The progression of the Gospel (Good News) handout
We were able to complete our overview of Romans 9 – 11, adding a few more verses to our chart on the Progression of the Gospel, as laid out in the New Testament. The gospel (good news) began as call to the nation of Israel to repent in preparation to receive the long awaited messiah king. After the rejection of God’s prophet / killing of John, and rejection of God’s Son / crucifixion of Christ, the apostles were preaching the gospel of the circumcision, focusing on reaching the Jews with the good news of the soon return of Jesus to establish the kingdom. These two gospels were tied to the covenants and ordinances established by God through Abraham, Moses, and David. Once the leadership of Israel rejected the Holy Spirit’s message through Stephen (Acts 7:51-60), stoning him to death, their stumbling, falling away, and casting away (Romans 11:11-15) opened the door to reach the Gentile world with the gospel of the uncircumcision which was given to Paul, the gospel of grace alone by faith alone. The gospel progressed, seeking to reconcile the world, Jew and Gentile alike, back to the fellowship that Adam lost. Ultimately, we see that the mystery that was concealed from the beginning is now open to the world through the revelation to Paul — Christ in you, the hope of glory! We have finished our overview of the the information, the doctrine, the wealth, the power. Now, in chapters 12 – 16, we are to make application, perform the duty, get into the work, put into practice that which we have learned. This week, as we read these final five chapters of Romans, I ask you to take a few notes of the main thoughts in each chapter, that are revealed to you. For instance, the main thought of chapter 12 may be Live a life in conformity to God’s will. Being in conformity to God’s will may include several other thoughts throughout the chapter, that you may want to make note of, like “Live peaceably with everyone you can.” You get the picture. This exercise will help us all see how Paul, through the inspiration of God, is helping us to go from information gathering to actually applying these riches in our daily lives. I hope you will join me, as we read chapter 12 today, chapter 13 tomorrow, chapter 14 Wednesday, chapter 15 Thursday, and chapter 16 on Friday. Pay close attention to what Paul says as he closes out this great book of doctrine in Romans 16:25-27.
