Finale - God Saved Us Through the Gospel...

2 Timothy 1.8-10 - But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, who has saved us and called us to a holy life - not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
I want to look at only a few of the aspects of this verse. I want to keep it simple, as I did when I presented it on campus. I tried to keep this lesson at around thirty minutes.

God saved us: The question that I had when I read this is, "Saved us from what?" Now the obvious answer is that God saved us from our sin. So, what does that look like. There seems to be a practical aspect and a more abstract "end times" aspect.

• God has saved us from our sins, from our sinful existence. Light is shed on this verse when we consider Titus 3.3 and how once we we foolish, disobedient, deceived, we were enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures (addiction), living in malice and envy, being hated and hating others. God has saved us from that.
• God has saved us from his wrath: Romans 5.9 reveals that as we are justified by Jesus' blood (that is, declared "not guilty" before God), we are saved from his wrath. as we continue on in this chapter (Romans 5) we see that the first sin brings condemnation (thus God's wrath).

God calls us to live a holy life. What does that mean. He wants us to live like his Son. Paul gives some practical tips to the Ephesians - in chapter 4 Paul tells them to stop doing some things (lying, being sinfully angry, stealing, speaking unwholesomely, being bitter, filled with rage, fighting, hurtful speech toward others) and tells them to replace them with some helpful actions (speaking the truth, working, sharing, encouraging others, being kind and compassionate and forgiving, see vv. 25-32).

God's grace was given in Christ - nothing new hear, many of us have memorized Eph. 2.8-9. What is grace? It is the gift of salvation that God gives to us when we turn to Christ in faith. It includes His presence and power (through the presence of the Holy Spirit).

Before the beginning of time? Interesting thought that God's grace was given before the beginning of time. Does that imply that God knew in advance that he would need to display his grace in the death of his Son? Or is just the matter of creation a manifestation of his grace? I lean toward the latter. Two weeks ago I discussed creation being created "in Christ." That implies that at one time, creation was in sync with God. And of course, we acknowledge that the first sin seriously impacted everything, including the need to send his Son to reconcile all things to himself. His grace is revealed in the incarnation. We see some thoughts of Paul on the foreknowledge and plan of God in Rom. 8.28-30 as well as Titus 1.2.

Jesus has destroyed death - This is referring to the second death which is eternal separation from God. This is shown in 1 Cor. 15.54-55, where the resurrection of Christ provide us with the template for our new, imperishable bodies at Christ's return. We also see this in Rev. 20.6 (the second death has no power over those who have experienced the first resurrection (as well as the second resurrection).

Brought life - Our relationship has brought new life (as see above). This is also displayed in Paul's thoughts on our being a "new creation" in Christ.

And immortality - of course we can appeal to John 3.16.

Therefore, the gospel here in this passage is that God saved us, called us to new life. The means of this salvation and calling is his grace which was in the beginning and was revealed in the incarnation. It results in our immortality.

The Gospel of Reconciliation, part 2

We continue our study of the gospel as we look at the Paul’s presentation that the gospel is the reconciliation between God and humanity. Last week we looked at the supremacy of Christ and how he and his work make the act of reconciliation ultimately effective. Now we move on to Colossians 1.21-23 and how Paul lines out how God has made peace with us.

Once you were alienated – what does this mean to you? Literally it says, once you were “estranged”. That implies a previous relationship. I wonder if it implies back a few verses to the understanding that creation was created “in Christ” but that something happened that caused creation to need being reconciled. (We, of course, appeal to the sin of Adam and Eve, see Romans 5.11-18).

You were enemies (in your minds because of evil behavior) – have you ever felt like you were God’s enemy? Where does this come from? Have you ever felt like you engaged in “evil behavior”? See Col. 3.5,7-9, the previous verse says that the wrath of God is coming upon such behavior.

***But now*** he (God) has reconciled you. He has made peace with you. How? By Christ’s literal, physical death. In Colossians, it seems there was the beginning of the belief that Christ was not truly incarnate, but only seemed to be physically with us. Thus, he did not really die. Paul seems to be directly combating this view.

To present you – this begins to sound like sacrificial language. God is presenting us as a sacrifice, made holy and free from blemish (like the requirement of an animal to be sacrificed in the OT, see Romans 12.1 as well). But it could also be a reference to a law court and our legal standing before the judge (see Rom. 3.23-24).
Either way, God does this work of reconciliation on our behalf and we have access to this reconciliation by our faith in Christ (Eph. 2.8-9).

Sounds conditional at this point - **if** we continue in our faith…not moving from the hope we have in the gospel (this good news of reconciliation). F. F. Bruce puts it this way: If the gospel teaches the final perseverance of the saints, it teaches at the same time that the saints are those who finally persevere – in Christ.

This is the gospel – we were once alienated from God (even enemies) but God has made peace with us through the physical death of Jesus. By accessing this work of Christ by faith, we are made clean and free from accusation (not guilty) before God. That is, if we prove that we have truly accessed this faith by persevering to the end.

The Gospel of Reconciliation, Part 1 - The Supremacy of the Son

As we continue to work through the concept of the gospel, we find Colossians 1.21-23 that discusses the gospel in connection with being reconciled to God through Christ. We need two parts here to work through this passage as we have to back up a bit and look at the great hymn to Christ in Colossians 1.15-20. This message of reconciliation comes after a very important theological section of the letter discussing the supremacy of Jesus over all creation. I think it is necessary to look at that portion of the letter before moving to the reconciling work of the gospel.

Colossians 1.15-20

This hymn to Christ begins by telling us about Jesus’ relation to God – Jesus is the image of the invisible God. Just as the first man and woman were made in the image of God, they were made in the image of Jesus, who is the physical representation of the Creator.

The next section deals with Jesus’ relation to creation – he is the first born of Creation. We have to unpack that a little bit. A group of early Christians believed that Jesus did not exist from the beginning, but that he was the first of God’s created beings. They had a slogan, “There was when he was not.” This was a very serious misunderstanding that the early church met to discuss and denounced this view (these “believers” were called Arians, after Arius. This view is still present in the beliefs of the Jehovah’s Witnesses). The term “firstborn” does not necessarily mean that Jesus was the first created being, but has the sense that he had temporal priority to creation, that is, he existed before creation. It also has the sense that he is supreme over creation. We see this in Ps. 89.27, where David is called the firstborn as he is appointed the most exalted king of the earth (but not the first born creature). The orthodox understanding of Jesus being prior to creation and supreme over creation is bolstered by the next section of the hymn in that Jesus is actually the agent of creation.

The hymn states that “in him all things were created.” In fact all things have been created through him and for him. This denotes that all things were created in the sphere of him. Just as when we become believers, we move from the realm of being “in Adam” to being “in Christ.” It appears in this verse that at the beginning, all things were created “in Him.” This implies that something has gone wrong (as Paul will later talk of reconciliation).

Jesus is the head of the body, the church. This implies, of course that he is the leader, the controlling influence over the church, once again stressing his supremacy. The terminology can also suggest that Jesus is the “source” of the church.

In completing the “firstborn” analogy, Jesus is not only the “firstborn over all creation” but he is the “firstborn from the dead.” Jesus is the first human to truly experience the sting of dead and to be raised. His resurrection was different than other instances of being brought back to life in the Bible (Lazarus, Jairus’ daughter, for examples) in that his resurrection shows us in what manner all of those who have been reconciled through Christ’s death will share. Paul has previously stated that we will bear the image of the heavenly man (1 Cor. 15.49) as we share in the resurrection of Christ. It was because of his conquering death that he has supremacy.

Christ’s supremacy is due to the fact that God was pleased to allow all of his fullness (every essence that composes God) dwells in Christ (present tense). The fullness of God in Christ allows us to be reconciled to God. God reconciles us to himself by allowing the physical representative of his image (Jesus), who possesses all of the nature of God himself, to shed his blood on the cross.

This aspect of shedding blood on the cross is called “making peace”. This sounds like sacrificial language. God makes peace with us through the death of Christ on the cross.

Just as Creation was made in Christ, something has gone wrong and creation needs reconciliation between itself and its creator. And this is not just the need of humans, but of everything (see Rom. 8.19-23). F. F. Bruce puts it this way: “The fullness of the divine energy is manifested in Christ in the work of reconciliation as well as in that of creation…this reconciling activity is applied particularly to redeemed humanity, but here its universal references comes first into view.”

Thus, the reconciler is the visible image of God, exists prior to creation, is over creation, creation was made in him, through him and for him, he is the example of our resurrection and he contains all of what God is. Jesus’ death has made peace with God somehow through the shedding of his blood.

The Gospel Must Be Obeyed

We are continuing our study of "the gospel" at Mizzou tonight. Our topic tonight is "The gospel must be obeyed." At several points, the apostles make it clear that there are consequences for disobedience to the gospel.
In the context of discussing those who persecuting the believers in Thessalonica, Paul talks about the judgment that is coming on those persecutors.
2 Thessalonians 1.8 – He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

This states that the gospel is something to be obeyed. We also see this from the apostle Peter, once again in the context of believers being persecuted.
1 Peter 4.17 – For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household (Peter is discussing those who are suffering for the faith according to God’s will); and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?

There are those who do not obey the gospel. And they seem to be persecutors of believers and they will be judged most severely. Both of these verses discuss the negative outcomes of not obeying the gospel. There is another verse that discusses the positive example of obedience to the gospel. Paul writes to the Corinthians, commending them for their financial gift to believers in need in Jerusalem.
2 Corinthians 9.13 – Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, people will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else.
As we read that verse, obedience seems to flow out of one’s acceptance of the message concerning/from Christ. Okay, we are supposed to obey the gospel, but what exactly are we to obey? Up until now, most of our understanding of the gospel has been about Christ. What specifically are we to obey?

If we remember back to our second lesson, one of the first messages from Jesus concerning the gospel was repentance –
Mark 1.15 – The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news.
The word “repent” means to change your mind. It often had the connotation of a new relationship with God that impacted all spheres of life. It dealt with the question of one’s standing before God. This repentance was calling for obedience to the will of God; trust in God and the rejection of false gods; it was turning aside from everything ungodly. What would it look like to be obedient to the will of God? If we believe that the gospel message is centered in the fact that Jesus is the King, then we should be obedient to his commands. How could we do that?

How do we let these verses inform the idea that we should “obey the gospel”?
Mark 12.28-31 – Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.
John 13.34-35 – A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.
John 14.15 – If you love me, keep my commands.

We see here that an essential element of a study of the gospel is that it must be obeyed. There are consequences for those who do not obey the gospel. Obedience to the gospel entails repentance and striving to live according to Jesus’ commands and the most important of those commands are to love God and to love one another.

The Gospel Announced to Abraham?

In this lesson, we discuss how the gospel message was announced to Abraham. Galatians 3.8, "Scripture foresaw that God would justify the gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: "All nations will be blessed through you."

There was an issue in Galatia (a region where Paul planted churches): does a Gentile need to become a Jew in order to be a Christian? The group known as the Judaizers said “Yes, Gentiles need to become Jews first” (meaning that Gentile men need to be circumcised to ensure that they were considered Christians). In Galatians 3, Paul “strenuously objects” to this line of thinking. To Paul, there were no external actions that could be taken in order for one to be considered a follower of Jesus. It was an act of grace received by faith. The Judaizers probably appealed to Abraham. They (the Jews) were children of Abraham. They may have even referred to several passages in Genesis to make their case.
Reference 1: Genesis 12.3 “…and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” That is, the Gentiles will be blessed through becoming family members of Abraham.
Reference 2: God then makes a covenant with Abraham in Genesis 17.9-11 and the sign of that covenant is circumcision of the males.
The Judaizers put it together: God made a covenant to bless all people through the family of Abraham (even the Gentiles); Jesus is a son of Abraham; the sign of membership in Abraham’s family is circumcision; thus, in order to become a member of Abraham’s family (the family chosen by God), the Gentiles must become circumcised.
This does not mesh well with Paul’s “grace by faith” salvation message. Paul will also appeal to Abraham and he will also appeal to Genesis to make his case.

Galatians 3.2 – salvation is from the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is received by faith, not by observing the Law (symbolized by being circumcised).
Abraham is indeed the model here: he “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness” (verse 6 appealing to Genesis 15.6). In Paul’s eyes, Abraham’s right relationship with God was on the basis of his belief in God’s promise, instead of his deeds or even his obedience to the Law. His righteousness came before he was circumcised and came centuries before the Law of Moses.
The Gospel – the reference to Genesis 12.3 was indeed the announcement of a future day of salvation for the Gentiles. It is the gospel announced beforehand. Scripture announced the gospel message to Abraham and it provides the model of how one is brought into Abraham’s family (salvation). Abraham’s salvation/justification before God was dependant on his faith; therefore those follow Abraham’s example, and believe the promise of God by faith, are belong to Abraham’s family of faith (they are saved by their faith as was Abraham).

Basically, Paul appeals to Abraham’s faith, which is credited to him as righteousness, and notes that this covenant is the gospel. Abraham was saved by believing in the promise and it came before the sign of the covenant (circumcision Genesis 17) and it came before the Law.

Therefore, according to Galatians 3.1-14, the gospel is the message that salvation is the reception of the Holy Spirit and the Spirit is received through faith in the message concerning the redemption of Christ. This message was announced to Abraham and the message of the Gospel includes salvation to all people and from the beginning, salvation (a right relationship with God) was achieved by faith. Salvation is not about following the Law (and it never was).

The Gospel and the Resurrection (part 2)

I think it is important to note that the records of Jesus' resurrection appearances are part of Paul's gospel.

• Jesus appeared:
o To Cephas (Peter)
o To the Twelve
o To more than 500
o To James
o To all of the apostles
o To Paul (as of one untimely born).

The gospel is tied up with the experience of a human being who literally died and who came back to life and appeared to human beings. This points to the objective reality of the Resurrection. He “was raised” and he “was seen.” Paul’s point seems emphatic. The resurrection of Jesus was not a form of “spiritual” existence. This was not a vision experience. Just as he was truly dead and buried, so he was truly raised from the dead bodily and seen by a large number of witnesses on a variety of occasions.

The appearance to James, how significant was that?
John 7.2-5 – But when the Jewish Feast of tabernacles was near, Jesus’ brothers said to him, “You ought to leave here and go to Judea, so that your disciples may see the miracles you do. No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” For even his own brothers did not believe in him.
Galatians 2.9 – “James, Peter and John, those reputed to be pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me.” James, the former non-believer and scoffer, is now mentioned as a pillar and listed with two of Jesus’ most prominent apostles, Peter and John.
I think it is important that Paul mentions this appearance to James. I believe that James was not a believer in Jesus until he encountered the resurrected Jesus. This is what changed James. The scoffer becomes the devoted.

Paul’s appearance? Acts 9.1-15, this was no mere vision experience. Paul puts it in the same league with Jesus’ appearances to Peter and the 12 (John 20, Luke 24.36-42).

Back up: believe in vain? This gospel message of Christ dying for our sins and, literally, being raised to continued life, is what we count on as true and effective and we must hold fast to it. We must remain in it or it will be useless to us. If we do not believe this, then our faith is useless (see 1 Corinthians 15.12-19).

The Gospel in 1 Corinthians 15: Christ, literally, died for our sins (in accordance with previous revelation) and was raised and physically appeared to his followers. This gospel message saves us. If it is not true (specifically the resurrection of Jesus), then our faith is useless and we are still in our sins.

The Gospel and the Resurrection (part 1)

I didn't count on this when I laid out this series for our Gospel study at Mizzou, but this passage falls on Holy Week and is perfect for the lead up to Easter. We are looking at the concept of the Gospel in reference to 1 Corinthians 15.1-8.

Paul’s discussion of the Gospel to the Corinthians is centered on the resurrection. Paul seeks to remind them of the message that he preached to them and which they received.
The content of Paul’s Gospel:
• Christ died for our sins (according to the Scriptures). We have to ask: What Scriptures? There is no specific reference that the Messiah would die for the sins of the people, but we have to take seriously the role of the Suffering Servant in Isaiah 52.13-53.12. In this passage we see that the “Servant” of God was “pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities” (53.5); “the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (53.6); “the Lord makes his life an offering for sin” (53.10); “my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities” (53.11); and “he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors” (53.12).

• He was buried and was raised on the third day (according to the Scriptures). Jesus had compared his upcoming death to the ordeal of Jonah being in the great fish for three days (Matt. 12.39-40, thus an appeal to the OT. He later refers to the only sign that he will give them to attest to his standing and relationship with God is the sign of Jonah, perhaps a miraculous return from being “dead” for three days?). We can also appeal back to the Suffering Servant passage of Isaiah. We have seen that his was “crushed for our iniquities…cut off from the land of the living…assigned a grave with the wicked and with the rich in his death...” Yet, “he will see his offspring and prolong his days…after he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied…” There may also be a reference to the idea of the Rabbis that the body starts to suffer decay after three days. We see in several messianic Psalms that were applied to Jesus, that God’s “holy one” will not see decay (Psalm 16.8-11/Acts 2.27, 31-32). (There is also a reference in Hos. 6.2: “After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence.” This verse was not used in the NT as a proof text for a third day resurrection, but it was used by the rabbis of the 2nd C. in terms of resurrection.)

When it comes right down to it, there are no explicit, exact OT references that fulfill these words of Paul. But the NT writers believed that the OT as a whole bears witness to Christ and his work.

I will post more about this passage later.

The Gospel Has Power: Romans 1 (part 2)

There is no shame in the gospel. Paul states that he is not ashamed of the gospel. It seems as if he is familiar with the statement of Jesus from Mark 8.38//Luke 9.26: If any of you are ashamed of me and my words…the Son of Man will be ashamed of you when he comes…

Why would anyone be ashamed of the gospel? We see in 1 Cor. 1.18-31 that the message of the cross is foolishness to those who do not accept it. There may be a temptation to make it more palatable to those who may find it to be foolish. Paul stands firm in his message and is not ashamed of it and will not alter it to suit anyone’s worldview.

The gospel is the power of God. We have seen that the evidence of the Kingdom was Christ’s power (Matt. 11.2-6). It was initially displayed in his ability to display God’s power. It’s ultimate power was the resurrection from the dead and ultimately the power of God is the continuing work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer (see Rom. 8.11).

The gospel is salvation. Believing in the gospel saves us from the wrath of God (Rom. 5.9). Salvation in the Old Testament has the connotation of deliverance also from one’s enemies and results in restoration to wholeness.

It begins with the Jews and spreads to the Gentiles. This stems back to the original covenant with Abram. God chose him and his family to be his people and ultimately to bless every other people group in the world.

The gospel reveals God’s righteousness. Righteousness should be understood in terms of a relationship. It is related as well to the salvation that Paul has already mentioned. God is righteous when he fulfills the obligations he took upon himself to be Israel’s God, that is, to rescue Israel and punish Israel’s enemies. God acts to restore his people and to sustain them according to his covenant with them. Righteousness helps explain how the “gospel” is the power of God for salvation.

The gospel must be experienced by faith. God’s righteousness is accessed by human beings from beginning to end by faith. Our acceptance of the truth and the power of the gospel makes God’s righteousness available to us. Our faith in the gospel is what incorporates us into God’s people. And this has been the plan from the beginning. It has been revealed (once again) in God’s previous revelation (the Old Testament). Paul has previously shown (in Gal. 3.7-9) and will reiterate in Romans (chapter 4, citing Gen. 15.6) that our connection to God’s righteousness (that is, our status of an unbroken relationship with him) is accessed by our faith and not our adherence to the Law or our status as members of the chosen people. Paul here finally appeals to Habakkuk 2.4 – “The righteous will live by faith.”

Thus, there is no shame in the gospel. The gospel is the power of God. The gospel is salvation. The gospel reveals God’s righteousness and the gospel must be experienced by faith.

(Help in this section was provided by the commentaries of C. K. Barrett and James D. G. Dunn).

The Gospel Has Power: Romans 1 (part 1)

In this lesson we take a look at the gospel in Romans 1. We narrow in on verses 1-5 and verses 16-17. As we have looked through all of these nuances of the gospel, I have enjoyed seeing how many of the references of the gospel have been intertwined with what we’ve already looked at.
Verses 1-5
We see that Paul was set apart for the gospel (it was his calling by God to proclaim the message of and about Jesus Christ).
The gospel was:
• Promised beforehand – we have looked at this before in our first lesson on Mark 1. The first note after the announcement of the beginning of the gospel was a reference to the Old Testament (see here).
• It was regarding his Son, who:

• o In his earthly life was a descendant of David. Now why was it important to denote that Jesus’ descent from David was critical to the gospel? If we look back to the Old Testament, we see in 2 Sam. 7.12-14 that God promised to establish a dynasty through David and that this dynasty would last forever. God claims that He will be the king’s father and the king will be God’s son. We start to see how the King is designated God’s son (or the son of God). We also look to one of the Royal Psalms (Psalm 2) where the King is installed and God says to the King (from the line of David), “You are my son; today I have become your Father.” We see a connection with the four Gospels to Jesus being the son of God after his baptism by John. In the Synoptic Gospels, God states that Jesus is his son, with whom he is pleased. In John’s Gospel, John the Baptist reveals that God has revealed Jesus to be the Son of God.

• o Jesus’ resurrection revealed that his was appointed the Son of God in power. This was accomplished by the Spirit of Holiness (or Holy Spirit). It points out that he was more than just a good moral example, but now we see that the Son of God is truly King. He is more than just king in the earthly sense (in the line of the Davidic kings), but he is the King who has ushered in the Kingdom of God. (We discussed the connection between the gospel and the Kingdom of God in lesson two, see here).

• o Jesus Christ is our Lord. He is our Kurios, which would have been an ascription of the Roman emperor. Caesar is not our Kurios, but instead, through his resurrection, Jesus is our Kurios.

• Paul points out that his calling is to the Gentiles. We see the universality of Jesus’ kingship. He is not just the King of the Jews, but he is King of all. Paul’s commission is to spread the message that Jesus is King (Lord/Kurios) to the Gentiles.

We will look at Rom. 1.16-17 in another post.

The Gospel according to Peter

To recap, we have talked about the elements of the gospel: it was the right time; Jesus' message was concerning the Kingdom; it involved repentance; and it is empowered by the Holy Spirit. See these posts for the series part 1; part 2; part 3. This post actually follows well the previous post, that is, the gospel must be preached.

We move to the gospel message after the resurrection. We have to turn to Acts chapter 2 to see the first announcement of the gospel by the early church. This passage does not have the term "gospel" (euangellion) but you can see how this message puts together some of the elements of the gospel that we have already discussed. It is the message of Peter as he is empowered by the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost in Jerusalem, where many Jews from all over the Greco-Roman world would have gathered.

• We see that the gospel is empowered by the Holy Spirit (vv. 2-3);
• It is connected to the Old Testament (vv. 17-21, quoting Joel 2.28-32);
• It is costly (v. 23, we haven't studied this part yet, but it is coming);
• Its message is the Kingdom. Peter does not literally call it the Kingdom here, but Peter points to the same evidence that Jesus gave that the Kingdom was at hand (v. 22), plus Jesus' resurrection places him at the right hand of the Father, a position of ultimate authority (v. 33). He is even called by names that both Greeks and Jews would have understood as having ultimate authority (Kurios=Lord, or another name for the emperor and Christ=the messiah or "anointed one" synonymous with the King).

Some additional elements to the message of the gospel:

• The gospel message contains the account of the suffering and death of Jesus (v. 23).
• The gospel message contains the message of his resurrection (vv. 24 and 31).
• The gospel message provokes a response ("Brothers, what shall we do?" verse 37).
• The response is in line with the original gospel (from Mark 1): Repent and be baptized (v. 38).
• The result of repentance and baptism: forgiveness of your sin (and your culpability in putting Jesus to the cross) and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (and the power to follow Jesus).

We see that acceptance of this gospel also resulted in being incorporated into the fellowship of the believers (vv. 41-47).

The Gospel, part 3 - The Gospel Must Be Preached

The Gospel is a message that must be announced

We will start this week in Luke 4.14-21.
We see in this passage that Jesus was gathering a reputation as a teacher. Jesus is allowed to teach at this synagogue and is given the Isaiah scroll to read from. Jesus chooses Isaiah 61.1-2. From this passage we find that Jesus was "anointed" to preach the good news. To be anointed in the Old Testament meant to be set apart for devoted service to Yahweh.
His message was good news to the poor. (How was this message good news to the poor? Jesus is proclaiming the Year of Jubilee which was a cancellation of debts. Poverty doesn't only have to be financial.)
He proclaimed freedom from the prisoners. (How does his message accomplish this? See Acts 10.38).
It seems that in this chapter and others (Mark 1.35-39) that Jesus' primary mission (beyond his atoning death and resurrection) was to preach the message of the Kingdom of God.

As we look at other nuances of the gospel message and its proclamation, we turn to Luke 9.1-6.
In this passage we see that the gospel message is preached by followers of Jesus. This ministry is accomplished with the power and authority of Jesus (similar to his announcement of Kingdom of God being near; Mark 1.14-15). It is a message of the Kingdom of God. thus, the gospel was charged to Jesus' followers to go announce the Kingdom of God and it was done under the authority and power of Jesus (the King).

When looking at the passage where Jesus was anointed by a sinful woman at Bethany (Matt. 26.13) Jesus informs us that her story will be told within the gospel story. That is, the gospel will tell the whole story of Jesus' life and ministry and will (again) be told by others.

The last note on the proclamation of the gospel is that it will be preached to all the nations (see Matt. 24.14). In fact this mission must be carried out before Jesus returns. We see evidence of that in Revelation 7.9 that there will be members of nation, tribe, people and language.

It should be obvious, the word "euangellion" means good news, good report, good announcement. Therefore the gospel must be preached. It was preached by Jesus, it was (and should be) preached by his followers (with the authority and power of the one who sent them), it involves the whole story of Jesus and must be taken to all the nations.

More thoughts on "the Gospel"

I have been doing a study on the concept of "the gospel." It has several nuances to it, but I am discovering two interrelated "gospel" messages. There is first the gospel of Jesus, which is inextricably linked to the Kingdom of God; and second, the gospel of the Apostles which is related to the death and resurrection of Jesus (with no specific mention of the Kingdom).
They are related in that the second gospel confirms the first. It is the death and resurrection of Christ that proves that he is the King and the Kingdom age has been ushered in. And, since he is the King, we, his subjects, must be about the work of the Kingdom.
I am sure that this is not original, has anyone else seen work done on this "two fold" gospel?

The Gospel, part 2

This will be the second lesson from our gospel series. We are looking at various aspects of "the gospel" in our small group study at Memorial Union at 6pm on Wednesday. If your in the area, stop on by.
Mark 1.14-15 - Now after John had been handed over; Jesus went into Galilee preaching the gospel (good news; the announcement) of God. And saying the time has been fulfilled and the Kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe in the gospel (good news; announcement).

The time was fulfilled?
Why was this the time? What did this mean?
Read Gal. 4.4-5 - But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.
From a historical standpoint, this was the right time because:
1. There was a common language (Greek)
2. The OT (the Scriptures) were available in this common language
3. Vast road system (easy to travel).
4. Achievement of law and order (Pax Romana)
5. Spread of Judaism throughout the Empire
6. Jews longed for a messiah

Kingdom of God is at hand (or near).
Because the King was at hand, the kingdom, naturally was at hand.
What kind of King? John the Baptist wanted to know the answer to this question.
See Matt. 11.2-6 - Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.

The Characteristics of this king – Blind receive sight; lame walk; lepers cleansed; deaf hear; dead raised gospel preached to the poor.
Look at Isaiah 35.4-6; the above list from Matt. 11.2-6 are the things that will take place when Yahweh (the King) comes. Jesus gives these things as the evidence that the King is here to John.

Repent – the word means to change your mind. It often had the connotation of a new relationship with God that impacted all spheres of life. It dealt with the question of one’s standing before God. This repentance was calling for obedience to the will of God; trust in God and the rejection of false gods; it was turning aside from everything ungodly.
See Jer. 26.3 and Ezek. 18.26-28. Ezekiel gives the picture of what repentance looks like. Jeremiah tells that God will change his mind (repent) of the calamity he is planning on his sinful people if they listen and turn from their evil way.

Yahweh is coming as a judge, so get ready and repent (turn to him). Jesus is Yahweh’s appearance. This is tied back to John’s announcement that the one following him (Jesus) will baptize with the Spirit. This Spirit empowers this repentance.

What can we learn from the Gospel in this passage?
Jesus tells us to believe in the Gospel. The content is that Jesus is King. As the coming king he demands that the wicked changed their ways and follow him in obedience. We are to believe in this gospel, which as was shown last week, is connected with the “evangels” of the Roman Emperors, that is Jesus’ coming is an event that brings about a radically new situation for humanity.

The Gospel, part 1

We began a study on the concept of “the gospel” last night at Mizzou. I looked at all of the instances of mention of the term “the gospel”, “good news” and “the message.” Fascinating study. I know Keller has done a lot on this, and Scot McKnight did a series of blog posts on it, but I am interested for my own interest and looking at teaching through it with college students.
We start with Mark 1.1 – The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ [son of God]. We begin with a question, is this gospel about Jesus Christ or according to Jesus? I believe it is the gospel concerning Jesus Christ, because it tells the whole story surrounding Jesus and his message, not necessarily only his message.
The word gospel - The term comes from an Old English word “godspell.” God was the Old English term meaning good and “spell” was the term that meant history or story. The term godspell or gospel means….a good report or “the good news.” It directly corresponds to the Latin term “evangel” which comes from a Greek term “euangelion.” Now an evangel in the time of Jesus was usually about the emperor of Rome. The emperor’s birthday or his rise to power were celebrated as occasions for festivals throughout the world. The reports of these occasions were called “evangels.” One such evangel was written of Augustus, the emperor who followed Julius Caesar. This evangel reads “the birthday of the god (they assumed the emperor’s were gods) was for the world the beginning of joyful tidings (or good news) which have been proclaimed on his account.” This is very similar to Mark’s opening verse: “The beginning of the gospel (or good news) about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” This is the essential content of an evangel in the ancient world: a historical event which introduces a new situation for the world. The Roman reader of Mark’s gospel would understand Mark’s proclamation of Jesus as the Messiah. Mark announces Jesus’ coming as an even that brings about a radically new situation for humanity.
Immediately, Mark connects the gospel with the Old Testament and begins with quotes from a couple of prophets (Mal. 3.1 and Isaiah 40.3). There is an allusion to Ex. 23.20, that of the pillar of fire going before the people of Israel.
The messenger or forerunner is John the Baptist who comes in the spirit and power of Elijah.
His message: repentance for forgiveness of sins (people come, being baptized and confessing sins).
The difference between the messages of John and Jesus: John baptizes (only) with water, but the one who comes after him (Jesus) will baptize with the Holy Spirit.

So, the gospel, here, is about Jesus Christ; it is connected to the Old Testament as it has roots in God's revelation or previous holy writings; it fulfills prophecy; and is distinct from the message of prophets in that it bestows the presence of God (baptism of the Holy Spirit).
More to come on this multifaceted and fascinating subject.