Consider also that the apostles were sent out to preach the gospel long before they even understood that Jesus was to die, be buried, and then rise again from the dead! What were they preaching? They certainly were NOT preaching what you have defined the gospel to be, which is simply the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord. So what is your position on this? Do you believe that the gospel was changed later, or do you believe that they preached the same gospel later that they had preached at the first, when Jesus first called them apostles and sent them out to preach?
John wrote:
Sounds like you believe there was a difference.
I do not believe that the gospel message changed. That is my point. The elements of his death, burial, and resurrection were added to the gospel preaching, and these last parts were given primary importance, but it was the same gospel that they had preached before, which is the gospel of the kingdom of God, the command to repent and receive the remission of sins being important parts of this message.
John wrote:
Before the cross, they preached Christ such as He was before the cross.
What does that mean, "they preached Christ"? That is the whole point. What exactly did they say when they preached Christ?
What did Jesus Christ himself say when he "preached the gospel"? Did Jesus talk about himself when he preached the gospel?
When Jesus told the disciples of John the Baptist to report that the gospel is preached to the poor, did he mean his death, burial, and resurrection, or something else? Did he mean that he was declaring himself to the poor, or was there something else that he had in mind?
John wrote:
After that defining moment, they preached Christ cruscified and raise from the dead. The good news is Christ. Go ahead and call me a heretic.
The concept of heretic has nothing to do with this discussion. Are you trying to say that before Christ was crucified, they preached the kingdom of God being at hand, repentance, and the remission of sins, but that after Christ was crucified and raised from the dead, then they stopped preaching these other parts of the gospel?
Could it be that you have a very narrow view of the gospel? Is it possible that you have never truly heard the gospel yourself?
Peace be with you.
David Miller.
---------- "Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer every man." (Colossians 4:6) http://www.InnGlory.org
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