The gazette-times. [volume] (Heppner, Or.) 1912-1925, 1919-01-23
THE FUNDAMENTALS
OF CHRISTIANITY.
No 3, "What Is the Gospel?"

NO d, Nhat is tne OOSpei!
I "a sermon hy Frank A. Andrews of
the Christian Church,
Il am not ashamed of the gospel:
for 1t is the power of God usto sal
vation to every one that believeth." 3"
/ Rom. 1916.
J | once heard sermon preached on
this text, In which the preacher made
a play upon the Greek word for
power" which is "dunamis," from
which we get the word dynamite. +"
He said, Tthe Gospel is Gods dyna-
mite" That is very misleading
statement. Dynamite is violent and
destructive in its action. The Gospel
is not violent and destructive In its
action; on the contrary, 1t is quiet
attractive and stimulative in its
action. In this text the Apostle Paul
is not attempting to tell what the
Gospel is. He Is stating what the
gospel does. The statement that
steam is the power which drives the
railroad engine does not define steam,
but merely tells what steam does.
Just before his ascension, Jesus said
to His apostles go We into all the
world, and preach the gospel to the
whole creation. He that beleveth
and is baptized shall be saven; but
he that disbelieveth shall be con-
demned." Mark 16:15-16. Evidently
the Gospel has to do particularly with
the faith element of Christianity 1t
is what one must believe in order to
be a Christian, and in order to be
saved
The Gospel Is Good News"
The Greek word which is trans
lated Gospel means literally "a
good message" the marginal reading
in the New Testament gives good
tidings," it is so translated in Luke
2:10. The first four books of the
New Testament, called the Gospels,
are then, the record of good tidings
according to Matthew, Mark, Luke,
and John. These records must be
believed. They testify that Jesus is
the Son of Cod and that man may
receive the forgiveness of sins and
the gift of eternal life thru faith in
Him. This is good news to world
without God and without hope. These
four gospels tell us that God loves
man. This is good news to all who,
If they worshipped any God at all,
did so in fear and trembling. These
gospels testify to the goodness, pur-
ity, and beauty of the life of Jesus
Christ. This is good news to a
world which regarded it as impossible
for any one to be good and clean in
his life. These records hold out the
assurance that the one who believes
in Jesus shall have the power to
follow Him and live life which is
helpful, clean, and beautiful. That Is
surely good news 10 all. These
records tell us that God is the father
of us all and that he regards sinful
man as an earthly father does his
wayward son, still loving him and
seeking to win him back TO life of
rectitude and of filial relationship.
What a wonderful assurance!
The Gospel to the Jews.
In the Galatian letter Paul says
HE that wrought for Peter unto the
apostleship of the circumcision
wrought for me also unto the Cen
tiles" Because of this statement it
Is assumed by many that there are
two gospels, one for the Jews and
one for the Gentiles. 1t might be
worth while to examine the scrip
lures in order to find out just what
basis of truth there is for that
position.
Bearing in mind the meaning of
the word Gospel good news, it is
quite evident that a particular an
nouncement might be good news to
the Jews and not to the Gentiles.
Jesus had been promised to the Jews
by the word of the prophets thru
many centuries of their history. 1t
had been promised that He should
come as Prophet, as Priest, as a
King, and as a Messiah. The an
nouncement that these promises were
being fulfilled and that the promised
one had come would be good news,
or a part of the gospel proclamation
to the Jews. Such an announcement
would not be good news to the Gen
tiles, it would be without any par
ticular interest to them for they
knew nothing about these prophecies
and were not concerned about them.
On the other hand the announcement
that God Is no respecter of persons; /;
but in every nation he that feareth
Him and worketh righteousness is
acceptable to Him" or that "To the
Gentiles also hath God granted re-
pentance unto life" would not be
good news to the Jews, they had
always regarded themselves as God s
chosen people; but 1t would be good
news, a part of the gospel, to the
Gentiles.
When we examine the records we
find only such differences as are thus
easily accounted for. The first
occurrence Of the word Gospel" is in
Matt. 4:23 And Jesus went about in
all Galilee. teaching In their svna