What Makes the Gospel Good News in Romans
The concept of the "Good News" is central to Paul's letter to the Romans, where it is referred to as "the Good News of Christ" [5]. The term "Gospel" originates from the Greek word "euaggelion", meaning "good message" [1]. In Romans, Paul emphasizes that the Good News is "the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes" [5].
Paul's understanding of the Good News is rooted in the Old Testament, where it is foretold as a message of salvation and redemption [7]. In Isaiah 52:7, the prophet announces the coming of one who will bring "good tidings" of peace and salvation [12]. This theme is echoed in Romans 10:15, where Paul quotes Isaiah, highlighting the beauty of those who preach the Good News [4].
The Good News is not just a message, but a demonstration of God's power through signs, wonders, and the Holy Spirit [6]. According to Paul, the Good News is the fulfillment of God's promise to make people right in his sight through faith in Christ [9]. This is a cardinal tenet of the Good News, emphasizing that salvation is not earned through human merit, but is a gift received through trust in Christ [8].
In Romans, Paul underscores the universality of the Good News, declaring that it is for "everyone who believes; for the Jew first, and also for the Greek" [5]. The message has been proclaimed far and wide, from Jerusalem to Illyricum, and is available to all [6, 11]. As Paul prepares to visit Rome, he expresses his eagerness to share the Good News with the Roman believers, coming in "the fullness of the blessing of the Good News of Christ" [2, 3].
The early Christian fathers also understood the Good News as a message of healing and redemption. According to Augustine, the narrative of Christ's birth is itself "good news" that conveys the power of God's love [10]. The Good News is thus a multifaceted concept, encompassing the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, as well as the benefits of peace, pardon, and salvation that flow from it [13].
The proclamation of the Good News is not limited to the apostles, but is a ongoing task for all ministers of the Gospel [13]. As Paul writes to the Ephesians, the Good News is a message of peace that brings people together, and is the foundation for living a life governed by that peace [14].
Sources
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Gospel — A word of Anglo-Saxon origin, and meaning "God's spell", i.e., word of God, or rather, according to others, "good spell", i.e., good news. It is the rendering of the Greek evangelion, i.e., "good message." It denotes (1) "the welcome intelligence of salvation to man as preached by our Lord and his followers. (2.) It was afterwards transitively applied to each of the four histories of our Lord's life, published by those who are therefore called Evangelists', writers of the history of the gospel (the evangelion). (3.) The term is often used to express collecti”
- Romans “I know that, when I come to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessing of the Good News of Christ. -- Romans 15:29”
- Romans “Romans 1:15 (BBE) — For which reason I have the desire, as far as I am able, to give the knowledge of the good news to you who are in Rome.”
- Romans “And how will they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the Good News of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!” -- Romans 10:15”
- Romans “For I am not ashamed of the Good News of Christ, for it is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes; for the Jew first, and also for the Greek. -- Romans 1:16”
- Romans “in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of God’s Spirit; so that from Jerusalem, and around as far as to Illyricum, I have fully preached the Good News of Christ; -- Romans 15:19”
- Torrey's Topical Textbook “Torrey's Topical Textbook: Gospel, The — Is good tidings of great joy for all people -- Lu 2:10,11,31,32. Foretold -- Isa 41:27; 52:7; 61:1-3; Mr 1:15. Preached under the old testament -- Heb 4:2. Exhibits the grace of God -- Ac 14:3; 20:32. The knowledge of the glory of God is by -- 2Co 4:4,6. Life and immortality are brought to light by Jesus through -- 2Ti 1:10. Is the power of God to salvation -- Ro 1:16; 1Co 1:18; 1Th 1:5. Is glorious -- 2Co 4:4. Is everlasting -- 1Pe 1:25; Re 14:6. Preached by Christ -- Mt 4:23; Mr 1:14. Ministers have a stewardship to preach -- 1Co 9:17. Preached before”
- Ephesians (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Ephesians 2:8: 2:8-9 This is a concise summary of how a person is saved. It is a cardinal tenet of the Good News that people are made righteous through trust in Christ rather than through their own merit (see Rom 1:16-17; 3:24-25; Gal 2:16; cp. John 3:16, 36). Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done (see Rom 3:21–4:8; 9:16; Gal 3:2-10; 5:1-6; cp. 2 Tim 1:9; Titus 3:5). Salvation is for those who trust Christ alone to save them. As a result, none of us can boast about it (cp. Rom 3:27; 4:2; 1 Cor 1:30-31; Gal 6:14).”
- Romans (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Romans 1:17: 1:17 how God makes us right in his sight (literally the righteousness of God): This key phrase appears eight times in Romans (see also 3:5, 21, 22, 25, 26; 10:3; the only other occurrence in Paul’s writings is 2 Cor 5:21). The expression has Old Testament roots, where God’s righteousness refers to his character (as holy or faithful) or to an act of declaring his people sinless and perfect in his eyes (see especially Isa 46:13; 51:5-8). Paul uses the second meaning in this verse. The Good News has the power to save because it is the fulfillment of God’s promise to ”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 4: Augustine — Anti-Manichaean, Anti-Donatist — ON VARIOUS GROUNDS WHICH AUGUSTIN SEEKS TO SET ASIDE. (part 6): nature. The same power that ruled the stars laid down His life and took it again. 6. Why, then, should the narrative of the birth not be the gospel, since it conveys such good news as heals our malady? Is it because Matthew begins, not like Mark, with the words, "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ," but, "The book of the generation of Jesus Christ?" In this way, John, too, might be said not to have written the gospel, for he has not the words, Beginning of the gosp”
- Romans (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Romans 10:18: 10:18 Yes, they have: Paul quotes Ps 19:4 to show that the message of Good News was universally available through creation. And by the time Paul wrote Romans, early Christian missionaries had spread the Good News through most of the Roman Empire. Most Jews would have had ample opportunity to hear the message.”
- Isaiah (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Isaiah 52:7: How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings,.... Not of the messenger that brought the news of Cyrus's proclamation of liberty to the Jews; rather of John the Baptist, the forerunner of our Lord; best of Christ himself, the messenger of the covenant, who was anointed to preach glad tidings to the meek, and by whom grace, peace, life, and salvation came; and also of the apostles of Christ, for to Gospel times are these words applied, and to more persons than one, Rom 10:15, who were not only seen "upon the mountains" of the land of I”
- Acts (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Acts 13:29: And we declare unto you glad tidings,.... The whole of the Gospel, concerning the incarnation, obedience, sufferings, death, and resurrection of Christ, and the benefits arising from thence, as peace, pardon, righteousness, life, and salvation; all which are good news and glad tidings to sensible sinners; and which are declared and published by the ministers of the Gospel, according to the commission given them, as here by Paul and Barnabas: how that the promise which was made unto the fathers; not barely and solely that which respects the resurrection of Christ, but”
- Ephesians (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Ephesians 6:15: 6:15 For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News: In this context, the focus is on letting one’s life be governed by the peace that the Good News gives (see Rom 5:1).”