WHY DO MOST BIBLE TEACHERS USE THE FOUR GOSPELS AS THEIR MAIN SOURCE OF TEACHING? I am a firm believer that the whole Bible is for my learning, but not everything is for my obedience. That's why we are commanded in 2 Tim 2 v 15, to rightly divide the word of truth. I don't have any issues with the four gospels. In them we find a lot of practical teachings, that can be used to make spiritual applications but always through the mirror of the gospel of the grace of God. Because if what you are preaching from other parts of the Bible contradicts the message of God's grace, you are not preaching grace and make no mistake whatsoever about that.
There is something I need to make clear about those of us who embrace the present dispensation of the grace of God, found exclusively in the Pauline letters. We are not advocating that you should only read Paul's letters and ignore the rest of the Bible as many have accused us of. We believe the whole Bible is for our learning, as we have stated repeatedly but we also believe that the vast majority of your preaching should come from the Pauline epistles, since we are living in the dispensation of the grace of God and he is the one to whom this revelation was given for the Church the body of Christ. I enjoy sermons from the old testament and I am encouraged when I read about the faith of the patriarchs, how they trusted God in the midst of seemingly impossible situations, when everything seems contrary to hope, yet against hope they believed and their faith was rewarded. These are spiritual applications we can draw from when our faith is tested under grace.
Where I take exception, with regards to the four gospels, is hearing people say, this is where we find our doctrine, walk and position as members of the body of Christ. There are those who take the position that the words of Christ in the gospels are the most important, because those were spoken directly by the Lord himself. It's never my goal or intentions to disrespect another believer in Christ but much thought was not given to that statement, since Christ is the word of God. In the beginning was the word, so the words in red, doesn't make the rest of the Bible insignificant.
One of the keys to understanding the Bible, is to know who is speaking, to whom are they speaking and what are they speaking about. This will avoid much of the confusion we have within the body of Christ. What we find in the four gospels is Christ's ministry to the nation of Israel. He came to fulfill the promises made to the fathers. God's plan to bless the world through Israel. To whom was the great commission given? It was given to the nation of Israel. Both the old and new covenant was made with the house of Israel. During Jesus's earthly ministry, we have several places in the Scriptures where Jesus commanded His disciples not to go in the way of the Gentiles (Matthew 10 vs 5 – 6 ) , not because He despised them but He was following the perfect will of His Father. In Matthew 15, we read about the Canaanite woman who came to Jesus seeking help for her daughter who was demon possessed but the Lord answered her not a word. His disciples then came and asked the Lord to send her away but the Lord answered and said, I was not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. She then worshipped the Lord and begged for help. Again the Lord answered and said, It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs. If we were to refer to someone as a dog in today's emotionally sensitive world, we would be in a world of trouble, but that is the way the Jews referred to the Gentiles in those days, because the Gentiles were not God's covenant people and Paul tells us why in Ephesians 2 vs 11 – 13: Remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands— 12 that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. This Canaanite woman understood her role at that time, as a Gentile outside the covenant of promise and that Israel had to be blessed first. This was her response. 27 And she said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”
If we believe the great commission is the marching orders for the Church, the body of Christ, we are going to have to do it consistently, and not just the sections, that fits your particular brand of theology. I would like to place before you the commission found in Matthew 28 and Mark 16, and honestly tell me that your Church is doing all these things. 18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. 15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” I am amazed as to how quickly the evangelical Church clings to the commission found in Matthew 28 but rejects the same commission found in Mark 16, because it conflicts with their water baptism theory, which explicitly states that he that believes and is baptized will be saved.
I was looking at the doctrinal statement of a prominent mega church and was taken back momentarily by their baptism theory that we are commanded to be baptized but our salvation is not reliant upon it. This is clearly the teachings and commandments of men. Please show me in the Scriptures, where water baptism was ever performed and it was never a requirement along with faith to complete one's salvation. Is this what Mark 16 v 16 teaches? Interestingly, all the reasons we give as to why we practice water baptism such as; identification with Jesus's death, burial and resurrection and now some Churches have dropped the burial, because they are starting to see that He was not buried in water. What about this idea that it is an outward sign of an inward work of grace. None of which has any Scriptural support.
Why is it so hard for the Church to accept the one baptism taught in Scriptures, instead of feverishly trying to make a case for water baptism? ( Ephesians 4 v 5; 1 Cor 12 v 13 ). Under the great commission, you had to believe that Jesus was the Son of God and follow up with water baptism to complete your salvation experience. Acts 8 v 36: Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?” 37 Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” 38 So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. Now let's fast forward to the present dispensation of grace. I have been to many church services and I have seen many alter calls but I have never heard the pastor saying to a recipient of salvation that they have to believe Jesus is the Son of God, be water baptized and then they will receive the Holy Spirit.
However, if you embrace the great commission as the church's marching orders then you must present salvation to the lost in this manner. You are going to have to be consistent with your message. Under grace we don't present Christ as the Son of God and water baptism as a requirement for salvation instead we preach that Christ died for our sins, was buried and rose again on the third day, believe this and trust him as your Savior. I challenge you to be a Berean and search the Scriptures for yourself to see if these things are so. Do you realize that under the kingdom gospel Israel was not required to believe in Christ's death, burial and resurrection for the forgiveness of sins? In fact on the day of Pentecost, Peter blamed the nation of Israel for having crucified their Messiah. 36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” Are we to assume that whenever someone walks down the aisle of your church and you have them repeat the salvation prayer that until they repent for having crucified Christ and be water baptized for the remission of sins that they are not really saved, let alone the indwelling Holy Spirit? But thanks be to God, the message of God's grace teaches what happens the moment we believe. Ephesians 1 v 13. In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise
So if you are going to follow the great commission, you will have to preach faith in Christ and water baptism as a necessary requirement for salvation, and while you are at it, begin ripping out the pages of your Bible, which contains the letters written by the Apostle Paul, because he is the biggest impostor in all of the Bible. But this is exactly what we are doing when we embrace the great commission as the church's marching orders. Yes, we should go into all the world and preach the gospel but which gospel is the big question we all have to ask ourselves or we will end up frustrating the message of grace, which the Lord Jesus revealed to the Apostle Paul for the Gentiles. The evangelical church must remove its blinders and recognize that there has been a dispensational change, Israel and the earthly kingdom program has been set aside until the present dispensation of grace comes to a close with the rapture of the Church and then God will resume His dealings with the nation of Israel. It is predominantly a Gentile dispensation because Israel as a nation does not believe Jesus is her Messiah. Why are Gentile Christians so wrapped up in a Jewish program that God is no longer working with? Romans 11 v 32: For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all. Both Jews and Gentiles are committed to unbelief, that Christ might reconcile them both into one body through His Cross. If you embrace the great commission as the church's marching orders you have fallen from grace. But can you fall from grace if you never embraced it in the first place? The Galatian church fell from grace because they received the grace of God in its fullness until the Judiazers came along and perverted the message. Our new commission is found in 2 Corinthians 5 vs 18 – 21: Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. 20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. 21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
1 Cor 1 v 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect. In closing, I implore you to read God's blueprints or specifications for the present administration of grace, as revealed to the Apostle of the Gentiles. 1 Cor 3. 10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. 11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. 14 If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
Paul never preached Christ according to terms and conditions of the earthly kingdom program but instead, He preached Christ in this manner. 1 Cor 15. 1 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. No mention of repent and be baptized, because Israel has been set aside in unbelief and the earthly kingdom program has been put on hold until the rapture takes place, at which time God will resume His dealings with them. Today God is dispensing His grace to all men without distinction.