Clarifying the Misunderstanding about the Gospel of the Kingdom and the Gospel of Grace.

1Co 15:1-8 NRSV "Now I would remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which also you stand,  (2)  through which also you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you—unless you have come to believe in vain.  (3)  For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures,  (4)  and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures,  (5)  and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.  (6)  Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died.  (7)  Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.  (8)  Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me."

Luke 17:20-21 NRSV "Once Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, and he answered, "The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed;  (21)  nor will they say, 'Look, here it is!' or 'There it is!' For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among you."

I was in a discussion on a Facebook group that I am a member of and it became somewhat heated. I had made the following statement in a post. "Until we recapture the pure gospel of grace that was preached in the first century, community is ineffectual at best, and downright damaging at worst." Well, several jumped on the post saying that they knew of the gospel of the kingdom but were not sure about the gospel of grace. Others jumped in stating that the gospel of grace was just a license to sin. This should not be suprising to me because the Calvinist Preacher John MacArthur wrote a book entitled the gospel according to Jesus. The thrust of the book was similar to all of those who jumped onto the post to criticize what they consider "easy believism" and "sloppy grace." One person adamantly stated that the gospel was the Sermon on the Mount, that grace was an entry point into following this Sermon that they referred to as the Law of Christ.

I, of course believe, that these positions come from not really understanding the transitional nature of the New Testament writings. Especially that the gospels are almost entirely Old Covenant in nature because Jesus came strictly to Jews under the Mosaic Covenant before the cross event which was the instatement of the New Covenant.

So what about the gospel of the kingdom?

When Jesus spoke of the gospel of the kingdom he was really speaking of the first part of a two part gospel that would only be consummated upon His death, burial, and resurrection. The consummation would bring about the really good news. Since that is the meaning of the word gospel, it is the good news of the kingdom. Meaning that the kingdom of God had arrived on the world scene. It arrived there because the King was there. The Jews were expecting an earthly king that would reinstate the glory of the kingdom of David and Solomon. The good news/gospel of the kingdom was simply that the Kingdom was at hand. Jesus told the Pharisees in the Luke 17 passage above that they were not going to be able to find the kingdom with observation, but He assured them that the kingdom was finally in their midst. Yes indeed that was good news.

Establishing a law that was even more rigorous than the Mosaic Law was not good news. And while there was a lot of encouraging information in the Sermon on the Mount, its purpose was not to create a new legal code. It was to demonstrate to the Jews who were taught by the Pharisees that they were living the law blamelessly (Phil 3:6) that it was not the case. See Paul had stated that as a Pharisee, when it came to righteousness in the law he was blameless. Yes indeed, that is what they taught. Jesus showed them that it wasn't so. Adultery and murder were a matter of the heart and not just actions. So no, the Sermon on the Mount had good news in it but it was not the good news of the kingdom. As previously stated the good news of the kingdom was the news of the arrival of the King.

Moving on to the gospel of grace

The second part of the gospel was even better good news. Not only had the King arrived on the scene but he had OVERCOME DEATH AND HADES. He had declared that God was our Father. He had reconciled fallen humanity with the Father. He had provided a way for peace with the Father. He had come to execute a plan that had been set in motion before creation. It was a plan that would bring praise to the Father because of His glorious grace. It was God's absolute purpose in creation (Eph 1:3-14.) Imagine what good news that was and still is. God's purpose in creation was redemption. Paul says that all who are in Christ Jesus were put there before the foundation of the world and guess what, that is before creation. So then, the only scripture that reveals God's purpose in creation is Ephesians chapter one and Paul says it was to bring praise to God's glorious grace.

There is no such thing as easy believism or sloppy grace. That is nothing more than the musings of the good son in the prodigal son story, you know, the one that would not rejoice over the Father's grace for the prodigal. The one that would not come into the party because of anger and jealousy. People who fight against the gospel of grace do not realize that it is grace that leads to repentance.

But getting back to the statement that started all the hullaballoo,  "Until we recapture the pure gospel of grace that was preached in the first century, community is ineffectual at best, and downright damaging at worst." It was unconditional grace that the Holy Spirit used to transform the saints in the first century to turn the religious world upside-down. Here is the operation that the Spirit used in the transformation process. Unlimited grace produces peace with God and love for God. Ah ha, it is the catalyst that produces the fruit of the Spirit. The last of the fruit mentioned that is really an aspect of agape/love is self control. That will only come with communities that determine to know nothing among each other save Jesus Christ crucified and risen... That is the gospel of grace. 

In the passage posted above by Paul he states that the gospel is the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. He says that it is the gospel he preached, it is the gospel in which they stood, it is the gospel by which they were saved. If the gospel is more than that then Paul is simply a liar and there is no salvation for anyone.