Gospel = God’s good news plan of salvation (forgiveness of sins, right standing w/God, temporal and eternal blessings of God).

According to Paul’s words in (Gal 1:6-9), there is only one gospel that truly saves (or will get you to heaven). And that gospel is not according to men or angels, but God. As such, the identification of a true Christian – or Christian church is determined by the gospel they preach.

God’s gospel = the gospel based on all 66 books of  His Word (i.e. both Old and New Testament) (2Ti 3:15-16).

According (then) to God (or the entirety of His Word):

1. The gospel has been the same from the beginning (Gal 3:8; Heb 4:2a; hence the reason the writer of Hebrews can say – Heb 13:9 w/Jud 1:5 and 1Co 10:1-4).

2. The gospel centers on Jesus Christ, the Son of God (Luk 24:27; Jud 1:5; 1Co 10:1-4; Joh 3:16, 14:6; Act 4:12; 1Co 15:1-4; Luk 2:10; also Eph 1:7 = Jesus [thru His sacrificial death] secures our redemption/forgiveness of sins; Rom 3:22-24[1], 4:25 = Jesus [thru His resurrection] establishes our justification/right standing before God; 2Co 1:19-20 = Jesus [thru our union w/Him] gives us access to all of God’s promises).

3. The gospel requires that we 1) enter into a marriage covenant w/Jesus 2) by entering into His covenant community (or church) 3) through the blood sacraments given to that community 4) and our sacred vow of faithful obedience to all that He commands (Eze 16:8; Jer 31:31-34 w/Heb 8:6-10; Eph 5:25; 2Co 11:1-2; [Die Bundesformel] “I will be their God and they shall be my people” [from Gen – Rev this is the sacred vow used by Christ to make/recall the covenant made w/His people for salvation] [2] – Gen 17:7-8; Exo 6:7, 29:45; Lev 26:11-12; Deu 26:17-18, 29:13; Jer 7:23, 11:4, 24:7, 30:22, 31:1,33, 32:38; Eze 11:20, 14:11, 34:22-30, 36:27-38, 37:23-27; Hos 2:23; Zec 8:8, 13:9; 2Co 6:16; Heb 8:10; Rev 21:3,7; Psa 3:8, 98:1-3; “Zion” [God’s covenant community or kingdom on earth] = Isa 45:13, 62:11-12; Psa 9:1-14, 14:7, 20:1-9, 69:35-36 w/74:2, 87:1-7, 149:1-4 w/Heb 12:22-24; also Act 20:28; hence the reason Jesus can say – Joh 4:22; Mat 16:18-19 w/Gen 28:17; hence also the reason Jesus can say it is the “gospel of the kingdom” – Mat 4:23, 9:35, 24:14; hence the reason the early church could say, “there is no salvation outside the church [covenant community]; OC sacraments = circumcision and sacrifice – Gen 17:9-13//Gen 15:10-18; Exo 12:1-51 //re: necessity – Gen 17:14; Exo 12:19; Num 9:13///NC sacraments = baptism and the LT – Col 2:11-12; 1Pe 3:21 = this is the place God accepts our faith; //Mat 26:28 w/Joh 13:1-10; 1Co 5:7///re: necessity – Mar 16:16; Joh 13:8; Exo 24:7-8, Lev 11:44 and Num 15:40 w/1Pe 1:1-2, 14-17; a vow of faithful obedience is equally a commitment to complete repentance since this is its antithesis – 1Jo 3:4; Luk 3:8-18).

4. The gospel requires also that we remain in covenant w/Jesus by remaining in the covenant community, through continued observance of the blood sacrament (of the LT) and the fulfillment of our vow of faithful obedience to all that He commands (re: the covenant community = 1Jo 2:19; Mat 18:17; re: continued observance of the Passover sacrifice/LT – 1Co 5:7 = Num 9:13 w/Joh 13:8-10; re: faithful obedience = Deu 28:1-2, [“keep”] = Deu 4:39-40, 6:17, 7:9-12, 8:1-2, 6, 11, 29:20//Eze 33:10-20; Phi 2:12-16; Mat 7:21-27, 10:22, 24:42-51, 25:1-30; Jam 1:25; 2Pe 2:20-22 w/3:14-18; Jud 1:20-21; Rev 2:10, 26, 3:5, 11-12///hence the reason we wb judged according to our deeds! = Eze 20:11, 33:20; Joh 5:28-29; 2Co 5:9-10; 1Pe 1:17-18; Rev 20:11-15////what happens if we don’t continue = Deu 29:18-20; Heb 6:4-12, 10:23-30, 36-39).

5. The gospel recognizes that the spirit of the Law – or the timeless instruction established in Old Testament, is a part of Jesus’ New Testament commands that must be faithfully obeyed (Mat 5:17-20; Mat 22:36-40; e.g. 1Co 9:7-11; it is impossible to love others w/o the Law – Rom 13:8-10; it is also impossible to repent of sin w/o the Law given sin’s definition – 1Jo 3:4). 

6. Though heaven will boast a multitude that cannot be numbered (Rev 7:9), the majority of those claiming to have received the gospel, will be eternally damned as antinomian and/or apostate (Mat 7:13-14, 21-23, 13:40-42, 22:14, 24:3, 9-13; Luk 13:22-24). 

7. It is for the reasons established in the previous points that we must teach people to faithfully obey all of God’s Law and remind them that acquiring such faithfulness requires agonizing effort and self-sacrifice (Mat 28:20; Luk 13:22-28, 17:7-10; Mat 16:23-25; 2Pe 1:3-12; 1Co 9:24-27; Heb 12:1-4).

CLOSING CONTEMPLATION = Three Questions: 1) Is this the true gospel according to God (His Word in its entirety)?, 2) How many claiming to be Christians or Christian churches are preaching this gospel? 3) What is our burden (if this is the gospel according to God and few are preaching it) (Mat 28:18-20)?

[1] Notice, we are justified or made right w/God as the necessary consequence of redemption – or the forgiveness of our sins – not some additional act on the part of Jesus –e.g. the claim of those holding to Active Obedience (Jesus’s perfect obedience has also been applied to us as necessary to our justification/right standing w/God.) (see also Heb 10:10).

[2] This formula follows very closely in form to the vow taken by the potential groom in ancient Israel, “I will be your husband, and you shall be my wife.” (Marriage and Family in the Biblical World, p. 45). The Bundesformel therefore lends further support to the marriage argument.