The Gospel - Why is there only one?
Pastor Walker
for a person to be saved.
Moreover I make known to you brethren the gospel which I gospelized to
you, the one which you received, the one in which also you stand,
through which you are being saved, since you keep in memory what I
preached unto you, unless you believed without an object. For I
delivered to you first that which I received, that Christ died on
behalf of your sins according to the scriptures and that He was buried
and that He was raised the third day according to the scriptures.
Paul is very specific that the Corinthian Christians were saved by
this Gospel, "through which you are being saved." And in context Paul
is writing to Christians, so he is not telling them how to be saved,
he is reminding them of how they where saved. Paul also does not write
that this is a gospel by which they were saved, but the gospel by
which they were saved. (The use of the article "the" makes it very
emphatic that this is a specific Gospel.)
Paul writes about the ability of this Gospel in Romans 1:16. This
Gospel has the ability to save a person. - For I am not ashamed of the
Gospel, for it is the inherent ability of God into salvation for all
the ones believing, first the Jew and also the Greek. Paul is very
specific here about The Gospel, this is not a gospel. It is The
Gospel, only one. (The article proves here that Paul is speaking about
one specific Gospel. If he was indicating that there is more than one
gospel he would not have used the article.).
What does all this mean? If there is only one Gospel by which a person
is saved, then only that one Gospel can be used for salvation.
You can see an example of the conflict between one Gospel and many
gospels in Acts 16:16-18.
In Acts 16:16-18 there is only one-way. "And it came to pass, as we
went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination
met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying: The same
followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of
the most high God, which show unto us the way of salvation. And this
did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the
spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.
And he came out the same hour." In the English versions, most
translations leave out the details in this passage. When you read it
in the KJV, it sounds as though this woman with the demon is actually
helping Paul. After all, she is saying that these men are from God and
show us the way of salvation, or does she? Actually what she says is
these men show us a way of Salvation, implying that there is more than
one way to salvation and they are just showing us one of those ways.
She was not helping them, she was hindering them by saying, yes these
men show us a way of salvation, but there are also other ways. (The
lack of the Greek article shows that she is saying they show us a
quality of a way of salvation not the way of salvation, most English
translations add an article that is not in the original language.
Often, when translating from one language to another, extra words need
to be added to clarify what is being said. In the passages in Acts
16:16-18, our English language has a meaning equivalent with the Greek
by leaving out the article (the word the), so it is not necessary to
add the word "the" for clarity. In Fact, by adding the word "the," the
translators unintentionally changed the meaning of the passage.). This
is why Paul rebukes the demon, in the character of Christ, which was
in the lady. It would make no sense for Paul to do this unless she was
hindering his work.
So, now that we know that there is only one Gospel, what about these
other gospels that you may have heard? Like, "Make Jesus the Lord of
your life and you will be saved." Or "accept Jesus into your heart and
you will be saved." Can you be saved by "calling upon the name of the
Lord?" What about making Jesus the Lord of your life? What does it
mean to accept Jesus into your heart? Are they the same Gospel only in
different words? Perhaps they are a simplified form of the Gospel? Or
are these saying that you do not have to believe just the gospel in 1
Corinthians 15: 3,4, you can also believe any of these other gospels
and still be saved?
Acts 2:21 speaks of the one who will call upon the name of the Lord to
be saved. Is this a way to salvation for a person today? To find out
we must look at this in context. Why? Because context is going to tell
us what the author is talking about, who he is talking to, and when or
what time he is talking about. In Context Peter is talking to Jews,
both saved and unsaved Jews, Acts 2:5. (Note: These saved Jews where
not Christians, they where saved Jews.) Is Peter telling them that if
they call upon the name of the Lord that they will be saved? No he is
not. You can see this in the verses after verse 21. From 22 to 36
Peter is talking about Christ, the one the Jews crucified but now is
raised from the dead. He is not talking about them calling upon the
name of the Lord. In verse 37 the Jews are not pricked in their hearts
because Peter said they must call upon the name of the Lord, they are
pricked in the heart because of verses 32-36, this Jesus whom you
killed God raised and made Him both Lord and Christ. The Jews response
in verse 37 also shows that Peter was not telling them to call upon
the name of the Lord for salvation, they asked, "What must we do?" It
would make no sense for them to say this if Peter has just told them
to call upon the name of the Lord to be saved. And to reinforce this
even more you have Peter's response. If Peter was telling the Jews
that they must call upon the name of the Lord to be saved surely this
is the point that he would clearly state this again? The Jews have
specifically asked him, what must we do? However, Peter does not say,
"Call upon the name of the Lord," he says, change your mind. Change
your mind about Jesus. Change your mind and be baptized, because of
the forgiveness of sins. (This is not "for" the forgiveness of sins.
The grammatical structure of this passage clearly states that it is
because of the forgiveness of sins. Sins are forgiven because Jesus
shed His blood, not that the forgiveness of sins is available, these
Jews must change their minds and accept Jesus for who he is in order
to be able to direct the God given faith at the gospel to receive
salvation.)
So them if Peter is not talking about them being saved in verse 21
what is Peter talking about? We need to go back to verse 16 and pick
up the context to determine what Peter is speaking about in verse 21,
"But this one is that one which was spoken of through the Prophet
Joel." The neuter here goes back to the Spirit in verse 4. (Even
though the relative pronoun is a neuter that does not mean that you
must translate it with "it," or "that which." The pronoun here refers
back to The Spirit, which is a Title and therefore should be properly
translated as a masculine, "the one.") Peter is not saying this time
has come but he is saying that this Spirit has come. The same One that
Joel spoke of in his prophecy. The quote that Peter gives from the
prophet also shows that only the Spirit is referred to here, not the
things that happen in the prophecy. When you match up the events upon
the earth in the prophecy Peter quoted, you see that it is during the
time of the tribulation, Revelations 6:12. So the statement,
"whosoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved," can
only be applied to those who are in the tribulation. Being that at the
time Peter is speaking it is not the tribulation the only thing that
Peter can be referring to is the Spirit. Because He is the one that is
doing these things described in 17-20. Also, those who are in the
Church will not be on earth during the tribulation so it can not refer
to Church saints, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17; 5:1-10.
Logically then, if this statement does not apply to Church saints,
because the church will not be on earth when that which is described
is happening, nor to any person now, because it is only during the
events that Joel spoke of that this is referring to, if a person does
this today it will not save them. How could it? It is not applicable
for today. It is only applicable for when the events that are spoken
of are presently happening.
Another passage that may be used to say that a person can be saved by
confessing with their mouth that Jesus is Lord is Romans 10:9. The
passage does say that if you confess that Jesus is Lord you will be
saved, but what does Paul mean by this?
We must go into context to see not only what Paul is talking about,
but to whom he is talking. Both of these questions are very critical
because you cannot know without context the meaning of the author.
In verse 1 of chapter 10 Paul addresses his comments to the Jews, not
to the Church or to the Gentiles, only the Jews. This sets the context
until Paul addresses his comments to another people group.
Paul is discussing the failure of Israel to submit to God's
righteousness and "if they would confess with their mouths Lord
Jesus..." they would be turning from their way of righteousness to God's
way. These Jews would be confessing Jesus; which would be agreeing
with God about what He says about Jesus. This agreement would bring
them into salvation because they would be agreeing with and therefore
believing the Gospel; Christ died for their sins, was buried and rose
again on the third day. Why would they believe this? Because the
attitude of their mind that needed to be changed was acknowledging
Jesus for who He really is and therefore acknowledging what He did on
the cross and His resurrection. If the Jews changed their minds and
accepted Jesus for who God said that He was and what He did, they
would then be saved because they would also express faith in Christ
through the fact that He died for their sins and was raised from the
dead.
And let us not forget the rest of the context, verse 10 and 11. For
with the heart (This is the center of a man where his three parts come
together, mind, soul, and spirit; His will) you believe because of
righteousness, moreover with the mouth you confess (That is, say the
same thing about Jesus that God does,) because of salvation. For it,
the scripture, says, all the believing ones on him will not be put to
shame.
As you can see, this confession is made because of salvation, not for
salvation. And there is no whosoever here. It is the ones believing or
the believing ones; those who already have a quality of believing.
They are the ones that are confessing. This passage therefore cannot
be used for salvation because it is not talking about how you get
salvation.
Now what about accepting Jesus into your heart? The passage that is
used to say that you can do this is from Revelation 3:20, but does
this passage support this saying? In context, Christ is talking to the
Laodicean Church, Revelations 3:14. This statement should give us our
first hint that there is a problem with using this passage to say you
can accept Jesus into your heart to be saved. Why? Because it is to
the Church, and the Church is made up of those who are already
believers, so why would Christ tell the Church a way to be saved when
those in the Church are already saved? Unlike in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4
these Christians are not being reminded of the way there were saved.
Those who claim that this is a way to salvation say that God is
telling them how to be saved here. The second major problem here is
that heart is not found anywhere in context. It is said that the door
is implied as the door of your heart, but if you stay in context, the
door is actually referring to the physical door of the Church. To
apply it to the door of your heart would grossly abuse the context.
Also, when the Saint answers the door, Christ does not say that the
saint will be saved. He says that He will have fellowship with the
saint. Only one who is already saved can have fellowship with Christ.
Therefore, this "so called" gospel really isn't a gospel for salvation
at all. It does not have Christ's death for sins, or resurrection out
from among dead ones in it, which are essential parts of the Gospel by
which you are saved. The scripture that is used to back up this "so
called" gospel does not back it up at all.
You also may have heard "accept Jesus as your savior." Will this save
a person? One must ask with this question also, what is meant by
"accepting Jesus as your savior"? Is there any scriptural backing for
such a statement? The scripture that is used to back this gospel up is
John 1:12. the KJV reads, "But as many as received him, to them gave
he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his
name:" The word "power" should be "authority" and the word "son"
should be "child." Who did He give the authority to become a child of
God? He is talking about the Jews, Verse 11, "He came unto His own
things, and his own people received Him not," not Christians. At the
time that John is speaking of the only people that are called the
people of God are the Jews. The Jews that receive him were given the
authority to become children of God. (A person who believes the Gospel
in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 becomes a child of God, Romans 8:16; Galatians
3:26. There is a big difference between having the authority to become
a child of God and to be a child of God.) The subject does not change
from verse 11 to verse 12. He is still talking about His own people.
So this is not whoever but whoever of those who are His people. The
Context here shows that this is not referring to a way of salvation
for Christians. And really it does not even say how a Jew is saved,
only that the Jews that received Jesus, as their king, are given the
authority to become a child of God.
What about "believe in Jesus and you will be saved?" What does this
really mean? What are we to believe? Are we to believe that He exists?
Or perhaps that He was upon this earth? If you say that you must
believe that He existed and was upon the earth then most every one
that believes this would be saved, that includes the Muslims, the
Buddhists, etc. for they believe that he was a great teacher. Perhaps
the reaction would then be that you must believe that He was God in
the flesh. The only section of scripture that speaks to this is when
Jesus was upon this earth and it refers specifically to the Jews
regarding the acceptance of the kingdom from the heavens. There is no
section that refers to Christians or to Gentiles that states they must
believe that Jesus was God to be saved. Why would the Jews have been
saved if they believed this, but not the gentiles? If, at the time
that Jesus was upon the earth, the Jews believed that He was God in
the flesh, then they would have accepted why He was there. They would
have recognized that Jesus is the fulfillment of the promised made to
their fathers and them. This would have caused a change in their minds
concerning the kingdom from the heavens and Jesus' kingdom would have
been ushered in.
Note: Jews are not gentiles and gentiles are not Jews, neither are
Christians Jews. You do not become a Jew when you believe the Gospel
by which one is saved, 1 Corinthians 15:1-4. God clearly identifies
these three people groups as separate, 1 Corinthians 10:32. God also
says that if you say you are a Jew and are not a Jew, you are of the
synagogue of Satan, Revelations 2:9. Being that God makes the
distinction between Jew, Gentile and those of the Church of God would
it not be wise for us to also make these distinctions when we are
reading scripture? After all, seeing that He makes these distinctions
do you not think that He would then address these three differently?
That is, when he is talking to one group he is not talking to another,
when he gives rules to one group they are not for the other group,
etc.
There are many so called gospels floating around today. Which one is
correct? Scripture is our basis for what we believe. It is by the
bible that we learn the need for salvation and how to be saved. So
wouldn't it make since to apply what the scriptures say to salvation?
1 Corinthians 15:1-4 give us a very clear statement of what the Gospel
for salvation is so why would we go some where else or listen to some
one else on how to be saved when they are contradicting what the
scripture says?
Another question one must ask himself, Are these other gospels saying
the same things or are they a simplified form of the Gospel by which
you are saved? 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 has the death of Christ for sin,
the burial of Christ (proof of His death), and the resurrection of
Christ out form among dead ones after three days, according to the
scripture. How could these others be saying the same thing when they
do not include even one of these two elements? And you really can not
get any more simplified then what Paul gives the Corinthians. To
simplify it any more would really rob it of the elements that are the
essential parts of the Gospel. If you take away any part of this
Gospel, you do not have the Gospel for salvation any more. Take away
that he died for you sins and you take away his cross work. Take away
His resurrection and you take away the very reason that we have
salvation. Remember, Christ died for your sins, not for you, but on
behalf of your sins. The issue of sins must be addressed. (Christ did
not die for you, He died so that the world would know that He loves
the Father, John 14: 31; 10:17, 18.) He was buried, which is a proof
of his death. You do not bury a man that is alive. He then was raised
out from among dead ones on the third day according to the scriptures.
His body saw no corruption, just as the scriptures said, Acts 2:27;
Psalm 16:10. Without the resurrection, we have nothing but a dead
savior. And if we have a dead savior, we have nothing, 1 Corinthians
5:17, 19. Directing faith at Christ through this Gospel is how a
person is saved today, no other way. Romans 1:16 there is only one
Gospel that has the ability to save.
1 Corinthians 15 is not the only section in scripture that says a
person must believe that Christ died for their sins and was raised
again. In Acts from the very beginning, you see Peter in his first
sermon talking to the Jews saying they must change their mind about
Jesus whom they crucified and whom God raised, Acts 2:22-36
(especially 32-36). Also in Acts 4:8-12 when Peter is addressing the
Sanhedrin he again speak of the resurrection of Jesus and that there
is salvation in no other name, 4:12. Peter does not directly say in
either of these instances that you must believe that Christ died for
your sins and was raised again the third day according to the
scripture, but he does use this as the reason for the Jews changing
there mind. And it is in the character of Christ that they are to
believe, the one whom they crucified and whom God raised from the
dead.
Salvation comes by directing faith at Christ through the Gospel for
salvation - Christ died for your sins, was buried, and rose again on
the third day according to the Scriptures. Believe and you will be
saved.