The Gospel Part 1 

    “Gospel” is one of the sweetest terms in the New Testament and is so translated from the Greek word euaggelion seventy-seven times.  According to the research of The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (2:725), “The NT use of euaggelion does not derive from the LXX” for there is no “religious use” of this term found in OT vocabulary.  This word, then, is a unique term, sacred to the New Testament documents.
    The New Testament usage of "gosepl" directly relates to the salvation benefit provided to all men by Jesus Christ because of His death, burial, and resurrection (I Cor. 15:1-10).  Of the seventy-seven New Testament usages of gospel, sixty-one belong to the Apostle Paul’s letters.  More than half of his usages are absolute (“the gospel”) and without the need of any clarifying nouns or adjectives (TDNT, 2:729).  Clearly, Paul expected his Christian readers to know what he meant when he spoke of “the gospel.”
    Cranfield provides one important footnote (1:55) concerning the pagan background of this term in the first century.  The Roman Empire was steeped in emperor-worship.  The term euaggelion was associated with the ascension of a new Roman emperor to the world-throne of the empire.  Cranfield writes, “there is thus in the Christian use of the word an implicit contrast” between the good news which represents “the pretentious claims of self-important men,” and the good news of man’s salvation which is proclaimed in “God’s authoritative Word.”

The Gospel Defined in Paul’s Letter to the Romans
         
    The letter to the Romans is Paul’s definitive statement about the gospel which he believes and preaches.  The opening words in Chapter 1 provide the divine content and meaning of this term.  It is my goal, then, for these two short articles to help us recognize Paul's meaning of the gospel by reviewing his four identifying markers of this precious term. 

The Gospel of God
 
    In the opening verse of Romans (1:1), Paul announces that he is “separated unto the gospel of God.”  Paul’s personal identity and ministry rest on this term.  The word “gospel” precedes the genitive phrase “of God.”  This phrase indicates origin or source, and can simply mean “God’s gospel” or that the gospel has its tap-root in God Himself. 
    In the next three verses (1:2-4), Paul explains the significance of this origin. First, God made substantial promises in writing through His prophets to His people about the gospel-event long before the event took place.  Second, these promises anticipated the incarnation of His Son through David’s seed.  Finally, the culminating gospel-event was the resurrection of Jesus from the dead and His subsequent appointment to the title: Son of God in Power. This appointment guarantees “the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes” (1:16).  For Paul, the significance of God’s gospel cannot be overestimated, for the gospel is from God, is promised in writing by God long before the event consummated, is fully concerned with God’s Son, and gloriously displays God’s distinctive power.
     Next month, we will briefly explore the other three identifying marks of Paul:  the power of God, the righteousness of God, and the wrath of God, and then draw a proper conclusion.

  -Dr. Daniel Davey
President
 

Prayer Request
 

• Please pray for the 31 new students who have started seminary this summer and fall. Pray that the Lord will help them with all their "settling in" details and bless their studies and associated spiritual growth as they begin the arduous task of preparing for ministry.
   
• Please pray for the seminary finances as we seek to raise sufficient funds to eliminate our repeated summer and Christmas cash flow shortages.