The Gospel Is the Gospel of the Kingdom of God

Michael Spencer says he has seen the following today from 'Reformed' bloggers:

1. Jesus is not our salvation. (Forensic justification is. Please edit Luke 2:29-32 and 1 Timothy 2:5-6 accordingly.)

2. Theology is our comfort.

3. The Kingdom is not the Gospel.

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I'll only deal with the last one because some months ago I saw comments reflecting this error under a post attacking Derek Webb at 9Marks.  The Gospel is the Gospel of the Kingdom of God.

Matthew 4:23  And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.

Matthew 9:35   And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction.

Matthew 24:14   And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

Mark 1:14-15   Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God,  and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel."

Luke 4:42-43   And when it was day, he departed and went into a desolate place. And the people sought him and came to him, and would have kept him from leaving them,  but he said to them, "I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose."

Luke 8:1  Soon afterward he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him...

Luke 9:1-2  And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases,  2 and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal.

I don't believe systematic theology, done properly, is at odds with proper exegesis of Scripture passages that reference the Kingdom of God.

But when a finite and fallen human's systematic formulations about the Gospel contradict Jesus in the Gospels, I'll go with Jesus every time. 

The Gospel is the Gospel of the Kingdom of God.

Comments

[GL]

Jonathan,

I agree.

I may mistake the things you've written here and elsewhere, but I sense, perhaps incorrectly, that you assume that I don't believe in penal substitutionary atonement.

I do. Passionately. It's bedrock in my life and I teach it and seek to live out its implications.

Some other theories of the atonement complement PNA, and together they get at the fullness of atonement in Scripture, but PSA strikes me as the primary content of atonement.

Maybe you've taken various data from our meeting at Union Station several years ago, or Common Grounds (the book), or other things I've written, and believed that I subscribe to PSA. Maybe you have no questions about my beliefs in PSA.

Or, maybe you've assumed nothing about my beliefs and have not been acquainted with things I've written. In that sense, perhaps I've been a blank slate to you and you've been waiting for me to express my beliefs.

But....it's just a hunch, perhaps unfounded...I suspect that you assume I don't believe in PSA. Further, I suspect you think this because I robustly believe that the Kingdom of God **is** the Gospel and is the central theme of Scripture.

I hope my hunch is incorrect. I don't know.

If my hunch is correct.....you have no *legitimate* reason for thinking this of me.

Again, I hope I'm wrong in my hunch. I'm probably mis-reading your words and interpreting them in ways you didn't intend. Because I don't know, I'm asking, because I don't want an incorrect hunch to harden into belief.