I would like to start this synopsis by stating that the whole issue of the gospel of grace during this current dispensation of grace aka “The Mystery” and the gospel of the circumcision of the early believers in Jerusalem, and the gospel of the kingdom preached by Jesus and the disciples, which will be preached in the tribulation (Matthew 24:13-14), is moot. However we interpret the gospels we discussed today will not really matter once we are snatched away in the rapture of the Church Age saints. Once we are gone, our focus will be on the judgment seat of Christ, the bema judgment of reward for our faithful service to Christ during this life, not on how people will be saved during the tribulation. They will be saved exactly as God has planned for them to saved. Now, having said this, today was quite the fast and furious journey through a lot of scriptures, starting with Paul's gospel, and traveling backward into Acts, and then into Matthew to allow the scriptures to define the difference between the three gospels we studied. First, we read in Galatians 1:11-12 that Paul did not receive his gospel / our gospel from any man, nor was he taught it by man, but received it by direct revelation for Jesus Christ! This is the gospel to Jew and Gentile alike during this mystery period of the grace of God. Second, we journeyed back into Acts 15:1-20 & 29 and Acts 10:34-44 to get Peter's testimony of presenting the gospel of the circumcision to a group of Gentiles, only to come to the conclusion , some 17 years after his encounter, that Jews and Gentiles, alike, are saved by grace, without any works of the law. Acts 15:8-11: And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they. Third, we witnessed the message of John the Baptist in Matthew 3:1-2, 11-17, of the gospel of the kingdom. Jesus picked up the mantle in Matthew 4:17 & 23, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of heaven – the literal, physical messianic kingdom that he will rule with a rod of iron. He trained the disciples and commissioned them as apostles (sent ones) to go and preach the gospel of the kingdom to the lost sheep of the house of Israel ONLY! Matthew 10:5-7 Matthew 15:21-28 is an account where Jesus clearly declares that he was sent to only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, not to the Gentiles. In Jesus last teaching before going to the cross, he taught the Olivet Discourse concerning the events leading up to the 2nd Advent – the literal, physical return of the rightful King of kings and Lord of lords, Jesus Christ. Jesus declare that the gospel of the kingdom, the good news of the soon coming of the Messiah was going to be preached throughout all the world, and then the end will come. Matthew 24:13-14: But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. Understanding the differences of these three gospels, and who they were focused on, will help us in our study of Galatians in the weeks ahead. We will continue our study of Galatians Two this coming week!
