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Only One Gospel?
First the Kingdom Part 22, Only One Gospel?
The word “gospel” has come to mean many things today. Anyone who has a new idea or a supposedly better way of doing things is often seen as presenting his or her gospel. In the time that the New Testament of the Bible was written, there was one word commonly used to convey that a wonderful event had come or was coming. It was the Greek word “euangélion,” which means “a message of good news.” From this we get our English word “evangelist,” who is a messenger of good news, and the word “evangelical,” which usually describes those who promote the good news of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Since the old English word for good news, “Gospel” was used in the early English bible translations it has found a permanent place in our language to this day.
In the New Testament the word is used exclusively in connection with the Good News of Jesus Christ. Paul the apostle of Christ left no doubt about his confidence in The Gospel:
In Romans 1:16-17, he writes:
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.”
NASB
Elsewhere in his letter to the Corinthians he clearly states the content of the gospel he had been proclaiming:
1 Corinthians 15:1-4:
Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures…
NASB
Right here is the heart of Evangelical Christianity. Around the world there are people and churches with differing beliefs, but this one message either unifies or divides them. The one living and vital group of people who know the Christ of the Bible, know that He came to save sinners by laying down His life for them, and by taking it up again to prove His Lordship.
But what of the Good News of the Kingdom of God? Is the Gospel that Jesus preached a different one than the one Paul proclaimed? There are those who would say yes. Some believe that the Gospel of the Kingdom was rejected, and that the Kingdom was postponed for over 2,000 years. They teach that it was necessary for the Gospel of Grace to intervene until a time in the future. At this future time, they look for the world to be judged in 7 years of great suffering and sorrow known as the Great Tribulation. After that Christ will come and establish His reign in the earth, which He had intended to do at His first coming.
To be fair, I believe this is a sincere attempt to reconcile both the Old and New Testament prophecies that seem to conflict with one another. Even the disciples of Jesus had questions about prophecies concerning Israel which had not yet come to pass. Jesus told them it was not for them to know then, but He did give them what they needed to know for that time.
He told them that they would receive power after the Holy Spirit had come upon them, and that they would bear witness of Him in Jerusalem, Judea, Samariah and to the ends of the world. (Acts 1:6-8)
At this time I would like to propose a simpler solution to the problem of fulfilled and unfulfilled prophecy. But before I do that we need to look at another statement of Paul’s upon which everything else pivots. In Gal 1:8-9 he writes:
But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! 9 As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a [...]
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By Dan BeatyFirst the Kingdom Part 22, Only One Gospel?
The word “gospel” has come to mean many things today. Anyone who has a new idea or a supposedly better way of doing things is often seen as presenting his or her gospel. In the time that the New Testament of the Bible was written, there was one word commonly used to convey that a wonderful event had come or was coming. It was the Greek word “euangélion,” which means “a message of good news.” From this we get our English word “evangelist,” who is a messenger of good news, and the word “evangelical,” which usually describes those who promote the good news of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Since the old English word for good news, “Gospel” was used in the early English bible translations it has found a permanent place in our language to this day.
In the New Testament the word is used exclusively in connection with the Good News of Jesus Christ. Paul the apostle of Christ left no doubt about his confidence in The Gospel:
In Romans 1:16-17, he writes:
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.”
NASB
Elsewhere in his letter to the Corinthians he clearly states the content of the gospel he had been proclaiming:
1 Corinthians 15:1-4:
Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures…
NASB
Right here is the heart of Evangelical Christianity. Around the world there are people and churches with differing beliefs, but this one message either unifies or divides them. The one living and vital group of people who know the Christ of the Bible, know that He came to save sinners by laying down His life for them, and by taking it up again to prove His Lordship.
But what of the Good News of the Kingdom of God? Is the Gospel that Jesus preached a different one than the one Paul proclaimed? There are those who would say yes. Some believe that the Gospel of the Kingdom was rejected, and that the Kingdom was postponed for over 2,000 years. They teach that it was necessary for the Gospel of Grace to intervene until a time in the future. At this future time, they look for the world to be judged in 7 years of great suffering and sorrow known as the Great Tribulation. After that Christ will come and establish His reign in the earth, which He had intended to do at His first coming.
To be fair, I believe this is a sincere attempt to reconcile both the Old and New Testament prophecies that seem to conflict with one another. Even the disciples of Jesus had questions about prophecies concerning Israel which had not yet come to pass. Jesus told them it was not for them to know then, but He did give them what they needed to know for that time.
He told them that they would receive power after the Holy Spirit had come upon them, and that they would bear witness of Him in Jerusalem, Judea, Samariah and to the ends of the world. (Acts 1:6-8)
At this time I would like to propose a simpler solution to the problem of fulfilled and unfulfilled prophecy. But before I do that we need to look at another statement of Paul’s upon which everything else pivots. In Gal 1:8-9 he writes:
But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! 9 As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a [...]