyalty to King Jesus in all that we do. Even the faintest hint of steadfast loyalty to Jesus as King of our lives will not be overlooked by the King on the Day of the Lord and his judgment seat.
Therefore, read the list below in this context and in the fairness, goodness, compassion, and mercy of our King and Savior, Jesus Christ. Note also the most critical part of the list is items seven and eight in the context of Jesus being resurrected. Thus, the critical mass of the list is that Jesus is enthroned as King of all and is coming again to judge the loyalties of men to himself or to his enemies. It is time for us to believe, pick, and then live out to whom will we be loyal?
Finally—we need to understand that the expression of our loyalty is lived out mostly in how we treat others who are loyal to Jesus Christ as King or to those who would hear the gospel and believe (declare their allegiance) into it as we, ourselves—thereby joining the royal family. How we treat these people and how we carry out our embodied loyalty to him through them is another critical mass of this gospel.
The Gospel: An Outline Jesus the king
1. Preexisted with the Father,
2. Took on human flesh, fulfilling God’s promises to David,
3. Died for sins in accordance with the Scriptures,
4. Was buried,
5. Was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
6. Appeared to many,
7. Is seated at the right hand of God as Lord, and
8. Will come again as judge.
FOOTNOTES
It is helpful to know the historical backdrop from which the apostles (Peter to Paul) borrowed the notion of gospel. It is taken from how the official Greco-Roman empire (and others before it) functioned and what they (Gentile pagans) meant when they used the official term gospel in operating the Roman empire.
For Gentile pagan Rome, a gospel was a proclamation of something critical to the operating of the empire and how loyal citizens were expected to live and respond in light of it. For example, when a new emperor was declared, citizens were expected to make a public response to the public declaring (gospel) of the new emperor. They were to publicly declare and then live out their allegiance, loyalty, and fealty to the new emperor.
In the case of Caesar Augustus, who declared his step-father, Julius Caesar, as a god, and then himself as the son of god, the matter of allegiance, loving-loyalty, and fealty rose to a whole new level. It was in this backdrop that the people of God in Jesus Christ, the King of all kings was in context. By publicly declaring Jesus as King (Caesar) and disavowing the human emperor, one was making a choice that could have serious implications and consequences: loss of businesses, social standing, money, property, wealth, influence, and even prison and death.
So, when the apostles are declaring the gospel of Jesus Christ (the announcement of him as King of kings above the human Caesar) the matter is quite critical.
Works vs Grace
Does our declaring and then living out our allegiance to Jesus as a proving of our loyalty in a good conscience, rewarded by eternal life in that Day of the Lord turn grace into works? Not at all. Why?
The answer is super simple. First, everything that we need to walk out this embodied loyalty to Jesus in our lives is supplied by God. It it his Cross and his Spirit in us that supplies us with all of his power and resources to get the job done. In the walking out of embodied loyalty, we are doing it by his power, work, and supply. Nothing is coming from us except for one thing and one only: Our free-willed choices that utilize his provision for us and in us to the carrying out of the mission of proving our loyalty to him.
Secondly—and perhaps just as important—is that this proving out of free-willed loyalty to Christ is not based on any kind of Law (Mosaic or otherwise). There is no rule based system that results in rule keeping that is rewarded by eternal life. This is what defines a "works-based" salvation. Instead, what we are doing is a living relationship, where the Lord Jesus speaks to us, commands us, and directs us through his living Spirit within us. He says go, we go. He says do, we do. He says do not, and we stop.
Some of this go, do, don't, stop, and other commands and commandments are already found in what we call New Testament scripture. Beyond these already written mentions of what the Lord Jesus commanded of the first century church are what he commands us today, directly by his Spirit within us or through brothers and sisters who are likewise indwelt by the Spirit of Christ, to whom he has given charge over us (apostles, evangelists, prophets, pastors, and teachers). We are a living body and not a set of dead rules. Notice the difference: Dead rules require no relationship. Living commands require relationship. There is no other choice.
Yet, one thing remains true in this living architecture: Allegiance, loyalty, and fealty to our King and Savior, Jesus Christ. The Lord and those who have the Lord in them and speak for him will never ask us to do anything the violates our allegiance, loyalty, and fealty to Christ as King. Never! If it does, then it is not the living commandment of the Lord. Neither will any living commandment violate living commandments given as a basis in New Testament scripture. The Word of the Lord is unchanging and never contradicts itself. Not ever!
Jesus Christ—the same yesterday, today, and forever!