What Is the Gospel?

 

 

A question that needs to be addressed

Especially in our time

Since in pulpit practice

We see aberrations of every kind.

 

Some minor, some major,

Some totally out of sync,

Some so grossly misrepresentative,

It’s difficult to think.

 

But where do we begin

To address such a critical issue?

I would think via the Holy Scriptures,

Wouldn’t you?

 

And in this poetic discourse

There is no place better to start

Than at Romans, the very first chapter

Which is at the very heart.

 

Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ,

Called to be an apostle,

Separated unto the Gospel of God,

Which he had promised afore by his prophets

In the holy scriptures.

 

In the holy scriptures

Therein is the full picture!

And now for the current feature.

 

 

 

In the Law or the Torah:

In the book of the beginning,

God dictated to his prophet, Moses,

What would be the ending.

 

The ending of the arch enemy

We’ve come to know as Satan,

Once regarded as Lucifer, son of the morning,

In the heavenly kingdom.

 

Cast down from heaven

Headlong into to the earth,

Disrupted communion and communication

Bringing about sin’s birth.

 

And with sin came death

Which in the first instance was spiritual

But not along after the Fall

Became physical.

 

The soul that sins shall die

Was the sentence given

Unless of course, a plan could be put in place

For that soul to be forgiven.

 

And thus came the first pointer

Of the lifesaving Gospel

Which having been fulfilled in Christ

Is available to all people.

 

Turn in the holy scriptures

To Genesis chapter 3

And there at verse number 15

You will clearly see.

 

The first verse of promise

Concerning the Gospel of God,

Yes, it is right there and then declared

Immediately after the Fall.

 

 

 

And I will put enmity between thee and the woman,

And between thy seed and her seed;

And it shall bruise thy head,

And thou shall bruise his heel.

 

Bruise is better rendered as crush

Signifying a fatal blow

And this would materialize at Golgotha

Which the scriptures show.

 

In this first ever court case

Sentences were given to three:

First to the serpent then the woman

Then to the man finally.

 

The serpent was the cause

Of the woman being deceived

And the man being an accessory after the fact,

A just sentence received. 

 

Thus, sin originated

And by way of sin entered death

And for both the man and the woman

Ended that Sabbath day rest.

 

For in it while God had rested

Man’s rest was disrupted

And on account of man’s disobedience

All else was corrupted.

 

 

 

Fast forward through millennia

To welcome a new born babe

Which was born of a virgin peasant

In a virtual cave.

 

She had known no man

Yet this maiden had conceived,

It was the incarnation of the Christ child

Though many did not believe.

 

He shall save his people from their sin

His very name had meant

And straight from the heavenly throne room

This divine babe was sent.

 

Sent by the Heavenly Father

To be the Gospel of God

For unto you is born, the angel did say

That night when they called.

 

They announced to shepherds

The arrival of the Saviour

That prophets had foretold of long ago

To fulfil God’s pleasure.

 

For it pleased God

To bruise his own begotten Son

That through his death and resurrection

Our salvation would be won.

 

 

 

So, what is the Gospel

If I may ask you again?

It is the power of God unto salvation

Paul stated unashamed.

 

Quite unlike the Galatians

Who had quickly turned away

From the path in which he had pointed

Back in that day.

 

Perhaps they were confused

Or maybe were ashamed

Of the power of God unto salvation

Paul preached in Jesus’ name.

 

 

 

For salvation is in no one

Other than Jesus the Christ

Who crushed the head of the serpent

In his once-for-all sacrifice.

 

Herein is the Gospel of God

Aka the Gospel of Christ

Who in his own body on a cruel cross

Paid sin’s ultimate price.

 

In the words of a sacred hymn

And worthy of review,

I now share its Gospel message

In a verse with you.

 

There was no other good enough

To pay the price of sin;

He only could unlock the gate

Of heav’n, and let us in.

 

“I am the door,” said Jesus,

“By me if any man enter in,

He shall be saved and shall go in and out,

And find pasture.”

 

So, what is the Gospel?

It is, God’s kingdom has come

And is made manifest in the work

And person of the Son.

 

In those days came John the Baptist,

Preaching in the wilderness of Judea,

And saying, Repent ye:

For the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

 

Spoken of by Isaiah the prophet:

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness,

Prepare ye the way of the Lord,

Make his paths straight.”

 

 

 

Thus, John seeing Jesus coming to him

Said, “Behold the Lamb of God,

Which taketh away

The sin of the world.”

 

From that time

Jesus began to preach and to say,

“Repent: for the kingdom of heaven

Is at hand.”

 

For some, at hand means

In another two thousand years

But for that 1^st Century audience it meant

Virtually here.

 

The king had arrived

And with him the kingdom had come

In the person and work

Of Jesus, God’s Son.

 

And thus, we have the Gospel

In a proverbial nutshell,

‘Tis the person and work of Jesus Christ

Which the prophets did foretell.

 

This is what the Gospel is,

How oft do you hear it?

I have some disheartening news for you,

Not in many a pulpit.

 

What the Gospel is not

Is mostly what is spoken

And there is a dire need to present

More than just a token.

 

 

 

The Gospel of God

Is the Gospel of Christ,

Is the Gospel of the kingdom of heaven

And eternal life.

 

How beautiful are the feet of them

That preach the gospel of peace,

And bring glad tidings

Of good things!

 

Stewart Russell © October 15, 2025

 

What the Gospel Is Not

 

 

The Gospel is not legalism;

It is not the Law

And this of course does not mean

The Law had a flaw.

 

The Law was a precursor

To point us to Christ:

The central figure of the Gospel

And his sacrifice.

 

It is not antinomianism;

It is not anti-Law:

It regulates our moral conscience

On which we must draw.

 

It is not Sabbath keeping

As some seem to think

And neither is it a particular diet

That we eat and drink.

 

It is not going to church

By which some set store

Or even a particular denomination

As we hear the more.

 

It is not sectarian

Steeped in men’s tradition:

Forbidding this and forbidding that

As a means of salvation.

 

The Gospel is not tithing

Or sacrificial giving,

Neither is it abundant prosperity

Nor modest living.

 

It is not prayer and fast

Or missing a staple

Or stipulating a particular time

For them that are able.

 

It is not abstention

From meats or shell fish

Or in the case of liberated saints,

Eating what you wish.

 

It is not doing miracles

Or speaking in tongues

Or even prophesying the future

To an eager throng.

 

 

 

It is not saying out loud

A set sinner’s prayer

Neither is it one’s sacrificial giving

To give another care.

 

It is not the altar call

After a preacher’s homily,

With threats of raging hell fire

For all eternity.

 

It is not Bible study

Or scheduled prayer time,

It is not even as some may think,

Having a pure mind.

 

It is not water baptism:

Sprinkle or immersed

And it is not reciting catechisms

That one rehearsed.

 

It is not confession

Made to a Catholic priest

And it is certainly not the keeping

Of Jewish feasts.

 

It is not doing penance

Or keeping sacraments,

It’s not abstention from eating meats

With sincere intent.

 

It is not righteous living

Without fear or doubt

And it is not knowing the Scriptures

From inside out.

 

It’s not an eschatology

Regarding Christ’s return,

Neither preterist, futurist or idealist

Or any other learned.

 

 

 

None of the above

Is the Gospel of Christ,

Keeping any one or all of them

Will never ever suffice.

 

In and of themselves

These things are not bad

But the Gospel is not what we do

Or feelings we’ve had.

 

The Gospel is Jesus Christ,

His person and his work

And not a list of “dos and don’ts”

Or joining a church.

 

Stewart Russell © October 23, 2025

 

What If

 

 

What if I end up in hell

Because I got it wrong,

Numbered among the “never saved”:

Though strong but wrong?

 

What if on my own merit

I listed all I would’ve done

Only to hear the words, “depart from me”

After life’s race I had run?

 

What if given my status

Especially in some church,

I was called a worker of iniquity

And left in the lurch?

 

What if lesser mortals

Made it into heaven

And hell became my reward though

I believed I was forgiven?

 

 

 

What if as a Christian

I did all that was required

But on that great judgment day

I ended up in hell’s fire?

 

What defense have I

In heaven’s court of law

Or on what human legal experience

Could I then draw?

 

Did you not realize

These are all questions?

Have you ever given thought to such

In any form or fashion?

 

Do we have a right

To God’s mercy and grace?

Is there merit in any one of us-

Even a tiny trace?

 

 

 

If your answer is yes

Then you do have a right

But how would such stand up

In light of the Light?

 

Not well, I would imagine,

Given our sin nature

For regarding who by nature we are,

There’s a bigger picture.

 

That picture, my friend,

Is Yahweh:

The one that sees all, knows all

And has the final say.

 

No merit of heaven

But justly deserving hell

And God would still be justified

Even if no warning bell.

 

All of this is to say

We’re all without merit,

Regardless of status or ethnicity

Hell is our exit.

 

A delight in the Law

Is not a delight in the Lord

So, ‘tis only by God’s grace and mercy

And faith in His word.

 

My just dessert, I repeat,

Is a burning hell

And my argument based on the Law

Is a sure death knell.

 

“I never knew you”

Wasn’t said to the saved

But to those who highlighted works

And not morally depraved.

 

Not to the born-again,

Were these dreaded words said

But to the self-righteous Pharisees,

Who were spiritually dead.

 

 

 

What if you keep the law

But do not know the Christ,

You will wake up in hell, I tell you!

Your good will not suffice.

 

The Law cannot save,

It was never meant to

But to point us to the one who can

And that one is Truth.

 

Stewart Russell © August 5, 2025

 

Biblical and Christlike

 

 

Called to be both

Not one without the other

For one without the other one

Is a likely bother.

 

For some Christians

The Bible is a big stick

That is used to bludgeon another

Into a biased fit.

 

Some cite the Bible

Often out of context,

They memorize biblical passages

To support their pretext.

 

They spout the Bible

Is another saying

But their attitude is atrocious;

No mistaking.

 

The letter of the Law

Was held by the Pharisees

But they were so far from Christ

They died by degrees.

 

Some strain at a gnat

But would swallow a camel

Just like the blind leading the blind

Right into a well.  

 

 

 

Satan was biblical!

He could quote the Word,

No doubt he knew it inside out

Yet, he was absurd.

 

Biblically truly defined

Is to be rooted in the text,

It is the means to following Christ

Step by step.

 

 

 

Christ is the standard:

The way, the truth and life,

To be biblical without the Christ

Is to encourage strife.

 

One can be biblical

Without being Christlike

But it is impossible the other way

Since Christ is the light.

 

To be rooted in Christ

Is to be rooted in the Word

For how else would anyone know him

Except they had heard?

 

Faith comes by hearing

And hearing by the Word

Thus, to be Christlike and unbiblical

Is to be absurd.

 

Politicians are biblical,

They too quote the Bible

And they do this as the means

To lure Christian people.

 

They politicize Jesus

To attract his followers

And then there is a great divide

Causing a lot of horror.

 

We nationalized the Lord

Who is on the people’s side

And despite our National anthem

We are on a negative slide.

 

We culturized Jesus

And God became a Bajan

So, no hurricane can flatten Barbados;

Just can’t get it done.

 

Strike the last (3) verses:

Such cannot be done,

Jesus will never ever march, do note,

To the people’s drum.

 

His is the standard

By which we must abide

And should any other be offered,

Tell Satan he lied.

 

So, be rooted in the text

And in the character of Christ

For to be like Jesus is to succeed

In this and the next life.

 

Stewart Russell © September 22, 2025

 

Parody of Freedom

 

 

A misrepresentation:

The freedom of the world,

It is a parody for certain

And pathetically absurd.

 

Highly prejudicial,

Like a pseudo freedom

Guaranteed to the powerful

But to the weak, seldom.

 

A parody of sorts

A misrepresentation,

Worldly freedom really and truly

Is a domination.

 

Domination of the weak

By the very strong

And oppression of the poor

All day long.

 

 

A selective freedom

That’s clearly not for all

And the law supposedly in support,

Deliberately stalled.

 

Justice delayed

And very often denied,

And the freedom of the weak

Brushed aside.

 

A pseudo freedom

That is no freedom at all,

This dollars-and-cents freedom

I absolutely appall.

 

 

A parody of justice

Certainly, for the poor,

The law might be in their favour

But can they afford…

 

The price of a lawyer

To fight their case

So that that which they spend

Do not go to waste?

 

 

What good is freedom

If it is out of reach

And the law seems powerless

To mend the breach?

 

Out of poor man’s reach

Accessible to the rich

And of course, to them skilled

In deviant politics…

 

Where money talks

And power overwhelms

And from corrupt leadership

All evil stems.

 

Where God is omitted

And the moral code

Has been drastically changed

From that of old.

 

 

Freedom for the rich

Freedom for the powerful

But a parody, I must reiterate,

For the vulnerable.

 

A misrepresentation

When it comes to the poor

And for the most vulnerable

It is a closed door.

 

Still enslaved

With no cash in hand

At least not enough to purchase

Freedom on demand.

 

Stewart Russell © February 20, 2025