What is the Gospel of Jesus (Yahushua)?
999 out of 1,000 Christians would answer incorrectly something like this:
"The Gospel of Salvation, the good news that Jesus came to earth, died on the cross for our sins, so we can be saved."
This is a false, pagan "theory of atonement". This isn't The Gospel of Jesus! This isn't what the gospel writers called the gospel and it isn't the gospel that Yahushua (Jesus) preached, and it isn't the gospel that Jesus commanded His followers to preach in all the world.
The challenge of discovering truth is overcoming preconceived ideas and notions.
I challenge you to describe the origin of the term "Gospel of Salvation". It is an everyday part of every Christians' vocabulary. But where did it start? It is no where in the Bible. The closest is one verse in Ephesians.
Ephesians 1:13
In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
No where else does it occur. Yahushua (Jesus) never mentioned it. The gospel writers never mentioned it. We might consider calling this the gospel of Paul instead of the Gospel of the Christ. Even Paul didn't claim this to be the "Gospel of Jesus", but instead called it a "gospel of your salvation". In other verses, Paul called it "my gospel". (Romans 2:16, Romans 16:25, 2 Timothy 2:8) Paul extensively preached this "condensed version" of the gospel as salvation. This isn't an accusation that he was wrong (he wasn't wrong), but a challenge to re-evaluate our interpretation of Paul and to study more fully the gospel preached by Yahushua the Messiah (Jesus, the Christ).
The old testament is full of Yahweh's "salvation" and this concept was well known to His people. Psalms mentions Yahweh's salvation 63 times. No where is it called a gospel of salvation. It was "Yahweh's salvation".
If the four gospels teach the gospel of the Christ, we should look to them to discover the Christ's true gospel.
Yahushua mentioned "salvation" only twice. Once to Zacchaeus (Luke 19:9) and once to the woman at the well (John 4:22). He mentioned "save" or "saved" a handful of times, but the word "save" in the gospels is more likely to mean "except" as in all save one - all except one.
Jesus didn't come to teach or preach salvation. He came to overcome Satan and establish His Kingdom, this leads to our salvation.
He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of YHWH was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. 1 John 3:8
What He came to preach and teach was the Gospel of the Kingdom and he told us to do the same. Kingdom is mentioned approximately 120 times in the four gospels compared to only six times for "salvation" and Christ mentioned "salvation" only twice.
The Kingdom was Jesus' gospel.
Both Matthew and Mark initially define the gospel as the "Gospel of the Kingdom" and later (at times) as only gospel, but never as "gospel of salvation". (see Gospel of the Kingdom
Luke mentioned gospel four times, but never defined it, John never mentioned the word "gospel" at all. But Luke and John did write about the Kingdom. (Luke 43 times and John three times)
"Gospel of Salvation?" or "Gospel of the Kingdom?"
Why hasn't Jesus returned? The proof of this premise is that He has NOT returned.
The end hasn't come either because the gospel hasn't yet been preached, or the whole world hasn't yet been reached. I propose that Yahweh's people have failed to preach the gospel of the kingdom.
We have successfully taken some false "doctrine of salvation" to the entire world, but that wasn't the gospel of Jesus as given in the great commission. Therefore, the end hasn't yet come.
Matt.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.
It is very easy to read this verse and see gospel ... to all the world without paying attention to which gospel. This is because we think we know what the gospel is, but do we? The gospel that must be preached to all the world is the Gospel of the Kingdom. The "Gospel of the kingdom" is not the "gospel of salvation".
There is a true doctrine of salvation, it is important, it is good news (gospel), it is the HEART of the gospel of the kingdom, but it is NOT the Gospel of the Kingdom. Worse, a false theory of atonement is preached by most Christians (see Salvation is NOT Atonement)
* NB This study is less about comparing salvation and Kingdom than it is about trying to better reveal the Kingdom.
