With Christ have I been crucified, yet I am living; no longer I, but living in me is Christ. Now that which am now living in the flesh, I am living in faith that is of the Son of God, who loves me, and gives Himself up for me.
Galatians 2: 20, Concordant New Testament
I haven't followed up on a Wayne Jacobsen post lately, but his post from this past week made me think once again. Ultimately, this comes down to a theological issue. How is it that we see Jesus? How do we know Him? Wayne spoke of the importance of following Jesus. I speak with the confidence of knowing Him. In Waynes defense, I did not listen to his entire podcast, but enough to see where he was headed. When I speak of the theological issue, I am speaking of the gospel which we, as believers, follow concerning Jesus. You might question this and say that there is but one gospel, that of Christ Jesus the Son of the living God. You would be correct, partially. The good news of Jesus which we find in the first three books of the New Testament could be shown to be the original gospel of Christ Jesus. That's how things would remain, until the apostle Paul came and declared what some refer to as the second gospel of Christ Jesus. What's the difference between the two? Well, the original gospel of Jesus can be seen as a "social gospel" explaining the good news of Jesus to the poor and the broken hearted of His day. Throughout the opening gospel, we see Jesus paving the way for what is to come. Jesus' sermon on the Mount of Olives has been used by many since as a guide to Christian living. While the fist gospel focused a good deal on what was to come and of the kingdom of God, it did not fully introduce the believer to Jesus Himself. The first gospel was never ABOUT Jesus. Therefore, if you are following Christ based on the gospel of the first books of the New Testament, do you know the man you are following? It turns out I thought I did, until I began reading the writings of Paul and the second gospel of Jesus.
Now I am making known to you, brethren, the evangel which I bring to you, which also you accepted, in which also you stand, through which also you are saved, if you are retaining what I said in bringing the evangel to you, outside and except you believe feignedly. For I give over to you among the first what also I accepted, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that He was entombed, and that He has been roused the third day according to the scriptures.
1 Corinthians 15: 1-4, Concordant New Testament
What is it that Jesus proclaimed to those men He called? Follow Me! Recently, a good friend who has remained nameless once again introduced me to what Jesus was inviting the original disciples to do. Jesus was inviting these chosen few to learn from Him. To follow in step with Him. To watch Him. The very definition of a disciple shows us that it is a individual who is a follower of a teacher or leader. Jesus was certainly that. I find it hard to see how the disciples could learned from Jesus were they not in lockstep with Him twenty four hours a day. These men traveled, ate, talked and listened together the entire time of Jesus' ministry. Why? So that you and I would have a record of the times they shared with Him. If not for the disciples of Jesus, even the first gospel may not have been shared with the world. I refer to the apostle Paul as the greatest speaker of Christ Jesus of all time. For good reason, for through Paul we are introduced to the gospel OF Jesus. Paul introduces us to the Jesus on a more personal level. It is through the writings of Paul that the revelation of Christ in me began to take hold. It is through the writings of Paul that we are assured of the victory of Christ over sin {Romans 6:11}. It is important to not view these two gospels as being in competition with each other for the heart of the believer. In reality, they are the heart of every believer.
~Scott~
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