Questions About The Gospel

Saw this post on another blog - http://musings-from-the-chariot.blogspot.com/

Thought I would pose the same questions to our bloggers....

Did Jesus Preach a Different Gospel Than What is Preached Today?

When we talk about the gospel, we generally mean the idea that Jesus died to save us from our sins. However, when we read the accounts of Jesus in the four gospels, we find that he preached a gospel of the kingdom of God, and he sent the twelve disciples out to preach about gospel of the kingdom of God. When the disciples asked Jesus when he would come back to establish his kingdom, he told them that the good news (gospel) of the kingdom must be preached throughout the world first (Matt. 24.14; Mark 13.10). He also spoke specifically about the good news being preached to the poor (Matt. 11.5; Luke 4.18; Luke 7.22).

Why did Jesus not go around preaching that he had arrived to die in order to save people from their sins? Why was his gospel different from what modern day Christians consider the gospel to be? When did the gospel change? Did the gospel change? What am I missing?

(Friday, September 22, 2006)

The Real Gospel

A few weeks ago I asked the question "Did Jesus preach a different gospel that what is preached today?" A few days ago I found this:

The Christian Gospel of salvation was proclaimed by Jesus and the Apostles. It was (and is) the Gospel about the Kingdom of God and the Name of Jesus Christ (Mark 1:14, 15; Luke 4:43; Mat. 4:23; 9:35; 24:14; Acts 8:12; 19:8; 20:25; 28:23, 31). The death and resurrection of Jesus are essential elements included in the Gospel, but they do not constitute the whole Gospel.
The saving Gospel — “the Message about the Kingdom,” “This Gospel about the Kingdom” (Matt. 24:14) which Jesus stated is the basis of salvation (see Matt. 13:19; Luke 8:12; cp. Acts 8:12) — was the center of all biblical preaching. It is the Message which Satan hates (Luke 8:12; Matt. 13:19). It is called throughout the New Testament “the word,” or “the word of the Lord.” The term “word” is positively not just another way of saying the Bible. “The word” is the core of the Bible and that core is found in the saving words of Jesus — his Gospel of the Kingdom.

It appears that we have abandoned Jesus’ Gospel of the Kingdom. To abandon Jesus’ Gospel is to abandon Him (Mark 8:35, 38; 10:39). We have claimed, by prooftexting from one passage in Paul, 1 Corinthians 15:1-3, that the Gospel is a message only about the death of Jesus for our sins and His resurrection. That this is untrue is proved by the fact that Jesus and the disciples preached the Gospel, calling it “the Gospel about the Kingdom” and “the Gospel” long before a word was said about His death for sin and His resurrection!

The “evangelical Gospel” in contemporary America leaves out Jesus’ own Gospel and distorts the Gospel of Paul, dividing the Apostle from Jesus and omitting vital information. Without the right facts, how can we successfully believe for salvation? (Read the rest of the article, "The Amazing Shift Away from Jesus in the Popular Gospel," here.)In the book of Mark, Jesus' first words are, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel" (1:15). All of his public teaching dealt with the coming kingdom; Jesus didn't mention his death until his disciples had come to understand that he, indeed, was the much anticipated Messiah (Matt. 16:13-23; Mark 8:27-33; Luke 9:18-22), and he seemed to confine any discussion of his death to conversations only with his closest twelve disciples. Since they were the only ones who knew for certain that Jesus was the Messiah--and he told them strictly not to tell anyone else--it seems that Jesus wished to emphasize the message about the coming kingdom above all else. He told his twelve closest disciples about his death and resurrection simply to give them comfort and make them aware that the cause would not be lost just because he had died.Luke 24:13-21 tells of two unnamed disciples who are sad about the fact that Jesus had died. Verse 21: "But were were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel." If these two were part of the twelve, Jesus' message about his death and ressurection didn't sink in very well. If these were other disciples not part of the inner circle, this conversation proves that Jesus didn't spend time talking to the general public about his upcoming death.The conversation also proves that Jesus' listeners were expecting a real overthrow of the forces currently occupying Israel. They were expecting the long-awaited redeemer who would restore Israel to its former glory and rule the world from Jerusalem. They were expecting to finally own the promised land once and for all.Paul preached this gospel as well, but he had the benefit of understanding that Jesus' death and resurrection made it possible for all people, not just Jews, to be part of the kingdom if they choose to believe in Jesus' message. We as believers get to be part of a real kingdom in which Jesus rules the world. We get to inherit this kingdom with him and rule with him; that's our reward for following him. We get to see real justice brought to the world--sick people healed, poor people leaving poverty, oppressed people becoming free--and we get to help bring that justice about. All the things that we want to see happen now, and that we try to make happen and mostly fail in now, we will get to help make happen in the kingdom. That's the essential message of Jesus. That's the good news.

(Friday, November 10, 2006)