The word "gospel" (euangelion) literally means "good news" or "joyful tidings." This word was not coined by Christians but was already in use among the Romans in the first century AD. However, it was taken and used by Jesus and New Testament writers in a special way regarding the birth, life, death, resurrection, glorification, and implication of Jesus Christ. It stands to signify the "good news of salvation" that Jesus Christ offered an atoning sacrifice once for all (Heb. 10:10) and that He "is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world" (1 Jn. 2:2). It is the good news that "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (Jn. 3:16). Elwell notes therefore that "the gospel is the joyous proclamation of God's redemptive activity in Christ Jesus on behalf of man enslaved by sin."# Furthermore, it is also used inclusively of the entirety of New Testament teachings, which will be discussed later. As we continue in this word study of "gospel" let us move on into a careful breakdown of its past.
Linguistic Breakdown.
The English word "gospel" comes from the Anglo-Saxon "god-spell" meaning "God story"# or "good story." The word gospel, in every instance, is the translation of euangelion. The word eu meant, in classical Greek, "well" as opposed to kakos which meant "bad" or "evil." Aggello meant "to bear a message, bring tidings or news, proclaim."# Our word "gospel" has a definite religious connotation whereas in the ordinary conversation of the first century it did not.# However, Wuest describes that:.
It was taken over into the Cult of Caesar where it acquired a religious significance. The Cult of Caesar was the state religion of the Roman Empire, in which the emperor was worshipped as a god. When the announcement of the emperor's birthday was made, or the accession of a new Caesar proclaimed, the account of either event was designated by the word euangelion.
