The First to Preach the Gospel
The duty of the church is to preach
the gospel. This ministry responsibility is unanimously affirmed by Bible
believing Christians.
However, there is no small
disagreement about our pattern for gospel preaching. Different churches pattern
their ministry after who they believe preached the gospel first.
The first to preach the gospel sets
the pattern for those that follow.
The Gospel
First, we must define the plain and
simple gospel. Surely, we must all agree with the clear gospel of the cross
found in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4.
“I declare unto you the gospel… By
which also ye are saved… how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the
scriptures.” – 1 Cor 15:1-4
The gospel is Christ and his
finished work on our behalf for salvation. Through faith in the cross of Christ
we have God’s grace, atonement for sins, and eternal life. By the gospel we
glory in the cross of Christ (Gal 6:14).
Now, we already know this gospel was
clearly preached by Paul in 1 Corinthians, but Paul also says he was the last
to see Christ(1 Cor 15:8).
For this reason, we can place Paul at
the end of our list of potential first preachers of the gospel. It requires
more investigation to see who could possibly have preached the gospel first
before him.
John the Baptist
Mark 1:1 starts with “the beginning of the
gospel”, and it is here that the Baptist churches plant their pattern for
ministry.
“John did baptize in the wilderness,
and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.” – Mark 1:4
The gospel of John the baptist
included water baptism, and repentance for the remission of sins.
Unfortunately, John did not know who Jesus was for much of his ministry (Matt 11:2-3).
“And I knew him not…” – John 1:33
This would make it obvious that John
could not have been first to preach the gospel of Christ and his cross. The
future death of Christ was totally absent from John’s preaching.
Jesus’ Ministry to Israel
Jesus is the Son of God, and began
his ministry shortly after John. For this reason, Evangelical churches think
the pattern of gospel ministry should come from Jesus’ ministry to Israel.
However, when we read what Jesus
preached when he began his ministry we find that it was not his death for sins
and resurrection, but a kingdom that was prophesied to Israel (Matt 15:24).
“Now after that John was put into
prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent
ye, and believe the gospel.” – Mark 1:14
Clearly, Jesus ministered to the
circumcision about the promises made to the fathers(Rom 15:8). Jesus showed himself to be the King
and the Son of God, but was silent about his future death until later in his
ministry.
Peter and the Twelve
The Roman Catholics find their
pattern of ministry in the hands of Peter, who was given the keys of the
kingdom in Matthew 16:19. In this same chapter Jesus began
to tell his disciples that he must suffer, die, and be raised (Matt 16:21).
This sounds promising, since
Christ’s death and resurrection are events so essential for the gospel of
salvation, but at this time Peter did not know this was a gospel.
“Then Peter took him, and began to
rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.” – Matt 16:22
Obviously, Peter was not here
preaching the gospel of the cross, since he tried to prevent the cross the
first time he heard about it. Hardly the pattern of church ministry.
We should remember that the twelve
disciples were sent by the Lord to preach the gospel of the kingdom, not the
gospel of the cross:
“And he sent them to preach the
kingdom of God…” – Luke 9:2
When Christ began to tell them
privately of his future death, they did not understand.
“And they understood none of these
things…” – Luke 18:34
This could only mean that the gospel
that the twelve preached did not include the cross. If their preaching did not
include the cross, surely their gospel was not the gospel of the cross.
Peter at Pentecost
It is at this point we move forward
to the time when Pentecostals think the gospel began. After all, it after his
resurrection Christ gave his disciples a commission to preach the gospel.
Which gospel was preached at
Pentecost? Was Peter the first to preach the gospel when he was filled with the
Holy Ghost?
“Then Peter said unto them, ‘Repent
and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission
of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” – Acts 2:38
What is clear from Peter’s message
on the day of Pentecost to Israel was that he repeated John’s preaching of
baptism, and Jesus’ gospel of the kingdom, but where is the cross?
While he preaches the death of
Christ, Peter condemns Israel for killing Christ and does not preach the cross
as their glory (Acts 5:28, Acts 10:39). Killing their own Messiah on the
cross was their shame.
This is not preaching the cross as
good news.
Paul’s Pattern
Having investigated every minister
and ministry before him, we are left with Paul’s gospel in 1 Corinthians 15.
Looking closer at Paul’s ministry we
find something very interesting about who preached the gospel first.
“For I delivered unto you first
of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins…” – 1 Cor 15:3
Though Paul was the last to see the
Lord, apparently, he was also the first to preach the gospel of salvation as
the glory of the cross (Gal 6:14, 1 Cor 1:18).
A dispensation of the gospel was
committed to Paul (1 Cor 9:17), and he wrote very early in his
ministry a certification of his unique apostleship:
Since Paul was the first to preach
the gospel, it follows that the church must find its pattern for preaching the
gospel of Christ from Paul.
“…that in me first Jesus Christ
might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should
hereafter believe…” – 1 Tim 1:16
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