More Evidence that Salvation through Christ Is Part of the True Gospel

Last post I talked about what is the true gospel.  I said that the heart and core of the true gospel is the family of God ruling as the government of God over the earth and the universe forever.  God is reproducing Himself, and it is His family made up of the saints made immortal as His children that will be that kingdom, and that kingdom will rule over the earth and the universe for eternity.  Christ will return and establish His kingdom over the earth and will, with the saints made immortal children of God, rule over the nations of this earth for one thousand years, and after that the white throne judgment, and after that the universe forever.

Salvation through Christ and everything about Christ is part of that true gospel as long as the family of God ruling as the government of God is maintained as the central theme of the gospel.  Without the message of the family and government of God - the kingdom of God - salvation through Christ becomes, by itself, a false gospel.  But with the message of the family and government of God as the kingdom of God, salvation through Christ becomes an important part of that gospel for two reasons.  It shows us how we can enter and be part of that kingdom, that ruling family of God, and that makes it good news for us.  But also, everything about Christ is part of the gospel of the kingdom of God because Christ will be king of that kingdom.  It adds necessary detail and information about that kingdom because it tells us about the king of that kingdom.

Since that post I remembered something else in the Bible that is evidence that salvation through Christ is part of the true gospel of the kingdom of God.

Study the book of Galatians.

It starts out, "I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed" (Galatians 1:6-9).

This letter starts out by warning against a false gospel.  This sets an important theme of the whole letter.  This is not about some false teaching that is not a part of the gospel.  Whatever this pertains to, it involves the true gospel or a part of that true gospel.  It is not outside the gospel.  Someone is teaching something contrary to the true gospel of the kingdom of God, and Paul is warning the Galatians that by perverting the gospel of the kingdom of God they are in effect preaching a different and a false gospel.

So what does Paul talk about?  And what were the false teachers saying?  Were they denying the millennial rule of Christ?  Were they denying Christ returning to the earth to set up His kingdom?  Were they denying the family of God?

They were teaching circumcision and salvation through works.

After recounting how he learned about the gospel, Paul states, "Yet not even Titus who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised" (Galatians 2:3).

Notice, this is about circumcision.

Then Paul says, "And this occurred because of false brethren secretly brought in (who came in by stealth to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage), to whom we did not yield submission even for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue with you" (Galatians 2:4-5).

Ok, what has this to do with the millennial rule of Christ over the earth when He returns, the government aspect of the kingdom of God?  Or what has this to do with the family aspect of the kingdom of God, that God is reproducing Himself in mankind and that His family will be that kingdom?

Nothing.  Paul is talking about circumcision and liberty vs. bondage - right now in this life.  He is talking about the liberty we have in Christ.  That is a salvation issue, an issue regarding how we are justified and saved through Christ.  Yet he said he opposed this false teaching so that the truth of the gospel might continue in the Galatians.  So this is about salvation through Christ, but also about the true gospel.  Does that not show that salvation through Christ is part of the gospel?

A little later, Paul continues, "We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified" (Galatians 2:15-16).

Paul is saying that salvation comes through faith in Christ not the works of the law.  This is a salvation issue.  Yet, it is apparently part of the gospel because Paul is refuting a false gospel - that is the theme of the whole letter!

Paul continues by stating the importance of obeying God's law and not sinning in verses 17 through 19.

Then Paul writes, "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain" (Galatians 2:20-21).

This is still on the theme of the letter, the true gospel vs. a false gospel.  And still in this theme, Paul talks about the grace of God, righteousness not coming through the law, and Christ dying not in vain.

This is about salvation through Christ and His death, not about the millennium and the kingdom of God ruling the earth.  Yet it is about the gospel.  This is evidence that the gospel includes salvation through Christ.

Then, continuing in the theme of the true gospel vs. a false gospel, Paul says, "O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? - Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? Have you suffered so many things in vain - if indeed it was in vain? Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?" (Galatians 3:1-5).  Paul is talking about the crucifixion of Christ and about the works of the law vs. hearing of faith.  These things are not about the millennial rule of Christ and the saints over the earth.  These things are about the sacrifice of Christ, his suffering and death, and the importance of faith.  These are matters of salvation not government.  Yet it is about the gospel.

Paul did not switch subjects when he said, "O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth" after starting his letter with "I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ".

Paul is on the same theme.  There were false teachers who were teaching a form of salvation by works, and Paul calls that a false gospel.  Yet they were not denying God setting up a kingdom on the earth.  So the government aspect of the kingdom of God is not the only thing that is the true gospel.  Salvation through Christ is part of the true gospel, otherwise denying salvation through Christ would not be a false gospel.

Later Paul writes, "Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.  You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion does not come from Him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump. I have confidence in you, in the Lord, that you will have no other mind; but he who troubles you shall bear his judgment, whoever he is.  And I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why do I still suffer persecution? Then the offense of the cross has ceased. I could wish that those who trouble you would even cut themselves off!" (Galatians 5:1-12).

You can sense the emotion Paul feels as he makes his case.  This is all about salvation through Christ, faith, we are not justified by the works of the law, we do not have to be circumcised, etc.  

Yet, Paul starts his letter by talking about a false gospel vs. the true gospel.  And Paul spends nearly the whole letter persuading his readers of what the true gospel is!

And there is not a word in this epistle about Christ returning to rule the earth, about God reproducing himself in mankind, or about the millennial rule of Christ over the earth, all key aspects of the gospel of the kingdom of God.  But what Paul talks about is PART of the true gospel.  It ties in with the rule of Christ over the earth.  But salvation through Christ is a definite part of the true gospel.  And it is important, or else Paul would not call its perversion a false gospel.

So not only is salvation through Christ a part of the true gospel, it is a vital part, so vital that Paul calls its perversion a false gospel!

So, suppose someone came along today and preached that Christ would return and rule the earth with the saints.  That would be the true gospel of the kingdom of God, right?  Now, suppose they also taught that salvation is by works not faith.  Suppose they denied the sacrifice of Christ to pay for our sins.  Paul says that that false teaching is so serious it makes their message a false gospel.  And that could only be true if the truth about salvation through Christ were part of the true gospel.

The good news of the kingdom of God includes salvation through Christ.

Some might wonder why Paul's epistles do not contain more about Christ's return to rule the earth - the government aspect of the good news of the kingdom of God.

The answer may be that that was already known.  The Jews and those Gentiles that feared God and believed the scriptures already knew that God would establish His kingdom over the earth.  They knew that from the book of Daniel and many prophecies.  Paul emphasized that which they had to learn - salvation through Christ and all that that means.

And God did not need to inspire Paul to write about things that are made abundantly clear in other parts of the Bible, but God inspired Paul to write about other necessary parts of the gospel, namely, salvation through Christ and how we should be living today.

We can all agree, I think, that the millennial rule of Christ with the saints over the nations of the earth and the family of God into which we can enter are important parts of the good news of the kingdom of God, and I hope we can agree that they are the core parts, the focus of the message.  But to say that details of that message, information about how we can be saved through Christ and enter that kingdom, information about the king of that kingdom Jesus Christ, information about the law of God and way of life to be lived in that kingdom - and many other areas of knowledge about that kingdom - are not part of the true gospel is ludicrous.  

If the true gospel is the good news of the kingdom of God, than any information about that kingdom is also part of the true gospel.

In the broadest sense, that can include the whole Bible.