Joseph Prince - The True Gospel Explained In 12 Minutes
This excerpt is from: He Confirms His Word With Miracles (11 Oct 2020)
Now, we have a full documentation of Paul preaching the gospel in this particular chapter in Acts. If you look at Paul preaching the gospel, you can’t find many places where Paul preached the gospel. I'm not talking about his teachings in the book of Romans and all the Epistles. I'm talking about his preaching. If I tell you today that we have a recording, an ancient recording, if it's even possible, of Paul preaching the gospel, would you want to hear it? Here, we have a documentation. The Holy Spirit saw fit to document the preaching word for word from the beginning to the end. There was another time when Paul preached a sermon. But it was not a complete sermon because he was stopped short by the people. He was in Athens and he passed by the city and he saw the entire city given to idolatry.
And the Bible says he found one altar that had an inscription: "to the unknown God". He says: "Guys, I saw there's an altar called ‘the unknown God’. I want to tell you about this God". And he started preaching about how this God in Him, we live and move. He's a God that takes care of people. And He made us all out of one common blood. And then he started talking about Jesus Christ. When he came to the part about Jesus Christ. Before he could preach the gospel, he says: "By this Man, God will judge the world". And the Bible says that the people mocked him. Some believed but a lot of them mocked. He was stopped short. But here in Acts 13 in Antioch, Pisidia or present day Turkey, he actually preached the full gospel. And word for word was recorded for us all the way to the end to the final part of the message. Paul began by talking about Israel’s history. He was in the synagogue talking about the Jewish history, how Israel was in captivity and in slavery in Egypt. And how God brought them out.
Then he talked about Joshua and the allotment of the land. Then Paul went on, again, preaching about their history. The time of the judges and the first king, who was Saul, king Saul. Then he came to David. The one appointed by God. And from this man, David. From his lineage will come the Messiah, the Savior of the world. When he came to that, people. When he preached on the resurrection, watch this. This is the ending part of Paul's sermon. And Paul says: "Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses". We have discovered what Paul preached. It is as good as finding a CD of his sermon or an MP3 or a recording of his sermon. We are hearing Paul preach the gospel to an audience who are not familiar with the gospel. And we see what he deems is important for them to hear.
Number 1. He says: "Through this Man, Jesus Christ, is preached to you the forgiveness of sins". It's unqualified! Unconditional! It is a proclamation of the offer of God, the forgiveness of sins. And it's not a matter of whether it's contingent on their repentance or their behavior modification. Whether it's contingent on how sorrowful they are, how bad they feel. It has nothing to do with them! Notice what it says! "Through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins".
Now some of us today will go to Paul back then and say: "Hey Paul, you can't just say this. You got to tell them they got to repent. They got to be really sorrowful in their heart. And they must really turn their ways. They must turn a new leaf. They must turn around to God. You cannot just tell them to you is preached the forgiveness of sins. How can you just offer them the forgiveness of sins"? But Paul knew something that we don't. Paul knew God is not looking at man anymore. He's looking at His Son. It's not about the leper with all his sores. It is about the wonderful Healer in all His glory. The focus is no longer on the sinner. The focus is on Jesus and what He went through for us at the cross in His death, burial, and resurrection. Now because of what He has done, God offers a free gift of the forgiveness of sins to you. "Through this Man is preached to you, the forgiveness of sins". It is only to be received.
Now, when you receive that, that’s called repentance! Because you are saying: "I cannot save myself from my sins. I cannot save myself from my judgment. I have no other way but to believe He is the One, that this is the way". And you believe on the gospel of Jesus Christ! You believe and receive the forgiveness of sins. What does that mean? You believe that you are forgiven of all your sins through Jesus Christ. That's the gospel Paul preached. And notice there's no "until your next sin". He didn't say: "Through this Man is preached to you, the forgiveness of sins until the next time you fail". No, it is unqualified! It is unqualified! It is unconditional! And not only that, he talks about justification, which is the essence of the gospel. Today, we hear a gospel without the proclamation of how in this gospel, is the righteousness of God revealed. The gospel is all about justification by faith, people. At one time in the 1800s and the 1700s, it came back strong. God restored this truth and people were liberated! The Holy Spirit was able to have free reign in believers’ lives and believers were transformed. The Church became a place of power. Amen. Where darkness stepped into the Church, came out light. Where sickness stepped into the Church, came out healed. Miracles were happening.
Friend, we have lost the gospel. We need to rediscover the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's about justification by faith. Here, after the forgiveness of sins, it says: "and by Him, everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses". Do you see that? And the word "justified" here is "dikao", which is the word for "declared righteous". In fact, the Young’s Literal Translation (YLT) brings it out. Young’s says here: "and from all things from which ye were not able in the law of Moses to be declared righteous, in this one (in Christ), everyone who is believing is declared righteous". Oh, it's so good! Let me read that again: "and from all things from which ye were not able in the law of Moses to be declared righteous, in this one (in Christ), everyone who is believing is declared righteous". Friend, when Paul preached the gospel to sinners, He just preached the unqualified gospel. The unconditional gospel. He didn't look at them that they must respond in an appropriate way before they can receive the gospel He proclaimed for people to believe.
Now, not everyone believed. We'll see it in a while’s time. Not everyone believed but many believed. This is the gospel that we have lost. A gospel that talks about how you have been declared righteous. And it's for you to believe that! And when you believe right, you will live right. Don't worry about that. That will be the fruit of the Spirit in your life. But you cannot tell sinners to clean themselves before they come to Jesus. You got to preach that "through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins. And by Him, all who believe are declared righteous from which you cannot be justified or declared righteous by the law of Moses". Praise the Lord! We are rediscovering the gospel of grace that Paul preached.
Now let's look at the reaction. Paul knew that among the people in the synagogue, there are many of them who are more law conscious. "No, you've got to change. You've got to do this". And they will reject the gospel. Paul knew that! Paul knew that. In fact, some of them would go to Paul and say: "Hey, Paul. You cannot just say and through this Man, everyone who believes. Just believe? This is easy believism. This is cheap grace". They'll probably say that if they are law conscious. Would you correct Paul? Would you tell Paul: "It would be good for you to qualify your statements a little bit. Paul, I think you are making it too unqualified, too unconditional. Free offer to all? Just to believe on? That’s all they need to do? I think this is easy believism, Paul. I think this is cheap grace. This is not grace. This is hyper grace".
Would you say that to Paul? Look at what Paul preached. And Paul knew. Paul knew there would be opposers. And here's what Paul said. "Beware therefore, lest what has been spoken in the prophets come upon you: Behold, you despisers, Marvel and perish"! He is quoting from Habakkuk. "For I work a work in your days, a work which you will by no means believe, Though one were to declare it to you". God is saying: "In the last days, I'll do a work, a work that when you hear it, you will not believe". It's too marvelous. "Grace is too good. God cannot be that good. It can't be that free. It cannot be that unqualified". And Paul was saying: "You people, I can see fulfilled in you what Habakkuk prophesied. When God would release the gospel of grace, this will be your reaction". He calls them: "You despisers, Marvel and perish". "So when the Jews went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles begged that these words might bepreached to them the next Sabbath".
Who were the ones that responded? Those who did not know about the law. The Gentiles. The Gentiles were there! They were there at the synagogue. Usually, they would be sitting at the side, not participating at all. They were always looked upon as people who had no knowledge about the law. But they were the ones who were the first to respond. They had no consciousness of the law. "Now, when the congregation had broken up, many of the Jews and devout proselytes", these are the Gentiles who believed, "they followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God". Don't start from faith and then go to works. No, in this gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith. Not from faith to works. If you maintain that faith, that you are declared righteous before God through Christ, you will always produce, not dead works, but good works in your life. Amen. Praise the name of Jesus.