What should be noted first is that what Christians need to do with the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ is to declare or preach it to unbelievers. People of the world or unbelievers become believers or brethren in Christ if they receive (accept as true in theory and applicable to their lives) and stand (continue to rely as the basis of their salvation or eternal life) in it. If we receive and stand in the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ then we are saved (from God's judgment of us to hell because of our unforgiven sins to God's forgiveness and eternal life and relationship with God through His Son Jesus Christ (Messiah)), if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain (this answers the question concerning people who seem to believe the gospel of Jesus Christ then drift away from him and some cases later even come to live their lives against him and his gospel and true Christians as I have also met some people like this, that answer is that when we initially trust in Jesus and His gospel message we do so in the understanding we will yield the rest of our lives and our wills to him and that some people who appear to lose their salvation never totally trusted Jesus in the first place and were never truly saved in the first place).
Paul then went on to say he wasn't be a hypocrite in preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ and urging people to receive it as it was a message he had already personally received and applied to his life. The first part of the gospel message is that Christ or Messiah Jesus died and that he not only died but he died not just for the sins of the world but for our sins personally. It is not enough to just believe Jesus died for the sins of the world and fail to admit that that includes his having to die for my or your sins specifically as well. We also have to receive the part of the gospel message that this death of Jesus for our sins is as some unsaved people say "that's just your interpretation". We have to receive the gospel message if we want to be saved and have God's forgiveness, eternal life and relationship with God that Jesus death for our sins was according to the scriptures - both the Old and New Testaments. The next part of the gospel of Jesus Christ we have to receive and stand in is that after Jesus died for our sins, he was buried. This excludes theories like the swoon theory that say Jesus just fainted on the cross and didn't fully die and so didn't rise from the dead but just regained consciousness. We finally have to receive and stand in the last part of the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ that consists of the reality that Jesus rose again (from the dead) the third day (after his death on the cross) (also) according to the (Old and New Testament) scriptures: The scripture reference of the preaching, desired response and nature of the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ as God's offer of salvation in the Church Age is as follows:
Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless y have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, 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 Corinthians 15:1-4
When we become believers in the Lord Jesus Christ we shouldn't be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ or of sharing it with unsaved people. This is partly because it is not just in the limited power of the words of men but in the power of God unto salvation or transformation by God's Holy Spirit who uses God's word to give us a new nature in Christ when we trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Saviour that he died for our sins and rose again to give us new life in Him. This is the things we are to believe and to believe not just intellectually but also with all our heart or will. This Gospel of Christ or Messiah is to all people but to the Jew first but also to the Greek or Gentile. Among other things this stresses the need for Jewish people to trust in Jesus of Nazareth as their Messiah or as Christ too as well as for the Greeks or Gentiles and that Jews can't be saved just be following Judaism. Anyway none of the Jews can keep the law now like they are instrusted to the Torah or five books of Moses since this is impossible even if they tried now. This is because there are at least 100 of the 613 commandments of the Torah that can only kept with the Temple standing and operating which is not the case now of course. The gospel here is also said to reveal God's righteousness in that God makes it possible for us to not only know academically his righteousness but receive it experientially as a free gift in the new nature in Christ Jesus that we receive when we believe the Gospel including that Jesus died for our sins and rose again from the dead to give us new life. This righteousness of God is in contrast to our own righteousness that is quite imperfect and self centred and unacceptable in God's sight. This righteousness if revealed from faith to faith which probably means from religious faith or faith in someone including perhaps ourself or something before we are saved to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ according to the scriptures after we are saved and have God's righteousness. The statement the just shall live by faith means the just shall live by new faith in the Lord Jesus Christ that he died for our sins and was buried and rose again according to the gospel of Christ. The scripture reference in Romans 1 of the power and righteousness of the gospel of Christ to the Jew first and also to the Greek or Gentile (non-Jewish) person is as follows:
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. Romans 1:16-17
What we are to believe in is that God raised the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead which also implies that we believe that Jesus previously died for our sins. This results in us realizing God's righteousness in our lives as a free gift. We are also to confess Jesus before men as our Lord in order to demonstrate our genuine salvation by such things as a sinner's prayer in the hearing of a believing Christian. To believe in Jesus including that God raised him from the dead must be not just with our head but also with our heart. Then in a logical series of arguments the Apostle Paul under divine inspiration says how shall they call on him whom they have not believed. The apostle Paul also says God is rich in mercy to all that call on him both Jew and Greek or Gentile (non-Jew) meaning this is God's way of salvation for all people Jew and Gentile. Of course we can't call on someone we haven't believed because we either wouldn't know much about them or even their name or wouldn't really trust to them to call out to him for help. Then the apostle says how shall they believe on whom they have not heard. The answer is that we can't believe on someone we haven't heard of because we won't know who we are supposed to believe or why we should believe in them. Then Paul says how shall they hear without a preacher. The answer is that in general God has to use a preacher in one form or another to tell us and convince us what to believe in in this case that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Saviour of the world and that he died for our sins and that he rose from the dead and that we can't save ourselves. The preacher can nowadays used different methods either in person in a church, the open air, an arena or stadium or hall, by radio, television or the internet or on the printed media such as gospel tracts, booklets, books or on our own reading of the bible which of course was from the original preachers of the early church age or Old Testament period. Paul then says how shall they preach except they should be sent. In some form preachers should have a calling from God that in whatever media God has called them to preach the Gospel of Christ to the unsaved. The gospel is here called the gospel of peace meaning probably that by believing in the gospel we have peace with God through the work of the Lord Jesus Christ who died for our sins on the cross and took away our sins that were the barrier to our having peace with God if we also trust in the Lord Jesus Christ fully for his death on the cross for our salvation and his ressurrection from the dead to give us God's new life. This gospel of peace could also include the idea of the peace of God that God gives in the new nature in Christ and then His indwelling Holy Spirit with the anxiety or barrier of our sins to fellowship with God taken out of the way by our trusting in Jesus' death on the cross for our sins. Unfortunately it is true what is stated that not all people have obeyed the gospel as Paul quotes from Esaias (Isaiah) who has believed our report? Dear reader if you have not yet believed, responded positively to or obeyed the gospel I urge you to do so fully as soon as possible so you can secure a blessed eternal, God-sufficient destiny and God's fellowship in this life and also be delivered of the danger of going through the tribulation. In summary the apostle Paul says (saving) faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. The scripture reference in Romans 10 of the contents, means of conveying and desired response to the gospel of Christ (Messiah) is as follows:
But what saith it? The word is nigh (near) thee (you), even in thy (your) mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias (Isaiah)saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Romans 10:8-17
At the time of Jesus, as shown clearly by the apostle Paul going into a synagogue a short time later in Acts of the Apostles, the custom was for males considered adults or past the Bar Mitzvah to take turns each week in reading a portion from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets. In Messianic synagogues such as Shepherd of Israel there is also a reading from the New Testament. It is clear from the scripture in Luke 4 that Jesus was often chosen to read from the scriptures for some time especially in his home town of Nazareth as the scripture says as was his Jesus' custom (to read from the scriptures). Although at this time it doesn't seem Jesus had a choice what book of the law he would read from but he might have had the choice it what text or chapter and verse to read from. Jesus chose the first verse and part of the second of Isaiah 61. This passage very definitely speaks of the Jewish Messiah and would have been taken that way by the Jews of Jesus' day as well. Among other things and as part of the characteristics of the gospel that would be proclaimed and demonstrated by the Jewish Messiah Jesus said the Spirit of the Lord is upon me meaning the Holy Spirit had annointed and empowered the one spoken of as the Messiah. A further characteristc of the Messiah is that he had been annointed or commissioned by God to preach the gospel or good news to the poor which can be poor in spirit or those who aren't proud or self-sufficient as well as those who are materially poor. Further characteristics of the Messiah that Jesus quoted from Isaiah as accompanying the gospel are that he would heal the brokenhearted and preach deliverance or liberty to the captives although this latter part could include those captive to sin as well as captive in prisons for crimes they committed against the law of the land. Jesus also said characteristics of the gospel associated with the Jewish Messiah and Saviour of the world was that he would heal the blind or other afflictions or diseases and set at liberty those that are bruised which probably means those who are oppressed. Finally Jesus said a characteristic of the gospel that the Jewish Messiah would bring would be that he would preach the acceptable year of the Lord meaning the acceptable year when the Lord would bring deliverance from sin and spiritual and physical and emotional bondage or oppression. Jesus showed eloquently his supreme knowledge of God's Word and his sense of purpose why he was on earth then by stopping short of reading the second half of Isaiah 61:2 or the third verse since they speak more about what he will fulfill in his second coming when he comes to judge the world and set up God's Kingdom on earth with the fulfillment of the kingdom and covenant blessings to his earthly people Israel as well as blessing all the other believing nations. After Jesus closed the book and sat down and having the attention of everyone in the audience he said very boldly that that day this scripture was fulfilled in their ears meaning he was announcing that he was the long promised Jewish Messiah and was commissioned from God to set people free from sin and bondage at that time which was fulfilled not long after when He died on the cross for our sins just outside Jerusalem and rose from the dead on the third day after to offer new life to all who receive him by faith as our personal Lord and Saviour. When Jesus then gave some examples from the Old Testament of instances in which the Jewish people didn't believe in their God but some Gentiles or people of the nations did his fellow townsfold turned against him and tried to kill him by casting him off a cliff. Jesus then escaped from them and moved his ministry to Galilee although he later resigned himself to the calls of many in the Jewish establishment for his death because what they thought was abolishing the authority of the Law of Moses or attacking the authority of the scribes and Pharisees or the chief priests. The scripture passage from Gospel of Luke 4 of the introduction of the gospel associated with the Jewish Messiah and liberty from oppression and the claims of Jesus of Nazareth as fulfilling this prophecy from Isaiah 61 is as follows:
And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias (Isaiah). And when he ad opened the book, he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he that sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he gave it to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. Gospel of Luke 4:16-21
Some of the results of the new birth by God's Holy Spirit and trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ are first given in this passage. These results include having one's soul purified through obedience to the truth (God's word - the Holy Bible). Among other things this should lead to genuine love of the brethren (brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ). This virtuous behaviour results from our being born again or being born spiritually by the Holy Spirit. This also results when we hear and respond positively to the word of God including admitting we are sinners before a holy God who in his love and grace offers salvation as a free gift through His Son Jesus Christ and His death on the cross for our sins and resurrection from the dead to give us new life. When we believe these things and seek to yield to God according to these and other scriptures especially for this age the New Testament we can have God's new birth and life starting with His incorruptible seed of the Holy Spirit. This is in contrast to corruptible seed which is man's sperm that leads to natural and physical and corruptible life. All flesh that is the result of corruptible seed is compared to grass that is clearly very transient and man's glory (in this life) as the even more transient but beautiful part of the grass. In contrast to this the word of the LORD or the word of God endures forever which is through or starts with the gospel and is the incorruptible seed that leads to new life in Christ and by the HOly Spirit and gives us God's spiritual life for this life and the life to come through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Saviour. The scripture reference from 1 Peter 1 of the gospel of Jesus Christ as resulting in the incorruptible seed of the new life in Christ and indwelling of the Holy Spirit is as follows:
Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: Being born again, not of corruptible see, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. 1 Peter 1:22-25
Although the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ involves some cost especially to a person's pride and possible desire to base salvation on self-effort through religion or other means or thinking he or she is a good person, otherwise the gospel of Jesus Christ is a very good arrangement. If there were no one else muddying people's thinking many more people would jump at the chance to take God up on His gospel invitation but the devil also blinds people that God is just as well as loving and can't automatically let everyone into heaven but needs to save people in a just way. This is where God sending His Son Jesus Christ to this world to die for our sins comes in and in His rising from the dead. Many people that are lost are also blinded to the reality of eternal destiny and that this life is just a preparation for eternity based on what we do with God's Son Jesus Christ. The basic message of the Gospel that we are all sinners and God sent His Son Jesus Christ to die for our sins and rise from the dead to give us new life if we admit we are sinners and cast our sins on Jesus on the cross and receive His righteousness on our behalf as a free gift is the gospel message and realistically or objectively is a good deal and if the minds of the lost or unsaved weren't blinded by pride, unbelief, selfishness, fearfulness, love of sin, being too busy for God or other factors many more people would respond to the gospel message. The word believe here as in most other times in the New Testament from the original Greek word does not just mean intellectually agree with as the English word believe sometimes means but would be better translated trust in or confide in or have the idea or yielding our lives to in this case the Lord JEsus Christ and God and the gospel and means of salvation of God through Jesus. In saying the gospel is light to those that receive it and Jesus Paul who wrote this verse under divine inspiration is implying that without it people are in more darkness which is true. This passage also says that the Lord Jesus Christ is the image of God or as the Gospel of John states Jesus says he that has seen me has seen the Father and we can know the Father(God) through Jesus. It is also stated and those who preach the gospel including myself have to be careful to keep this point in mind that when we preach the gospel we preach not ourselves but Jesus Christ the Lord or Jesus Christ as Lord. Then Paul states that in our personally receiving the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ we have received the spiritual light of God in our hearts in coming to know God and His way of salvation through His Son Jesus Christ in whom came to dwell the fullness of the Godhead bodily. The scripture reference for this passage that the gospel of Jesus Christ is hid by the god of this world to those who are lost (unsaved) in 2 Corinthians 4 is as follows:
But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:3-6
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