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Mustard Seed September/October 2003
The Gospel Truth
Mustard Seed - September/October 2003
If any one term could be used to describe God's Church, it would have to be: "A Gospel Preaching Church." Over the past history of the church and especially during the twentieth century, this has been the main purpose and focus of the church.
It has commonly been referred to in the past and even still today as, "the work." we have heard over and over, time and again, "we must get the work done."
"The work" included preaching or publishing the gospel of the kingdom to the world, (Mt. 24:14.) and baptizing new converts, and teaching them to observe all things that Christ commands. (Mt. 28:19-20.) This is what the Church of God has always done, is still doing and will always do.
Even though some of the larger groups of the church are spending large amounts of money on TV programs and literature, there has been a definite slowdown in the number of new converts as compared to twenty or so years ago. For what ever reason that God has, at this present time, with the Church being scattered, the preaching of the gospel is just not as effective as it has been in the past. Only God knows how long this will continue, but in Habakkuk 1:5 he promises to do an unbelievable work before the end. This could possibly be the same as Mt. 24:14.
The word "gospel" is translated from two Greek words throughout the New testament. The first is from Strong's #2097 and means "to announce good news" or "glad tidings." The second is # 2098 and comes from # 2097 and means "a good message." The word "Gospel" is used 101 times in the New Testament translated from these two words.
When Jesus began his ministry, he came preaching the gospel of The Kingdom. (Mt.4:23, Mt. 9:35 and Mk. 14.) He sent his Disciples to continue the preaching of the gospel (Mt. 10:1-7.) The Church of God has continued this commission down through history since Jesus first began his ministry. In the past, the definition and application of the word "gospel" was a little confusing to some. the "gospel of the kingdom" was emphasized over the other aspects of the gospel and in my mind it left some "gray areas." After all only four, of the one-hundred-one scriptures refer to, "The Gospel of the Kingdom." That leaves ninety-seven scriptures that refer to other facets of the gospel.
All four of the above scriptures comes from #2098 and would read "A good message of the kingdom of God," rather than "good news of the kingdom of God." there is only a slight difference but sometimes we have to be careful of small things.
Since the kingdom of God is the ultimate result of a Christian's life, we could say that on the road to the Kingdom of God, the gospel is the vehicle that will carry us there. All other facets of the gospel are designed to lead us to that end result.
When Jesus came preaching the gospel of the kingdom, this was the crux of his ministry. It included healing and other miracles. The best way to determine the true definition of a biblical word, is from biblical context and definition. For instance we can determine the true and accurate meaning of the word "gospel" from Eph. 1:13: "In whom you also trusted, after that you heard The Word Of Truth, the Gospel of your salvation..." So the gospel is God's Truth. In any form or application, God's truth is the gospel.
Jesus came preaching the gospel of the kingdom, or God's truth concerning the kingdom of God. A very good message (Strong's # 2098) Mt. 7:28 " And it came to pass when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine." Now we have to add another word, " doctrine" which is Strong's # 1322 , instruction, from # 1521, "to teach." So Christ taught the truth of God, or the gospel, which was and still is his doctrines. II Tim. 3:16 "all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine..." Jesus is the living word of God. (John 1:1 & Rev.19-13.) All scripture is the written word of God. (II Tim. 3:16.) So, if we put these three word together Truth, Gospel and Doctrine, what do we have? The word of God. Thy word is truth (John 17:17
So, amidst any confusion that might still exist in anyone's mind over what the gospel is, the bottom line is --God's Truth Is The Gospel. You've probably heard the old saying, "that's the gospel truth" --well that's what it is.
-Neil Wroten
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