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Jesus Christ began His ministry with a simple message. He
came "preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God" (Mark 1:14). He
said, "the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent
ye, and believe the gospel" (Mark 1:15). Jesus Christ came into this
world to preach what is now called simply the gospel.
The Old Testament prophet Isaiah proclaimed the essence of the same gospel
when he said, "O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up
into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift
up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities
of Judah, Behold your God!" (Isaiah 40:9). Isaiah was also preaching a
message of good tidings, a message that God would come and save His people.
Originally, the gospel meant "a reward for good tidings."
Eventually, it came to mean simply "good tidings." By closely
examining the original word of the New Testament translated gospel,
the meaning of the gospel can be understood more precisely. The root of the
original word is a compound word that means, "to announce good
news." The two words that make up the compound root are
"good" and " a messenger; especially an angel."
Furthermore, the word meaning "a messenger" has as its root the
meaning of "to lead." The good message, the gospel, is that which
leads man out of the perils of his life.
Jesus Christ came preaching a powerful message of deliverance that sets man
free from the bondage of this earthly life. The power of the gospel was
evident when "there came also a multitude out of the cities round about
unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them which were vexed with unclean
spirits: and they were healed every one" (Acts of the Apostles 5:16).
Jesus was setting people free. The gospel was a good message.
With all of its goodness, amazingly, it is rejected by some. The reason it
is rejected is it proclaims deliverance. By proclaiming deliverance, it
states that there is something of which man must be delivered. Herein lies
the reason why some men reject the goodness of the gospel.
There is not a man anywhere, clothed in his right mind, that would reject
the healing of body, soul, and spirit. If man could be given this powerful
life, this healing of body, soul, and spirit, as a separate entity merely
added to his existence, there would be none that would reject the gospel.
The gospel is rejected by many, however, when it is understood that this
life of freedom from bondage comes only to those who have been brought to
the end of themselves. This mystery of being set free can be illustrated by
Jesus in a statement to Peter. He told him, "Verily, verily, I say unto
thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou
wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands,
and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. [Then
John clarified Jesus’ statement.] This spake he, signifying by what death
he should glorify God" (John 21:18,19). The message that proclaims the
Heavenly Father will send His Son into the life of an individual to baptize
him with the Holy Spirit to take him where he could not go himself, is
rejected because it states that the individual must actually decrease and
Jesus must increase.
In other words, Jesus told Peter that he girded himself and walked according
to his own desires. Peter was directing the course of his life by the
dictates of his own mind. He was walking in the fruit of the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2,3). It was this thinking of Peter from
which he must be delivered. He needed to come to a new way of thinking. He
needed to experience repentance.
The gospel declares that all men must be delivered from the thinking of
their own mind, the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It
is this call to repentance that men reject. They reject it because it states
that how they are attempting to experience the good life is in error.
Most are willing to give up many things and to change their behavior
somewhat to experience a good life. Few, if any in their own power, are
willing to give up the control of their lives.
Although the power of the gospel that Peter and John preached was changing
the lives of many people, the Jewish High Priest rose up in indignation
(Acts of the Apostles 5:17). They did not so much oppose that people were
being set free. They opposed how they were being set free. They were jealous
of what Peter and John preached as opposed to what they were preaching.
The High Priest had Peter and John arrested and put in the common prison.
Peter and John were confined by the religious leaders. It is the nature of
all religious leaders to put the people into bondage in order that they
might later say to them that they know the way out of the confinement. If
you do what we say, you can go free. Although they have the power to put
people into bondage, they simply do not have the power to set them free.
After putting Peter and John into prison, they sent to have them brought
out. When the officers came to the prison, however, they could not find
them. In the night, "the angel of the Lord" (Acts of the Apostles
5:19) delivered them from their confinement. They were set free from the
physical prison imposed upon them by the religious leaders.
It was mystifying to the High Priest, the captain of the temple, the chief
priests, and all the counsel of the Children of Israel (Acts of the Apostles
5:21,24). When the officers of temple came to the prison, they found the
prison securely shut. Those who were in charge of keeping the prison was at
their post of duty. Every thing appeared as it was supposed to be, but when
they opened the cell to get Peter and John they found no one. The
"angel of the Lord" had set them free.
When the angel released them, he told them, "Go, stand and speak in the
temple to the people all the words of this life" (Acts of the
Apostles 5:20). They preached the same message that Jesus preached when he
came in the flesh, "the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and
believe the gospel" (Mark 1:14,15). It was the essence of the same
message Peter preached on the past feast of Pentecost, "repent, and be
baptized . . . in the name of Jesus" (Acts of the Apostles 2:38). It
was exactly what Jesus told Peter when He told him that he would no longer
gird himself and walk according to his thinking but he would walk according
to someone else’s directions. All the words of this life proclaim
that repentance and believing the gospel are inseparable. To experience the
good life of Jesus requires the forsaking of the past life of the individual
who needs salvation.
When the religious leaders were informed that the ones whom they had
imprisoned were in the temple teaching the people, they sent the captain of
the temple and his officers to bring Peter and John to the council. They
were arrested again "without violence; for they feared the people, lest
they should have been stoned" (Acts of the Apostles 5:26). When they
got them before the council, they demanded, " Did not we straitly
command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have
filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man's blood
upon us" (Acts of the Apostles 5:28).
Unwittingly, they revealed the real threat of the gospel of Jesus Christ to
every man. In charging Peter and John that their preaching was done with the
intention of laying the death of Jesus at their feet, it reveals why those
who trust in their own righteousness become indignant when they hear the
gospel. Man was created to live by experiencing the life of the Son of God.
When man attempts to experience life by his own doing, it crucifies the
essence of life within him. Each time man raises himself to attempt to live
in his own self, it crucifies Christ afresh.
Peter’s response to the elders of Israel is an astonishing revelation of
the gospel of Christ that is missed by so many people, including many
Christians. He said, "We ought to obey God rather than men. The God of
our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God
exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give
repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins" (Acts of the Apostles
5:29-31). Surprisingly, Peter is stating that repentance and forgiveness of
sins occurs not because of the cross of Christ but because of the exaltation
of Christ. Jesus Christ can save men from their sins because the Father has
"exalted [Him] with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour."
Although the resurrection and ascension of Christ cannot occur without the
death of Christ, Peter is emphasizing that it is not the death of Christ as
much as it is the exaltation of Christ that brings repentance and
forgiveness of sin. It is actually the life of Christ working within the
believer that brings about the repentance and the forgiveness. As has been
stated, repentance (and forgiveness when it is correctly understood) is less
an act of man than it is a description of what God is doing in the believer’s
life. Only the life of Christ can change the thinking of a man.
A vital clue to this mystery can be found in the understand of the phrase forgiveness
of sins. The common interpretation of forgiveness carries the idea of
being pardoned from past sins. It is to receive absolutions from past
mistakes. To most people forgiveness of sins means that they will not be
punished for their past disobedience.
The correct emphasis of the phrase "forgiveness of sins," however,
is not past sins but present or future sins. The literal meaning of the
original word that is translated forgiveness is "freedom."
The original word is translated by the KJV as deliverance, forgiveness,
liberty, and remission. The root of the word is a compound
word meaning "to send forth."
It is not the consequences of the sins that are sent away but the sins
themselves. Jesus Christ came into this world not just to forgive man from
his past sins but more importantly to enable him not to sin. Jesus Christ
came into this world to set man free from sin.
He came to give His life to them that they would live of His life, thereby
not experiencing sin, instead of attempting to live life by or in their own
perceived life. The Heavenly Father will send Jesus into the life of any
believer to enable him to experience the life of God (Acts of the Apostles
3:20). This truth is the reality of what happened to the early followers of
Christ on the feast of Pentecost following the death of Jesus. Jesus, whom
they had seen crucified, raised from the dead, and ascended, came again and
forever changed their lives.
When Peter stated that the risen Christ had returned to them to be their
life ("And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the
Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him" [Acts of the
Apostles 5:32]), it immediately cut to the heart those who trusted in their
own righteousness for their life. They became filled with so much
indignation that they took council together on how they might slay Peter and
John (Acts of the Apostles 5:33).
Upon the urging of one of their leading members of the council, a Pharisee
named Gamaliel, they sent Peter and John out of the council meeting while
they determined what to do with them. He, a doctor of the law and a man of
no small reputation, convinced the council to release Peter and John
"lest haply ye be found even to fight against God" (Acts of the
Apostle 5:39). His argument was simply that if Peter and John was not of God
they would soon pass away as others before them. If, however, they were of
God, then the council would be opposing not Peter and John but God Himself.
Upon releasing them, the council not only commanded them to stop preaching
in the name of Jesus but they also flayed the disciple with a physical
beating.
Amazingly, Peter and John departed from the council not downtrodden from
their rough treatment, but "rejoicing that they were counted worthy to
suffer shame for his name" (Acts of the Apostles 5:41). They were
beginning to learn that the pathway to God was not climbing up but rather to
be taken down. For once the Holy Spirit has enabled the believer to be taken
to the end of himself he then experiences the power of the life of Jesus
being raised out of him. He experiences the gospel.
Peter and John, filled with the Holy Spirit, continually shared the Jesus
life wherever the opportunity presented itself. They "ceased not to
teach and preach Jesus Christ" (Acts of the Apostles 5:42). They could
not "but speak the things which [they had] seen and heard." They
were experiencing Jesus and they were preaching Jesus.
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