14. The Gospel
THE GOSPEL Will you tell us what is meant by the expression “the Gospel”?
Sometimes the phrase is used to indicate one of the four first books of the New Testament, as the Gospel of Matthew, of Mark, of Luke, or of John. The word Gospel means good news. In his Reference Bible, four forms of the Gospel are distinguished by Dr. Scofield as follows:
1. The Gospel of the Kingdom. This is the good news that God purposes to set up on the earth, in fulfillment of the Davidic Covenant (2 Samuel 7:16), a kingdom, political, spiritual, Israelitish, universal, over which God’s Son, David’s heir, shall be King, and which shall be, for one thousand years, the manifestation of the righteousness of God in human affairs. See Matthew 3:2.
Two “preachings” of this Gospel are mentioned, one past, beginning with the ministry of John the Baptist, continued by our Lord and His disciples, and ending with the Jewish rejection of the King. The other is yet future (Matthew 24:14), during The Great Tribulation, and immediately preceding the coming of the King in glory.
2. The Gospel of the grace of God. This is the good news that Jesus Christ, the rejected King, has died on the cross for the sins of the world, that He was raised from the dead for our justification, and that by Him all who believe are justified from all things. This form of the Gospel is described in many ways. It is the Gospel “of God” (Romans 1:1) because it originates in His love; “of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:14) because it flows from His sacrifice, and because He is the lone Object of Gospel faith; of “the grace of God” (Acts 20:24) because it saves those whom the Law curses; of “the glory” (1 Timothy 1:11, 2 Corinthians 4:4) because it concerns Him who is in the glory, and who is bringing the many sons to glory (Hebrews 2:10); of “our salvation” (Ephesians 1:13) because it is the “power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth” (Romans 1:16); of the “uncircumcision” (Galatians 2:7) because it saves wholly apart from forms and ordinances; of “peace” (Ephesians 6:15) because through Christ it makes peace between the sinner and God, and imparts inward peace.
3. The everlasting Gospel (Revelation 14:6). This is to be preached to the earth-dwellers at the very end of the Great Tribulation and immediately preceding the judgment of the nations (Matthew 25:31). It is neither the Gospel of the kingdom, nor of grace. Though its burden is judgment, not salvation, it is good news to Israel and to those who, during the tribulation, have been saved (Revelation 7:9-14, Luke 21:28; Psalms 96:11-13; Isaiah 35:4-10).
4. That which Paul calls, “my Gospel” (Romans 2:16). This is the Gospel of the grace of God in its fullest development, but includes the revelation of the result of that Gospel in the outcalling of the Church, her relations, position, privileges, and responsibility. It is the distinctive truth of Ephesians and Colossians, but interpenetrates all of Paul’s writings.
There is “another Gospel” (Galatians 1:6; 2 Corinthians 11:4) “which is not another,” but a perversion of the Gospel of the grace of God, against which we are warned. It has had many seductive forms, but the test is this: it invariably denies the sufficiency of grace alone to save, keep, and perfect, and mingles with grace some kind of human merit. In Galatia it was law, in Colosse fanaticism (Colossians 2:18, etc.). In any form its teachers lie under the awful anathema of God. Was the Kingdom of God which Paul preached different from the Gospel of grace which he declared as “my Gospel”? If so, wherein?
Paul’s message, called by him “my Gospel,” included the truth about the Kingdom of God, both in its present mystery form and in its future manifestation. His “Gospel” was the whole body of revelation for this dispensation, comprising the origin, calling and destiny of the Church of God. It is true that those who receive the Lord Jesus Christ in this present age are at once translated into the Kingdom of God; but it is also true that all such are in the Church which is the body of Christ. These things are by no means identical; the Church is a far different thing from the Kingdom; although, of course, since Christ is King in the Kingdom and Head of the Church, the Kingdom and the Church have much in common.
What was distinctive in “the Pauline gospel”? Did not the other apostles preach the same gospel that Paul preached?
Yes, all the apostles preached the same gospel. But it was through Paul that the full body of Church truth was revealed. It is not found in the Old Testament, nor in Matthew, Mark or Luke. See Ephesians 3:1-2 and 2 Peter 3:15-16.
In1 Corinthians 9:16-17Paul said that necessity was laid upon him to preach the Gospel. If he did it willingly he would receive a reward, and if not, then a dispensation of the Gospel was committed unto him. What did he mean by this “dispensation of the Gospel”? The Revisers have changed the word “dispensation” to “stewardship.” Verses 17 and 18 in the Revision read: “For if I do this of mine own will, I have a reward: but if not of mine own will, I have a stewardship entrusted to me. What then is my reward? That, when I preach the gospel, I may make the gospel without charge, so as not to use to the full my right in the gospel.” The obvious meaning is that Paul was made a steward of the good news of God, and whether he preached the good news willingly or not, he was still under obligation to preach it, and he must give an answer to God for the way he discharged that obligation. Happily, in his case, he preached the Gospel with all his heart and of his own free will, and therefore a reward awaited him. There is a solemn lesson in all this for every Christian. The Gospel is committed to every one of us as a stewardship, and it is required of stewards that they be faithful (1 Corinthians 4:2).