Message Of The Gospel

There are no “gospels” written by various authors with different meanings, but rather the message of the Gospel is one. It is the same message of the Gospel in each of the writing by the various authors. Before we can study how the Gospels “differ” from each other we must first recognize that the message of the one Gospel is the unchanged truth. This truth is simple yet profound, which is that the salvation of God is an open invitation to all who are willing to partake of it. This universal truth is accomplished through the writings of the four Gospel accounts and is especially evident in the Pauline writings. If one is able to study the New Testament scripture through this lens, then they can identify the different focus of each of the authors

They are called to become like him through His grace and not by their own righteousness as Paul indicates in Romans, “And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.” (Romans 11:6). The clear difference is that one must desire to follow the law in humility. Knowing that without God, he is powerless and is vulnerable to falling away. As Paul states in 1 Corinthians despite being made free by Christ, he has chosen to become a slave to all including his own body lest he himself be disqualified (1 Corinthians

There are no other profound or complicated ways of explaining this idea. One is called to accept God’s message, but by the gift of free will, he has the right to reject His message. Matthew focuses on this idea of displaying the faith of the centurion. The story of the healing of the Roman Gentile centurion occurs earlier than it does in Luke and doesn’t occur in the temple as it does in Mark (Tarazi 152). This indicates to the reader that this faith is genuine and equal in every way to that of those in Israel, if not greater! In fact, this great example of faith displayed by the Gentile is given to the Jews as an example to learn from. Jesus’ proclamation supports this interpretation, “…not even in Israel have I found such faith” (Matthew 8:10). The story of the centurion in Matthew’s gospel immediately follows the cleansing of the leper, where Christ instructs him to go show himself to the priests. Both are healed by the same person Christ himself, who is not bound or restricted by anything or anyone. He is the one who is able to provide this salvation and message of healing to all. It isn’t an action contrary to the law, but rather a fulfillment of the law through Christ