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When you hear the word, "gospel", what do you think about? When I was about 15, I heard the word and didnt understand. First off, my family was Jehovah Witness, and we didnt celebrate anything. So later in life, I heard the words spoken by a "Mormon" and tried to grasp the meaning. For the Mormons, the gospel is their belief system. Since I know that there is nothing true about said religion, one must ignore their meaning, and dive headlong into scripture. So as a young Witness, what did I learn? Nothing much. And that was the sad thing. Yes, I went to school, and didnt have enough credits to graduate, but a few years later, I did get my GED...while I was in prison. Funny, I know, but that is where I received most of my education. How old was I? 24 when I went in, and 10 years later, here I am. But when I turned 29, I started to figure things out. I was not really doing much study until my 4th year in prison, and when I did pick up a book, I was happy. I was learning. Learning about things I never would have. Then, one day, I woke up and said to myself, "I really want to know what that bible is about." That was a few months after I saw the parole board. They had let me out after 3.5 years, and since I didnt agree with my 10 year sentence, I decided to run. But later my brother convinced me to turn myself in, so I did. I was given a one way ticket back to prison to finish my 6.5 years. And to this day, I am grateful. If he would not have asked me to, I would have never come to the understanding that I have now. And that is what I am talking about. This understanding is what the gospel REALLY is. We need to have a PERFECT understanding of it to be "in" Yashua. The death, burial, and resurrection, IS the gospel. That is what was hidden from past generations. Those who came before, didnt have a full understanding of what would take place. They were looking through a dark mirror. But for us, on this side of history, the mirror is clear. How earth shattering, and how important the gospel is. If it werent for the death, burial, and resurrection, we would be without hope. Why is baptism so important? Because it is the gospel. Death, burial, and resurrection. When we are baptized, we die to the old man, and are resurrected into the new man. It is not an outward expression of an inward devotion. Because it is not about show and tell. It is about do and die. The gospel is not only about telling others, but living by example. We MUST be born again. Being born again, is physically living the gospel. And the gospel is death, burial, and resurrection. This is the truth Yashua gave to Nicodemus.