the Gospel according to.....

I think we can all agree that the term "gospel" means the good news. What we disagree on is to where in the Bible we can find the good news that is directed to and pertains to our situation. One of the biggest lies you will ever hear in churches all over the world is that everyone in the old testament was looking forward to the cross as well as everyone in the new testament is looking back at the cross. Surely, someone forgot to tell Peter and the boys in Mathew 16 where Peter tried to prevent the cross from taking place.

Matthew 16:22 Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.

Adam and Eve were recipients of good news were they not when God told them...

Genesis 2:16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
Genesis 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

Let's take a quick look into the good news being delivered by Moses, Jesus, Peter and Paul...beginning with....

MOSES:

• Genesis 22:18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.
• Deuteronomy 4:1 Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers giveth you.
• Deuteronomy 4:6 Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.
• Deuteronomy 4:7 For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for?
• Deuteronomy 6:24 And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as it is at this day.
• Deuteronomy 6:25 And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God, as he hath commanded us.

Did you see the preaching of the cross there? If you did, you have much better eyes than I. What you see is the covenant position of Israel, the "if" and "then" relationship with God. You do this , then God will do such and such. Moses speaks to nothing else but this covenant relationship which entails the keeping of the law, the statutes, the promise of a land grant and the nation Israel. No cross, no death, burial or resurrection, no salvation by grace through faith, no gospel of the grace of God by which we are saved in this present dispensation of the grace of God,,,,period! Yet, most of the preacher boys that have attended cemetery school will slap you right back into these scriptures putting their people back under the weak and beggarly elements of the law ....and the people said amen. Somebody should be ashamed, and they are indeed shameful workman that neglect to rightly divide the word of truth as Christ instructed Paul to usward. Let's move on....

JESUS:

• Matthew 10:5 These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not:
• Matthew 10:6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
• Matthew 10:7 And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
• Matthew 10:8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.
• Matthew 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
• Matthew 4:23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.
• Matthew 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
• Mark 1:4 John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.
• Mark 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
• Mark 16:16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
• Mark 16:17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
• Mark 16:18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

Did you see the gospel of the grace of God? the gospel of Christ? the preaching of the cross? Be honest with yourself. You saw the gospel of the kingdom just as clear as the words on the page declare. This is the good news given to Israel that their prophesied kingdom is at hand. You see the function of water baptism for the nation Israel, the priest nation in their ceremonial washings. You can't miss the healing ministry that associates with the kingdom message because of Leviticus 21:17-22 which demands the priest be without blemish or disease. The kingdom message is always associated with signs and wonders because the target audience for the message is indeed Israel which according to 1st Corinthians 1:22, the Jews require a sign. We walk by faith, not by sight do we not? we have no need of signs and wonders, they have no function today as we operate by grace through faith in this dispensation. Starting to make sense yet? Still no cross, no death, burial or resurrection as the merit by which anyone is saved at this point. Moving on to....

PETER:

• Acts 1:6 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?
• Acts 2:30 Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne;
• Acts 3:18 But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled.
• Acts 3:21 Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.
• Acts 3:26 Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.
• Acts 8:25 And they, when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, returned to Jerusalem, and preached the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans.
• 1 Peter 1:12 Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.
• 1 Peter 1:25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.

Now we are getting somewhere, or are we? Was Peter preaching the cross? Seems to me, he is still preaching the kingdom message, which was spoken by all His holy prophets since the world began. No new information to speak of especially concerning the cross by Peter. You do see the emphasis once again on performance, the kingdom of Israel, Christ upon David's throne in Jerusalem. That is not the gospel of the grace of God, not grace by faith, no cross, death, burial or resurrection as a benefit to anyone. So who has the gospel that saves a never dying soul in this dispensation of the grace of God?

PAUL:

• Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
• Romans 2:16 In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.
• Romans 15:16 That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost.
• Romans 16:25 Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,
• 2 Corinthians 4:3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
• 2 Corinthians 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
• Galatians 1:11 But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.
• Galatians 1:12 For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.
• Galatians 2:2 And I went up by revelation, and communicated unto them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to them which were of reputation, lest by any means I should run, or had run, in vain.
• 2 Timothy 2:8 Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel:

What is this gospel?

• 1 Corinthians 15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
• 1 Corinthians 15:2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
• 1 Corinthians 15:3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
• 1 Corinthians 15:4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

The order of events in a soul's salvation in this present dispensation of the grace of God does not involve repenting of your sins, asking Jesus into your heart, being dumped in a tank of water by some dude wearing rubber pants acting like a mediator of some sorts, not following Jesus, or making Jesus Lord, or any other goofy activity that you heard someone say you should do....follow what the Bible rightly divided says to do in....

Ephesians 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

Christ sent Paul beginning in the 9Th chapter of the book of Acts, not with instructions on eating fruits in the garden, not with building plans for an Ark to avoid a flood, not with the good news of a nation in which all the nations will be blessed, not with the fulfillment of a kingdom promise being at hand.....but with an entirely new message. On the merits of the death, burial and resurrection of God manifest in the flesh, the fullness of the Godhead bodily, Jesus Christ, paying the sin debt for everyone, past present and future, salvation by grace through faith in this finished work alone. No admixture of works, the law, statutes, being a goody goody two shoes, going to church every time the doors open, paying a tithe, joining a group, getting wet, kissing the toes on a statue, hail Mary's and all that jazz. Ephesians 1:13 tells exactly the process in being saved. Read it backwards if that helps....You were sealed with the Holy Spirit after that you believed the gospel of your salvation in which you heard from the word of truth by trusting Christ. God made it so easy for us, He did all the work necessary to save our soul.

Paul tells us over and over the gospel which he preaches was given him by the risen Lord Jesus Christ. Paul even refers to this gospel as "my gospel" because it is uniquely given to Paul alone. Peter did not preach it, Moses did not preach it, even Jesus kept it secret until He gave it to Paul. Romans 16:25 declares it was kept secret since the world began. The sad workmanship of the church machinery today is keeping it a secret from the people by neglecting to rightly divide the word of truth so let's get busy in making all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery!!

Grace and Peace!