salvation Archives - Redeeming God

As we continue our study of Ephesians, this study considers Ephesians 2:5-7 and the meaning of the word “salvation.” We see that a misunderstanding of the word “salvation” leads to a misunderstanding of the entire chapter of Ephesians 2. But when we properly understand what “salvation” means in context, we can then better understanding the whole of Ephesians 2.

Before we look at that text, however, we answer a question from a reader about something I taught from Matthew 13 and the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares.

Before we get to that, however, I hope you took advantage of my offer to get some free Bitcoin and Dogecoin a few weeks ago. At the time, Bitcoin was at $32,000 and Dogecoin was at $0.19. Today, Bitcoin is at $46,500, up 45%, and Dogecoin is currently at $0.32, up 68%. I am not giving financial advice, but I am glad I bought a little bit of both (You don’t have to buy a whole Bitcoin, but can buy a tiny fraction of one coin like I did).

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Question from a Reader

My question was in the study of the wheat and the tares you say that the wheat are the ideas of God and the tares are the ideas of the evil one if I understand correctly. In Matthew 13:38 it refers to them as people. I’m confused. Thanks for your response.

The reader is referring to a previous study on the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares in Matthew 13:24-30.

This is a question! And good job noting the translation in the NIV.

Part of the problem is the NIV translation is pretty bad on this verse. The Greek word used twice in Matthew 13:38 should not get translated as “people.” It should be “sons” or “children.”

I went on to argue that the word for “sons” in both “sons of the kingdom” and “sons of wickedness” is better understood as “offspring,” which in the context, would indicate the behavior or results that come from living according to the ideas and teachings of the Kingdom of God vs. the kingdom of darkness.

Here is what I said:

Typically, a “son” is understood to be a child of someone else. But the word “son” can also be used metaphorically. When the word “son” is used in connection to a concept or idea, instead of to a person or family, it refers to the characteristics or inner attributes of someone, rather than to the person themselves. So “sons of this world” are contrasted with “sons of light” in Luke 16:8 (cf. John 12:36; 1 Thess 5:5). A student or disciple of the Pharisees could be called a “son of the Pharisees” (Matt 12:27; Acts 23:6). Scripture can also speak of “sons of the resurrection” (Luke 20:36), “sons of this age” (Luke 16:8; 20:34), “sons of disobedience” (Eph 2:2; 5:6), “sons of the devil” (Acts 13:10) and numerous other similar terms. Such descriptions are not literal (a son of the devil is not literally the biological offspring of the devil), but are instead figurative and symbolic ways of referring to someone’s character and behavior.

If this applies to the word “sons” in this parable, then Jesus is referring to the figurative offspring that comes from the teachings of the kingdom of God versus the kingdom of darkness. Throughout time, the results that come from the teachings of Jesus have always proven to be better than that which comes from any other source. Jesus’ words and teachings can therefore be trusted.

What is Salvation in Ephesians 2:5-7?

In previous studies of Ephesians 2, I have stated that Ephesians 2 is one of the most misunderstood chapters in the Bible. Most people think that the overall message of Ephesians 2 is about how to receive eternal life and go to heaven when you die. And while the first 10 verses of Ephesians 2 can be read this way, the “Application” section of Ephesians 2, found in verses 11-24, show that Paul does not have eternal life and going to heaven in view at all. Paul is concerned with a completely different issue in Ephesians 2.

One of the primary reasons that people misunderstand Ephesians 2 is because they have a faulty definition of the word “salvation.” If Ephesians 2 is one of the most misunderstood chapters in the Bible, the word “salvation” is the most misunderstood word in the Bible.

When most Christians see the word “saved” or “salvation” in the Bible, they think it means “being saved from sin and death so you can receive eternal life and go to heaven when you die.”

You might be surprised to know that this is not how the salvation word family (saved, salvation, save, Savior) is used anywhere in Scripture. A careful study of the various contexts of the words “saved” or “salvation” in the Bible reveals that the word simply means “delivered” or “deliverance.” And you can be delivered from a wide variety of things in Scripture.

In Matthew 8:25, the disciples are in a boat on the Sea of Galilee, and they cry out to Jesus, “Lord, save us!” Are they asking Jesus to forgive their sins so they can receive eternal life and go to heaven when they die? No! There is a great storm on the sea, and they are about to drown and so they ask Jesus to save, or deliver, them from drowning.

This is an easy example, but the rest of the uses of “saved” and “salvation” in Scripture follows a similar pattern. People can be saved from sickness, from enemies, from war, from financial ruin, from premature physical death, from the devastating consequences of sin and temptation, and from a wide variety of other things.

So whenever you see the word “saved” or “salvation” in Scripture, you should substitute in the word “delivered” or “deliverance” and then look in the context to see what kind of deliverance is in view. This will help clear up a lot of confusing Bible passages for you. I will cover many of these passages in my Gospel Dictionary online course for the entry on “salvation” when it gets published.

This is what we will do today when we encounter the word “saved” in Ephesians 2:5-7. We will substitute in the word “delivered” and then consider the context to see what we are delivered from and what this deliverance looks like. When we do this, we will come to understand that Paul is not talking about how to receive eternal life and go to heaven when we die, but is instead talking about a pressing issue that involves the lives of all people on planet earth here and now.

So let’s jump in to Ephesians 2:5.

By Grace You Have Been Saved (Ephesians 2:5)

We are picking up from last time when we looked at Ephesians 2:4 and how God has stepped in to the problem of human violence to do something about it.

Paul continues this idea in the first part of Ephesians 2:5 when says. …because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses.

Again, Paul is showing that the activity of God which is described in Ephesians 2:4-10 is not because of how great we humans are, but is rather because of how much God loves us. God stepped in to act on our behalf while we were dead in our sins. While we were unlovely. While we were undesirable by any standard. Yet God’s love for us was so great, that He loved us anyway.

So what did God do? At the end of Ephesians 2:5, Paul says (by grace you have been saved).

Here is the word “saved” that has caused so many problems in this text. So here is what we do. We see the word “saved” and since we know that this word is widely misunderstood in the minds of most Christians, we substitute in the word “delivered.” The word “delivered” is a fine translation for the Greek word, and it helps us better understand the passage, because it doesn’t carry the same theological baggage as the word “saved.”

So Paul is saying “By grace you have been delivered.”

Now we can look into the context to see what we have been delivered from.

And thankfully, since we’ve been studying Ephesians verse-by-verse, we already know what we have been delivered from, because Paul described it in Ephesians 2:1-4. In those verses, Paul describes the great human problem, which is that we are blinded by Satan so that we engage in a never-ending cycle of human violence that leads to death.

Back in our study of Ephesians 2:1, we learned that salvation in Ephesians is not about receiving eternal life so we can go to heaven when you die, but is instead about being rescued and delivered from our addiction to accusation, scapegoating, and violence, so that we are brought into the way of life, love, and liberty that God always wanted and desired for humanity.

So what is “salvation” is Ephesians 2? It is deliverance from our addiction to violence against other human beings. It is deliverance from how we justify our violence against other human beings. It is being shown what the real problem is and being shown how to handle this violence in a different way, a way that follows the heart of God and the example of Jesus.

This deliverance from the cycle of human violence is what Paul goes on to describe in Ephesians 2:5-7. He uses three descriptive terms to show how we have been delivered, or saved, from our blindness and slavery to violence.

These three descriptive terms are that we have been regenerated with Christ, resurrected with Christ, and are now reigning with Christ.

Regenerated with Christ (Ephesians 2:5)

First in Ephesians 2:5. He made us alive together with Christ. We were dead, and he gave us life. God couldn’t just do this by a wave of his hand, no matter how much he loved us, because – as I said earlier – that would violate his justice and his righteousness. So God made us alive together with Christ.

Paul doesn’t go into great detail here on what he means by regeneration, but this is because Paul has already gone into detail in Ephesians 1:13-23. In our study of Ephesians 1:13, we learned that regeneration is being given new life in Jesus Christ. We are brought back to life with Him.

Jesus not only showed us a different way to live life, He also has given brand new life to us so that we can live in it. It is like we were living in a desert, and Jesus not only showed us what life is like in the rich, lush mountains filled with rivers and streams, but also took us to the mountains so that we can actually experience new life living there.

Jesus didn’t just say “Let me show you a new way to live,” He actually gave us new life so that we can live in it.

Resurrected with Christ (Ephesians 2:6a)

Next in Ephesians 2:6, Paul reveals how we were given new life in Christ. We were raised us up together with Christ. We were resurrected with Christ.

Resurrection is different from regeneration. Regeneration is new spiritual life in Christ. Resurrection is new physical life in Christ. We have been spiritually raised with Him, and we will be physically raised. Life in Christ is not just a spiritual reality, but will also be an eternal physical reality when we are raised with Christ and given new, glorious, sinless bodies.

Now, physical resurrection with Christ is still a future event for us, but in regard to how we live in this life, it is a current reality that we can live in light of.

It is sort of like living with an inheritance that you have not yet received. If you know with absolutely certainty that when you turn a certain age, you will receive a million dollars, that is going to affect how you live your life now and the sorts of choices you will make about your finances. You can even start making investments or purchases with the expectation that in the future, you will gain your million dollar inheritance.

Resurrection is sort of like that. When we receive our resurrected bodies, we will be perfect. We will be sinless. We can start living in light of that reality now. We no longer have be enslaved to this present body of sin. We no longer have to live under the crushing debt of sin. We can instead live in light of the way we will be.

The third and final description of our salvation is related to this, and is found in the last part of Ephesians 2:6.

Reigning with Christ (Ephesians 2:6b)

Paul writes that were were made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

This is a reference to reigning with Christ. And remember, being seated with Christ in heavenly places is a theme that Paul brings up several times in Ephesians. We discussed it previously back in our study of Ephesians 1:3 and our study of Ephesians 1:20-23 and we will see it again later in Ephesians.

One of the key truths to remember is that this statement about sitting with Christ Jesus in heavenly places is not a reference to some future event when we are in heaven with Jesus, but is instead a reference to life here and now on this earth. One of the things Jesus sought to do during His earthly ministry, which is also the task that Jesus assigned to the church, is that we are to bring heaven down to earth. We are to carry out God’s will on earth, just as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10).

Heavenly places are the places on earth where the Kingdom of God is making inroads to life on this earth so that God’s rule and reign comes upon this earth, just as it is done in heaven.

So when Paul writes that we are seating with Jesus Christ now in heavenly places so that we can rule and reign with Him, he is talking about how we are to lead the world now into the way that Jesus wants the world to live.

And how is that? Not with violence and blame and hate and anger, where we accuse and demonize our enemies so that we can kill them in God’s name. No. Rather, we are to lead the world into the way of Jesus, into a life filled with grace, mercy, and forgiveness, where, like God, we love others even when they are dead in their trespasses and sins and seek to do us harm in return.

We reign with Christ by loving our enemies, just as He loved us while we were still His enemies.

When we live in light of our regeneration, resurrection, and reigning with Christ, it is then that we begin to experience the results of this sort of life, which is what Paul discusses in Ephesians 2:7.

Results: Riches in Christ (Ephesians 2:7)

In view of that, though, how should we act? How should we behave? We have been given new spiritual life and physical life in Christ, and have been seated with Him to rule and reign over this earth. We have infinite resources at our disposal. So how are we to live?

We should not be ashamed of whose children we are. We should be proud of our name and our family. We should not worry about worldly concerns because our Father the King is watching out for us. And if a new life, and being raised with Christ, and getting a royal position are not enough to get you excited to serve God, Ephesians 2:7 tells us the results of living in light of the deliverance Jesus has brought to us.

Paul writes in Ephesians 2:7… That in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

With these words, Paul shows that the new life we have been given in Jesus Christ is not temporary or limited. It begins now, and continues through all the ages of our life, which includes all the ages of eternity. In all the ages to come, God will continue to pour out upon us the riches of His grace and kindness. He loves us and will always love us, and we are only beginning to see the height and depth of God’s love for us. We will spend all eternity exploring God’s love in greater detail.

So, what is the salvation, or the deliverance, that we have been given in Jesus Christ?

It is that we no longer have to live in the realm of death, where we condemn, accuse, and kill others. Instead, because of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ, we are able to truly live. We have new spiritual life (regeneration), physical life (resurrection), and powerful life (reigning) with Jesus Christ. We have been delivered from our old way of life and brought into a brand new way of life.

A life based on love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness. A life that looks just like Jesus.

Paul is not done talking about this life. He continues in Ephesians 2:8 to show us how we can start living in this new way of life. That is where we will pick up in our next study. In Ephesians 2:8-10 we will see how we can start showing the world a better way to live. How we can fulfill our calling to reveal the life of Jesus to this dying world.

We have Salvation in Jesus … but what is salvation? (Ephesians 1:9-13)

By Jeremy Myers

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What is the mystery that was hidden for generations, but is now revealed in Jesus? And what is salvation? Is salvation when we get eternal life so we can go to heaven when we die? These questions will be answered in this study of Ephesians 1:9-13. We will also address the current violence in the Middle East between Israel and Hamas, and answer a question from a reader about Jesus’ statement from the cross, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?”

Current Events: Israel and Palestine

Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist organization, recently started launching rockets into Israel this last week. In response, Israel started shooting the rockets down and returning fire. It has been shocking to see how many people have responded to these events. Rather than condemning Hamas for launching the rockets in the first place, many are condemning Israel for defending themselves and retaliating.

The idiocy of condemning Israel for defending itself is nicely summed up by a recent satirical Babylon Bee headline, which said: “Tensions Rise In Middle East As One Side Wants To Kill Jews And The Other Side Are Jews Who Don’t Want To Die And Neither Will Compromise” It’s satire, but like all good satire, it’s pretty close to the truth of what is actually being said by many leaders and politicians. “Why is Israel so mean in attacking the poor Palestinians?” they whine. “All the Palestinians want is to kill all the Jews.”

My stance is that Israel has a right to defend itself against the unprovoked attacks from Hamas.

But there’s the problem. Many on the left are saying that Hamas was provoked. And what did Israel do to provoke Hamas? Well … they defended themselves. I read one article this week in which the liberal journalist said that Hamas just wants the land back that Israel “stole” from them in the 1967 six-day war. But when you go back and look at what actually happened in 1967, some of the surrounding Arab nations decided to attack Israel. In preparation for this attack, they told the Arab people in Israel to temporarily leave so that they would not die in the attack.

Israel, of course, defended herself from the attack and was victorious. And to further protect herself from future attacks, they kept the land that they won in the war, which had been abandoned by the Arabs. Of course, now, most of the world condemns Israel for “illegally taking and occupying” Palestinian territory. But that is not what happened at all. Israel defended herself, and continues to do so, against Hamas, which has publicly declared that their primary goal is to obliterate and destroy Israel as a nation.

So Israel is simply defending herself against people who want to destroy her. Is that a crime? Of course not.

The other criticism we recently hear from various politicians and journalists is that Israel does not have a right to exist because it is an apartheid state, much like South Africa was. Members of “The Squad” in congress say that Israel is a racist country that dehumanizes the Arab citizens of Israel and keeps them from being elected or having power.

But this is a bald-faced lie.

Israel is a democracy. Is is the only democracy in the Middle East. Israel affords its Arab citizens full rights. Arab Israelis are full participants in Israeli society. They vote in elections and Arab parties sit in parliament. There are Arab justices on the Supreme Court. About 20% of doctors in Israel and about half of pharmacists are Arab. Only 20%! Such racism! Well, Arabs are a minority in Israel, representing 20% of the population, so 20% representation is exactly what you would expect.

The Palestinian territories, however, are the exact opposite. You cannot find an Arab-dominated country that affords Jews the same rights in Arab countries that Israel gives to Arab citizens in Israel. There is a complete lack of democracy among Arab nations. Jewish and Christian minorities are abused, mistreated, and given almost no voice at all in these other countries. Therefore, all Arab countries are more apartheid than Israel has ever been.

All this is to say that I stand by Israel in her right to defend herself against attacks. And I condemn the violent and unprovoked attacks by Hamas upon the Israeli people.

It should also be pointed out that none of this would be happening right now if President Trump had been re-elected. There was peace in the Middle-East during his years in office, largely due to his strong stance on foreign policy. The death and violence occurring right now in the Middle East can be laid squarely on Biden’s weak and incoherent foreign policy. I hope that all Christians can condemn the violence in Israel and call for Hamas to stop attacking Israel. We must pray and work for the peace of Israel.

Letter from a Listener

Here is a question I received from Joan Vitale:

I have a question regarding Jesus “My God My God why have you forsaken Me?”

Common beliefs are that God turned away from Jesus at the moment as He took upon the sins of the world. I am not convinced this is so. Why? Because God never leaves us never forsakes us. Why would He forsake His only Son?

Instead I feel that Jesus did not become sin for us, but rather He became the sacrifice for our sins just as the Old Testament sacrifices did not take away people’s sins but instead they were sacrificially offered (sin offering) and that is why Jesus is also known as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

What are your beliefs on this?

Joan, I like your thinking on this. Especially the fact that since God will never leave or forsake us, why would God leave or forsake Jesus? It doesn’t make sense.

I have answered this question previously, here is the link: Why Did Jesus say “My God, My God, Why Have You Forsaken Me?”

But here is a brief summary of what I wrote in that article:

Jesus came to this earth to fully identify with us as humans. However, how could Jesus do this if He never sinned? We live in a constant state of sinfulness, which is a large part of the fear, pain, and frustration we experience as humans. How can Jesus identify with us if He never experienced this pain and frustration of sin?

I believe Jesus did experience it when He took our sin upon Himself on the cross. It was only when the crushing despair of being separated from God came upon Him, that He finally felt what we humans have lived with since we were born. The pain and anguish we feel every day, the suffering of being separated from God that has so numbed our souls, the despair and fear that drives us to live as we do, was felt for the very first time by Jesus on the cross when sin came upon Him.

His cry, “My God, my God, Why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 17:46; Psalm 22:1) is not the cry of the God-forsaken God, but is the heart cry of every single human being on earth. It is the cry we have been voicing since the beginning when we fell into sin.

This is not just the cry of Jesus on the cross. This is the cry of every single person on earth.

It is our pain, our fear, our hurt, our despair, finally being given a voice. It is the cry of God fully entering into our broken condition and fully experiencing the sense of separation from God that sin causes, and crying out in anguish and despair over this sense of loss, “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?”

When we feel that God is ignoring us, or has abandoned us, Jesus knows what we feel, and He cries out to God on our behalf, “Why have You forsaken Me?”

When we experience fear in the night about our future, Jesus knows what we feel, and He cries out to God on our behalf, “Why have You forsaken Me?”

When bad things happen in this world, and we wonder what God is doing about them (if anything), Jesus knows what we feel, and He cries out to God on our behalf, “Why have You forsaken Me?”

When we feel despised and rejected, abused and slandered, misunderstood and forgotten, and we wonder why God seems to be doing nothing to protect and defend us, Jesus knows what we feel, and He cries out to God on our behalf, “Why have You forsaken Me?”

The separation from God that Jesus experienced on the cross is the separation from God that humans experience every day. Certainly, since He is God and since He bore every sin of every person, He experienced this separation to an infinite degree. But still, the cry of Jesus from the cross, “My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?” is not just the cry of Jesus, but is our cry.

It is the cry of every single human being on earth. Jesus was giving voice to our pain and anguish.

Do you feel abandoned by God? Jesus knows what that feels like. Do you feel forsaken, neglected, forgotten, and overlooked? Jesus knows what that feels like. Do you feel like God has turned His back? Jesus knows what that feels like.

But here is the thing…

The original question was “How can Jesus say ‘Why have you forsaken me?’ when God did not actually forsake Him?”

Just as Jesus felt what we all feel to be forsaken, so also, none of us have been forsaken, just as Jesus Himself was not.

Though you may feel abandoned by God, you are no more abandoned than was Jesus. Though you may feel forsaken, forgotten, neglected, and overlooked, these things are no more true of you than they were of Jesus. Though you may feel unloved, this is no more true of you than it was for Jesus.

Though Jesus cried out, “Why have you forsaken me?” He was NOT forsaken. And neither are we.

This is a feeling that Jesus experienced, which is a feeling we ALL experience.

And this feeling does not come because we are forsaken, but because of sin. Sin has separated us from God; it has not separated God from us. This is why God had to reconcile the world to Himself (1 Cor 5:19). He didn’t need to reconcile Himself to the world, for He never left or abandoned us.

Though we may feel forsaken, we are not forsaken any more than Jesus was forsaken.

God did not forsake Jesus, and God does not forsake us. The presence of sin in our lives makes us feel like we are forsaken, like God has abandoned us, forgotten us, or left us alone to suffer and die, when in fact, God is right there all the time, holding us, loving us, and crying with us over our pain.

It is sin that makes us feel separated from God, and this is the feeling Jesus expressed on the cross, and is one reason Jesus went to the cross – to take our sin and bear it away into death so that we can see that God has not left us, has not abandoned us, and has not forsaken us, but has fully entered into our pain, our suffering, and even into our sin, so that He might show us how much He loves and cares for us. This truth is explained in more detail in my book, The Atonement of God.

Hope that helps a bit!

Salvation in the Son (Ephesians 1:9-13)

This study is drawn from my sermon on Ephesians 1:7-13.

Ephesians 1:9-10. And he made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.

In Ephesians 1:9, Paul says that for many years, God had a secret, a mystery, which He has just now made known to the world.

The fact that it is a mystery does not mean it was hard to understand, but simply that it was something previously unknown. There were clues and hints about this mystery throughout the Old Testament, but now God has made it plain as day and wants the whole world to know.

Paul says this was a mystery of God’s will, according to his good pleasure and that it primarily involved Christ, and that the accomplishment of this mystery of God’s will would not be completed until the end of time.

And what is that mystery? It is that God was going to unite all the people of the world into one family in Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 1:9-10 says that God’s goal was to to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. This is a reference to the church as the body of Christ. The Church is the key to world peace.

We previously discussed the ongoing violence in the Middle East between the Jews and the Arabs. According to Paul, the key to peace between warring people groups is not more violence, but to see that we are not two different people groups, but are rather one people under Jesus Christ. We are not enemies, but brothers, with one another.

This truth will be unpacked in great detail in Ephesians 2. Ephesians 2 is all about how to bring peace to warring groups of people.

Now when Paul says that everything is brought together into one head, Jesus Christ, Paul is not teaching that everyone will become a Christian here—or that Satan and his demons will be united to Christ. No, this is unbiblical. This verse is saying that Christ will rule over all—will have dominion over all. The kingdom of God has come upon the earth in Jesus Christ, and everyone and everything is under the rule of this kingdom, but the power and plans are still not accepted or followed everywhere, which is why the church is supposed to go forward in the name of Jesus to show the world how to live at peace with each other.

Again, this is foreshadowing of Ephesians 2, where Paul will show how Jesus did all this, and how we can call the world to peace as well.

Ephesians 1:11-12 summarize the blessings of God in Christ that we have so far been given, so I’m not going to spend much time on these verses because they are simply reiterating and repeating what Paul has already said.

Ephesians 1:11. In him we were also [made heirs], having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will,

Again, Paul is just reiterating the fact that our predestination was not to eternal life, but to the adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies, the giving of an inheritance to His children. The inheritance, the riches, the blessings, is what Paul is describing in these first three chapters of Ephesians.

Ephesians 1:12. … in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.

The first to hope in Christ were simply Paul and the first believers in Ephesus. But this still applies to us as well. It says that all of this that is done is for God’s glory. It is not for our glory, or our praise, but for the praise of God’s glory alone. The truth of these verses then is that as Christians, we have incredible riches in Christ. We are spiritual multi-billionaires.

Finally, the first part of Ephesians 1:13 summarizes all of the riches we have in Jesus Christ by including them as elements within the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.

Ephesians 1:13a. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.

The word of truth and the gospel of your salvation are different terms for the same message. This message is simply the good news of salvation.

Understanding the word salvation is going to be very important as we continue to work our way through Ephesians, especially when we get to Ephesians 2:8-9. So let us pause briefly here in Ephesians 1:13 to point out once again that the word salvation does not refer to going to heaven when you die. Instead, the word means “deliverance” and the context reveals what we are delivered from. I will explain this word in great detail in my Gospel Dictionary online course.

In Ephesians 1:13, the word salvation does not refer to escaping hell and going to heaven when we die. It does not refer to receiving eternal life. Instead, it refers to being liberated from the devastating and destructive consequences of sin in our lives so that we can live now, in this life, the way God wants us to live. How? By recognizing the vast storehouse of riches that we have in Jesus Christ, and then learning to live in light of those now. By starting to draw on our inheritance now.

This is what the word salvation means in Ephesians. It is not talking about where we go when we die, but rather, how our life is to be lived now in light of the riches we have in Jesus Christ. This is also how Paul refers to salvation in Ephesians 2, which, again, we will discuss further when we get there.

The concept of salvation in Paul’s writings is very close to the concept of the Kingdom of God in the teaching of Jesus. Just as the Kingdom of God does not refer to going to heaven when we die, and just as the Kingdom of God refers to God’s rule and reign in our lives right now, so also, salvation does not refer to going to heaven when we die, but refers to the redemption and release from our captivity to sin so that we can live lives of freedom, grace, glory, and joy within God’s family here in this life and for all eternity.

So we have seen two great riches in Ephesians 1. The great riches we have in Jesus include the resources to break free from patterns of sin and to live in our lives as God wants, calls, and desires us to live. In this way, we can rule and reign with Jesus in the Kingdom of God on this earth and for all eternity. As we live this way, we show the world how to live in peace with God and with one another.

But if this seems like a difficult task, there is another great blessing God has given to us, which gives us the power to live as God wants and desires. We will look at this next great blessing next time when we consider the rest of Ephesians 1:13.

The Rich Young Ruler and You (Matthew 19:16-24)

By Jeremy Myers

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Money! Money! Money! It’s the money episode! In this podcast study, I talk about cryptocurrency, a reader email about tithing, and the story of the Rich Young Ruler in Matthew 19:16-24. We see that Jesus was NOT telling the young man that he had to give up all his money in order to go to heaven. The story is about something else entirely.

Cryptocurrency like Bitcoin and Dogecoin are in the News!

Have you heard of cryptocurrency? They’re in the news a lot this week, so I decided to talk a a bit about them. I explain what they are, why they’re important and gainin widespread acceptance, and how to get some if you want. Ten years ago, Bitcoin was $1. It hit $48,000 today. Dogecoin is the most entertaining cryptocurrency, which causes many to believe it will be the most successful. It currently sits at $.07, and many believe it will hit $1 this year. Where will it be in ten years?

I personally bought a tiny fraction of one Bitcoin and several hundred Dogecoins this past week.

Best and easiest is Coinbase. Use my link to get $10 of free Bitcoin if you buy at least $100. That’s 10% instant profit though, so you might as well take it.

But Coinbase doesn’t sell Dogecoin. So if you want Dogecoin, use Robinhood. Use that Robinhood link to get a free stock when you sign up.

Reader Email about Tithing

A reader sent me a question about tithing this week. He wanted to know if he is really supposed to tithe 10% to his church or not.

I have written a lot about this before. There’s a whole section on tithing in my book (#AmazonAdLink) Church is More than Bodies, Bucks, & Bricks. Here are some links on my site you can read as well:

The bottom line truth about tithing is that most of what we have been taught in our churches about tithing is flat-out wrong. In the Bible, tithing is closer to what you and I would think of as income tax. But even then, the tithe went to help local people, rather than to nameless and faceless governmental programs. Most surprisingly of all, that 10% tithe we so often hear about from our pulpits was primarily for the purpose of hosting a large community party for everyone who came. It was to help pay for everybody to come together once a year for a giant music, arts, and food festival.

There’s a lot more to it than that, but there is nothing in Scripture to support the practice we have today of paying 10% of your annual income to cover the costs of an expensive church building and staff salaries. This doesn’t mean you can’t have buildings and church staff. You can. But what you cannot do is defend the practice from the Bible.

Anyway, the bottom line answer to the question is this: “No, the Bible does not command us to give 10% of our income to the local church.” It is smart to use some of your money to support people, ministries, and causes that you believe in, and to help the poor and needy in your community, but also make sure you are using some of your money to make memories with your spouse and children, and to also enjoy life a bit.

Read some of the articles linked to above (or just get the book) to learn more about what the Bible teaches about tithing.

The Rich Young Ruler in Matthew 19:16-24

I have previously taught about the Rich Young Ruler here and here.

The passages of Matthew 19:16-24, Mark 10:17-31, and Luke 18:18-30 all tell the account of a rich, young ruler coming to Jesus to ask how he can have eternal life. Jesus tells him to give all his wealth away, and then come follow Jesus. The young man went away sorrowful, because he was very rich. After his departure, Jesus and His disciples have a discussion about wealth and the kingdom of heaven.

This is a confusing text for many Christians because many people think that the term “kingdom of heaven” refers to heaven itself. And so many believe that when Jesus taught about how difficult it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven, He was saying that it is difficult for the rich to receive eternal life and go to heaven when they die.

Thus, it is taught, the rich must give away their wealth in order to have a chance at eternal life.

But this is a works-based message of eternal life and is completely contrary to the free offer of eternal life found everywhere in Scripture.

If eternal life is freely given to anyone and everyone who simply and only believes in Jesus for it, it would be a biblical contradiction for Jesus to also say that the rich must give away their wealth to receive eternal life.

Thankfully, a proper understanding of the concept of the kingdom of heaven helps explain this apparent contradiction. When Jesus teaches about the dangers of wealth, He is not referring to the difficulty the rich will have in receiving eternal life, but to the difficulty they will have in experiencing the rule and reign of God in their life here and now on this earth.

The Kingdom of God is about the Rule and Reign of God in our life NOW

The context of these passages provides numerous lines of evidence to show that Jesus is talking about experiencing eternal life in our present life through the rule and reign of God, rather than about how to receive eternal life and go to heaven when we die.

For example, other than the initial question by the rich, young ruler in Matthew 19:16, the rest of the passage is about inheriting eternal life, following Jesus on the path of discipleship, and entering the kingdom of heaven. So despite how the rich, young ruler phrased his initial question, Jesus answer a more important question for this particular person.

The Gospel authors understood this, and so the parallel versions in Mark 10:17-31 and Luke 18:18-30 have the rich young ruler have the rich, young ruler asking how to “inherit” eternal life. Furthermore, Jesus later clarifies in Matthew 19:29 that He is only talking about inheriting eternal life (which refers to the present age experience of eternal life), Mark and Luke use the word inherit for consistency’s sake when they record the question from the rich young ruler (Mark 10:17; Luke 18:18).

Now which question did the rich, young ruler originally ask? It is difficult to say. Probably he spoke in Hebrew or Aramaic, and so Matthew translated the man’s word one way while Mark and Luke translated it another. But regardless of what was in the mind of the rich, young ruler, however, Jesus answered his question in a way that reached to the heart of the issue, and the heart of the young man.

Wealth in Jewish society

In Jewish society, wealth was a sign of God’s divine blessing. Due to various promises in the Hebrew Scriptures, it was assumed that if a person was observing the law and was wealthy, God had blessed them with their wealth because of how successful they were in observing the law. This belief would obviously not apply to someone like Zacchaeus, who was clearly making no effort to observe the law, but would absolutely apply to someone like this young ruler.

He believed that he had observed the entire law since his youth (Matt 19:20), and everyone else believed it also (cf. Matthew 19:25).

When Jesus instructed the rich, young ruler to give away all his wealth and then come follow Him, Jesus was challenging this entire way of thinking about the connection between God’s law and human wealth. Jesus was showing that there is no true connection between the two. Wealth is not an outward sign of inner righteousness.

Jesus wanted to show this young man, as well as the disciples, how to truly live in righteousness, which comes through following Jesus in discipleship and living in light of the kingdom of God. But Jesus cannot do this as long as a person is looking to their own ability to be righteous, or to their own wealth as a sign of personal righteousness. So he tells the young man to discard all evidence or thought of personal righteousness and then come follow Him to see what righteous living truly looked like. But the young man went away because he was unwilling to do this.

The Kingdom of God is Entered Through Discipleship

So the answer from Jesus is not about how to receive, gain, or have eternal life, but how to inherit or experience God’s will, purpose, and blessings for our life here and now on this earth. As we follow Jesus on the path of discipleship in this life we will experience the life God wants for us now and also gain treasure for our future life in eternity (Mark 10:21: Luke 18:22).

All of this is about entering into the kingdom of God (Mark 10:23-25; Luke 18:24-25), which is shorthand for entering into the experience of the rule and reign of God in our lives here and now on this earth.

But what about the word “saved”?

Note that the disciples use the word “saved” (Mark 10:26; Luke 18:26), which also causes confusion in the minds of some. But when we recognize that the word “saved” also does not refer to receiving eternal life or going to heaven when we die, then the passage retains its message. Jesus is talking about being delivered and rescued from the problems that wealth brings, so that His followers can experience the rule and reign of God in their life now.

The surrounding context makes it clear that Jesus and the disciples are talking about discipleship and eternal reward rather than justification and receiving eternal life (Mark 10:28-30; Luke 18:28-29).

What Jesus Might Say to Us Today

In modern, Western culture, while some people see wealth as a sign of God’s blessing on a person who is fully obedient to Him, this is not a widely held view. If Jesus were physically walking the earth today, I can imagine a scenario in which a well-known, young pastor comes to Jesus and says, “Good teacher, what must I do to experience God’s life?” The young pastor only asks this because he thinks he is already experiencing God’s life, and believes Jesus will praise Him for his great success at such a young age.

Instead, Jesus says, “Well, what is it that you teach from your pulpit and write about in your books?”

The young pastor would respond, “People must attend church regularly, tithe 10% of their income, read the Bible and pray every day, and not be given to alcohol or drugs. They should also be a good witness at their job by wearing Christian t-shirts, a cross-shaped necklace, and never laugh at crude jokes. Instead, they must hand out Gospel tracts and invite people to church.”

Jesus would respond, “Okay. Go do all of that then.”

To which the young man would proudly boast, “I’ve done all this since I was a kid.”

“Well done!” Jesus would say. “Only one thing is left. Resign as pastor. Stop selling books. Quit preaching. Throw out all your gospel tracts and Christian clothes. Stop tithing to the church. Put your Bible on a shelf for a while, and go have a beer at the local pub. Then come follow Me and we’ll see what’s next.” But the young pastor would go away, thinking that Jesus was a false teacher, for the young man had it all figured out.

In this text, Jesus is showing that there is no such thing as an outward manifestation of inward righteousness. However, if we want to truly experience the life of God in us, and all the riches and blessings that entails, we can stop following religion and instead follow Jesus into a life of discipleship. While Jesus always leads in surprising directions, but also leads us toward a true life with God.

Matthew 19:16-24 therefore, is not about how to receive eternal life, but about how to get rid of the things in our life that we rely on as evidence that we are “good” Christians, and instead just follow Jesus wherever He leads. What things do you look to for proof that God loves and accepts you? That you are doing a “good job” for Jesus? Get rid of such things, and then come to Jesus empty-handed, saying, “Wherever You lead, I’ll follow.”

When you do this, Jesus will lead you into a full experience of the kingdom of God.

Is the Gospel Defined in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4?

By Jeremy Myers

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1 Corinthians 15 does not contain the entire gospel. Nor is it a comprehensive list of what a person must believe to receive eternal life. To the contrary, how to receive eternal life is not even in view. Eternal life is assumed, and some elements of the gospel are proclaimed to help those who already have eternal life live in light of it.

This study is an excerpt from my Gospel Dictionary online course. This course considers 52 key words of the Gospel and thousands of biblical texts. The course contains over 100 hours Bible teaching. You can take the course by joining my online discipleship group.

The Gospel in 1 Corinthians 15

Paul’s explanation of the gospel in 1 Corinthians 15 is probably more controversial than any other gospel-related passage in the New Testament. This is because 1 Corinthians 15 seems to explicitly define “the gospel.” Paul writes, “Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:1-2).

Paul writes that he is going to reiterate to them the gospel he preached when he was among them, which they had received, and in which they still stand. All of this is very similar to the language he used in Galatians 2.

The dilemma with what Paul writes, however, comes in the second half of 1 Corinthians 15:2: “…by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached.” By this, many believe that Paul is explaining what is necessary to believe in order to receive everlasting life.

But note that if this is what Paul means then the last part of verse 2 (“unless you believed in vain”) implies that if a person doesn’t persevere in holding fast to the gospel, then they either lose their salvation or never really believed in the first place. If Paul is defining what a person must believe in order to be justified, then apparently, they have to continue to believe it to stay justified or prove themselves justified.

The only other option is to recognize that the word “saved” is not referring to going to heaven when you die, but is similar in meaning to how Paul used the word in Romans 1:16-17.

The word saved means “delivered,” and context determines what we are delivered from (see Salvation: The Most Misunderstood Word in the Bible). The word “saved” in 1 Corinthians refers to being “healthy” or blameless at the Judgment Seat of Christ (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:18, 21; 3:15; 5:5; 6:19). The word “saved” in 1 Corinthians is not about escaping hell and go to heaven when we die (It almost never means this in the Bible). Instead, it is about believers living in such a way so that when they stand at the Judgment Seat of Christ (a judgment for believers only), they receive praise and commendation from Jesus for a life well lived.

So the gospel Paul defines in 1 Corinthians 15 is a message for believers to help prepare them for the Judgment Seat of Christ.

This passage is not about the essential elements that must be believed in order to receive everlasting life. This is not a passage for unbelievers.

Rather, 1 Corinthians 15 contains essential discipleship truths which affect our sanctification as believers and how we use the power of God in our lives (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:18).

What if 1 Corinthians 15 IS for non-Christians about how to receive eternal life?

Nevertheless, some still want to use 1 Corinthians 15 as a central passage for the gospel that must be presented to unbelievers so they can receive eternal life. So for the sake of argument, let us briefly assume that such a view is correct.

Let us assume that Paul is talking about essential “evangelistic” truths that a person must believe in order to receive everlasting life. In this view, 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 delineate what these essentials are. Paul writes, “For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: 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.”

When these two verses are used to define the essential gospel elements that people must believe in order to receive eternal life, they end up with three basic gospel truths. This passage, we are told, reveals three things a person must believe in order to receive everlasting life. They must believe that:

Christ died for our sins.
He was buried.
He rose again from the dead.

Some might add a fourth element on the top of this list which is implied by Paul but not stated explicitly, namely that we must also believe we are sinners. The logic is that since Paul writes that Christ died for our sins, people must first believe that they are sinful before they can believe that Christ died for their sins. Fine. Let us give the benefit of the doubt, and allow this implied truth of the gospel as well.

But this approach leads to some serious problems about Paul’s definition of the gospel.

For example, who within Christendom does not believe these three (or four) truths? Sure, there might be a few liberal pastors and scholars who deny that we are sinners or argue that Jesus didn’t actually rise from the dead, but for the most part, these three (or four) truths are known, accepted, and believed by just about everybody who bears the name “Christian.” Even the “non-evangelical” fringe groups such as Mormons and Jehovah Witnesses believe these things.

Furthermore, entire segments of Christianity which teach that eternal life is based on our own effort and good works will also wholeheartedly agree to these statements. There is very little in these statements to separate evangelical Christianity from all other forms. There is nothing here to separate orthodoxy from unorthodoxy; nothing which separates true Christianity from cultic Christianity.

Let me put it another way: What if someone believed they were a sinner, that Jesus died on the cross for their sin, was buried, and three days later He rose again from the dead, all in accordance with what Scripture says, but at the same time, believed that Jesus was only human, was not born of a virgin, and sinned just like the rest of us?

Has this person understood and believed the biblical gospel? Of course not! But nothing that Paul says here indicates anything wrong with these other beliefs.

Furthermore, it would be possible to believe everything Paul states in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, but also believe that we still had to live a life of good works in order to make it to heaven. Has such a person understood and believed the gospel? I would say “No,” as would most evangelical pastors and authors.

Some pastors and Bible teachers recognize this dilemma, and so they add some ideas to what Paul mentions here to help clarify the gospel. They argue that although Paul does not mention these other items here in 1 Corinthians 15, he does mention them elsewhere, such as in Galatians 2 and Romans, and so these other elements can be safely added to Paul’s list of essential gospel truths.

Of course, as soon as people start to go outside of 1 Corinthians 15 to add elements to the gospel, there is no consistency in which elements people start adding. Some Bible teachers will add elements about the deity of Jesus and the necessity of justification by faith alone apart from works. Others will include the sinless life of Jesus, His virgin birth, His atonement, and whatever other “essential” gospel truths they think are necessary.

But as soon as we start adding things to the list of what a person must believe in order to truly have everlasting life, there is no rational stopping place. It is all subjective to how much doctrine you want to throw into the mix. Some will have three essentials, another will have five, while someone else will have eight or ten.

And of course, all of these truths can be shown to be essential to the “gospel” since all of them, in one place or another in the New Testament are included in the gospel.

This arbitrary practice of augmenting Paul’s definition of the gospel in 1 Corinthians 15 proves that Paul is not defining the gospel after all. He is including some of the essential truths of the gospel, but by no means is he including them all.

Evidence of this is further found in the fact that although most pastors and Bible teachers want Paul’s definition of the gospel to conclude at 1 Corinthians 15:4, this is not where Paul himself stops defining the gospel. He goes on to include numerous truths within his definition of the gospel which no pastor or Bible teacher ever includes in their augmented lists.

Paul continues on through at least 1 Corinthians 15:8, and maybe further than that. In 1 Corinthians 15:5-8, he says, “… and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.”

So if 1 Corinthians 15 defines what a person must believe to receive everlasting life, not only must we include the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, but also the appearances of Christ to Cephas, then the twelve, then to over 500 at once, then to James, then to the apostles, then last of all to Paul.

If Paul is truly defining the essential gospel elements in 1 Corinthians 15 that an unbeliever must believe in order to receive eternal life, we have no right to arbitrarily stop his definition in 1 Corinthians 15:4, but must include all of the elements he includes, and not add anything he fails to mention. But many pastors and Bible teachers do both—they first add to Paul’s supposed gospel definition in 1 Corinthians 15 and then they also cut things out.

The only available solution to this problem is that Paul is simply mentioning some of the elements of the broader gospel in order to make a particular point to the believers in Corinth. And what point is that?

Paul is explaining the Gospel Truths about the Resurrection to Believers so they can Properly Live

In context, it is a point about the resurrection of Jesus and the future bodily resurrection of all believers (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:20-58). Paul wants the Corinthians believers to be praised and well-received at the Judgment Seat of Christ, and to do that, they need to understand that a future bodily resurrection is coming, after which time they will stand before Jesus and give an answer to Him for how they have lived their lives (cf. 1 Corinthians 3:11-17).

Toward this goal, Paul provides some specific truths from the multi-faceted and all-encompassing gospel which will help them understand that the bodily resurrection of Jesus proves that all believers in Jesus will also be bodily resurrected in the future.

So while the gospel truths of 1 Corinthians 15 can be shared with unbelievers, the truths Paul mentions are primarily directed toward believers, to encourage them to live lives by faith in the Son of God and follow Him in love, service, and self-sacrifice so that we will be spiritually healthy, strong, and bold when we stand before Jesus at the Judgment Seat of Christ.

To summarize then, 1 Corinthians 15 does not contain the entire gospel. Nor is it a comprehensive list of what a person must believe to receive eternal life. To the contrary, how to receive eternal life is not even in view. Eternal life is assumed, and some elements of the gospel are proclaimed to help those who already have eternal life live in light of it. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul is defending the resurrection by showing that since Jesus was raised, believers will be raised also.

Conclusion

So what is the gospel? It can easily be proved from Scripture that the gospel is more than faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. Much more. The gospel includes elements of the kingdom of God on earth. It includes facts about justification, sanctification, glorification, security in heaven, satisfaction and contentment on earth, and eternal reward. The gospel includes all this and more.

Do you see what this scholar is saying about the gospel? The gospel is not just the content of what is preached, but is also everything God has done for the world in the incarnation, death, and resurrection of Jesus, including the act, process, and execution of the proclamation. The gospel is good news for everybody, whether Jew or Gentile, believer or unbeliever, regarding the benefits and blessings which come to us from the person and work of Jesus Christ.

And while different biblical authors seem to have different gospels, all they really have is different elements which they emphasize in the one all-encompassing, multi-faceted gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel contains everything related to the person and work, of Jesus Christ, including the events before, during, and after His incarnation.

So do you believe the gospel? I hope you not only believe the gospel truths you have been taught, but also endeavor to learn and believe more gospel truths. Most of all, I hope you believe the central gospel truth of them all, that eternal life is the free gift of God to those who believe in Jesus for it.

Understanding the Gospel requires us to properly understand the key words and terms of the Gospel. Take my course, "The Gospel Dictionary" to learn about the 52 key words of the Gospel, and hundreds of Bible passages that use these words.

This course costs $297, but when you join the Discipleship group, you can to take the entire course for free.

What is the Gospel in Romans?

By Jeremy Myers

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The gospel in Romans is the same gospel taught elsewhere in the New Testament. It is a message for both unbelievers and believers. Unbelievers should place faith in Jesus for justification and eternal life; believers should live a life of faith so that the power of God can deliver them from the power of sin in their lives.

What is the Gospel in Romans?

If Romans is Paul’s magnum opus on the gospel, we should expect his letter to contain a clear explanation about the content of the gospel he preached. And this is exactly what we find. If Galatians is Paul’s defense of the gospel, Romans is where he defines the gospel. But we must be careful to include everything within the gospel that Paul himself does.

From my own study of Romans, it seems that many stop short of including everything within the gospel which Paul includes in his letter to the Romans. Many want to stop at the end of Romans 5, or maybe the end of Romans 8, but a careful reading of Romans reveals that Paul’s gospel explanation carries all the way through Romans 16.

Paul begins his letter right away by talking about the gospel. He wants to tell his readers what his letter is about, and so from the opening statement in his letter, he indicates that he will be writing about the gospel of God (Romans 1:1). Romans 1:1 indicates that all sixteen chapters concern the gospel, not just the first three, five, or eight chapters.

The Gospel in Romans 1:1-5

In Romans 1:1, we read, “Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God.” The following verses explain what he was separated to.

First, Paul states that the gospel of God was “promised before though His prophecies in the Holy Scriptures” (Romans 1:2). In other words, the gospel was a topic of prophecy. But in Romans 1:3, he really gets into the content of the gospel. This gospel concerns “His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.”

As can be immediately seen, Romans 1:1-2 contains several elements of the gospel which are normally not included in typical gospel presentations. Not only does Paul’s gospel include Old Testament prophecy, but it also includes the Lordship of Jesus Christ and the fact that according to the flesh, Jesus was born of the seed of David. Though many teach that the Lordship of Christ is essential to the gospel, almost nobody today includes the descendancy of Jesus from David.

Thirdly, he goes on to write that Jesus was declared to be the Son of God (Romans 1:4). This can be understood in various ways, either as a reference to the deity of Jesus or to His royal kingship, but either way, Paul stipulates that he is thinking primarily of the power and authority Jesus received after the resurrection. Nobody denies that the resurrection is central to the gospel, though few mention the power and authority as the Son of God that Jesus received by the resurrection from the dead.

In Romans 1:5 Paul explains why he was separated to the gospel, and why he preached. He says that he preached this gospel “for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name.” There are numerous ways this phrase “obedience to the faith” can be understood. The best option is that Paul is not primarily referring to initial faith in Jesus for justification, but the continual life of faith in Christ which results in obedience.

So Paul’s gospel in Romans is not simply to tell unbelievers how to receive justification and everlasting life. Paul’s gospel in his letter to the Romans includes this truth, but much more as well. Paul wants to emphasize how justified believers can live the life of faithful obedience to God, thereby escaping the temporal wrath of God in this life which comes upon us as a result of sin.

The Gospel in Romans 1:16-17

This idea is further seen in Romans 1:16-17, the key verses of Romans. The main point of these verses is that the gospel Paul preached is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.

“Salvation” in the Bible is not primarily about how to receive eternal life, but is instead about deliverance from some sort of physical, temporal, or even spiritual calamity, we are led to look into the context for what kind of deliverance Paul has in view. And we need not look far.

Romans 1:16 itself indicates that whatever deliverance Paul has in view, it is deliverance for believers, that is, it is for people who have already believed. The deliverance in view is not for people who have not yet believed, but for those who have believed, both Jews and Gentiles alike.

And in Romans 1:17, we see a theme that reminds us of what we saw in Galatians, that believers should live their life in Jesus by faith. Going on into Romans 1:18 and following, Paul writes about how the wrath of God comes upon those who practice unrighteousness, and in Romans 2 Paul indicates that this wrath (which is not hell!) can fall upon anybody who practices unrighteousness, believer and unbeliever alike—for there is no partiality with God (Romans 2:8-11).

Paul does not want this temporal discipline of God to fall upon anybody, and especially not the believers in Rome to whom he is writing, and so He calls them in the following chapters to live their lives by faith in the Son of God. This is the idea he introduced in Romans 1:16-17, and which he expounds throughout his entire letter.

A Gospel for Believers

So in Romans, Paul is not teaching a gospel for unbelievers, but for believers. He wants to tell those who have already believed how to be delivered from the “wrath of God” coming against those who practice unrighteousness.

Paul’s gospel in Romans is a message about how all people, whether Jew or Greek, can escape the temporal devastation caused by sin in this life. And how does that occur? Unbelievers must believe in Jesus for justification (Romans 2–4). Believers must live a life of faith under the cross of Jesus Christ (Romans 5–8). But Paul’s gospel does not stop with chapter 8. He wants believers to live a life of faith, whether they are Jewish believers or Gentile believers. And so in Romans 9–11, Paul addresses some particular concerns that Jewish believers face concerning the wrath of God, the ingrafting of the Gentiles, and the future of the Jewish people as God’s chosen nation.

To be delivered from temporal wrath, it is critical to see that Romans 9–11 are just as much a part of Paul’s gospel as Romans 1–8. His gospel explanation does not stop at Romans 8:39, but is only half finished.

This is also true for Romans 12–16. Just as Romans 9–11 helps Jewish believers grasp the gospel as the power of God for delivering them from temporal wrath, Romans 12–16 similarly helps all believers (including Jewish believers) live in a way that will bring deliverance from temporal discipline. As evidence that the entire letter is part of Paul’s gospel, near the end of what he writes he reminds the Roman Christians that what he has written to them, though strongly stated in some areas, is so that he can be a faithful minister of the gospel of God (Romans 15:16, 19-20).

Even in his concluding remarks, he says something almost identical to what he wrote in 1:5, 16-17, that what he writes is the gospel which is for obedience to the faith (Romans 16:25-26).

So the gospel in Romans is the same gospel we have seen elsewhere in the New Testament. It is a message for both unbelievers and believers. Unbelievers should place faith in Jesus for justification and eternal life; believers should live a life of faith so that the power of God can deliver them from the power of sin in their lives. The gospel message in Romans includes a vast array of truths and ideas to accomplish these goals.

This course costs $297, but when you join the Discipleship group, you can to take the entire course for free.

What is Salvation in Ephesians 2:5-7?

Question from a Reader

What is Salvation in Ephesians 2:5-7?

By Grace You Have Been Saved (Ephesians 2:5)

Regenerated with Christ (Ephesians 2:5)

Resurrected with Christ (Ephesians 2:6a)

Reigning with Christ (Ephesians 2:6b)

Results: Riches in Christ (Ephesians 2:7)

So, what is the salvation, or the deliverance, that we have been given in Jesus Christ?

We have Salvation in Jesus … but what is salvation? (Ephesians 1:9-13)

Current Events: Israel and Palestine

Letter from a Listener

Salvation in the Son (Ephesians 1:9-13)

The Rich Young Ruler and You (Matthew 19:16-24)

Cryptocurrency like Bitcoin and Dogecoin are in the News!

Reader Email about Tithing

The Rich Young Ruler in Matthew 19:16-24

The Kingdom of God is about the Rule and Reign of God in our life NOW

Wealth in Jewish society

The Kingdom of God is Entered Through Discipleship

But what about the word “saved”?

What Jesus Might Say to Us Today

Is the Gospel Defined in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4?

The Gospel in 1 Corinthians 15

What if 1 Corinthians 15 IS for non-Christians about how to receive eternal life?

Paul is explaining the Gospel Truths about the Resurrection to Believers so they can Properly Live

Conclusion

What is the Gospel in Romans?

What is the Gospel in Romans?

The Gospel in Romans 1:1-5

The Gospel in Romans 1:16-17

A Gospel for Believers

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