We completed week 2 in 1 Corinthians 15, dealing with the single most important doctrine in this Dispensation of Grace, our salvation! Believing the gospel, the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, is the only hope for humanity in this mystery time period, know as the Dispensation of the Grace of God.
We are walking through the chart that is attached below, comparing the Gospel of the kingdom of heaven on earth, the gospel of John the Baptist and Jesus while in his earthly ministry to the Gospel of Grace that Paul delivered to the Gentiles. The Counsel of Jerusalem in Acts 15 and Galatians 2 help us understand that there were two gospels — one to the Circumcision (the Jews), and one to the uncircumcision (the Gentiles).
Galatians 2:9: And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision.
The gospel of the kingdom (Matthew 24:14) is about the millennial kingdom of Messiah King Jesus. The Jews will see the abomination of desolation in the Holy Place (Matthew 24:15) they will flee into the wilderness to be protected for 3 1/2 years (Revelation 12:1-6). The kingdom will come when the Messiah returns at the 2nd advent!
When Jesus told Nicodemus, in John 3:1-8, that the only way to see or enter the kingdom of God is to be born again, he simply stated that salvation in this age had to do with the grace God provided through Christ. John stated that we are born of God by believing on his name (John 1:11-13). The new birth, comes through believing in Christ (Acts 16:30-31). Once we are saved by his grace, we start out as babes in Christ (1 Cor. 3:1), and mature in Christ, as we become more like him, and less like our old Adamic nature, known as the old man.
Romans 12:1-2: I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.
We will continue our contrast of the gospels as we walk through 1 Corinthians 15.