A PROMISE MADE, A PROMISE KEPT!
A PROMISE MADE, A PROMISE KEPT!
Everybody talks about the ‘good news’ in the New Testament. But do you know what the ‘good news’ is? You might find this a strange question for me to be asking you but the answer is very important! If you had to, could you explain the 'good news' of the New Testament to someone?
Everybody talks about the ‘good news’ in the New Testament. But do you know what the ‘good news’ is? You might find this a strange question for me to be asking you but the answer is very important! If you had to, could you explain the 'good news' of the New Testament to someone?
As you watch the video, you will notice that it gives the usual Pauline explanation of the 'good news'.
But this explanation is not correct! The Pauline writings have caused a considerable amount of confusion in this area.
But this explanation is not correct! The Pauline writings have caused a considerable amount of confusion in this area.
In Paul’s opinion, the ‘good news’ of the New Testament has something to do with his ‘justification by faith’ doctrine. According to Paul, Christ died to take over our personal sins. Therefore, as believers in Christ, that means we are no longer responsible for our personal sins.
The problem is- this is NOT what Christ taught!
What did Christ say the ‘good news’ of the New Testament is? Simply this- a promise was made; the promise will be kept! Let me explain!
THE APOSTOLIC SCRIPTURES AND CHRIST’S GOOD NEWS
The word ‘gospel’ is commonly translated to mean ‘good news’. So let’s begin this Bible study by reminding ourselves of the specific times the word ‘gospel’ was used in the Apostolic Scriptures.
Did you know that the word ‘gospel’ only appears TEN TIMES in the Apostolic Scriptures? Here are the verse references (KJV, emphasis mine):
1. Matthew 4:23-
And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.
2. Matthew 9:35-
And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.
3. Matthew 11:5
The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the GOSPEL preached to them.
4. Matthew 24:14
And this GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
5. Matthew 26:13
What did Christ say the ‘good news’ of the New Testament is? Simply this- a promise was made; the promise will be kept! Let me explain!
THE APOSTOLIC SCRIPTURES AND CHRIST’S GOOD NEWS
The word ‘gospel’ is commonly translated to mean ‘good news’. So let’s begin this Bible study by reminding ourselves of the specific times the word ‘gospel’ was used in the Apostolic Scriptures.
Did you know that the word ‘gospel’ only appears TEN TIMES in the Apostolic Scriptures? Here are the verse references (KJV, emphasis mine):
1. Matthew 4:23-
And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.
2. Matthew 9:35-
And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.
3. Matthew 11:5
The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the GOSPEL preached to them.
4. Matthew 24:14
And this GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
5. Matthew 26:13
Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this GOSPEL shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her.
6. 1 Peter 1:12
Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the GOSPEL unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.
7. 1 Peter 1:25
But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the GOSPEL is preached unto you.
8. 1 Peter 4:6
For for this cause was the GOSPEL preached also to them that are dead, that they might be JUDGED according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.
9. 1 Peter 4:17
For the time is come that JUDGMENT must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the GOSPEL OF GOD?
10. Revelation 14:6
And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the EVERLASTING GOSPEL to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,
There are direct references to Christ’s ‘gospel of the kingdom’ message and to His message of judgment in five of these ten verses!
SO IS PAUL’S ‘JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH’ DOCTRINE THE GOOD NEWS?
Did you notice that none of these ten verses say anything remotely related to Paul’s ‘justification by faith’ doctrine! Remember, in his doctrine, Paul claimed that believers receive the gift of everlasting salvation by their faith alone. This is also known as Paul’s ‘once saved, always saved’ doctrine or the ‘assurance of salvation’ doctrine. Paul claimed that Christ made everlasting salvation possible for believers through an act of grace, whereby all personal sins are forever forgiven.
Please realise that Christ did not teach this doctrine and we can prove it! Just consider the following three statements.
FIRST, as you can see from the list in the previous section above, the Apostolic Scriptures never mention anything resembling a ‘gospel of grace’.
SECOND, in fact, what Christ preached was ‘mercy’ and not ‘grace’! Do you understand the difference between these two concepts? Remember, mercy is being spared from a punishment that we deserve! Whereas, grace is receiving unearned favour.
Christ NEVER taught us that the gift of eternal salvation would be unearned! These verses are the clearest teachings on this subject.
§ Matthew 25:31-46
§ James 2:17-26
§ 1 Peter 4:8
§ 1 Peter 4:17-19
§ Revelation 20:12-15
Throughout His ministry, Christ often reminded those that He had healed or forgiven- to ‘go and sin NO MORE’! Do you remember the story of the paralyzed man who had been waiting for 38 years beside the pool in Bethesda (John 5:1-14)? Remember verse 5:14 says (KJV, emphasis mine):
14 Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: SIN NO MORE, LEST A WORST THING COME UNTO THEE.
Or what about the story of the woman caught in the very act of adultery (John 8:3-11). Remember verse 8:11 says (KJV, emphasis mine):
11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: GO, AND SIN NO MORE.
If a ‘once saved, always saved’ doctrine actually existed (as Paul would have us believe), then Christ would not have to remind us not to sin again!
It is true that His gift of redeeming us from original sin (aka Adamic sin) was given freely and was given by God’s grace. But we should never confuse Christ’s redemption of us from the penalty of ‘original sin’ with His teachings on the coming judgment for our personal sins!
Every person, believer and non-believer, is going to be held accountable for their personal actions (aka personal sins).
THIRD, remember the promise made in the Garden of Eden. This promise foretold Christ’s ‘good news’.
A PROMISE MADE- IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN
In Genesis 3:14-15, the LORD (YHWH) made a promise in the Garden of Eden- the devil will ultimately be punished for his wrongdoing.
14 And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
A PROMISE KEPT- IN CHRIST’S FIRST SERMON
To understand the significance of Christ’s first sermon, you must remember the promise that God made in the Garden of Eden. In Matthew 4:17, in His first sermon, Christ issued a warning (KJV, emphasis mine):
REPENT: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Why was this message popular in Christ’s time and why should it still be popular today?
Simply this- Christ’s first sermon is all about reminding people that God intends to keep His promise! The message of Christ's first sermon means that evil doers will be held to account for their actions! And not only will they be held to account, even more importantly, punishment will be given.
Christ’s first sermon gives us the assurance that wrongdoers will be punished! Believer or non-believer, if judgment doesn’t happen in this life, then it will in the next!
This is very good news indeed! It encourages us not to do wrong. If Paul's good news is known as the 'assurance of salvation' doctrine, then we can accurately describe Christ's good news as the 'assurance of judgment for wrong doing' doctrine!
NOW I KNOW WHAT THE GOOD NEWS IS!
The ‘good news’ is a promise that righteous punishment will be administered. That is why believers are encouraged to endure until the end. The gospel message that Christ came to bring the world was this- a promise was made and this promise will be kept! That's all most of us want- that the injustice that we have suffered is recognised, acknowledged and dealt with. Of course, by this standard, we must take care not to inflict injustice on others! We will, likewise, be held to account!
6. 1 Peter 1:12
Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the GOSPEL unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.
7. 1 Peter 1:25
But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the GOSPEL is preached unto you.
8. 1 Peter 4:6
For for this cause was the GOSPEL preached also to them that are dead, that they might be JUDGED according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.
9. 1 Peter 4:17
For the time is come that JUDGMENT must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the GOSPEL OF GOD?
10. Revelation 14:6
And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the EVERLASTING GOSPEL to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,
There are direct references to Christ’s ‘gospel of the kingdom’ message and to His message of judgment in five of these ten verses!
SO IS PAUL’S ‘JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH’ DOCTRINE THE GOOD NEWS?
Did you notice that none of these ten verses say anything remotely related to Paul’s ‘justification by faith’ doctrine! Remember, in his doctrine, Paul claimed that believers receive the gift of everlasting salvation by their faith alone. This is also known as Paul’s ‘once saved, always saved’ doctrine or the ‘assurance of salvation’ doctrine. Paul claimed that Christ made everlasting salvation possible for believers through an act of grace, whereby all personal sins are forever forgiven.
Please realise that Christ did not teach this doctrine and we can prove it! Just consider the following three statements.
FIRST, as you can see from the list in the previous section above, the Apostolic Scriptures never mention anything resembling a ‘gospel of grace’.
SECOND, in fact, what Christ preached was ‘mercy’ and not ‘grace’! Do you understand the difference between these two concepts? Remember, mercy is being spared from a punishment that we deserve! Whereas, grace is receiving unearned favour.
Christ NEVER taught us that the gift of eternal salvation would be unearned! These verses are the clearest teachings on this subject.
§ Matthew 25:31-46
§ James 2:17-26
§ 1 Peter 4:8
§ 1 Peter 4:17-19
§ Revelation 20:12-15
Throughout His ministry, Christ often reminded those that He had healed or forgiven- to ‘go and sin NO MORE’! Do you remember the story of the paralyzed man who had been waiting for 38 years beside the pool in Bethesda (John 5:1-14)? Remember verse 5:14 says (KJV, emphasis mine):
14 Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: SIN NO MORE, LEST A WORST THING COME UNTO THEE.
Or what about the story of the woman caught in the very act of adultery (John 8:3-11). Remember verse 8:11 says (KJV, emphasis mine):
11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: GO, AND SIN NO MORE.
If a ‘once saved, always saved’ doctrine actually existed (as Paul would have us believe), then Christ would not have to remind us not to sin again!
It is true that His gift of redeeming us from original sin (aka Adamic sin) was given freely and was given by God’s grace. But we should never confuse Christ’s redemption of us from the penalty of ‘original sin’ with His teachings on the coming judgment for our personal sins!
Every person, believer and non-believer, is going to be held accountable for their personal actions (aka personal sins).
THIRD, remember the promise made in the Garden of Eden. This promise foretold Christ’s ‘good news’.
A PROMISE MADE- IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN
In Genesis 3:14-15, the LORD (YHWH) made a promise in the Garden of Eden- the devil will ultimately be punished for his wrongdoing.
14 And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
A PROMISE KEPT- IN CHRIST’S FIRST SERMON
To understand the significance of Christ’s first sermon, you must remember the promise that God made in the Garden of Eden. In Matthew 4:17, in His first sermon, Christ issued a warning (KJV, emphasis mine):
REPENT: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Why was this message popular in Christ’s time and why should it still be popular today?
Simply this- Christ’s first sermon is all about reminding people that God intends to keep His promise! The message of Christ's first sermon means that evil doers will be held to account for their actions! And not only will they be held to account, even more importantly, punishment will be given.
Christ’s first sermon gives us the assurance that wrongdoers will be punished! Believer or non-believer, if judgment doesn’t happen in this life, then it will in the next!
This is very good news indeed! It encourages us not to do wrong. If Paul's good news is known as the 'assurance of salvation' doctrine, then we can accurately describe Christ's good news as the 'assurance of judgment for wrong doing' doctrine!
NOW I KNOW WHAT THE GOOD NEWS IS!
The ‘good news’ is a promise that righteous punishment will be administered. That is why believers are encouraged to endure until the end. The gospel message that Christ came to bring the world was this- a promise was made and this promise will be kept! That's all most of us want- that the injustice that we have suffered is recognised, acknowledged and dealt with. Of course, by this standard, we must take care not to inflict injustice on others! We will, likewise, be held to account!
Previous posts have discussed the 'kingdom of God' and the 'kingdom of heaven'. Together, these two kingdoms make up the message of the 'gospel of the kingdom'. The kingdom of God is what all believers should be helping to build here on earth (Matthew 6:10). The kingdom of heaven is what we are all hoping to enter after our 'Book of Life' judgment (Revelation 20:12-15).
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‘HARVEST TIME Prophecies’ is the blog post site of TNG Academy. Our blog post site gets its name from Matthew 13:30- the separation of wheat and tares that occurs at harvest time (i.e. the endtimes). Remember, the ‘wheat’ symbolises the things of God and the ‘tares’ symbolise the things of the devil.
The purpose of this blog is threefold.
1. Some of the posts are written to help the reader develop a deeper understanding of the theology of Christ’s core message- i.e. the ‘gospel of the kingdom’.
2. Some of the posts are written for the reader’s personal discipleship journey. We need to understand what God expects from us. After all, all believers should be on a journey of ‘becoming’ our best selves, capable of impacting and changing the world!
3. Finally, some of the posts are written to answer this question:
What would our faith look like today IF we had fully embraced Christ’s doctrines, as recorded by His Apostles, and rejected the doctrines of Paul and the other false apostles?
If we are sincere about our desire to restore Christianity to its roots, i.e. a return to Christ’s original message, then we must start by admitting that ‘while men slept’ (Matthew 13:25) the enemy planted false teachings (tares) into the New Testament!
Visit our website- WWW.TNGACADEMY.ORG, to see our Bible study books. Which books would I recommend for you to read first? Start with these three-
- WHAT IS THE KINGDOM OF GOD?
- MENE MENE TEKEL UPHARSIN!
- THE APOSTOLIC SCRIPTURES.
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