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
Although the apostle Paul was speaking particularly to Christians Jewish or Gentile who had expressed faith in the Lord Jesus Christ but who had gone back to a system of legalism where they were trusting in good works instead of only God's grace or unmerited favour through the work of His Son Jesus Christ and his death on the cross and resurrection for salvation this same concern has relevance today. Paul probably had in view professing Christians who went back to the legalism of Judaism and trying to keep the law for salvation or justification with God instead of continuing to trust in God's grace through Jesus. God through the apostle Paul called such belief systems another gospel and a perversion or twisting of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Some examples of false gospels today would be Roman Catholocism, liberal Christianity, most of Orthodox Christianity, rabinic Judaism, cults like Mormonism, the Jehovah Witnesses and others, Islam, mystical religions like Buddhism, Hinduism or the New Age movement or even secular humanism or communism that all try to justify themselves before any God/god(s) they believe in by their own good works instead of by the faith alone in or grace of God in the Lord Jesus Christ and His death on the cross for our sins and resurrection from the dead to give us new life. Paul then by inspiration of God says that if any human or even an angel from heaven by which he means a fallen angel such as the spirit guides of the new age movement, the angel Moroni in Mormonism or an angel pretending to be the angel Gabriel in Islam preaches another gospel which the apostle Paul and the other apostles of the church preached which was by God's grace through His Son Jesus Christ for salvation that such false preachers of works religions are accursed of God. Although the apostle Paul from God doesn't say it here but to believe in such false works gospels are clearly a way to be under God's condemnation according to other parts of the New Testament because it means people aren't trusting alone in the finished work for salvation that God provided of the death for our sins and resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ and are trusting in at least in part their own works that are imperfect and can't satisfy the perfect standards of the God of the Bible who is perfectly holy and righteous as well as perfectly mercifuly, loving and gracious but made the way of benefiting from his grace as through His Son Jesus Christ who bore the righteous penalty of death under the Law of Moses for our sins so we can benefit of God's grace through faith in Jesus. The scripture passage in Galatians 1 of God's condemnation of those who preach a works religion other than the true gospel or good news of God's salvation of grace through His Son Jesus Christ is as follows:
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. Galatians 1:6-9
When people trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and his death on the cross for our sins and resurrection from the dead to give us new life and become Christians, it is to God's glory or praise. This message is called here the gospel of our salvation and is equated with the word of truth. This scripture says that after the Christians in Ephesus believed in Jesus through the gospel they were sealed by the Holy Spirit. This would include the indwelling and baptism and giving gifts of the Holy Spirit and leading of the Holy Spirit to them. The sealing of the Holy Spirit helps ensure that God keeps believers in His salvation even though we still commit some sins in this life through our old nature and the world system and the devil or demons. The scripture reference from Ephesians 1 of God's assurance that believers obtain the sealing of the Holy Spirit after responding positively to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is as follows:
That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Ephesians 1:12-13
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
In the parable of the sower, the seed and the soils there is a very important message that also applies to preaching and reception of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ now. This is even though Jesus' original application of this parable to Israel was probably more to how they heard the message of the kingdom of heaven He had offered them before their leadership turned against Him that led to their later raising up the people of Israel and the Roman leaders to put Jesus to death. The key verse in the passage in Matthew 13 are verses 13 to 15. The sower is the Lord Jesus Christ or one can say later after Pentecost in this present Church age the preacher of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ or the good news of salvation through His death on the cross for our sins and resurrection from the dead to give us new life if we trust in Him from the heart. The seed that the sower sows is the word of God including the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ when focused on preaching to non-Christians. The soils are the hearts of the listeners of the word of God including the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus relates that those who hear but don't understand the word of God including the gospel are like seed that is sown by the wayside and birds representing the devil or demons catch the seed up before it can take root and grow. This shows that we must not only hear the word of God but also understand with our heart the word of God to be converted or saved (healed) as Jesus says in verse 15. I believe this is a parallel passage to Romans 10 above that focuses on the preaching of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and hearing and believing it with our heart to be saved or spiritually healed. I think coming to saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and the word of God including the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ involves not just hearing it (the word later in Romans 10 is the same Greek word as in Matthew 13) but understanding it or believing it in our heart. The word heart is also the same in both passages. Both of these terms are ways of coming to saving faith or understanding or apprehension of the gospel or God's message of salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ or receiving His righteousness.
The next instances in the parable of the sower are about people who either don't continue to follow Jesus because of difficulties they encounter after hearing the gospel and making a profession of faith in Jesus or those who hear the gospel of Jesus and make a profession of faith but have problems with worldliness and don't have a very fruitful life for Jesus in having a part in winning other people to saving faith in Him or in personally becoming more like Jesus in one's life. Both these types of people probably not only hear the word of God including the gospel but probably have some understanding of it. Those that are sown on rocky ground are those that elsewhere in the Bible including the New Testament are probably those called as having hard hearts to God's word and don't follow it when they hear it. They are probably not saved just professors of the Lord Jesus Christ. Those who are sown among thorns are probably the same or similiar to those spoken of elsewhere in the New Testament as carnal or fleshly Christians. They are true Christians but will lose rewards because of too much double alegiance to the things of this world system (that of this earth, self and time and sense rather and the teaching of man than of heaven, God, the Lord Jesus and His Holy Spirit and eternity and the word of God the Holy Bible). They will go to heaven but will lose rewards for not becoming more like Jesus or having a part in winning more people to Jesus or using their spiritual gifts more including to build up or serve with other Christians. Those who hear the word of God but don't come to fuller understanding of the word of God including the saving gospel or good news of salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ are like those in Romans 10 who hear the gospel but don't come to full faith in Jesus or seem to then pull back or come to full faith in Jesus but then get preoccupied with worldly pursuits including what might otherwise be good things like school, employment or a family as well as other sometimes less noble things and they end up not using their time, talents or money (treasures) or as much of their heart for becoming like Jesus or serving Him and so don't come to as fuller understanding, belief or righteousness in Him in Christian living and for bearing fruit for Jesus that can gain eternal rewards.
Those who bear fruit the last catergory not only hear the word of God including the gospel but also come to a full understanding and continue to quite wholeheartedly through this life live for God including the Lord Jesus Christ either in Christian service or as God gives opportunity in secular school, work or with their family including in whatever sphere God has called to become more like Jesus and use one's spiritual gifts. This does not mean even in the latter case that the people that are fruitful for God and Jesus are sinless or perfect but that they seek God's strength through the Lord Jesus and His Holy Spirit to in practice life for Him and through the Lord Jesus confess one's sins quickly when we do sin and return to living for God and His Son Jesus Christ. These will be the Christians that will more likely get more rewards and what the Bible calls elsewhere the spiritual person (following the leading of the HOly Spirit in practice) and who will obtain more abundant rewards for the life to come for their life for Jesus and God the Father in this life (or bring forth more fruit). The parallel passage in Gospel of Matthew 13 of different classes of people depending on whether people hear or also gain more understanding from the heart of the word of God including the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and the parallel to Romans 10 of people hearing or also coming to faith or belief from the heart in the Lord Jesus Christ for conversion, spiritual healing or righteousness or salvation and then spiritual growth is as follows:
The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side. And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore. And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprang up, because they had no deepness of earth: And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance; but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias (Isaiah), which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive; For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them. Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower. When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side. But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon (immediately) with joy receiveth it; Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation (trouble) or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by (eventually) he is offended. He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Gospel of Matthew 13:1-23
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
The apostle Paul a foremost preacher of the gospel in the early church urges his disciple Timothy to not be ashamed of the Lord Jesus or of the apostle Paul who had confined himself in service for the Lord Jesus Christ and preaching his gospel. Sometimes it is difficult to be encouraged by the opposition or indifference of many unsaved people to the preaching of the gospel but we have the assurance of God's word the Holy Bible and God's indwelling Holy Spirit that we are doing the right thing and God's will in this. The apostle Paul tries to prepare his son in the faith Timothy to bear affliction or persecution for preaching the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. This persecution is especially likely if we preach the gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit with boldness and conviction. The apostle Paul then describes the nature of this gospel that the Lord Jesus saves us from our sins and condemnation in God's sight and called us to a holy calling or to a godly life that is a specific way of service to God. This calling is not earned by our good works but by God's purpose and grace or unmerited favour. This purpose and grace is given to those who become Christians before the world began or in eternity past but that doesn't mean that we as Christians have pre-existence but that God has foreknowledge of us. This salvation is demonstrated more clearly since the incarnation of God's Son Jesus Christ about 2000 years ago who abolished death through his dying on the cross for our sins and then rose from the dead to also offer all those who trust in and receive him as our Lord and Saviour also life and immortality which is through the gospel. The apostle Paul then affirms his authority in the gospel as a preacher, and an apostle meaning he was sent to people to preach the gospel and had seen the risen Lord JEsus Christ and a teacher of the Gentiles who are the main beneficiary of the church made of one body of believers of Jews and Gentiles through the Lord Jesus Christ. The scripture reference of the suffering for and nature of the gospel in 2 Timothy 1 is as follows:
Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel: Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. 2 Timothy 1:8-11
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
God throught the apostle Paul gives a note of comfort to believers at his time that God through the Lord Jesus Christ would avenge those who continue in their sins including for some in persecuting true Christians. This would be at Jesus' second coming when he comes from heaven with many of his mighty and holy angels. Then Jesus will take vengeance to judge the world and set up God's kingdom on earth. This will be against those that don't know God in a personal way through entering into a relationship with Him through trusting in the Lord JEsus Christ as one's personal Lord and Saviour who died for our sins and rose again to give us new life and that don't obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ that is that don't respond to the gospel by admitting we are sinners according to God's definition of sin in God's word the Holy Bible and trusting in the Lord JEsus Christ that he died on the cross for our sins and rose again. The scripture reference from 2 Thessalonians 1 that God through His Son Jesus Christ will judge the unsaved or those who don't obey the gospel because they by then hadn't trusted in the Lord JEsus Christ that he died for our sins and rose again is as follows:
And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: 2 Thessalonians 1:7-8
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