The Gospel

Many professing believers are going to dislike hearing this, but contrary to popular opinion today, this is not the Gospel!!! The atonement is not the Gospel. Justification by faith is not the Gospel. While it is true that Jesus came to die for our sins and grant us eternal life if we trust in Him and obey His commandments and teachings, that is only part of the Gospel. The true Gospel is much simpler. So what is the Gospel?

Twenty-eight verses in Scripture declare, "the Gospel of..." Twenty-five of those twenty-eight verses explicitly refer to the Good News that Yahweh has anointed Jesus as King: the Gospel of Christ (11 times), the Gospel of God (8 times), and the Gospel of the Kingdom (6 times). The other three verses refer to the Gospel "of salvation," "of grace," and "of peace." These are not different Gospels; they describe the one Gospel.

The very first words out of Jesus' mouth concerning the Gospel are defined for us in Mark 1:14-15: "Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the Gospel of Yahweh, and saying, 'The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand! Repent, and believe in the Gospel.'" In other words, "Believe in the Gospel of God concerning the Kingdom of God."

Matthew 4:17 records that "From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, 'Repent! For the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.'" Six verses later, we read, "Jesus was going throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom..." (4:23). Six chapters later, He instructed His disciples, "As you go, preach, saying, 'The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand'" (Matt. 10:7). Luke recorded the same pattern of preaching in 9:60 and 10:9-11. (By the way, "preaching" is for the lost only. The Greek word euaggelizo means "to evangelize." [The other word translated "preach" is kerusso, which means "to proclaim."] Believers have no need of being evangelized. "Preaching" is not for the Body of Christ!)

In the final week of Jesus' life, He explicitly stated in Matthew 24:14, "This Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in the whole world..." Hours before His death, Jesus still claimed to be King and to rule a Kingdom which was "not of this world" (John 18:36). When Jesus rose from the dead, Acts 1:3 records that over the course of forty days Jesus taught His disciples "the things concerning the Kingdom of God." After Jesus had ascended, Acts 8:12 records for us that "They believed Philip preaching the Good News (the Gospel) about the Kingdom of God..." The book of Acts ends by stating, "[Paul] stayed two full years in his own rented quarters and was welcoming all who came to him, preaching the Kingdom of God and teaching concerning the Lord Jesus the King with all openness, unhindered" (28:30-31).

Jesus is Yahweh's Anointed. The Hebrew word Meshiach (Messiah) and the Greek word Christos (Christ) both mean "Anointed." Whenever the apostles used the term "Christ," it evoked Psalm 2 in the minds of their audience. Likewise, whenever Jesus used the term "Kingdom of God," it evoked Daniel 2 in the minds of His audience.

Observe Peter's words in Acts 2:36: "God has made Him (Jesus) both Lord and King—this Jesus whom you crucified." Acts 5:31 records, "[Jesus] is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Ruler and a Liberator." A few verses later, "every day, in the temple and from house to house, they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the King" (2:42). The apostles' use of Christos demonstrated that they were proclaiming, "Jesus is King!" This is why their enemies said in Acts 17:7, "they all act contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus!"

The Gospel of the Kingdom of Yahweh finds its fullest definition based on Daniel 2:31-45 and Psalm 2:1-12, and on the authority of John 3:3-5 and 1 John 4:15-5:1: The reign of Yahweh's Anointed King begins with the indwelling Holy Spirit and destroys the rulers and authorities of the world. A ruler named Sin and an authority named Death.

The so-called "Romans Road" is not the Gospel message. The "Romans Road" is soteriology (the doctrine of salvation). Romans was written to believers—Christians. It is not the Gospel the apostles preached to the lost.

The apostolic letters are written to congregations, scattered groups of believers, or specific individual believers. Only the "Gospels" and the book of Acts record the Gospel as Jesus and the apostles preached it to the lost. If you are looking to the epistles for the Gospel message to preach to the lost, then you are looking in the wrong place and you are engaging in proof text methodology (ripping random isolated verses out of their immediate context and forcing them into your own imaginary context). Anyone who directs you to the epistles for the "Gospel" message is ignorantly misleading you because they do not know any better. They were taught these errors and so they perpetuate them.

The message preached by the apostles was always the same. When you look throughout Acts, all the preaching of the Gospel to the lost contains these same elements:

The same points over and over again. The blood, propitiation, life after death, and even Hell are all true, but none of these were preached by the apostles to the lost. No one was told they are sinners. No one was told they are going to Hell. No one was told they cannot save themselves. Heaven is not mentioned, nor are any free gifts. There is no "Romans Road" to be had here; no "Four Spiritual Laws." The resurrection—not the crucifixion—was the focus of the apostolic Gospel. Why?

Because the Gospel is: Jesus is Yahweh's Anointed KING!!!

If we are truly Sola Scriptura, as many of us claim to be, then please explain how in defining the Gospel we have skipped right over every single definition that Jesus and His apostles gave, such as Mark 1:14-15, and embraced an erroneous definition of the Gospel first introduced by Martin Luther. Sadly, despite our claims to the contrary, many of us do not have a clue what Sola Scriptura actually means, let alone how to perform it. Most of us are actually Sola Traditio (Tradition Alone) while making false claims of Sola Scriptura.

Numerous people believe the Evangelical message of Jesus' dying for their sins but do not have Jesus as their King. If Jesus is not your King, then the ruler of this world is your ruler, which means your sin (for which you believe Jesus died) still governs you. Either you want King Jesus to rule over you, and you submit to His authority and rule, obeying His every command and teaching, or you do not. There is no middle ground. There is no option for you to be liberated, have your sins forgiven, and go to Heaven and yet Jesus not be there. Either you want Jesus and Jesus alone (regardless of all the benefits), or you want none of it. Choose this day whom you will serve. As for me and my family, we will serve King Jesus!