Gospel or theology?

[Skyline]

My opinion:

Ephesians 1:13
And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,

John 3:16
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Romans 1:16
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.

Romans 12: 1-2
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

 

[crossnote]

In the wider social context, theology is the study of belief systems and the ideas around them.
So a theologian can be an atheist, because the language and academic definitions do not rely upon
personal faith.

They are perhaps studying what they consider God, but apart from the Gospel, and His own revelation of Himself as found in Scripture, they end up revealing their own foolishness and end up in the Romans 1:21-22 quagmire.

 

[Sipsey]

Please note carefully what stated in this verse: And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. (1 John 3:23)

It is quite unfortunate that when the Gospel is preached, the evangelists or preachers generally fail to tell their audience that it is God who commands you to repent and to believe.

I see your perspective, but I would that you begin at verse 1 to see the audience being addressed;
1) Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

And multiple references leading up to verse 23 such as;
V2- Beloved
V7- Little children
V13- my brethren
V18-My little children
V19- we know that we are of the truth
V21- Beloved
V23- 23 And this is his commandment,(singular) That we should believe (Initial, saving belief) on the name (all that His name entails) of his Son Jesus Christ, and love (continual , repetitive action) one another, as he gave us commandment.(singular)
24 And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.

It seems to me that believers are the target audience for John’s writings here. He wants their faith to be full and energized by abiding in Christ with a real, mature faith, and then as now, we must continually die to self while continuously believing that He has provided everything we need in this life, by and through His Son.

 

[dcontroversal]

2 Corinthians 4:3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: 4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

Amen and the person you replied to is like 2nd or 3rd on that list......

 

[StephanieMM]

Hmmm? Have all these recent posts been gospel or theology? Is it the gospel that is causing this “discussion” or is it theology?

 

[garee]

Hmmm? Have all these recent posts been gospel or theology? Is it the gospel that is causing this “discussion” or is it theology?

The theology of the gospel .

 

[crossnote]

Hmmm? Have all these recent posts been gospel or theology? Is it the gospel that is causing this “discussion” or is it theology?

I believe it is your original post that is causing the discussion.

 

[Lafftur]

The theology of the gospel .

Hi garee,

I gave you a giggle emoji because it was great that you actually put both "theology" and "gospel" in the same sentence and it made sense! I loved it!

Why do we keep trying to separate the two.......perhaps they need not to be separated......

 

[Lafftur]

Hmmm? Have all these recent posts been gospel or theology? Is it the gospel that is causing this “discussion” or is it theology?

I do believe it is both....... gospel AND theology.......... just like @garee said.

 

[Lafftur]

The theology of the gospel .

It is the "study of the God" of "the gospel - the good news of salvation through and ONLY through Yeshua/Jesus Christ."

I love it! "The theology of the gospel." Amen.

 

[Magenta]

Hi garee, I gave you a giggle emoji because it was great that you actually put both "theology" and "gospel" in the same sentence and it made sense! I loved it!

Why do we keep trying to separate the two.......perhaps they need not to be separated......

 

[Magenta]

John 3:16
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,
that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life

 

[DinoDillinger]

Hmmm? Have all these recent posts been gospel or theology? Is it the gospel that is causing this “discussion” or is it theology?

A couple things. Theology simply means knowledge of God. Gospel means specifically the good news of salvation found in Jesus Christ. The gospel is a part of theology.

I would say that for someone to be saved they need to hear the gospel, the plan of salvation through Jesus Christ (Repent and believe). A believer does need more theology after hearing and believing the gospel.

Last thing. Theology is good. Religion is good. Constantly arguing about theology is bad. False religion is bad. Both terms are loaded with added meaning because of the bad examples of it, like the fake religion of the Pharasees.

Hope this helps!

God bless you for sharing the gospel!

 

[Magenta]

Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly,
of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities
and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the
supernatural, but also especially with epistemology, and asks and seeks to
answer the question of revelation. Revelation pertains to the acceptance
of God, gods, or deities, as not only transcendent or above the natural world,
but also willing and able to interact with the natural world and, in particular,
to reveal themselves to humankind. While theology has turned into a secular
field, religious adherents still consider theology to be a discipline that helps
them live and understand concepts such as life and love and that helps them
lead lives of obedience to the deities they follow or worship.

Theology is derived from the Greek theologia (θεολογία), which derived from
theos (Θεός), meaning "god", and -logia (-λογία), meaning "utterances, sayings,
or oracles" (a word related to logos [λόγος], meaning "word, discourse, account,
or reasoning") which had passed into Latin as theologia and into French as
théologie. The English equivalent "theology" (Theologie, Teologye) had evolved
by 1362. The sense the word has in English depends in large part on the sense
the Latin and Greek equivalents had acquired in patristic andmedieval Christian
usage, although the English term has now spread beyond Christian contexts. source

 

[FollowHisSteps]

They are perhaps studying what they consider God, but apart from the Gospel, and His own revelation of Himself as found in Scripture, they end up revealing their own foolishness and end up in the Romans 1:21-22 quagmire.

There are things within the study of God and reality which are pertinent.
Many theologians start out as believers and end up somewhere else.

I saw a program about people entering pastoral ministry.
The basics about empathy, how one individual can help another become important when ones job
is support of someone else.

What became apparent is personal faith did not equate necessarily to self understanding and the ability
to reach out to others. And a lot of skill sets were related to individuals rather than to their faith positions.

Jesus I believe is speaking to these very issues about how we define ourselves, our emotional responses and
how we empathise with others. And He is saying is we obey Him and have faith in Him we are building upon
a rock of life, of identity, of family, of reality.

This is often where words of faith may not work out to realities of the heart or action, so an atheist can appear
more truthful and honest than a believer, which to us is a contradiction. But equally I would say is also a
challenge to who we are in Christ, and have we really grasped what He is saying.

And funnily sometimes these atheists are believers who have lost their faith, yet have been moulded by the
very words of Christ and His principles while they have lost the spiritual dimension. It is this reality, living
like a believer while denying its foundations that does not deny the gospel but affirms its truths.

 

[garee]

Hi garee,

I gave you a giggle emoji because it was great that you actually put both "theology" and "gospel" in the same sentence and it made sense! I loved it!

Why do we keep trying to separate the two.......perhaps they need not to be separated......

Its the study of God's good news the whole Bible.

Not sure why some divide it .How could a person divide the God news from the Holy Spirt who gives it?

Some call it the gospel of Mark or John etc. It could confuse a person to think there is more than one .

 

[Absolutely]

We are to share the Gospel with people, but when does the Gospel become theology? What is the good news anyway, and how do you separate this good news from religion?

Almost every response gave you theology.(what is written,what we know)
They all,for the most part , see the gospel as correct application of verses/or what they conclude or measure of correct position.

How do we miss it so badly?

Salvation is not a formula,a doctrine,or my beliefs.

Salvation is a person. His name is Jesus

 

[Absolutely]

When you witness,give them Jesus.
Not doctrine from knowledge.
Mental files sound to their ears like being told "you are defective,I am not"

 

[crossnote]

There are things within the study of God and reality which are pertinent.
Many theologians start out as believers and end up somewhere else.

Hmm,
1 John 2:19 KJVS
[19] They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.

I saw a program about people entering pastoral ministry.
The basics about empathy, how one individual can help another become important when ones job
is support of someone else.

What became apparent is personal faith did not equate necessarily to self understanding and the ability
to reach out to others. And a lot of skill sets were related to individuals rather than to their faith positions.

We are all gifted differently and not all are personal counselors. Self understanding?? Let's be careful not to usurp God's truth with man's godless psychology...

Jeremiah 17:9-10 KJVS
[9] The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? [10] I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.

Jesus I believe is speaking to these very issues about how we define ourselves, our emotional responses and
how we empathise with others. And He is saying is we obey Him and have faith in Him we are building upon
a rock of life, of identity, of family, of reality.

What passage is that in?

This is often where words of faith may not work out to realities of the heart or action, so an atheist can appear
more truthful and honest than a believer, which to us is a contradiction. But equally I would say is also a
challenge to who we are in Christ, and have we really grasped what He is saying.

Realities of the heart? The reality is that all men are pronounced guilty due to sin regardless of their outward piety and goodness. Appearances shouldn't fool the seasoned believer. An unbeliever will appear and do good but all for selfish motives which God sees.

And funnily sometimes these atheists are believers who have lost their faith, yet have been moulded by the
very words of Christ and His principles while they have lost the spiritual dimension. It is this reality, living
like a believer while denying its foundations that does not deny the gospel but affirms its truths.

Again their motives are sinful and again I'll go with...

1 John 2:19 KJVS
[19] They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.

I just don't buy it when atheists (or anyone) claim to have known Christ and claim to have been born again to become atheist or some sort of apostate. Apostasy happens with those who knew about, and had a form of religion, but had never passed from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light through the new birth. They are simply tares amongst the wheat.

 

[Nehemiah6]

I see your perspective, but I would that you begin at verse 1 to see the audience being addressed

Yes believers are being addressed in that passage, but anyone and everyone can read what is written there. And it is perfectly in keeping with all Gospel truth that God COMMANDS all men to believe (just as He commands all men to repent).

Thus we have this passage which has the phrase "THE OBEDIENCE OF FAITH". Obedience corresponds to the commandment of the everlasting God.
Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my Gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith (Rom 16:25,26)