The gospel is the Good News that Jesus Christ, the son of God, was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life and was crucified for our sins. He was raised from the dead on the third day and will come again. The Bible tells us that if we believe in our heart that Jesus is Lord and confess with our mouth that God raised him from the dead we will be saved. The early church believed this gospel. All of our rich traditions and theology are great but they add nothing to this simple Gospel of Jesus Christ.