Archives For Interpretation

Acts through "First-Century Eyes"

April 6, 2011

Following the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit began inspiring select believers to write the books of the NT. Believers likely first received the book of James, followed probably by these books in this order: Matthew; 1 & 2 Thessalonians; 1 & 2 Corinthians; Galatians; Romans; Luke; Ephesians; Colossians; Philemon; and Philippians. (Galatians may have been written after James and before Matthew; the earlier date would not change the discussion in this study in any way). After these 13 books, they received the book of Acts, followed by 13 more books.

Acts thus was written after ten of Paul’s Epistles had been written. The first recipients of the book therefore in the first place would have received the book as a welcome addition to their understanding of the apostles’ doctrine and practice that they already had from the then extant books of the NT.

Second, the first recipients of Acts would have known that Luke, the author of the book, was one of Paul’s closest ministry companions. They would have had every reason to believe that Luke knew Pauline theology about as well as anyone else in their day. They would also have known that Luke had heard Paul preach the gospel probably many scores of times and would thus be the leading expert in his day about Pauline preaching of the gospel. Given these realities, the believers would have had every reason to think that Luke’s representation in Acts of Pauline practice and theology concerning evangelism and discipleship would accord fully with Paul’s own teaching in his Epistles.

Third, they would have noted that Luke wrote Acts as a sequel to his Gospel because he addressed the book explicitly to the same person, Theophilus, and referred to his former treatise that he had written to him (Acts 1:1). They therefore would have known to interpret Acts in close connection with his Gospel. Because Luke had made known to them that his Gospel provided information that they needed for them to have certainty about the things that they had been instructed (Lk. 1:1-4), they would have inferred that Luke’s writing a sequel to it would mean that Acts was providing additional key information for them. They thus would have received the two books as vital information for their doctrine and practice.

Moreover, reading the two books as a unit, they would have noted the great length of Luke-Acts. In fact, if they had made a comparison of Luke-Acts to the Pauline Epistles, they would have discovered that Luke-Acts was far longer than all the existing Pauline Epistles of their time combined. (Even after Paul wrote his remaining books, the Pastorals, such a comparison would have shown that Luke-Acts still comprised a larger section of the NT than all the Pauline Epistles combined.) Noting the explicit purpose of Luke, the fact that Acts was a sequel to it, and the great length of Luke-Acts would have led the believers to stress the importance of both books in their doctrine and practice.

Fourth, they would have noted the distinctive teaching of Acts concerning apostolic evangelism and discipleship. Having access to both Luke and Paul, had they felt the necessity to do so, they would have been able to check on the validity of what Luke wrote in Acts. These believers, therefore, would have fully embraced all of its content without hesitation as additional divine instruction of exceeding value for their doctrine and practice concerning evangelism and discipleship.

I believe that we need to receive the book of Acts as the first believers received it. Acts is inspired of God, and at least concerning its teaching about evangelism and discipleship, is profitable for doctrine for us. Our evangelism and discipleship will only be all that God intends it to be if we heed what Acts teaches us about apostolic evangelism and discipleship.

By looking at Acts through “first-century eyes,” as explained above, we will be “perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Tim. 3:17) so that we will glorify God through our fully following the apostles in our evangelism and discipleship.

Copyright © 2011-2025 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

In Discipleship, Evangelism, Interpretation
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The Consummation of Public Worship

March 31, 2011

In any of its various forms, the word worship occurs only six times in the Pauline Epistles (Rom. 1:25; 1 Cor. 14:25; Phil. 3:3; Col. 2:18, 23; 2 Thess. 2:4). Of these, only one passage (1 Cor. 14:25) specifically speaks of worship in a church setting. This reference is especially striking because we would have expected that if Paul had used the word only once in First Corinthians, it surely would have been in his teaching about the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor. 11:17-34). Instead, he used it in the only explicit information given in Scripture about worship in an actual church service.

An examination of this passage (1 Cor. 14:23-25) brings out truth of great value for all churches. Paul begins by speaking of the whole church’s having come together into one place (14:23a). He argues with a rhetorical question that demands an affirmative answer that if all the believers were to speak with tongues, the resulting effect on unlearned or unbelieving people present in the service would be undesirable and unedifying (14:23b-c). Saying this, he makes clear that a proper church service is not one that is focused on speaking with tongues.

He then contrasts what would happen in that case with what would happen if all the believers were to prophesy (14:24). In that situation, he describes the very beneficial effects such activity in the church would have on unbelievers and unlearned people (14:24-25). Paul’s fivefold explanation of the effect on them provides crucial understanding about public worship.

First, he says that an unbelieving or unlearned person would be “convinced by all” (14:24c). Because of the congregation’s ministry, the person would be brought into conviction of sin.

Second, he would be “judged of all” (14:24d). The believers’ prophesying would bring conviction of judgment upon the person. Saying this, Paul made known that a church service is supposed to be a setting in which people become convicted of sin and judgment.

Third, his secrets would thus be made manifest (14:25a). Here Paul reveals that through the prophesying, God would make manifest to the sinner the secrets of his heart. In some unexplained manner, God would supernaturally confront the sinner with conviction of judgment to come upon him for his secret sins.

Fourth, he would therefore fall down on his face and worship God (14:25b). Recognizing that only God could have brought about such exposure of his secrets and convinced him that he deserves judgment for them, the person would publicly abase himself and worship God. Paul thus made known that the consummation of public worship includes sinful unbelievers’ and unlearned people’s publicly manifesting that God has convicted them of judgment and brought them to the place where they openly worship Him in acknowledgement of His supernatural working through the congregation.

Finally, he would report that God truly was in that body of believers (14:25c). Paul notes that the person thus brought to worship God openly would confess in some unexplained manner to the congregation that God was truly present among them.

Putting all these ideas together, we see that public worship is consummated fully when those whom God convicts of judgment for their secret sins openly acknowledge Him as God by publicly abasing themselves in some appropriate manner and then testifying of God’s working in their heart to that congregation. This passage therefore provides biblical justification for the use of some appropriate manner of public invitation in church services.

Moreover, Paul’s contrasting statements about the effects of the speaking with tongues versus prophesying strikingly show that speaking with tongues by all will not result in the desired worship of God by unbelieving and unlearned people. For them to be brought to worship God, they will have to hear prophesying by the congregation.

Furthermore, this passage teaches that unbelievers and unlearned people will only worship God aright in a service when they have been convicted of judgment to come for their secret sins. This teaching thus stresses that God desires to bring about that outcome in them through the believers’ prophesying to them. Those who minister publicly should consider these truths as they plan what the content of their prophesying will be.

Believers in all churches should be taught these important truths about the consummation of public worship. The Father desires that people worship Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:23) according to the teaching of this important passage.

Copyright © 2011-2025 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

In Discipleship, Interpretation
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The Message of the Heavens

March 30, 2011

Most believers are very familiar with David’s teaching about the message of the heavens: “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handywork” (Ps. 19:1). Not nearly as many likely have noticed that there are two more statements in Scripture that also speak about the message of the heavens:

“And the heavens shall declare [the Hebrew here may be rendered as “declare” instead of “shall declare”] his righteousness: for God is judge himself” (Ps. 50:6).

“The heavens declare his righteousness, and all the people see his glory” (Ps. 97:6).

Significantly, these two statements both contain the key word, “righteousness.” Both the Hebrew text and the Greek translation of these verses have key Bible words for that term (tsedeq; δικαιοσύνη). Furthermore, the latter statement parallels God’s righteousness with His glory, signifying that the glory of God that the heavens declare is His righteousness. Putting the teaching of the verses together suggests that the heavens declare His righteousness because He is Himself the Judge, and the glory of God that the heavens declare is that He is the righteous Judge.

In an important NT statement about a message from heaven, Paul twice uses a related word, “unrighteousness”: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness” (Rom. 1:18). Thus, both testaments have teaching that speaks of a message about God as judge in connection with a word for heaven and the concept of righteousness.

Pondering the connections among these four statements concerning the message of the heavens makes for an interesting study. I am not sure how to fit all the pieces together. I would welcome your thoughts on how these verses and the truths that they express might correlate with one another to teach us truth that we might otherwise overlook.

Copyright © 2011-2025 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

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What Jesus Wants the World to Know Through Us

March 21, 2011

John 17 provides a marvelous record of Jesus’ praying to the Father. Jesus explicitly speaks six times of the Father’s sending Him (17:3, 8, 18, 21, 23, 25):

And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.

As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.

That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.

He defines eternal life in terms that include knowing that He is the God-sent Christ (17:3). He speaks of His own disciples’ believing (17:8) and knowing (17:25) that the Father sent Him.

Concerning the world, He first parallels His sending His disciples into the world with the Father’s sending Him into the world (17:18). He then adds two explicit statements that make known His praying to the Father that the world would believe (17:21) and know (17:23) that the Father has sent Him and has loved them, as He has loved Jesus (17:23).

In these statements, Jesus teaches that it is through the unity of the believers in the Father and the Son that the world will believe and know that message. His greatest concern, however, is not the unity of the believers as an end in itself; that unity is for the higher purpose of a worldwide proper knowledge of His being sent by the Father and of the Father’s love for the world, even as He has loved Jesus.

Jesus’ prayer to the Father greatly highlights His agency as the God-sent One. For Jesus’ prayer to be answered fully as He desires, our doctrine and practice must make known to the world His agency.

Copyright © 2011-2025 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

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Divine Mercy to Animals

March 20, 2011

The book of Jonah reveals the great mercy of God through its record about Jonah and God’s dealings with him because of his unwillingness to deliver His message to the wicked city of Nineveh. Jonah was unwilling to deliver God’s message because He knew the merciful character of God and did not want the Ninehevites to receive mercy (Jon. 4:1-3). By subjecting Jonah to great affliction, God finally brought him to willingness to deliver that message to them. After Jonah did so, God dealt with him about his ungodly lack of compassion.

In the final scene of the book, God rebukes Jonah for his displeasure at His sparing the Ninevehites. He first points out how Jonah had pity on a plant when it perished, even though he had not labored for it or made it to grow (4:9-10). In the final words of the book, He then rebukes him by saying, “And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?” (Jon. 4:11).

This great verse reveals the heart of God in a wonderful way. Through a rhetorical question that expects a positive answer, God made known that He should spare a vast multitude of people in that wicked city who in some manner did not know which hand was which. To me, this statement provides a basis for believing that babies, small children, and people who are severely mentally handicapped go to heaven when they die.

Interestingly, God does not stop with his statement about the people that He wanted to spare in Nineveh. His final words reveal that He held that He also should have spared the abundant cattle that were in the city.

Why did God inform Jonah of this fact? He apparently wanted to make known to Jonah (and to us) that His great mercy extended even to animals that would have perished.

Jonah’s message brought about the repentance of the Ninehevites (Lk. 11:32), a repentance that resulted in the sparing of many helpless people and animals. Christ has commissioned His people to proclaim repentance and remission of sins to all nations (Lk. 24:47). We know that He commissioned that message because God desires that no one would perish (2 Pet. 3:9). From what we know about God’s dealings with the Ninehevites, should we understand that Christ also intends that the proper reception by all nations of His commissioned message would be a means of providing divine mercy in some manner to many animals?

Copyright © 2011-2025 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

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God Made Jesus Both Lord and Christ

March 17, 2011

In my dissertation, I presented a close comparison in English and Greek between several verses in the Septuagint and Acts 2:36. Here is a somewhat expanded version of that comparison (highlighting used to help make the comparison clearer): 

Gen 27:29 And let nations serve thee, and princes bow down to thee, and be thou lord of thy brother, and the sons of thy father shall do thee reverence; accursed is he that curses thee, and blessed is he that blesses thee.

Gen 27:29 καὶ δουλευσάτωσάν σοι ἔθνη καὶ προσκυνήσουσίν σοι ἄρχοντες καὶ γίνου κύριος τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ σου καὶ προσκυνήσουσίν σοι οἱ υἱοὶ τοῦ πατρός σου ὁ καταρώμενός σε ἐπικατάρατος ὁ δὲ εὐλογῶν σε εὐλογημένος 

Gen 27:37 And Isaac answered and said to Esau, If I have made him thy lord, and have made all his brethren his servants, and have strengthened him with corn and wine, what then shall I do for thee, son?

Gen 27:37 ἀποκριθεὶς δὲ Ισαακ εἶπεν τῷ Ησαυ εἰ κύριον αὐτὸν ἐποίησά σου καὶ πάντας τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς αὐτοῦ ἐποίησα αὐτοῦ οἰκέτας σίτῳ καὶ οἴνῳ ἐστήρισα αὐτόν σοὶ δὲ τί ποιήσω τέκνον 

Gen 45:8 Now then ye did not send me hither, but God; and he hath made me as a father of Pharao, and lord of all his house, and ruler of all the land of Egypt.

Gen 45:8 νῦν οὖν οὐχ ὑμεῖς με ἀπεστάλκατε ὧδε ἀλλ᾽ ἢ ὁ θεός καὶ ἐποίησέν με ὡς πατέρα Φαραω καὶ κύριον παντὸς τοῦ οἴκου αὐτοῦ καὶ ἄρχοντα πάσης γῆς Αἰγύπτου 

Gen 45:9 Hasten, therefore, and go up to my father, and say to him, These things saith thy son Joseph; God has made me lord of all the land of Egypt; come down therefore to me, and tarry not.

Gen 45:9 σπεύσαντες οὖν ἀνάβητε πρὸς τὸν πατέρα μου καὶ εἴπατε αὐτῷ τάδε λέγει ὁ υἱός σου Ιωσηφ ἐποίησέν με ὁ θεὸς κύριον πάσης γῆς Αἰγύπτου κατάβηθι οὖν πρός με καὶ μὴ μείνῃς 

Acts 2:36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.

Act 2:36 ἀσφαλῶς οὖν γινωσκέτω πᾶς οἶκος Ἰσραὴλ ὅτι καὶ κύριον αὐτὸν καὶ χριστὸν ἐποίησεν ὁ θεός, τοῦτον τὸν Ἰησοῦν ὃν ὑμεῖς ἐσταυρώσατε. 

Notice that Genesis 27:37, 45:8, and 45:9 all contain the same verb (ποιέω; “made”) as Acts 2:36 and the same word for Lord (κύριος). In particular, Genesis 45:8-9 compared with Acts 2:36 allows the Bible to interpret itself and helps us understand what Peter said: As God had exalted Joseph to a position of authority that he never had before, God has exalted Jesus to a position of authority as Lord and Christ that He as the God-man never had before. 

This comparison shows that Peter’s statement does not primarily signify that God has announced to people that Jesus is the Lord and the Christ, that is, Jesus is both God and Messiah. Rather, Peter climaxed his gospel message at Pentecost by emphasizing that all the house of Israel must know that the Father has glorified Jesus to a position of supreme authority as Lord and Christ. We, therefore, should urge lost people to believe that God has raised Jesus from the dead and acknowledge that God has exalted Him as Lord (Rom. 10:9-10; cf. 1 Pet. 1:10-12; 21).

Copyright © 2011-2025 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

In Biblical Greek, Interpretation
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Did the Gospel Change From Samaria to Corinth?

March 16, 2011

Consider the following information about gospel preaching by the apostolic company:

  1. Philip preaches the gospel in Samaria: kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ (Acts 8:12) 
  2. Paul preaches the gospel in Corinth: death, burial, resurrection, and appearances of Christ (1 Cor. 15) 
  3. Paul preaches the gospel for three months in Ephesus: kingdom of God and the word of the Lord Jesus (Acts 19:8, 10)
  4. Paul preaches the gospel for a three-year period throughout Asia: kingdom of God and repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 20:21, 24, 25) 
  5. Paul preaches the gospel for two whole years in Rome: kingdom of God and Jesus (28:23); kingdom of God and the Lord Jesus Christ (28:31) 

Given this information about apostolic gospel preaching, did the gospel change from Samaria to Corinth from a message about the kingdom of God and Jesus Christ to a message just about Jesus? 

If so, did the gospel change again from Corinth to Ephesus, Asia, and Rome? 

Alternatively, has the gospel message always been the preaching of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, and 1 Corinthians 15:3-5 was never intended to be used the way that many use it to define the gospel as a message solely about Christ?

Copyright © 2011-2025 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

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The King’s Words about Everlasting Fire

March 15, 2011

One day, Jesus will return in glory as the Son of Man (Matt. 25:31-46). He will be the King (25:34, 40) who will judge all nations. He will separate them into the sheep and the goats (25:32-33). His dealings with both groups provide us with significant information concerning the Bible’s teaching about the everlasting fire in which unrepentant sinners will ultimately suffer.

The King will command the sheep on His right hand to enter into glory: “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (25:34). This statement by the Judge is striking in what it teaches.

First, it says that the Father is the ultimate agent (perfect passive participle [εὐλογημένοι] with a genitive noun for the ultimate agent [τοῦ πατρός]) who has blessed the sheep so that they will inherit the kingdom (τότε ἐρεῖ ὁ βασιλεὺς τοῖς ἐκ δεξιῶν αὐτοῦ, Δεῦτε, οἱ εὐλογημένοι τοῦ πατρός μου, κληρονομήσατε τὴν ἡτοιμασμένην ὑμῖν βασιλείαν ἀπὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου). The King thus is the judicial agent of the Father who will authoritatively call the sheep and direct them to enter into the kingdom.

Second, the King will specify that the kingdom has been prepared for the sheep (dative of advantage) from the foundation of the world. Saying this, the King will testify to the eternal benevolent purpose of God for them.

The record of the King’s statements to the goats, however, differs, from His address to the sheep in important ways. To the goats, the Judge says, “Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels (25:41). Unlike His earlier statement concerning the sheep, the Judge does not say that the goats are cursed of the Father. Although the Father through His King will ultimately consign the goats to their terrible place of punishment, the King does not say that they were cursed by the Father.

The King also does not say who has prepared the everlasting fire. Of course, it is clear that God is the One who has prepared the fire, but the Judge chooses not to say so in this statement.

Moreover, instead of specifying that the fire was prepared for the goats, the Judge specifies that the fire was prepared for the devil and his angels. This facet of His end-time judicial pronouncements is worth pondering deeply. Why does the Judge not specify to the goats that the fire was prepared for them? Why does He make known, instead, that it was prepared for the evil spirit beings that rebelled against God?

These differences in the King’s dealings with the sheep and the goats suggest that even at that decisive moment when their eternal fates are finally made known, God will reveal something about His heart for mankind. His not saying that He cursed the goats and prepared the fire for them from the foundation of the world may be implicit final testimony to all who are present at that solemn occasion (as well to all who read or hear this teaching but may not be present at that occasion) of His essential eternal benevolence toward mankind.

Whether this interpretation of His final saying to the wicked is correct or not, for us who are alive now, the King desires that we repent toward the Father and believe that He has raised His Christ, the Lord Jesus, from the dead. Confessing that Christ as the Lord and calling upon Him now while there is yet time, we one day will be with Him in eternal glory in His Father’s kingdom!

Copyright © 2011-2025 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

In Biblical Greek, Interpretation
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Has Salvation Come to Your House?

March 11, 2011

In Luke 19:9-10, Scripture informs us of a blessed pronouncement by Jesus to a sinful man: “This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” An examination of this account (19:1-10) shows a key truth concerning the genuine salvation of people.

Luke reports that Jesus, while passing through Jericho, spoke these words to a man named Zacchaeus. He was a top-level tax collector and a wealthy man. He desired to see Jesus, but was unable to because he was short. Therefore, he climbed a tree to see Him.

Seeing him, Jesus directed him, saying, “Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for today I must abide at thy house.” Zacchaeus eagerly responded to Jesus’ directives and “received him joyfully.”

An unspecified group of onlookers denounced Jesus’ actions. We then read the only words recorded from Zacchaeus (19:8), which instruct us about the essence of salvation coming to a person’s house. Having come to Jesus, he said “unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.”

Based on these statements by Zacchaeus, Jesus made the blessed pronouncement about his salvation. How do Zacchaeus’s words relate to his salvation?

By comparing them to Luke’s accounts of John the Baptist’s ministry, we discover a key truth about Zacchaeus. Luke recorded John’s demanding that certain people who came to be baptized first produce “fruits worthy of repentance” (3:8). Other people hearing John’s challenge asked, “What shall we do then?” (3:10). John responded, “He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise” (3:11). These statements match the essential idea of Zacchaeus’s first words to the Lord about his resolve to give of his goods to the poor (19:8b).

When publicans came to John wanting to be baptized, they also asked him what they were to do (3:12). John demanded that they “exact no more man that which is appointed [them]” (3:13). To soldiers who then asked him what they were to do, he said, “Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages” (3:14). His demands from the publicans and soldiers parallels Zacchaeus’s second statement, which expressed his intent to restore to anyone what he had taken from him by false accusation (19:8c).

This comparison of statements by Zacchaeus and John shows that what Zacchaeus said to Jesus displayed his repentance and intent to produce “fruits worthy of repentance” (3:8). Jesus’ pronouncement that salvation had come to him did not mean that his past or present giving to the poor and restoring what he had wrongfully taken from people had saved him (Although we do not have enough data to know for sure, it is likely that Zacchaeus had not done either of these things to any appreciable extent prior to his encounter with Jesus).

Nor did it mean that his future doing so would be what would save him. Rather, his acknowledging of his past actions as sinful and his resolve to make right his past wrongdoing showed that he had been saved through his contact with Jesus:

He publicly wanted the people to know that his time with Jesus had changed his life. . . . Jesus’ words, ‘Today salvation has come to this house,’ did not imply that the act of giving to the poor had saved Zacchaeus, but that his change in his lifestyle evidenced his right relationship before God (BKC: NT, 252).

The comparison above of the accounts of John the Baptist’s ministry (3:1-14) and Zacchaeus (19:1-10) underscore the centrality of repentance (along with faith, though it is not specifically mentioned in this passage) toward God as what brought salvation to the house of Zacchaeus.

Paul’s comprehensive statement concerning his unchanging ministry throughout his life further stresses the same truth: “I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision, but showed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance” (Acts 26:19-20).

Has salvation come to your house through your repenting and turning to God and doing works that display the genuineness of your repentance and faith? If there has not been a transformation of your life (2 Cor. 5:17) that has included both a resolve to do whatever you can do to make right your past wrongdoing and an acting on that resolve as circumstances allow, would Jesus say to you that salvation has come to your house?

Copyright © 2011-2025 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

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Does Scripture Teach Us to Preach "A Simple Gospel Message"?

March 10, 2011

Over my years as a Christian, I have heard the phrase, “a simple gospel message,” used quite a number of times. People have expressed their appreciation for preachers who have preached such a message. Those training others for ministry have exhorted their students to preach such messages. Interestingly, I do not recall ever having anyone explain how the Scripture teaches us to preach such a message or what exactly constitutes such a message.

Because of the seemingly widespread use of this phrase and the desire for ministers to preach such messages, we would do well to consider how we would answer the question, “Does Scripture teach us to preach a simple gospel message?” To try to answer this question, we will consider several points.

“Simple” and “Simplicity” Do Not Teach Us to Preach “A Simple Gospel Message”

The phrase, “a simple gospel message,” does not occur anywhere in Scripture. The adjective, “simple,” is not found anywhere in explicit teaching concerning the gospel.

The noun, “simplicity,” is found three times in the NT (Rom. 12:8; 2 Cor. 1:12 and 11:3). The first occurrence is not relevant because it concerns the manner of our giving. The second is in a general statement about conducting our lives in the world and does not directly pertain to what we are to preach.

The third occurrence is in Paul’s teaching in 2 Corinthians 11 and does concern proper preaching. To the Corinthians, Paul wrote that he feared, “lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ” (11:3). He then explained his concern by saying,

For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him. For I suppose I was not a whit behind the very chiefest apostle. But though I be rude in speech, yet not in knowledge; but we have been thoroughly made manifest among you in all things. Have I committed an offence in abasing myself that ye might be exalted, because I have preached to you the gospel of God freely? I robbed other churches, taking wages of them, to do you service (11:4-7).

Three occurrences of two keys verb for preaching and two references concerning the gospel show that this is an important passage concerning our preaching the gospel. Paul’s references to the serpent’s beguiling Eve and to the preaching of another Jesus show that he is concerned about the preaching of a false Jesus and a false gospel by false apostles (cf. 11:12-15). In that connection, he mentions his being “rude in speech” in contrast from the false apostles who touted their speaking abilities in their attempt to draw away the Corinthians from Paul.

He did not mention his lack of eloquence in preaching, however, to teach that gospel preaching should be characteristically simple concerning the content of what is to be preached. As we will see below, Luke’s records of key instances of the preaching of the gospel display considerable complexity and depth in the content of the evangelistic messages by the apostles.

In Paul’s latter reference to the preaching of the gospel (11:7ff.), Paul contrasts himself with the false apostles when he speaks of his foregoing remuneration for preaching the gospel. Neither concern in this context has anything to do directly with the content of his preaching the true gospel being simple.

The Gospel Messages at Pentecost and Gentecost Were Not “Simple”

An examination of the two premier apostolic evangelistic occasions, Pentecost and Gentecost, verifies this interpretation. Peter’s Pentecost message contains statements that interpreters struggle to explain fully even today (Acts 2:16-21). Peter’s abundant testimony to both the Father and the Son along with several references to the Holy Spirit (2:17, 18, 33, 38) show that he evangelized his hearers with a message that was highly Trinitarian and not simply preaching about Jesus Himself and the events that He experienced.

Moreover, Peter’s explicit statements about God’s approving Jesus (2:22), doing miracles through Him (2:22), raising Him (2:24, 32), exalting Him (2:33), giving Him the Holy Spirit (2:33), and making Him both Lord and Christ (2:36) intensely challenged the hearers with content concerning Jesus as God’s agent; Peter’s focus was not solely or even primarily on the deity of Jesus. He thus forced his hearers to have to reckon with Jesus’ humanity in relation to His deity as well as His agency in relation to His deity.

Peter’s message of the gospel at Pentecost was not a message that was concerned with testifying to Jesus alone with a primary focus on His deity. The Church thus began with his message that was not “a simple gospel message” with respect to its content.

Peter’s message at Gentecost similarly was not a “simple gospel message” about Jesus alone as deity. As he did at Pentecost, Peter preached a Trinitarian message that abundantly referred to both God and Jesus, including an explicit statement of how the Father anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit and with power (10:38a). He also forced his hearers to have to reckon with the existence of evil in the supernatural realm by proclaiming Jesus’ healing all who were oppressed by the devil (10:38b). Moreover, instead of focusing on Jesus’ miraculous works as proof of His deity, Peter emphasized God’s empowering Him (10:38a) and accompanying Him (10:38c).

As he did at Pentecost, Peter strongly emphasized Jesus’ agency (10:36, 38), including a unique explicit statement about Jesus as the God-appointed Judge (10:42) that does not easily fit in with many contemporary perspectives about evangelism and missions. This statement presents other challenges to interpreters as well, including the precise nature of its relation to the next verse concerning the forgiveness of sins through believing in His name (10:43).

These two preeminent evangelistic messages in church history do not line up with the notion of preaching of “a simple gospel message” either with reference to its content overall or with reference to a focus solely on Jesus and His deity. Should we then hold that the Scripture teaches us to preach “a simple gospel message”?

Possible Response: Acts 8:35 and 16:31 Support Preaching “A Simple Gospel Message”

In response to this line of reasoning, some may point to the evangelistic accounts about the salvation of the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:26-40) and of the Philippian jailor (16:25-34) as evidence that supports the preaching of “a simple gospel message.” Although Luke does provide fairly lengthy overall records of these evangelistic encounters, he does not provide much information about what was actually testified to the lost people.

In future articles, I plan to look carefully at these accounts to see if they support an approach that does not make the Pentecost and Gentecost accounts (along with 1 Cor. 15:3-5) the primary models for our learning to preach the gospel. For now, I say that it is highly improbable that these very brief summary statements (Acts 8:35; 16:31) of what were undoubtedly much longer messages are intended to be normative for our evangelism in preference above the records of the premier evangelistic messages for both Jews and Gentiles that are recorded in Scripture.

Conclusion

There does not seem to be any clear scriptural teaching that teaches us to preach “a simple gospel message” in the sense discussed above. Hence, we would do well to adjust what we say to one another in this respect, especially in our discipleship activities that are geared toward training ministers and personal workers in evangelism.

Copyright © 2011-2025 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

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