"Randall smiled softly and said gently, '... don’t you need to know what the gospel is and how to obey it?' ” (MAAS ch. 3)
“ 'Honey, what is the gospel?' I asked her. She took a drink from her water bottle and said, 'Michael, the first four books of the New Testament are called the Gospels . Is that what you’re thinking of?' 'Uh, maybe… no. I don’t know.' Randall’s words from the Bible were stirring me, making me wonder. 'No, that can’t be it, because you can’t obey four books of the Bible. It doesn’t make any sense.' " (MAAS ch. 3)
This is the central theme of the book, "Muscle and a Shovel." What is the Gospel? And, how do we obey it? Unfortunately, Shank here dismisses the obvious, and mostly correct, answer, that the gospel is in the first four books of the New Testament, in the books which are called the Gospels. He says, "your can't obey four books of the Bible. It doesn't make any sense."
Of course it makes sense! Every state in this country, and every city in each state has a written book of statutes and ordinances which contain what we would call the law of the land. We, who live in these states and cities, are required to obey what is written in these books. We obey these books, by obeying what is written in the books. But the gospels are different than a book of ordinances. With books of laws we only have to know and obey them. But with the gospel, which is not a list of rules and ordinances, we have to believe it to obey it.
What is the gospel?
The word gospel is from old English, meaning “good news”. The Greek words are translated as “good news” in the Old Testament (Septuagint) and New Testament. But the Greek words are far more often translated “gospel” or “preach the gospel” in the New Testament. For example, “bring good news” in Isaiah 61:1 is read by Jesus as “preach the gospel” in Luke 4:18. The word “gospel” is in all of the gospels except John, in the book of Acts, in all of Paul’s books except Titus, and then it appears in 1 Peter and the book of Revelation. A form of the word is also transliterated as “evangelist” in Acts 21:8 and 2 Timothy 4:5.
How is the word, gospel, used in the Bible?
Many times just called “the gospel,” it is also called “the gospel of the kingdom,” “the gospel of Jesus Christ,” “the gospel of God,” “the gospel of the kingdom of God,” “the gospel of the grace of God,” “the gospel of His Son,” “the gospel of Christ,” “the gospel of peace,” “the gospel of your salvation,” “the gospel of our Lord Jesus,” and “the glorious gospel of the blessed God.”
Just for your information, the phrase "kingdom of God" and "kingdom of heaven" are the same thing. Matthew alone uses the phrase "kingdom of heaven" 32 times in his book, and the phrase "kingdom of God" only 4 times. Every other book in the New Testament uses the phrase "kingdom of God." This is probably because the gospel of Matthew leans heavily toward the Jews, and how Jesus fulfills so many of the Old Testament prophecies. Many Jews, even today, have an aversion to using or spelling the word G*d; thus the phrase "kingdom of heaven."
FYI, The gospel of Mark appears to appeal more to young people. It is short, and it usually goes into more details about the miracles of Jesus, spending less space with the teachings of Jesus. The gospel of Luke is more of a historian's account, trying for more accuracy in the times, places, and chronology of the life of Jesus. And the gospel of John is more a Christian mystic's gospel; it is more philosophical or spiritual, showing that Christ is God. All four gospels do have some things in common. They all recount some teachings and miracles of Jesus (but not always the same ones), and they all give an account of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Because the word gospel is most often used in the phrase “preach the gospel,” we understand that the gospel must exist, first of all, in words to be communicated.
So, where are those words? Mark 1:1 starts out, “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” From this we understand that the gospel may (at the least) be found in what we would call the gospels: the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. This conclusion is supported by Jesus saying in Matt 26:13, “wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her.” (also Mark 14:9) We understand, from this, that the events of Jesus’s life, as recorded in the gospels, are part of the gospel. And we might, rightly or wrongly, infer from Jesus’s statement in Mark 16:15-16 where “He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16 He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned,’” that the gospel up to that point, including the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, is the whole of the gospel, because Jesus is now telling them to pass it on by preaching it to the world. So the words in the first four books of the New Testament are most likely where the core of the gospel is to be found.
But what do the gospels have to say about the words of Jesus? Jesus says in Matt 7:24-27, "Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. …” And in Matt 24:35, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.” (repeated also in Mark 13:31 and Luke 21:33) And in John 6:63 He says, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” And in John 6:68-69 we read, “Simon Peter answered Him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. 69 We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.’" And in John 14:23-24 we read, “Jesus answered and said to him, ‘If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. 24 He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father's who sent Me.’” So we conclude that the words which Jesus delivered to us in the gospels are not only very important, but they are words of eternal life, they are eternal, and they are from God.
And here we run into the problem of little words with big meanings --- specifically, the word “of”. The Oxford definition of the word starts with “expressing the relationship between.” The best fitting meanings would be: “The relationship between a part and a whole” --- then the gospel is the (verbal) part of the whole (of the kingdom, of God, of Jesus); or “The relationship between an author, artist, or composer and their works” --- then the words of the gospel are produced by the kingdom, by God, and/or by Jesus. Using either definition, the words of the gospel are only a small part of a larger reality.
So, what is the gospel? The gospel is the key which leads us to Christ. As it is written in John 14:6, “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me;’” And in John 5:39-40 Jesus says, "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; 40 and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.”
What is the gospel, and how do we obey it?
There are only two passages in the entire Bible that mention obeying the gospel. As the KJV puts it, "obey not the gospel." They are 2 Thessalonians 1:8, "...obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ," and 1 Peter 4:17, "obey not the gospel of God." Neither one of these passages uses the simple phrase [do not] "obey the gospel;" one says "the gospel of our Lord Jesus...," and the other says "the gospel of God." In either case the phrases "of our Lord Jesus," or "of God" tell us that "the gospel" is not the source of who we obey. Who we obey, as is shown in these two passages, is either "our Lord Jesus" who delivered the gospel to us, or "God" who gave the gospel to Jesus to give to us. So the real question is not WHAT [rules and commandments] we are supposed to obey, but WHO we are supposed to obey.
This is born out by other passages. We are to obey God as we read in Acts 5:29,32, "We must obey God rather than men. ... the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him." And we are to obey Jesus as we read in 1 Peter 1:1-2, "To those ... who are chosen ... to obey Jesus Christ." and in Hebrews 5:9, "And having been made perfect, He [Jesus Christ] became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation."
As it says in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." And we know that "believing in" Jesus, also means obeying Him because verse 36 of that same chapter says, "He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." So, believing in Jesus includes obeying Him, and not obeying Jesus is disbelieving in Him.
"Believing in" Jesus is not the same thing as believing something about God or Jesus. James 2:19 says, "You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder." NASU. Believing something about Jesus, like He is the Son of God, is not always obeying Jesus. "Believing in" Jesus means, according to the Bible, obeying Him and putting your faith and trust in Him.
Unlike the law of the land, the gospel is not a set of rules and regulations to be obeyed, with dire consequences for failure to follow the rules; but it is a narrative of the life and teachings of Jesus, and how he (by the sacrifice of himself) has set us free from the condemnation which results from our breaking the law (Romans 8:1). Jesus condensed the law down to this: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself." Luke 10:27. And Jesus gave only one commandment, and he repeated it three times: In John 13:34, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another." And in John 15:12, "This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you." And in John 15:17, "This I command you, that you love one another." NASU
The foundation of law in this country is written in the Constitution and Bill of Rights of the United States of America. In addition to the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, we have the opinions of the Justice system, the judges and courts, interpreting how the Constitution and the Bill of Rights should guide cities and states in the creation of just statutes. In likeness of the Constitution and Bill of Rights, we have the written Gospels, the life and teachings of Jesus. In likeness of the interpretations of the Justice System, we have the history and writings of the rest of the New Testament, Acts through Revelation, teaching us how to live in the Spirit as we follow the gospel, and expanding on what it means to be a Christian.
The result of believing the gospel and obeying Jesus is not keeping a list of rules and commandments, but is living with the Spirit of God inside us. This was foretold long ago in Jeremiah 31:31-34:
31 "Behold, days are coming," declares the Lord, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them," declares the Lord. 33 "But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the Lord, "I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 "They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them," declares the Lord, "for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more." NASU
God says through Jeremiah, "I will put my law within them and on their heart I will write it." And this is echoed by Paul as he says in 2 Corinthians 3:2-6, "You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men; 3 being manifested that you are a letter of Christ, cared for by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. ... God, 6 who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." NASU
The point is that Christians are not under law, but under grace (Romans 6:14-15), and it is the Spirit of God within our hearts, Jesus Himself (2 Corinthians 3:17-18), who writes and rewrites the law into our heart as we learn and grow in faith in Jesus Christ. According to Romans chapter 14, what may be right or wrong for some of us is not the same thing which is right or wrong for others of us. What is wrong for all of us, is judging or condemning someone else for believing differently than we do. (Romans 14:13-15,22 and Romans 1:31 - 2:3)
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