Complimentary Story
May 2024The Apostle Paul refers to the gospel as a mystery in Ephesians 6:19, “That I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel.” He also states in Romans 16:25-26, “Now to Him (Jesus) that is of power to establish you according to my gospel (given to me, Galatians 1:15-18), and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, but now is made manifest, and by Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith.” How does Paul indicate that the gospel is made known? “By the Scriptures of the prophets,” being the Old Testament Scriptures, “according to the commandment of the everlasting God.”
Why was the gospel still a mystery when it was made known by the prophets and the command of God? And is it still a mystery to many today? What was the gospel given in the Old Testament? First of all the word “gospel” is not used in the Old Testament, but the gospel is there. Jeremiah expresses his hope in Lamentations 3:20-27 because of the things that God has done since creation for our good to meet our every need. In humility he states, “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not.” Why do His compassions not fail? Because His perfect love (26-“agapa”) compels Him to provide for all our needs: As stated in Hebrews 2:17, “Wherefore in all things it (compelled) Him to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people,” to make one a people that live by right thinking in obedience of faith! And in Luke 24:46 it also states, “Thus it (compelled) Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day,” as it was written in the prophets. Perfect love produces compassion for others in need! Without compassion one is not compelled to acts of mercy.
Jeremiah continues the subject of God’s compassion in Lamentations 3:23-26, “They are new every morning,” because we have more needs each morning: “Great is thy faithfulness.” When we, like Jeremiah, comprehend what perfect love compels God to do for man, we can say with complete confidence, “The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in Him. The Lord is good unto them that wait for Him (for guidance into all truth), to the soul that seeketh Him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.” To seek to know Him through His every word! To wait upon the Holy Spirit to guide us in all understanding of what is truth, as found in His every word: For God and God alone has forever established what is truth. (Deuteronomy 32:4). “He is the Rock, His work is perfect: for all His ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is He.”
John, in Acts 13:47, quotes the Lord as saying, “I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth.” The word “light” is used as an equivalent to the gospel. In the Old Testament, the children of Israel were called out to be a light to the Gentiles nation around them, according to the Scriptures and commandment.
Moses states in Deuteronomy 4:1-4, “Now therefore harken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers giveth you. Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish aught from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord which I command you. Your eyes have seen what the Lord did because of Baal-peor (Read Numbers 25:1-9): for all the men that followed Bal-peor, the Lord God hath destroyed them from among you. But ye that did cleave unto the Lord your God (and despise the desires of the world Matthew 6:24) are alive every one of you this day.” Choices do have consequences!
Deuteronomy 4:5-9, “Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the Lord my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it. Keep therefore and do them, for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations (as a light to them), which shall hear all these statutes, and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon Him for? And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous (as our guide all to right thinking) as all this law, which I set before you this day. Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy son’s sons.” Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” How can we train up a child if we are so ignorant of God’s commands?
Isaiah 42:5-6, “Thus saith God the Lord, He that created the heavens, and stretched them out; He that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; He that giveth bread unto the people upon, and the spirit to them that walk therein: I the Lord have called thee (the “ekklesia” Acts 7:37-38 in the church and in the wilderness) in righteousness (right thinking that always produces right living), and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles.”
The gospel given to the Hebrew people, is what we see simply stated in Isaiah 55:6-9, which is no different than today! “Seek ye the Lord, while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord (the complete definition of repentance), and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.”
Why the expression “abundantly pardon?” In Psalm 103:2-22, David states his confidence in his salvation of the Lord. “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction (paid the price of sin that we could all escape our eternal damnation); who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies (because this is the character of God); who satisfieth thy mouth with good things.” (Verses 9-13). “He will not always chide: neither will He keep His anger for ever. He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities;” not what we deserve, but only what we need, “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9b).
David also expresses his confidence in God’s work of salvation in Psalms 32:1-2 this way: ‘Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.” Salvation from the consequences of their sins was the result of being forgiven and covered by the blood of animals. But since Christ fulfilled the New Covenant He is just to forgive and wash away, to cleanse as stated in I John 1:9. David goes onto say in verse two, “Blessed is the man whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity (imputeth, 2803-to reckon, or consider as a fact), and in whose spirit there is no guile.” (7423-deceit). David is saying a man is blessed when God no longer considers as a fact that he has sinned, when one by faith repents, seeking His forgiveness. Also David states in Psalm 103:10-13, 17, “He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens is high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward them that fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us.” This only happens to “them that fear Him.” Those who by faith believe, trust, and obey to turn from their wicked ways, seeking the forgiveness promised! “Like a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth (7355-to have compassion, with mercy to provide not what we deserve, but what we need to be able to do what is right) them that fear Him… But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear Him, and His (right thinking) unto children’s children,” passing this hope to the next two generations.
Peter states this about David and his confidence in Acts 2:25-31, “For David speaketh concerning Him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for He is on my right hand, that I should not be moved: Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell (86-“Hades,” the place of departed spirits), neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance.” David was confident that if the Holy One, his seed, would not see corruption neither would his soul be left in hell! (Verses 30-31) “Therefore (David) being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, He would raise up Christ to sit on His throne.”
In Luke 2:25-35, Simeon a just and devout man in Jerusalem was “waiting for the consolation (3874-the comfort and relief with the coming Messiah) of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him, (revealing to him) that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And he came by that spirit unto the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for Him after the custom of the law, then took he Him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, ‘Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: For mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people.’” Yes, prepared before all people, even before creation as stated in Revelation 13:8. “A light (the gospel of repentance and forgiveness of sins preached to all nations Luke 24:47) to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel,” which always was their calling the “Ekklesia” in the wilderness (Acts 7:38).
The faithful ones of the Old Testament era knew the gospel as the light of truth, God’s every word, that they were to show by word and deed to the nations around them. Hebrews, chapter eleven, lists many from the Old Testament who, by faith, obeyed God for the things promised and hoped for, but did not yet see. They obeyed God, because by faith they trusted God to be faithful and true to His every word. Therefore we can rightly assume “that the worlds were formed by the Word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear” of our imagination!
To question God’s description of His creation is no different than Eve questioning the command of God to not eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, even though she had no clue as to what it was to die. To question God’s Word and look for answers elsewhere, simply put, is turning our faith from the God of truth, to the father of lies as if our choice has no consequence. Read John 8:42-45.
That is why God was compelled before creation (Revelation 13:8) to make it possible to justly forgive, in order to meet this very important need. Without being forgiven we have no hope! Being ignorant of the Scriptures has left the gospel still a mystery yet today, which is no excuse for falling short of eternal life. Hebrews 2:3 states, “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord (even in the Old Testament), and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him.” Moses warns the people twice (Deuteronomy 4:2 and 12:32) not to add to nor diminish from God’s Word.
Because many have chosen to be willingly ignorant of the Scriptures, the gospel continues to be a mystery to a great many yet today: Thus creating a multitude of questions with no answers. So we look to our imagination for answers, most often producing errors on both sides of every debate. Yes it does make a difference as to what we chose to believe!
