The Apostolic Gospel: Core Content

What is popular is not always accurate or true. This maxim holds for the church as well as for human society at large. Consequently, it is helpful and even necessary at times to reexamine one's knowledge and beliefs, particularly in regard to foundational matters. In terms of the Christian faith, popularly held understandings of the gospel are not always consistent with the biblical witness.

As mentioned earlier, this inquiry into the apostolic gospel was precipitated by a disappointing and troubling television presentation by an enormously popular American preacher that was enthusiastically billed as the preaching of the gospel. Since others can be observed to sincerely hold to erroneous notions of the fundamental Christian message, I thought it best to reexamine the Scriptures themselves in order to reevaluate my own understanding.

One of the primary questions that drove my inquiry was, "What was the core content of the gospel proclaimed by the apostles in the divinely inspired record of the Book of Acts?" In surveying Acts, I identified twelve accounts which especially presented information specifically relevant to my inquiry. These are as follows: 2:14-41; 3:12-4:2; 4:8-12; 5:29-32; 7:1-60; 10:34-43; 13:16-41; 14:8-18; 17:2-3; 17:16-31; 26:1-29; 28:17-31. The answer to the question regarding the core content of the apostolic gospel can be summed up in a single name: Jesus.

With one exception, all of the accounts of apostolic preaching center explicitly upon Jesus. An analysis of the various texts reveals five primary categories of information regarding or related to Jesus that comprised the core content of the message proclaimed. These concern: (1) the identity of Jesus, (2) the historical reality and ministry of Jesus' first coming, (3) the promise of Jesus' second coming, (4) Jesus' fulfillment of ancient Israelite prophecies, and finally, (5) a call for a radical response to Jesus. Imbued throughout all of these categories is the critically important theme (sometimes explicit, often implicit) of the kingdom of God.

Perhaps it should be said that Jesus is not merely central to the apostolic message, but that he is the gospel; that is, the good news. Given Luke's framing of the material found in his Gospel and in Acts, this is of course not surprising. After presenting Jesus as the savior of humanity, the friend of sinners who offers salvation to all, even to the socially marginalized, he closes with the following quotation from Jesus about himself: "This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things" (Lk 24:46-48).

This charge to the disciples to carry on a global apostolic witness centers on himself, the Messiah. Luke quotes him in the opening of Acts, reiterating this same charge: "(Y)ou will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Ac 1:8). The disciples are to be his witnesses, which means they are to serve him by giving witness to him. Peter understood this as evidenced in the criteria he laid out for the selection of an apostolic replacement for Jesus' traitor, Judas. Luke quotes him as follows: "(I)t is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from John's baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection" (Ac 1:21-22).

All of this makes clear that Jesus as witnessed to in the biblical record must be central to any contemporary proclamation of the gospel. If he is not, we may indeed be elucidating or proclaiming various biblical truths and principles, but we should not make the mistake of thinking we are proclaiming the apostolic gospel. The problem with too much contemporary preaching, especially American, is that it has lost sight of the apostolic gospel and replaced it with a focus on producing and/or receiving the positive fruit or benefits of the gospel. In some cases Jesus becomes a talisman to ward off physical and material evil and to acquire our definition of blessedness in this life. In other cases, he becomes a functional elucidator of spiritual principles, which when faithfully believed and diligently applied produce success as we would have it. While there is a kernel of truth in each of these misconstrued understandings of Jesus, they are nevertheless corruptions of the apostolic gospel.

If we wish to know and experience God in similar fashion to that of the early church as described in Acts, we must encounter through repentance and faith the Jesus known and proclaimed by the apostles. The charge given by Jesus to his first disciples to be his witnesses throughout this world has passed from generation to generation, and now rests with great solemnity and responsibility upon us, even those who believe. It is our duty and privilege to know accurately the original good news, to live by his grace in response to it, and to communicate it to all who live in this world. If we are to please the Holy Spirit, we must become faithful witnesses of this gospel. Therefore, to a study of the elements of its core content we shall turn next.