Question: I admire what you've done to silence the awful teachings of Calvin....But what has happened to the gospel as defined and preached by Jesus? | thebereancall.org

Question: I admire what you've done to silence the awful teachings of Calvin....But what has happened to the gospel as defined and preached by Jesus?

TBC Staff

Question: I admire what you've done to silence the awful teachings of Calvin. But in your latest Berean Call you again just cite 1 Corinthians:15:1-3 as the gospel as though one verse will suffice. Paul said that those items were "amongst things of first importance." But what has happened to the gospel as defined and preached by Jesus? Why don't you start by defining the gospel as Jesus did in Mark:1:14-15? Luke:4:43 ought to be our mission statement, since it was Jesus'. For Paul, that same "Kingdom of God" gospel is still the heart of everything (Acts:28:23, 31). Hebrews:2:3 makes Jesus the model preacher of the gospel, but evangelicals have forgotten this.

Response: We've corresponded about this before and we both remain firm in our beliefs. Nevertheless, I'll try once again. I cite 1 Corinthians:15:1-4 because there Paul more clearly and fully spells out the gospel in detail than is done anywhere else in the Bible: "...which I preached unto you...ye received...wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved...that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures...was buried...rose again the third day according to the scriptures...was seen...."

In Mark:1:14-15 Christ offers Himself as king to Israel, "preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God...the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel." He certainly does not, however, define or explain the "gospel of the kingdom." Nor does He do so in Luke:4:43.

So we need to define the "gospel of the kingdom," and that is where we differ. Paul says the gospel he preached and declares so clearly in 1 Corinthians 15 is what he "received." From those who were apostles before him? No, but from the Lord himself. The fact that Paul knew what he knew of the gospel, and following Christ by extensive direct contact with the risen Lord, is very clear from Galatians:1:7-9, 11-19; 1 Corinthians:11:23-25.

The "gospel of the kingdom" that Jesus and the disciples preached at that time and the miracles that He did to confirm it were specifically for Israel. During His time on earth, Christ said, "I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Mt 15:24); "I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities [obviously in Israel] also: for therefore am I sent" (Lk 4:43). John chapter 4 indicates that Samaritans were apparently included.

Something changed at the Cross: not the gospel but those to whom it was to be preached. Christ sent His disciples where He had avoided going: "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mk 16:15). This is our commission today. With Paul and the other apostles, "we preach Christ crucified" (1 Cor:1:23) to Jew and Gentile.

Christ is the king not only of Israel but also of the universe. We are calling the lost from "every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation" (Rv 5:9) to enter the kingdom under the lordship of Christ-a kingdom not headquartered in Jerusalem and pertaining only to Israel but headquartered in heaven and preached worldwide. We preach what Paul preached: "repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts:20:21) to everyone who will heed the call.