The Gospel Is Found In The Old Testament

Romans 1:1–2 ... the gospel of God, which he had promised beforehand through his prophets in holy scriptures.

The Gospel was not something new and unheard of preached by Paul or Jesus, since it was “promised beforehand... in holy scriptures” long before they were even born.

The Apostle Peter preached: “All the prophets bear witness to [Jesus] that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” (Acts 10:43) The Apostle Paul habitually “reasoned with [the Jews] from the scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise again from the dead, and that this is the Christ: Jesus” (Acts 17:2–3). According to Paul, the death and resurrection of Christ was “according to the scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3–4) and was “nothing outside that which both the prophets and Moses said is going to happen” (Acts 26:22).

After his death and resurrection, Jesus rebuked his discouraged disciples: “O mindless ones and slow in heart to believe all the things the prophets spoke! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into his glory?” (Luke 24:26–27) It would have been unreasonable for Jesus to rebuke his disciples in this manner if these things were not present and clear in the Old Testament Scriptures. He even went on to show them that the death and resurrection of the Messiah was the consistent testimony of the Old Testament!

All this proves that the Gospel is contained within the Old Testament. The Gospel is “eternal” (Revelation 14:6) because it was available to and believed upon by people long before the New Testament Scriptures were written. Jesus said to unbelieving Jews: “If you believed Moses, then you would believe me, for he wrote about me.” (John 5:46) The Apostle Paul affirms that the Old Testament Scriptures alone were “able to make you wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 3:15)