#gospelmessage

He rose triumphant over the grave!

"Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father." (John 10: 17,18)

All praise and thanks to the Father, who gave us His Son to reconcile us to Himself; and to Jesus who surrendered His will to the will of the Father; and to the Holy Spirit who raised Him from the dead.

"And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you." (Romans 8:10,11)

Because He lives, we have this blessed, glorious hope. Rejoice!

"Behold, I show you a mystery: we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Corinthians 15:51-57)

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

As stated in a previous post, some people believe Paul wrote Hebrews.  I’m not dogmatic about that, but I side with those who doubt it since he doesn't introduced himself to his readers as in his other letters.  Also, if it was Paul, he would be going against his own strong advice of not preaching a gospel contrary to the one that had been give him concerning the revelation of the mystery of Christ, (Rom 16:17).

Hebrews contains the doctrine for the remnant of Israel, the little flock – those that believed Jesus was the Messiah, who are waiting for their promised kingdom to come, expecting to go through severe persecution foretold in Daniel 9.  Hebrews is full of verses that speak of  future salvation after enduring to the end, accompanied with faith and works. Reading through Hebrews, if not careful to divide correctly, will lead you back to a works-based system where the possibility of losing your salvation is a constant threat.  This will be true for end-time Israel during the tribulation period.  They will be totally dependent upon the Lord alone to save them by his promise of the New Covenant spoken by the prophets (Jer. 31:31, Heb 8:8, Heb 8:13 and Heb 12:24).   We don’t fear such loss because, in this dispensation, we are complete in Christ, understanding that his work is our righteousness (Col 2:10, 2 Cor 5:21).

The context of Hebrews 4:1-3 with the word gospel included goes back 35 verses (3:1-4:16), warnings Israel to keep the faith, do the work, and endure to the end so that they can finally enter into the rest that was promised ages ago.

Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.

2 For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.

3 For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.

Do you fear losing your salvation? We have peace with God Rom 5:1. Was a promise left us that has not already been fulfilled? All the promises of God are yes in Christ!  2 Cor 1:20 Does the word that you know to be true today leave you without profit?  The Spirit is given to every man to profit them. 1 Cor 12:7 Do you work for your salvation? It’s free by God’s grace!  Eph 2:8-9

Has anyone ever noticed that there seems to be more than a few contradictions, or better said,  discrepancies, in the Bible?  God didn’t do that on purpose.  That’s our fault for not dividing his word properly and keeping each of these verses in their respective contexts.  

This next study will focus on discrepancies and seeing if we can make sense of them. Let’s start with the word gospel.  Things to consider when you search a word are:

What book and how many times is the word used? 

Who’s speaking? 

Defining words that might be added?

Who is the audience? 

What are the prevailing condition?

The word gospel shows up 98 times from Matthew to Revelation.  Paul gets 69 of those references in his epistles, where Acts uses the word gospel 6 times.  We’ll break these two groups down on another day.  For now, let’s concentrate on the remaining books of the “New Testament.”

Matthew – 5 times.  Jesus is speaking every time.  Defining word kingdom three times.  The audience is Israel.  The conditions are Jesus’ ministry to the Jews.

Mark – 8 times.  Jesus is speaking every time except Mark 1:1.  Defining word of Jesus Christ once, and kingdom twice. The audience is Israel.  The conditions are Jesus’ ministry to the Jews.

Luke – 4 times.  Jesus is speaking three times and the apostles are speaking once. No defining words.  The audience is Israel. The conditions are Jesus’ ministry to the Jews.

Hebrews – once.  It should be noted that some people believe Paul wrote Hebrews and some do not.  I’m in the not camp because Paul always introduced himself in the first few lines of his letters.  Speaker – whoever wrote Hebrews.  No defining words.  The audience is Hebrew people.  Conditions are waiting for the kingdom to come.

Peter – 4 times.  Peter is speaking every time.  Defining word of God attached one time. Peter is speaking to the little flock – Jews that believed in Jesus as their Messiah.  Conditions are waiting for the kingdom to come.

Revelation – once.  John is speaking.  Defining word is everlasting. Audience are those living during the tribulation period. Prevailing condition– end times.