By Which Gospel? - Eph 2:8-10
February 26, 2023
confirmed last week that we don’t want to be cursed or castrated…
Gal 1:6-10… “if anyone preaches a different gospel… a curse be on him…”
Gal 5:11-12… “I wish those who trouble you would castrate themselves…”
but doesn’t the bible itself talk about many different gospels… so which one is correct… by which gospel are we saved… pray…
Matt 9:35… “Jesus went about… preaching the gospel of the kingdom…”
Mark 1:1… “the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ…”
Acts 20:24… “finish my race… to testify to the gospel of grace…”
Rom 1:16… “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ…”
Rom 2:16… “on that day… according to my gospel…”
Rom 10:15… “how beautiful are those who preach the gospel of peace…”
Gal 2:2-7… “gospel which I preach to Gentiles… gospel for the uncircumcised…”
Eph 1:13… “after you heard the word of truth… the gospel of your salvation…”
1Thess 2:9… “we preached to you the gospel of God…”
1Tim 1:11… “according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God…”
Rev 14:6… “then I saw another angel… with the eternal gospel…”
what’s a good word for friend… acquaintance, ally, associate, buddy, companion, chum, comrade, crony, mate, pal… all describe same thing… just like the gospel…
Acts 20:24… “my purpose is to testify to the gospel of God’s grace…”
what does grace look like, it looks like Jesus… what does grace sound like, it sounds like Jesus… how do we know… because God gave us Jesus full of grace…
John 1:14-17… “Word became flesh… dwelt among us… observed His glory… glory as the one and only Son… who came from the Father full of grace and truth… received grace upon grace from His fullness… grace and truth came thru Jesus…”
The gospel is not speculation but fact. It is truth, because it is the record of a Person who is Truth. —Alexander MacLaren
gospel simply reveals Jesus… but what about those other gospels…
Matt 24:14… “this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world…”
what is a kingdom without a king… gospel of the kingdom is simply the gospel of the king… bible gives us a clear indication of what we find in the true gospel…
Matt 6:25-34… “seek first the King… and His righteousness… all things added…”
Rom 1:16-17… “in the gospel… the righteousness of God is revealed…”
Rom 3:20-26… “righteousness of God revealed… demonstrate His righteousness…”
1Cor 15:3-4… “make clear the gospel… Christ died, was buried, rose again…”
The gospel of the kingdom is the gospel of Christ which is the gospel of God which is the gospel of grace. They are different labels for the exact same gospel message. —Dr. Paul Ellis
notice Paul makes clear this gospel involves a death… a brutal, disgusting death on a cross meant for criminals… couldn’t he have cleaned up the good news a little…
1Cor 2:1-5… “I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus and Him crucified… my speech was not a demonstration of human wisdom… but a demonstration of the Spirit’s power… so your faith would not be based on human wisdom… but on God’s power…”
cannot remove the cross from the gospel of grace… cannot merely glance at it… cannot make it an afterthought… cannot allow anything else to take the place of the cross at the center of the gospel… or it would make it no gospel at all…
Isa 53… “He was despised and rejected… a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief… we hid our faces from Him… He Himself bore our sicknesses… He carried our pains… He was pierced because of our rebellion… crushed for our sins… He was beaten so we could be made whole… whipped so we could be healed…”
On whatever subjects I preach, I feel it to be a duty, which I dare not neglect, to be continually going back to the doctrine of the cross… the fundamental truth of justification by faith in Christ. The cross is essential to life. —Charles Spurgeon
the gospel is good news whether you believe it or not… but it will only bring its power to bear in your life if you believe (God said it, I believe it, so it’s true)…
Rom 1:16… “gospel… is power of God for salvation to everyone who believes…”
1Cor 1:18… “word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing… but to us who are being saved (rescued, delivered, healed) it is the power of God…”
Eph 2:8-10… “by grace are you saved… thru faith (pistis/belief)… it is God’s gift…”
1Thess 1:5… “gospel did not come in word only… but in power and the HS…”
1Thess 2:13… “word which you heard from us… works effectively in you who believe…”
Heb 4:2… “grace was of no value to them… because it was not mixed with faith…”
by which gospel are we saved… the gospel of grace… the gospel of the kingdom… the gospel of Jesus… the gospel of peace… the glorious, eternal gospel…
Euangelion (that we call the Gospel) is a Greek word that signifies good, merry, glad, and joyful tidings that make a man’s heart glad and make him sing, dance and leap for joy. —William Tyndale
the gospel is not just for sinners to be saved… its heaven’s cure for sin, sickness, poverty, oppression, danger, bondage, addiction, worry, fear, pain…
Rom 1:16… “not ashamed of gospel… the power of God for performing miracles to save, keep safe and sound; rescue from danger; save a suffering one from disease; make well, restore to health; preserve one in danger of destruction; deliver from penalty of judgment…”
critical you listen to pure gospel of grace… not law… not mixed-grace gospel that is simply mixed up… no power in those… and you make Jesus of no effect…
Mark 2:22… “no one puts new wine into old wineskins… burst… lose both…”
Rom 4:14… “if those who obey law are heirs… faith is void… promise useless…”
Gal 5:4… “Christ is no effect… if you try to be justified by law… fall from grace…”
katargeo… render inoperative, inactivate; deprive of force, influence, power or efficiency…
too often the church focuses on doing instead of believing… puts precious saints back into bondage Jesus delivered them from… don’t have to beg God for what you need… seek out the gospel and believe they’re already yours… pray…
John 6:29… “this is the only work God wants… believe in the One He sent…”
Eph 1:3… “God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing… in Christ…”
Gal 5:1… “Christ set us free… do not submit again to a yoke of slavery…”
zygos… troublesome laws; especially Mosaic law…
2Pet 1:1-3… “everything required for life… found in the knowledge of Him…”