"What Exactly Do We Mean By 'The Gospel?'"

Prayer Meeting Notes - May 1, 1997
By Ed Tarkowski

I want to start tonight by asking the question,

What Is The Gospel?

1 Cor 15:15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:
Notice these points:

The gospel was preached to them.

They received the gospel.The gospel saved them.

They now STOOD IN the gospel.

This is the gospel as Paul declared it:

Christ died for our sins ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES.
Christ was buried ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES.
Christ rose again ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES.
This was testified to by Cephas and the twelve.
We must believe in Christ according to the Scriptures. We cannot believe anything outside of the Scriptures, and once we believe it and are standing in it, we have to "keep [it] in memory." We have to keep it intact as delivered and received. Why? Because someone else might try to slip us another one. This is the gospel of salvation, as Paul says, 'By which also ye are saved."

Paul preached the gospel to them.

They received the gospel.

They now STOOD IN the REALITY of the gospel.

I now want to ask two questions : How does one come to STAND IN the REALITY of the gospel, and can we separate STANDING IN the REALITY of the gospel from the truths of the gospel? No, I don't believe we can. That's what I want to talk about tonight. Preaching the gospel RESULTS IN those who RECEIVE the truth TO STAND IN IT, to come into the REALITY of what was preached. It would be ludicrous to preach the gospel, have people receive the truth of the gospel and not end up STANDING in the REALITY of what was preached and received as true. An example would be if someone said, 'Stick your finger in this fire and you will feel the pain of the flame." So, you do, and you feel the pain of the flame. What was said and what you now have cannot be separated. Receiving what was told to you resulted in your 'standing' in the reality of it. You believed it, you received what was PROMISED, and now you stand there in it with your finger all burned to a crisp. So, our two questions remain:

How does one come to STAND in the REALITY of the gospel, and

can we separate STANDING in the REALITY of the gospel from the truths of the gospel?
To begin to answer those two questions, I want to read from:

Titus 3:4 But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,
5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
6 Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
So, Paul preached the gospel, and God saved those he was preaching to. How did God save them? God didn't save them by their just hearing the gospel. They received the truth of it, and God did something. First God did something SO they COULD BE saved: He sent His only Son to shed His blood for their sins and to be raised for their justification. What did God do to initiate salvation in them? They were saved:

by the washing of regeneration.
Regeneration here specifically means 'Messianic restoration." The spiritual regeneration of a person means that Jesus gives that person the Holy Spirit when they believe. John said, Matt 3:11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:

The second thing that Paul said caused them to be saved was by the "renewing of the Holy Ghost." When a person at first believes the gospel, the Holy Spirit comes and indwells them. This is the result of preaching the gospel: we are saved when we come into the reality of being saved, which is the moment the Holy Spirit enters in to indwell those who believe. Otherwise, you can hear the gospel, but if the Holy Spirit doesn't come to indwell you, you're not brought into the reality of the salvation you heard about. Paul said,
Rom 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
If you don't have the Holy Spirit, you do not belong to Christ. Scripture very clearly says that. You cannot separate the gospel of Christ crucified and risen from the coming of the Holy Spirit to indwell a person through that person's faith in Christ. Look at what Peter preached on Pentecost:
Acts 2:36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.
37 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?
38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
39 For THE PROMISE is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.

They heard about Jesus Christ crucified and risen, they heard the gospel: 'when they heard this.'

They were "PRICKED TO THE HEART": they believed.

They received the gift of the Holy Spirit, the promise of the Father.

How did Peter know all of that? In order to preach that on Pentecost, he had to know it ahead of time. How did he know that? Just before Jesus ascended to the Father, He told Peter about the promise of the Father, and then gave them a command to preach the gospel after explaining His death and resurrection from the Scriptures:

Luke 24:45 Then opened he their UNDERSTANDING, that they might UNDERSTAND THE SCRIPTURES,
46 And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:
47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
48 And ye are witnesses of these things.
49 And, behold, I send THE PROMISE OF MY FATHER upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.
And in Acts 1, Jesus said again,

Acts 1:4 And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for THE PROMISE OF THE FATHER, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.
5 For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days.
And what did they preach at Pentecost?:

Christ is died, Christ is risen.

The PROMISE OF THE FATHER, meaning, the receiving of the Holy Spirit by all who would believe.

So Jesus told Peter He would fulfill the promise of the Father, and then Peter told those he preached to at Pentecost that the promised Holy Spirit was for everyone who believes the gospel.
Let's look now at:

Eph 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
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,
14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
Look at verse 13:

They heard the word of truth, meaning, the gospel of their salvation.

They believed what they heard.

They trusted Christ for salvation.

They were sealed with the Holy Spirit who was promised.

So, to be saved, a person must hear and believe and therefore trust in Jesus Christ of the gospel, which is their part, and then God makes that salvation a reality by giving them the Holy Spirit. So let's ask our two questions again:

How does one come to stand in the reality of the gospel?
By receiving the Holy Spirit through His faith in the gospel.

can we separate standing in the REALITY of the gospel from the preaching of the gospel? No, we can't, because if we don't have the Holy Spirit, we don't belong to Christ. The only way to become one with Him is through the preaching of Christ crucified and risen. Preaching the Holy Spirit as the Promise of the Father is a vital part of preaching Christ crucified and risen. Peter did and 3,000 were saved. Otherwise, one would not be able to come into or walk in the reality of his salvation.

The Hope Of The Gospel

Eph 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, . . .
13 [through] the gospel of your salvation: . . . ye were sealed with THAT HOLY SPIRIT OF PROMISE,
14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, . . .
The indwelling Holy Spirit of Promise is the EARNEST of our inheritance to be received at the redemption of our bodies. In Galatians, Paul said he laid out for them Christ crucified, meaning the gospel, and then said,

Gal 3:2 This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?. . .
14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the PROMISE OF THE SPIRIT through faith. . . . .
29 And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and HEIRS ACCORDING TO THE PROMISE.
When we received the Holy Spirit at the time we believed the gospel and were justified by it, we came into God's earnest of an inheritance because we were now His:

Rom 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
Now let's read the verses from Titus again:

Titus 3:5 . . . he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
6 Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
We can glean these facts from these verses:

They had the gospel, Christ crucified and risen, preached to them.

They received the Promised Holy Spirit by faith in what they heard.

They were at that moment made heirs of a predestined inheritance (Eph. 1:11-13).

They not only became hopeful heirs, but they had the hope of eternal life.

How did they get such a hope? Because they believed the gospel and received the Holy Spirt through the gospel. What is this hope of eternal life called in Scripture? The hope OF THE gospel! Paul said this to the Colossians:

Col 1:23 If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, . . .
25 Whereof I am made a minister, . . . to fulfil the word of God;
26 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
What is the hope of the gospel? The hope of glory. Why did the Colosians have hope to be glorified when Christ returns? Because the Holy Spirit was in them. How did He get there? Because they believed the gospel. Did that give them the hope of eternal life? Yes. Is this the hope of the gospel? Yes. Where did the Colossians stand regarding the gospel? They stood in the hope of the gospel I just described.
One last question: Can you separate the hope of the gospel from the gospel?No:

The gospel is to be preached.

Some will believe and receive the truths of the gospel of Christ crucified and risen.

Their faith will justify them before God and give them initial salvation.

They will receive the Promised Holy Spirit because of their faith in what they heard.

They will then STAND IN the REALITY of the gospel.

They will stand in the gospel as an heir with the hope of eternal life.

That hope is within them because of their faith in the spiritual realities of the gospel.

You cannot wrench any of these parts from the preaching of the gospel. In fact, Scripture seems to say that preaching the hope of the gospel is preaching the gospel. Peter said,

1 Pet 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:
Peter sums all of this up with these verses:

1 Pet 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto A LIVELY HOPE BY THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST FROM THE DEAD,
4 TO AN INHERITANCE INCORRUPTIBLE, AND UNDEFILED, AND THAT FADETH NOT AWAY, RESERVED IN HEAVEN FOR YOU,
5 WHO ARE KEPT BY THE POWER OF GOD THROUGH FAITH UNTO SALVATION READY TO BE REVEALED IN THE LAST TIME.
6 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:
7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
8 Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:
9 Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
10 Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:
11 Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand THE SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST, AND THE GLORY THAT SHOULD FOLLOW.
12 Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.
13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
What is the hope we are to hold till the end when Jesus is revealed? The answer is in verse 9: "Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls." What is it we receive? The SALVATION OF our souls. Our salvation began at Calvary but it isn't finished until our bodies are redeemed. What does this amount to? Peter says ALL the things the prophets spoke of concerning the sufferings of Christ AND the glory that should follow they were now hearing, and those things he calls "the gospel [preached] unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven." What this amounts to is the gospel relates how we were saved, we are being saved, we will be saved when Jesus returns. The gospel then includes the second coming of Christ when we are totally redeemed, spirit, soul and body. How long do we stand in the gospel and the hope it offers? Until the reality which we stand in is visibly manifested at Jesus' coming:

Col 123 . . . be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard.
In light of all of this, we want to look at some of Paul's concerns concerning Jesus, the gospel and the Holy Spirit, and we want to ask the question, Are the leaders in the apostasy preaching the gospel or not?

Another Jesus, Another Gospel, Another Holy Spirit

2 Cor 11:1 Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly: and indeed bear with me.
2 For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
4 For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit,which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him. . . .
7 . . . . I have preached to you the gospel of God freely?
Paul said he,

espoused the Corinthians to one husband through the preaching of the gospel.

Paul espoused them to Christ through the gospel in order to present them to Christ as a chaste virgin when He returns.

Because they were listening to false apostles, he was worried they would be corrupted in their minds FROM THE SIMPLICITY THAT WAS IN CHRIST.

This corruption could subtly come to them through one or any of three avenues:

They would accept another Jesus other than the Jesus Paul preached,
OR,

they would receive another spirit other than the Holy Spirit they received when they were espoused to Christ,
OR,

they would receive another gospel other than the one they believed.

Paul did not say another Jesus AND another spirit AND another message. He said OR, meaning corruption of any one of these three areas would corrupt WHO JESUS WAS in their minds.

Are The Leaders In The Revival Preaching Another Gospel?

Titus 3:4 But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,
5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
6 Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
8 This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.
9 BUT avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.
10 A man that is an heretic after the first and second admonition reject;
11 Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself.
Paul told Titus,

Jesus came

He saved us

He justified us before God

He gave us the Holy Spirit

The indwelling Spirit made us heirs according of the hope of eternal life.

What are these things? The gospel. And Paul said,"8 This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly." Why? Because there would come men with another Jesus, another spirit, or another gospel.

Subverted: 1612. ekstrepho, ek-stref'-o; from G1537 and G4762; to pervert (fig.):--subvert.
subverted1: 4762. strepho, stref'-o; strengthened from the base of G5157; to twist, i.e. turn quite around or reverse (lit. or fig.):--convert, turn (again, back again, self, self about).
Subverted2: 5157. trope, trop-ay'; from an appar. prim. trepo (to turn); a turn ("trope"), i.e. revolution (fig. variation):--turning.
Paul says that because they preach another Jesus OR give another spirit OR preach another gospel, they are perverted, twisted, having turned back from the true Jesus AND/OR the true Holy Spirit AND/OR the true gospel. Paul says they are preaching a VARIATION of the gospel. But to the Galatians he said,

Gal 1:6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:
7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.
Paul said the Colossians were being REMOVED from God unto another, perverted gospel, but there really wasn't another.

8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
9 As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
Paul said of those removing people from their stand in the true gospel that they should be accursed because the gospel had been perverted. How did these perverted men get that way? Remembering they are twisted, listen to what Peter said about them:

2 Pet 3:16 As also in all [Paul's] epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.
Wrest: 4761. strebloo, streb-lo'-o; from a der. of G4762; to wrench, i.e. (spec.) to torture (by the rack), but only fig. to pervert:--wrest.
The root from which this word comes is the same one the word "subverted" is taken from, meaning to twist. They are twisted because they twisted the Scriptures, specifically meaning they tortured the Scriptures on a torture rack. I believe those who accept these false gospels also end up on the devil's torture rack. Think of the manifestations coming through Toronto and the resulting "revival." This is a good description of that. These men are like those, no matter what part of the revival they are in, that Paul also had to deal with in his time:

2 Tim 2:24 And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,
25 In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;
26 And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.
When we can, we have to patiently teach those in the apostasy, but we only patiently teach them if they seem to be responding to what we are saying. If they don't want to listen, Paul says to warn them twice and then leave them alone to their own destruction because they have been taken captive to do the devil's will.
We Dare Not Judge Their Salvation, But How Do We Test What They Are Doing And Saying?
We have to ask ourselves the following:

Are they preaching Jesus Christ crucified and risen or are they adding words and ideas to the true gospel and ending up preaching another Jesus? Is Jesus, who had to fight his way through hell to set the captives free, "another Jesus"? Yes. What about the Jesus who does signs and wonders and solves problems and puts people in comas and makes them cluck like chickens? Is preaching such a Jesus preaching "another Jesus"? Yes. Is preaching a Jesus who compromises doctrine for the sake of preaching unity "another Jesus"? Is preaching a Jesus with a mission to evangelize the world through global evangelization in cooperation with Catholicism, prayer walking and marching the streets by the millions to attract people to himself "another Jesus"? Yes, it is.
OR

Is the spirit they are giving people the Holy Spirit or are they giving them another spirit? Is Rodney Howard Browne giving them another spirit? Yes. The answer to this next question is very important: I have personally heard Browne preach the gospel of the shed blood of Jesus Christ and watched people immediately come forward to receive the laughing spirit as a result of that message. Are they saved, but filled with "another spirit" Paul talked about? Did they receive the Holy Spirit who then stood idly by while they immediately received another spirit? I don't think so. Is Isaac being released to the nations while the new wine is being passed receiving another spirit? That's what those in the "revival" preach. Paul said,
1 Cor 5:6 Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?
Paul said,
Rom 8:9 . . . Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
Paul said,
2 Cor 6:15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
We talked about another Jesus and another spirit, and Paul said,
OR, they could receive another gospel:

Are they preaching another gospel and through that gospel giving those who hear the hope of the gospel because the Holy Spirit indwells them? No. Anything in the revival supporting Restorationism, Reconstructionism, Kingdom Now, Manifest Sons, Promise Keeping, Marching For Jesus, Global Evangelism and other movements such as these is a perversion of the true gospel, and Paul said that's damnable, but not without mercy first. They want to take over the world through systems and rituals and unifying the churches. Why? To bring about the Kingdom of God SO Christ CAN come. That's another gospel. Ignorant or not, Paul says what today's revival is doing is a perversion of the Scriptures making these people twisted and they should be warned twice and if they don't listen, leave them alone. Why? Because no matter how much truth they have, what they have of the lie will quickly pervert the truth they do have. Over and over I've heard of ministers, including John Wimber, who preached THE gospel, but now they are twisted in their thinking because they failed to hold to one of these three factors: the true Jesus, the true Holy Spirit, and/or the true gospel. They let in a little leaven and they ruined the whole lump of dough. We mentioned before that Paul called them heretics:
Titus 3:10 A man that is an heretic after the first and second admonition reject;
11 Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself.
HERETIC: 141. hairetikos, hahee-ret-ee-kos'; from the same as G140; a schismatic:--heretic [the Gr. word itself].
Heretic1: 140. hairetizo, hahee-ret-id'-zo; from a der. of G138; to make a choice:--choose.
Heretic2: 138. haireomai, hahee-reh'-om-ahee; prob. akin to G142; to take for oneself, i.e. to prefer:--choose. Some of the forms are borrowed from a cognate hellomai, hel'-lom-ahee; which is otherwise obsolete.
Heretic3: 142. airo, ah'ee-ro; a prim. verb; to lift; by impl. to take up or away; fig. to raise (the voice), keep in suspense (the mind); spec. to sail away (i.e. weigh anchor); by Heb. [comp. H5375] to expiate sin:--away with, bear (up), carry, lift up, loose, make to doubt, put away, remove, take (away, up)

A heretic is one who has perverted the truth and twisted the scriptures. How do we know heretics are around? If you see any of the following, then watch for heretics:

Have those in the revival caused schisms in the Church? The leaders of the revival certainly have. They have literally divided it.

Have they chosen to support another Jesus, another spirit, OR another gospel? Yes. The line is being drawn and choices are being made to stand in the true gospel or a perverted gospel.

Have they lifted up their voice to take away anything or anyone from the true Church? Yes. They are carrying off millions by attracting Christians to another Jesus, or filling them with another spirit, or preaching "another" gospel - many other gospels, in fact.

Closing Scripture:

2 Tim 4:1 I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;
2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
Eph 6:13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
19 And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel,
20 For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.