The Gospel Message

 It's as simple as that, and as "true blue.' The gospel is: The teaching or revelation of Christ. You can find four different viewpoints in the first four books of the New Testament: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Matthew and John were disciples of Christ, Mark was a convert and the nephew to Barnabas, Luke was a physician, a convert, and a companion to Paul.

Luke also wrote the book of Acts, or Acts of the Apostles, which follows his gospel with the spread of Christianity during that first century. While the first four books tell of Jesus' life, there are some differences in what the writer deemed important. Since we believe these are scripture and that:

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: (2 Timothy 3:16 KJV)

Here Paul is explaining to Timothy how important scripture is. Did Paul know that his two letters to Timothy would be deemed worthy to be included in the Holy Scriptures Paul studied as a Pharisee - only God knows, but those two and others were studied, source verified, and presented to churches as scripture inspired by God.

There are 104 matches for "gospel" in 98 verses in the King James Bible, from Matthew to Revelation. It is not found in  John, Titus, James, 2 Peter, 1st, 2nd, 3rd John, nor Jude.

The first use, Matthew 4:23 tells us Jesus preached the gospel in synagogues. The Greek word used was Strong's G2098 εὐαγγέλιον defined as God's good news. The entire Bible is God's good news to mankind. in verse 23, we learn:

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. (Matthew 4:23 KJV)

The gospel - the truthfully good news - was of the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom is reached through Jesus, thus the messengers eventually were called Christians:

And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch. (Acts 11:26 KJV)

My favorite "gospel" story is Paul, standing before Agrippa, reciting his religious background, acknowledging Agrippa's, giving Jesus' story quickly, his own conversion, and Agrippa/s response, followed by Paul's:

Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. And Paul said, I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost, and altogether such as I am, except these bonds. (Acts 26:28-29 KJV)

Acts 25 and 26 are awesome to read - in fact, the whole Bible is a lot to read, but is worth the time to do it again and again. You see, the gospel, God's good news, covers lifetimes. There's always an opportunitiy for applicability to our own lives, and opportunities to share with others. Sharing is part of Jesus' words to His disciples:

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. (Matthew 28:19-20 KJV)

Here, on this blog to encourage Bible reading, I've done a tiny part. Jesus used words at the end of His parable of the Good Samaritan that I'd like to pass on to you, once you know Jesus as Lord and Savior:

Go, and do thou likewise. (Luke 10:37c KJV)