Continuing our study of the last three weeks, “What is the gospel of
Jesus Christ?”, and our Biblical understanding of the use and definition of the term Gospel, first let us review (in italics) a few important portions of
scripture and important points from the last three weeks.
Hayford’s Bible handbook – GOSPEL. In the New Testament the word
includes both the promise of salvation and its fulfillment by the life, death,
resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ.
What did Jesus say about himself and the Gospel?
Luke 4:16-19, 16 And He came to Nazareth, where He had been
brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on
the Sabbath, and stood up to read. 17 And the book of the prophet
Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the
place where it was written, 18 “THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON
ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE
POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES,
AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO
ARE OPPRESSED, 19 TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE
LORD.” – NASU
What does the Apostle Paul tell us about the Gospel?
Romans 1:16-17, 16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because
it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes:
first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 17 For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith
from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by
faith.”
What is the Biblical definition of the term Gospel?
1 Corinthians 15:1-8, 1 Now, brothers, I want to remind you of
the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you
have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold
firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed
in vain. 3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: A) Jesus’ death, that Christ died for our sins according to the
Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, B) Jesus’ Resurrection, that he
was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that
he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time,
most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7
Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of
all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
Preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ is distinctly different than doing what Jesus said which is recognized and rewarded by Him when we
reach out to others who are in need as stated in Matthew 25:31-40 in the
parable of the sheep and the goats.
This article is being written just over a week after Hurricane Ian devastated Florida. In the context of Hurricane Ian and the superb relief efforts
being done by the many faith-based groups assisting the needy, it is possible you might hear the term being applied to the help being given by some
of these groups as doing a Social Gospel or social action.
What is the Social Gospel? What do they believe?
“According to the social gospel, the betterment of society equals salvation.” They say – “If we feed enough people, educate enough children,
dig enough wells, and redistribute enough wealth, then we will see God’s
kingdom manifest.” “If we preach enough love, justice, brotherhood, and
goodwill toward men, then the remnants of greed and selfishness in mankind will be overwhelmed and give way to goodness.”
We always must remember that whatever good we do to help the
needy is not the gospel but it is a result of what the Gospel does in us.
Another way to state the differences between the Gospel of Jesus
Christ and the Social Gospel or Christian Social action is how Got Questions
explains it for us. “The social gospel is most concerned about social situations here on earth. The true gospel, while not ignoring physical circumstances, is most concerned about the state of people’s souls and their eternal destiny.”
In addition, Dr. Tony Evans gives us a really good comprehensive explanation of the difference of these terms.
Social Gospel? – Tony Evans, Instead of writing off our culture as
hopelessly secular and doomed, God wants His people to have a redeeming
and transforming impact on American society. But what is the relationship
of the Gospel (of Jesus) to social action? What is the Christian’s responsibility in matters of social ills—injustice, poverty, and hunger?
In many evangelical circles, the terms “social action” and “social gospel” have negative connotations. But the question remains: what does the
gospel of Jesus Christ have to say to the poor and the oppressed? This is
an important question all Christians need to deal with.
The message of the Gospel is narrow, not broad. The issue of
social action is not part of the gospel message. Whenever social action is made part of the Gospel, two problems arise: Social action obscures
what the Gospel really is, and no one knows how much emphasis to give to
the social aspect of the message.
Those who want to make social action a part of the Gospel’s content
make the same mistake repeatedly in biblical interpretation. They apply the
non-technical use of the word Gospel as it is used in the first four books of
the New Testament rather than applying its more specific use in the epistles, where the word has a much more limited meaning.
For the very reason Dr. Evens states, Paul emphasizes this importance
in his letter to the churches of the Roman providence in Galatia. Galatians
1:6-12, 6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one
who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different
gospel— 7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people
are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should
preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be
eternally condemned!
Was Jesus concerned about the needy?
The answer is easily answered, yes. If Jesus was not concerned for the
sick and the needy, He would not have had healed them and had compassion for them and fed them. This is clearly seen in Matthew 15:29-39. 29
Jesus left there and went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up
on a mountainside and sat down. 30 Great crowds came to him,
bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them. 31 The people
were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made
well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the
God of Israel. 32 Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have
compassion for these people; they have already been with me three
days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away
hungry, or they may collapse on the way.” 33 His disciples answered, “Where could we get enough bread in this remote place to
feed such a crowd?” 34 “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus
asked. “Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.” 35 He told the
crowd to sit down on the ground. 36 Then he took the seven loaves
and the fish, and when he had given thanks, he broke them and
gave them to the disciples, and they in turn to the people. 37 They
all ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven
basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 38 The number of
those who ate was four thousand, besides women and children.
Jesus’ half-brother James also taught about taking care of the needy
and poor to the churches.
James 2:14-19, 14 What good is it, my brothers, if a man
claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15
Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If
one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well
fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17
In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action,
is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by
what I do. NIV
With so many different social needs and or needy people of people
near us and in every corner of our world caused by natural disasters, poverty, famine, political turmoil and wars that cause the displacement of
thousands. We prayerfully and continually all need to ask the Lord, what is
it He wants me to do with what He has provided me to help the needy?
Whatever we do we should always remember the last verse of the parable
in Matthew 25:31-40, “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth,
whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you
did for me.’’
Pastor John
What is the Social Gospel? What do they believe?
“According to the social gospel, the betterment of society equals salvation.” They say – “If we feed enough people, educate enough children,
dig enough wells, and redistribute enough wealth, then we will see God’s
kingdom manifest.” “If we preach enough love, justice, brotherhood, and
goodwill toward men, then the remnants of greed and selfishness in mankind will be overwhelmed and give way to goodness.”
We must always remember that whatever good we do to help the
needy is not the gospel but it is a result of what the Gospel does in us.
Another way to state the differences between the Gospel of Jesus
Christ and the Social Gospel or Christian Social action is how Got Questions explains it for us. “The social gospel is most concerned about social
situations here on earth. The true gospel, while not ignoring physical circumstances, is most concerned about the state of people’s souls and their
eternal destiny.”
In addition, Dr. Tony Evans gives us a really good comprehensive explanation of the difference of these terms.
Social Gospel? – Tony Evans, Instead of writing off our culture as
hopelessly secular and doomed, God wants His people to have a redeeming and transforming impact on American society. But what is the relationship of the Gospel (of Jesus) to social action? What is the Christian’s responsibility in matters of social ills—injustice, poverty, and hunger?
In many evangelical circles, the terms “social action” and “social gospel” have negative connotations. But the question remains: what does the
gospel of Jesus Christ have to say to the poor and the oppressed? This is
an important question all Christians need to deal with.
The message of the Gospel is narrow, not broad. The issue of
social action is not part of the gospel message. Whenever social action is made part of the Gospel, two problems arise: Social action obscures
what the Gospel really is, and no one knows how much emphasis to give to
the social aspect of the message.
Those who want to make social action a part of the Gospel’s content
make the same mistake repeatedly in biblical interpretation. They apply
the non-technical use of the word Gospel as it is used in the first four
books of the New Testament rather than applying its more specific use in
the epistles, where the word has a much more limited meaning.
For the very reason Dr. Evens states, Paul emphasizes this importance in his letter to the churches of the Roman providence in Galatia. Galatians 1:6-12, 6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting
the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a
different gospel— 7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some
people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert
the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven
should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let
him be eternally condemned!
Was Jesus concerned about the needy?
The answer is easily answered, yes. If Jesus was not concerned for
the sick and the needy, He would not have had healed them and had compassion for them and fed them. This is clearly seen in Matthew 15:29-
39. 29 Jesus left there and went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he
went up on a mountainside and sat down. 30 Great crowds came to
him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many
others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them. 31 The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled
made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they
praised the God of Israel. 32 Jesus called his disciples to him and
said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been
with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send
them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.” 33 His disciples answered, “Where could we get enough bread in this remote
place to feed such a crowd?” 34 “How many loaves do you have?”
Jesus asked. “Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.” 35 He
told the crowd to sit down on the ground. 36 Then he took the
seven loaves and the fish, and when he had given thanks, he broke
them and gave them to the disciples, and they in turn to the people. 37 They all ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples
picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 38
The number of those who ate was four thousand, besides women
and children.
Jesus’ half-brother James also taught about taking care of the needy
and poor to the churches.
James 2:14-19, 14 What good is it, my brothers, if a man
claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15
Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If
one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well
fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?
17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have
deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my
faith by what I do. NIV
With so many different social needs and or needy people near us
and in every corner of our world caused by natural disasters, poverty,
famine, political turmoil and wars that cause the displacement of thousands, we all prayerfully and continually need to ask the Lord, what is it
He wants me to do with what He has provided me to help the needy?
Whatever we do we should always remember the last verse of the parable
in Matthew 25:31-40, “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth,
whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine,
you did for me.’’
Pastor John
