And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned (Mark 16:15,16).
Incredible as it may seem, this has become one of the "twisted scriptures." As a result, that which was ordained to save the world is used to divide the church. That which was designed to be glad tidings to hungry sinners has become sad news to harassed saints. All of the confusion stems from the fact that many have lost the scriptural distinction between the gospel, the Message to lead men to believe in Jesus as the Son of God; and the doctrine, which is a course of instruction for the training, development and growth of the children of God.
There is as much difference between the gospel of Christ and the apostolic doctrine as there is between the sperm from which a child is begotten and the food which he eats after he is born. The purpose of the gospel is to enlist men in the army of Christ; the doctrine constitutes a manual of arms and book of discipline to develop the soldiers into a fighting force. The first is an announcement that the school of Christ has been opened and eligible scholars will be accepted for enrollment; the latter is the curriculum for daily study by the students, or disciples.
Before we deal with the scriptural connotation involved let us understand why, what has become a traditional interpretation, is conducive to division and destructive of unity. The common fallacy assumes that all of the apostolic epistles are part of the gospel of Christ and any exposition of the doctrine contained in these letters is preaching the gospel. Since Jesus makes salvation contingent upon believing the gospel, and superficial students generally confuse belief with knowledge, it is further assumed that those who do not subscribe to the orthodox interpretation placed upon every passage thereby "reject the gospel." Each sect, party or faction, thus makes its traditional explanations and deductions "the gospel" and we end up with as many "gospels" as we have parties.
It is easily understandable that the ones who so reason will conclude that only those who are allied with the party will be saved, and all others are outside the pale since they have not "obeyed the gospel" (that is, subscribed to the unwritten partisan creed). But we learn from observation, experience and the sacred scriptures, that we do not all have the same degree of knowledge. God has made us all to differ in the intellectual realm as we do in the physical. We can no more all think alike than we can all look alike. No two of us on earth attain to the same identical degree of knowledge about everything at the same moment. As Will Rogers remarked, "We are all ignorant, but just about different things."
Any attempt to secure unity upon the basis of uniformity of knowledge or conformity in deductive or inferential processes (i.e., doctrinal interpretation) is doomed before it begins. It must inevitably end in dividing that which it seeks to unite. For this reason, those who make such attempts must always resort to creation of external authoritarian power structures in order to compel conformity. This is generally done by investing a person or group with an aura of infallibility so that all non-conformity with the orthodox creed can be equated with rebellion against God. To dissent is to "deny the authority of the scriptures." Every individual who desires to be regarded as "loyal" must surrender his right to reason and think upon God's revelation to the "power bloc" and "unity" is maintained by legislation handed down, as well as by fear of social rejection by the group accompanied by reprisal for dissent.
In one sect the power structure is invested in a "universal father" whose pronouncements when made ex cathedra (from the chair) are accepted as dogma. This means that this one individual decides for all other individuals in the group what God meant by what He said or did not say, and such decision must be accepted as the will of God. Other sects, finding it repulsive to their Christian concept to exalt one man to such cosmic importance, reduce the power structure from a universal to a diocesan level, where the bishop becomes the final court of appeal.
Still other sects set up a parochial or congregational "power bloc," often consisting of a board of elders. Members of such groups are taught that to differ with the elders is to differ with God. The motto is "Vox presbuteros, vox Dei" (The voice of the elders is the voice of God). Every sect which confuses community with conformity is forced to recognize either an infallible interpreter or an infallible interpretation. Of course the procedure is not always as systematized and clearly recognized as those we have mentioned. Sects are like those who compose them and are inclined to be systematic or slipshod according to the nature and temperament of their constituents. Thus, in some cases, the editor of a recognized journalistic mouthpiece may arrogate to himself the mantle of infallibility and be allowed to wear it by default. His office becomes the clearing-house for all problems and his decision must be accepted as final.
The attempt to make conformity to the party norm the basis of unity is further complicated by the fact that the rational processes cannot be stopped at a given level. Men who are capable of doing so will continue to investigate and will reach conclusions differing with their own orthodox views of the past. When they refuse to succumb to threat or coercion they will be driven out and division will result. Since it is only the more eager students and researchists who labor to improve their intellectual grasp it is evident that the thinkers will be excluded, while the guardians of the status quo will be retained to man the party machinery. Every faction seeks to freeze knowledge at an arbitrary partisan level, and every such faction does it by skimming off the brains from the top.
It is an outstanding achievement of divine wisdom that salvation is made contingent upon belief of facts incorporated in news, rather than upon knowledge of abstract reasoning or deductions drawn from doctrinal truths. The gospel is a unitive force because it consists of facts proclaimed by credible witnesses. These facts must be accepted or rejected. If accepted at all, they must be accepted as facts. All who so accept them are brought together in the one to whom they relate, regardless of ignorance about matters, immaturity, or lack of understanding of what will be further entailed. No subject should challenge a divided church more than the nature and content of the gospel. We propose to examine the word from the standpoints of etymology, scripture and scholarship. We make no apology for the length of our treatise because of the tremendous importance of the theme.
Our English word "gospel" is from the Anglo-Saxon "gode spel," good news, and was chosen as the best equivalent of the Greek euangelion. This was formed by adding the prefix "eu," good, to a root meaning "message, tidings, or news." The gospel is an evangel and one who proclaims it evangelizes. One cannot evangelize saved persons, for the evangel is an announcement to the lost. Its purpose is to lead men to a state of salvation or righteousness. One who believes the gospel and is baptized will be saved from his past sins, his unregenerate state or lost condition. The gospel precedes faith and produces it. It is not a fruit of faith but the seed of it. The gospel is addressed to unbelievers and not to believers.
The difference between the gospel and the apostolic doctrine is readily seen by application of simple logic. Jesus said, "Go into the world and preach the gospel unto every creature." The gospel is to be taken to the world. It is to be proclaimed unto every unsaved person. But the apostolic doctrine was addressed to churches composed of the saved, or to individual believers. Not a single epistle was addressed to the unsaved in the community, although the obligation to take the gospel to them was referred to in one instance (Romans). The apostolic doctrine was to "the church of God" (1 Cor. 1:2), "to all the saints in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 1:1), and "to the faithful in Christ Jesus" (Eph. 1:1). The apostolic doctrine was not to lead men to believe and be baptized but to tell them "how to behave themselves in the house of God" (2 Tim. 3:15).
One of the clearest passages showing the difference between the gospel which begets as a precedent to birth into the family, and subsequent instruction given to the sons is found in 1 Corinthians 4:14,15. "I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you. For though you have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel." The gospel is the spiritual sperm, the seed. The one who deposits it in the heart is the father, on the basis of principal and agent. Those who are born are sons. Others may teach or instruct them, but they receive life through the evangel, or gospel.
This is borne out by another apostle, Peter, who writes, "You have been born anew, not of perishable seed but of imperishable by the word of God which is living, and indestructible." The writer identifies the seed thus, "This word is the gospel which was proclaimed unto you" (1 Peter 1:25). The King James Version leaves the wrong impression by translating, "This is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you." The Revised Version is more accurate. The gospel had been preached unto them before the new birth and in order to produce it. The gospel was for the world, the apostolic doctrine for the church.
With that keen sense of discrimination which characterized many of the pioneers who sought to unite the Christians in all of the sects, Alexander Campbell wrote:
There was teaching, there was singing, there was praying, there was exhortation in the Christian church, but preaching in the church, or to the church is not once mentioned in the Christian scriptures!
Paul once, in his first letter to the church in Corinth, said he would declare to the Corinthians that gospel which he had preached to them, which also they had received and wherein they stood. We preach, or report, or proclaim news. But who teaches news? Who exhorts news? We preach the gospel to unbelievers, to aliens, but never to Christians, or those who have received it (Millennial Harbinger, April, 1862).
William Hurte, a sincere and humble student of the word of God, was laboring among the fishing villages along the Banffshire coast in Scotland in 1879, when he saw the need for an expository work which would help the villagers to understand more fully the revelation from heaven. He began work on A Catechetical Commentary which was finished in October 1884. In this volume the author presents four thousand questions on the new covenant scriptures and his answers thereto. Here are his remarks about Acts 5:42:
The apostles rejoiced and went on with their work; but why does Luke use the two words "teach and preach Jesus Christ?" The words simply indicate the two classes to whom they were daily ministering. To the unconverted they preached, and to this class this word is strictly applicable, while believers were taught all things needful for life and godliness. To the former it is, and always must be, proclamation--i.e., preaching--while to the latter it must always be instruction concerning the Lord's will.
Every kingdom must stand in two relationships to the people of the earth. There are aliens and citizens. The kingdom of heaven is no exception, since it is the design of heaven to enroll as many aliens as possible into citizenry, and to train those who are inducted to become worthy citizens, there must be two separate and distinct messages from heaven. Both messages will be the word of God, but they will differ as to subject, content and aim. The first will be proclaimed to all men who have not entered into Christ and it must consist of such facts as will motivate the world to accept His sovereignty over their lives. The second must be a course of methodical instruction calculated to develop those in Christ from spiritual infancy to maturity.
The word of God informs us that there are such distinct messages and there are specific terms used by the Spirit to designate them. Since the messages are distinctive the bearers of the message are also distinguished by terms growing out of the nature of the messages. The announcement of news in the Greek world was made by a herald. The word for such a proclaimer was keryx and his message to the public, that is, the thing proclaimed, was the kerygma. This simply means a public announcement or declaration, as by a town crier. A herald might announce either victory or defeat. The news might be either good or bad. Thus, there is nothing in the word kerygma which indicates the nature of the tidings.
But the kerygma of the followers of the Messiah was universally and uniformly good news. It was a joyful message. God had done something out of love for humanity and that something was a powerful demonstration of the riches of His mercy. So an additional term had to be used to describe it. That term was euangelion, which means "glad tidings." The bearer of this message was called euangelistes, that is, a bringer of good news. This good news proclaimed (or preached) by the herald was an announcement of victory in Jesus. It must be remembered that news has to do with facts and facts must be preceded by acts to which the proclaimer bears witness, or of which he has knowledge. In view of this, the kerygma took on a definite form. It was "the thing proclaimed" and that thing was called the gospel, or good news.
The chosen envoys of Christ had a special message for the alien world. That message was a proclamation of victory in Jesus. It consisted of the news of what God had done for those who were His enemies. Since it was contingent upon authority vested in Jesus, it could not be announced until the heralds had proof that He had been "Christed" (that is, anointed) and elevated to a position of universal lordship. The proof came visibly, audibly and experientially on the Pentecost following His ascension. Immediately the message was proclaimed! The gospel was fully and completely announced on that occasion. It was fully obeyed by all who accepted it. This was not a partial seed and those who were begotten were not born deformed or malformed. They were fully formed as God's children, although immature, as are all children at birth.
Nothing else was ever added to the gospel after that date, although doctrinal truths were revealed as required or when circumstances demanded. These truths were not part of the gospel and no one whose life was corrected or enhanced by understanding them was ever said to have obeyed the gospel again. Obedience of the gospel is an act once for all while partaking of the bread of life is a daily performance. The gospel produces life, the doctrine is for the training and discipline of the children after they are born.
Careful study of the historical accounts of the proclamation indicates that it was a specific message as to content. It did not depend upon rationalization, deduction or inference. It was not a compilation of laws, a code of ethics, or a collection of abstract propositions. It was not a course of study or a curriculum. It was a simple recounting of facts, of acts performed in behalf of enemies of God, which, taken together, formed the kerygma. At this juncture we may correct a mistaken view of a familiar passage. We refer to 1 Corinthians 1:21, where the false concept is created by the rendering in the King James Version, "It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe."
That this is important is evident from the fact that our hope of salvation depends upon it. Many interpret the word "preaching" to be the act of proclaiming. But God has not offered to save those who believe in the act of announcing something. The word for preaching at this place is kerygma. It has to do with the message and not with the action of the messenger. God has chosen by the thing preached, which appears as foolishness to the worldly-wise, to save those who believe. The later translations are more accurate in conveying the thought.
It pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe (Revised Standard Version)
He in his wisdom chose to save all who would believe by the simplemindedness of the gospel message (J. B. Phillips).
God decided to save those who believe, by means of the "foolish" message we preach (Today's English Version).
What were the constituent factors of the gospel? There were seven of these as follows: the life, death, burial, resurrection, ascension, coronation and glorification of Jesus of Nazareth. All of these are facts centered around the person of Jesus. All are designed to bring joy to suffering humanity through faith in Him. Jesus is the gospel. He is the good news. To preach the gospel is to announce Jesus. Thus the apostle says, "We proclaim Christ--yes, Christ nailed to the cross" (1 Cor. 1:23). Again, "I resolved that while I was with you I would think of nothing but Jesus Christ--Christ nailed to the cross" (1 Cor. 2:2). It was by this message God chose to save those who believe and those who believe these facts and demonstrate the lordship of Jesus over their lives by obedience in baptism are saved.
The gospel is epitomized in the three saving facts--the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. There was no saving virtue for the world in the life of Jesus upon earth, sinless as it was. The ascension, coronation and glorification were essential to His acquisition of authority. It was the ransom and redemption purchased by His blood which made salvation possible, and it was the resurrection which brought life and immortality to light. By His death upon the cross He proved that He was willing to share our lot to the ultimate, by His resurrection from the dead He proffered us the opportunity to share His glory to the fullest. His death on the cross proved that He was the Son of man; His resurrection from that death proved that He was the Son of God. Accordingly, the apostle, in reasoning with the Corinthians about the resurrection, reminds them of the gospel which they had heard and which gave them life. The resurrection was a vital part of it.
Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he arose again the third day according to the scriptures (1 Cor. 15:1-4).
An analysis of this passage will show that the gospel had been preached, received, believed, and that it constituted a foundation upon which the brethren stood. It was now a matter of memory, something to be recalled. It is observable that the Corinthians were saved by the gospel. The saving facts which Paul enunciated were three in number. Certainly the first epistle to the Corinthians was not part of the kerygma--the gospel. It was a letter written to those who had already received the gospel and were saved by it. The letter was not an evangel but a course of instruction. It was not for sinners, but for saints. It was not to make believers but to make believers better.
Of course not all who had believed the gospel were equals in knowledge. Some still thought there might be something to idols (1 Cor. 8:7); some thought there was no resurrection of the dead (1 Cor. 15:12); some were men of knowledge (8:10); others were weak brethren (8:11). There were those who were feeble, less honorable and uncomely. There were parts that lacked (12:23,24). Paul hesitated to visit the saints because he wanted to spare them from personal censure (2 Cor. 1:23). He was afraid he would find "debates envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults" (2 Cor. 12:20). Yet all of these persons had been begotten by the gospel, and Paul mentioned the catalog of things to which we have just referred with the expression, "We do all things, dearly beloved, for your edification." Those who confuse the chastisement of a child with begettal and cannot distinguish between conception and correction are in a sad predicament, yet that is the very condition of those who confuse the gospel by which we are made alive with the doctrine by which we are kept alive, through daily feeding our hearts upon it.
To this reasoning and the abundant findings of scholarship, the orthodoxy of our day, developed by debaters and concretized by tradition has but one pat objection of any consequence. An appeal is made to Romans 1:15, which reads, "So as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel unto you that are at Rome also." Assuming that the apostle intended to proclaim the good news about Jesus to those who had already heard it and long since accepted it, this is taken as positive proof that the good news is designed for saint and sinner alike and includes everything which should be taught to the church. It is hardly that simple and those who reach such a conclusion demonstrate that they are much more interested in justifying their preconceived notions than they are in unbiased exegesis. We propose to face up to this passage so glibly parroted by many who have never thought below the surface and who have fallen into the grievous error of searching only for a prooftext.
Simple logic will demonstrate that the letter to the Romans was not part of the gospel because Paul personally desired to go to Rome to preach the gospel. This would not have been necessary if it was to be preached to the church and if this letter was the gospel. It would seem strange indeed to write, "I am ready to preach the gospel unto you that are at Rome," if he was doing it at the very moment with his pen. Moreover, in Romans 10:16, he says, "But they have not all obeyed the gospel." If the letter to the Romans was part of the gospel, none of them had obeyed it, for it was just then in the process of being written. Yet before the Holy Spirit had revealed to him the content of the Roman letter, Paul had already "fully preached the gospel of Christ" from Jerusalem to Illyricum (Romans 15:19). Did he give each of these places a copy of the Roman letter before he wrote it to Rome? If not, one can fully preach the gospel of Christ without reference to, or inclusion of the Roman letter.
Did Paul intend to preach the gospel, that is, to evangelize the saved in Rome? Careful analysis does not indicate any such intention. In the first place, this letter was not addressed to the congregation, or church, in Rome, but to the saints as individuals. In this respect it differs from the letters to Corinth, Galatia, Thessalonica, and other places. In his Commentary on Romans, Moses E. Lard says:
In other words, and briefly, it was written to all Christians living in Rome at the time. But it was written to them as individuals, and not as a body or church. This is a remarkable difference between the present letter and some others written by Paul. They are addressed to churches as such; this is addressed to individuals as such. Indeed, church unity or organization is not once alluded to or recognized in the letter, unless it be implied in chapter 16:17.
These individuals were addressed from two aspects: as saints in Christ and as citizens in Rome, as the called of God and as Gentiles. Paul expressed a desire to visit Rome for two different reasons. He wanted to impart unto the saints some spiritual gift and share in the comfort derived from mutual faith (1:11,12). But he had also purposed on numerous occasions to come "that I might have some fruit among you, even as among other Gentiles" (verse 13). There can be little doubt that the "fruit" Paul sought consisted of persons won to Christ, and he wanted this "among you" on the same basis as "among other Gentiles." Christ wrought in Paul "to make the Gentiles obedient, by word and deed" (Romans 15:18).
One purpose of the Roman letter was to inform the saints at Rome that Paul was specifically called to bear the glad tidings to the Gentiles. He wrote boldly about it so they would not forget his special mission.
I have written to refresh your memory, and written somewhat boldly at times in virtue of the gift I have from God. His grace has made me a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles; my priestly service is the preaching of the gospel of God, and it falls to me to offer the Gentiles to him as an acceptable sacrifice, consecrated by the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:15,16).
Then why had Paul not come to Rome to win Gentiles? This would certainly be an important question to the struggling saints in the capital of the Empire. The answer is given:
It is my ambition to bring the gospel to places where the name of Christ has not been heard, for I do not want to build on another man's foundation, but as Scripture says, "They who had no news of him shall see, and they who never heard of him shall understand." That is why I have been prevented all of this time from coming to you. But now I have no further scope in these parts, and I have been longing to visit you many years on my way to Spain; for I hope to see you as I travel through, and be sent there with your support after having enjoyed your company for awhile (15:20-24).
Paul wanted to bring the evangel to the Gentiles in Rome. He was not so ignorant as to try and evangelize the saved. He wanted to have fruit among the inhabitants of Rome as among other Gentiles. He said, "I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise. So as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are in Rome also."
Why did the apostle use the expression, "To you that are in Rome also"? There is every indication that he intended for the recipients of the letter to share its contents with their unsaved neighbors--both Jew and Gentile. This would be a natural reaction to an apostolic letter in an area where no apostle's voice had ever been heard. This will also serve to explain the nature of such portions as the entire second chapter, which is addressed to the Jews who make their boast of God and rest in the law, and yet dishonor God by breaking the law. It will also explain the inclusion of matter found in the last half of the first chapter. This portion of the letter was written to convince the unbelieving Jews and Gentiles of the need for justification by grace rather than by philosophy or law, both of which always end in a blind alley. Surely no one is so foolish as to think these portions are addressed to the saints of our Lord Jesus Christ.
This is not a mere personal opinion of the author. It is shared by many who are more competent and eminent theological scholars. Space would not permit us to cite many of these, but one is very pertinent and needs to be read. Dr. James Macknight was the author of Apostolical Epistles, and so universally known and highly regarded was his profound work that Alexander Campbell selected his translation for inclusion in his "Living Oracles" as he designated his translation of the new covenant scriptures. In the preface to his work, Dr. Macknight writes on page 51, as follows:
From the pains which the apostle took in this letter, to prove that no Gentile can be justified by the law of nature, nor Jew by the law of Moses, from his explaining in it all the divine dispensations respecting religion, as well as from what he says in chapter 1:7,13,14,15, it is reasonable to think that it was designed for the unbelieving Jews and Gentiles at Rome, as well as for the brethren; who therefore would show the copies which they took of it to their unbelieving acquaintance. And inasmuch as the apostle professed to derive his views of the matters contained in this letter from revelations, and from inspiration, it certainly merited the attention of every unbeliever to whom it was shown, whether he was a Jewish scribe, or a heathen philosopher, or a Roman magistrate, or one of the people; some of whom, I make no doubt read it.
It was not only in his preliminary remarks about the nature and purpose of the letter that Dr. Macknight expresses this thought. In dealing with Romans 1:15, to which we have already made reference, he makes the following observation.
In regard that Paul, after acknowledging he was bound to preach the gospel both to the Greeks and to the barbarians, adds, I am "ready to preach the gospel even to you who are in Rome," the idolatrous inhabitants of Rome were certainly included in the expression "you who are in Rome." This verse, therefore, as well as the following, is a proof that the epistle to the Romans was intended, not for the Roman brethren alone, but for unbelievers also, to whom copies of it might be shown.
But we will be asked about Romans 1:17, which says of the gospel, "For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith." Does not the righteousness of God include all God has revealed, and does not this embrace the whole of the new covenant scriptures? If so, does not "the gospel" refer to everything in the new covenant scriptures? It is a common resort of orthodoxy to quote, "For all thy commandments are righteousness" (Psalm 119:172) and then take this passage from the old covenant scriptures and apply it to the letter of Paul, and reason that the gospel includes every commandment of God, regardless of nature or intent.
This is a good example of what happens when men scrap the scriptures and become hooked on the prooftext method of exposition. Aside from the honesty and integrity involved in such devious maneuvering of isolated passages as pieces on a chessboard, there is another factor involved in this instance which must not be overlooked. Those who make such an argument to bolster their presuppositions must rely solely upon the King James Version for the validity of their logic.
The Revised Standard Version reads, "For all thy commandments are right." The New English Version has it, "For thy commandments are justice itself." Again, let me suggest that it is a fairly safe rule that any argument which must depend for its whole strength upon the rendering of only one version should not be given much prominence, to say the least. The fact is that David was not even dealing with the same theme in his lengthy psalm, as Paul had in mind when writing to the Romans.
What does Paul mean by "the righteousness of God" which is revealed in the evangel and is the subject of the good news? The Greek word here is dikaiosune, and it is a favorite of Paul. He was versed and grounded in the old covenant scriptures, having been at the head of his class in the rabbinical school of Hillel in Jerusalem. He knew that the old covenant scriptures constituted a primary and elementary school to provide a vocabulary for the school of Christ. The Hebrew terms which corresponded to dikaiosune were all derived from a verb--tsadhaq. The idea most frequently contained in these terms is that of vindication or justification. The meaning of the words does not imply that a righteous person is one who is right about things, but that he is "in the right," that is, in a state of righteousness, or justification. He is not infallibly right because of his actions, but wholly in the right by an act of God. That is why it is called "the righteousness of God."
Remembering that this is the word for "justification," we can readily see that no sinner can ever justify himself. He can never undo a single act nor recall a single word in order to become guiltless. He can never be justified by law because this would entail perfect conformity in every minute and meticulous detail, and the least infraction would mean death without mercy. Justification is an act of divine clemency, accorded not because of worthiness, nor because of anything that the guilty person may do to earn or deserve it. It is a manifestation of grace, a divine act of undeserved kindness.
We can now begin to appreciate what Paul meant in the memorable passage before us. In the gospel, that is the Good News about Jesus, is revealed the ground of God's righteousness, or justification. It is shown to be by faith in the Person of the Message. Indeed the Person is the Message. And the reason for revealing in the Message that God's righteousness is by faith, is simply to produce faith in us, for even the prophet had declared that the source of life is faith--not law! Those who are justified are those who are in contact with the source of life. Righteousness is a state of right relationship with God, and God is the fountain of all life.
We are not justified or in God's righteousness because of superior knowledge, or because we have figured out all the riddles and solved all the problems of life. Salvation and sophistication are not the same. We are not justified because of intellectual powers or theological attainments. We could never know all there is to know if our lives depended upon it. We can be thankful that it does not. Our life depends upon being in the only person from whom all life comes, and our being depends upon sharing His life. Years before Christ came, the prophet had declared, "The just shall live by faith." Paul contends that this life is now available. It has come. It is revealed in the Good News of Jesus. It is no longer future. It is present. The age of which the prophets spoke is a reality. I want you to bear with me now as I paraphrase for you Romans 1:15-17.
Brethren, I should like to have you know that I frequently planned to visit you at Rome so that I could gather in converts to Jesus as I have done among other Gentiles. Because of my indebtedness to all tongues and classes, I am eager to preach the gospel to those of you who are in Rome also. For I am not ashamed of the Good News concerning Jesus; seeing that it is God's dynamic to produce salvation in all who believe the News, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in this Message God has revealed that justification is by faith, and this revelation is made to produce faith as our only hope of life, for even the prophets declared that faith was the key to life for those who are justified.
Certainly this is a "free translation" but, after years of study in the implication of these words of the Spirit, I am convinced that it best conveys the mind of God as I understand it to be revealed. It will also be observed that it preserves the basic core of the gospel which is justification by faith. This is what Paul calls "the truth of the gospel" (Galatians 2:5,14). The glad tidings about Jesus constitute a revelation that justification is by faith, in the full meaning of "faith" as Paul uses the word. It is only the apostolic usage with which we are concerned. All else is useless to one who wishes to understand the revelation of God
The careful student will also detect at once the connection between Romans 1:16 and Mark 16:16 with which we began this chapter. In the commission Jesus sent the apostles into all the world to proclaim the gospel to every creature. He declared that those who believed the Message and were immersed would be saved. Now, Paul affirms that the Message is God's dynamic unto salvation to all who believe, whether Jew or Greek. Thus, the gospel is God's unitive force for mankind. It is the gospel which brings Barbarians and Greeks, wise and unwise, together in one body.
It is a tragedy to interpret the apostolic epistles in such a manner as to negate the apostolic gospel. It is a travesty on the spiritual walk to interpret the apostolic doctrine in such a way as to divide those who are united by the gospel of Christ, and thus make the cross of Christ of none effect. Orthodoxy has exacted a fearful toll on the body of our Lord, and will face a frightful responsibility for hacking the body to bits with the axe of partisan animosity.
It is belief of the facts about Jesus by which all of us are saved, if saved at all. This belief acknowledges His lordship over our lives, and thus commits us to acceptance of all the truths by which we grow as we become aware of them. No man will be saved who deliberately rebels against any doctrinal truth which he understands and apprehends. No one will be lost because of merely mistaken views or human inability to grasp all of these doctrinal truths. The basis of our hope lies in sustaining a right relationship with God through Christ Jesus. If one is right about Jesus he may be wrong about a lot of things and still be saved; if he is wrong about Jesus he can be right about everything else and still be lost. The gospel is the Word of life put into words of life!
Many in our day are not actually proclaiming the gospel of Christ as the hope of salvation. They are projecting a system composed of traditional interpretations, opinions and ideas, often conflicting with each other, and demanding conformity to this system as the gospel. Such a course will always be divisive and schismatic. It contains the germ of strife implanted within it. It is non-unitive and disruptive by its very nature.
This is not to say that apostolic doctrine is not important. It does not argue that we should not seek to agree upon interpretation. It does mean, however that our hope of life is not contingent upon arriving at such harmony of understanding, and that it is, and always will be, an ideal toward which we must strive. Our differences about doctrinal matters that do not relate to the facts of the gospel, are occasions for discussion, and not for division. Until we learn what is the content of the gospel we shall lose the learned and confuse the unlearned.
Not one of the apostolic letters was written to bring men into the fellowship. They were all addressed to those who were in it. Never an admonition to live in harmony or to be of one mind was written to bring men into the fellowship. Indeed, it was because they were in the fellowship that these exhortations were invariably given. Harmony is not essential to entrance into fellowship, but fellowship is essential to any satisfactory striving toward harmony. It is because we have a common relationship that we labor toward a better understanding.
To condition fellowship upon conformity in all of these phases is not to encourage unity, but division. To attempt to force conditions of growth as conditions of family relationship is to defeat the purpose of the Son of God and to disturb the peace of the one body. This is the indictment of that species of orthodoxy which blinds men and makes them think they are loyal to Jesus when they are chipping, chopping and carving His body to bits.
Our brethren need that gift of grace which enables them to "distinguish between things that differ." The cause of pure Christianity suffers among the masses because men who pose as teachers, and even would-be theologians stand before audiences and make disparaging remarks about any distinction in such words as "gospel" and "doctrine." If the only harm done was to prove the immaturity and mediocrity of their own scholarship one might keep still and allow them to bask in the feeble glow reflected and diffused through the veil which they wear in their reading of the Word, but they hinder the progress of reformation and remove the contest from the arena of universal thought to confine it to their own restricted corrals where none dare question and all must conform. It is for this reason that an examination of the scriptures in objective fashion is long overdue. There is a difference between the authority of the sacred scriptures and the authority of human interpretations placed upon them to maintain a traditional pattern and to perpetuate a partisan program.
The time has come to summarize what has been written. It is my conviction that God has designed and revealed two related but distinct messages, adapted to the needs of two divergent groups as pertains to the kingdom of heaven--aliens and citizens. The first is called "the gospel of Christ," the second "the apostles' doctrine." Both are of divine origin. Both consist of the words of God. Both are authoritative because of the author.
The word gospel is our English equivalent for a transliterated term, the Greek evangel. It means good news, glad tidings. The gospel is composed of seven historical facts about Jesus of Nazareth. It was fully proclaimed upon Pentecost. Nothing was ever added to it afterwards. The same identical message was heralded or announced to every creature under heaven. The intent of the good news is to convert aliens into citizens. It is a message to the unsaved and never to the saved, for the simple reason that the saved have already fully embraced its every requirement and demonstrated obedience to its every demand, and are no longer aliens. Only the lost are subjects of an evangel, and saved persons cannot be evangelized.
The "doctrine of the apostles" consists of a course of instruction designed to bring citizens of the kingdom to a constantly increasing sense of maturity and responsibility. It is those who have been immersed in obedience to the claims of Jesus upon their lives who continue steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine. Fellowship results from the gospel, growth within the fellowship is the aim of doctrinal development. The gospel brings men into Christ, the doctrine helps them grow up in Him.
So long as men seek to make fellowship in Christ Jesus contingent upon conformity of opinion, deduction, understanding and apprehension of apostolic doctrine, rather than upon faith in Him through the facts of the gospel, that long will they be purveyors of partisan loyalties and fomenters of factional strife. The gospel needs to be proclaimed to the whole world, the doctrine needs to be taught to the whole church, and every truth should be accepted as it becomes known.