The Full Gospel - All the Truth

1 Corinthians 9:14 Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel.

The "gospel" is the good news about Jesus Christ. Of course, one should ask, "What is this good news?" It is everything written about the Lord in the Books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. John spoke first of the "origin" of Jesus. He always existed but only recently became flesh. He states further that "all things were made by him". Hence, if one denies the Creation, then they deny Jesus. No one can serve two Masters. It is either the world or the Word (Luke 16:13).

The gospel then proceeds to the virgin birth of Jesus, John the Baptist's introduction of him, Jesus's baptism, his selection of the apostles, his teaching of Holy Scripture, the miracles, his claim of being God, the Lord's transfiguration, his conviction, crucifixion, and resurrection, and proclaiming the Great Commission. He wrapped up the gospel by saying "he will be with them even until the end of the world" (Matthew 28:20). Hence, the gospel of Jesus Christ is that He is "the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end" (Revelation 22:13). The Lord Jesus, being the Word, spoke that! Jesus had eternal existence, never having been created, was born a Man through a virgin by the Spirit of God, was filled with the Holy Spirit, and climactically ascended into heaven.

With Jesus's ascension, his "Ghost" came down as of fire, (Acts 2), and like Jesus said: he "is with us even until the end of the world"; not that he will die then, but mankind will.

To be a Christian, one must believe the gospel, and all the gospel. The life of Jesus - the Gospel, has become synonymous with truth. The full gospel is all the truth! One cannot pick and choose truth. One cannot deny truth and be honest. Belief in all the gospel is paramount for eternal life, or one is in denial of the Word; they create a false Jesus - one who is lied about and a liar himself.

As such, Jesus as Creator, God, Gracious, Miracle Worker, Teacher, Savior, Martyr, and Living are necessary to believe in him. One that can Create everything certainly has the Power to Create a place of eternal life. The Creation and Resurrection by and of Jesus are imperative to believe!

The Lord must ordain those who preach the gospel (1 Corinthians above). Ordination is God appointing preachers to preach. It's not quite that simple, though. All Christians are called to preach since we are all of the royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9). But what does that mean about the qualifications of a bishop as mentioned in 1 Timothy 3:1. That is a superintendence - one who leads the preachers. That takes a special person to be a leader of the priesthood. The bishopric is an episcopal type of government, not the preaching itself.

How about a deacon? He is one who serves the bishop. He is under the superintendence of the leaders. Deacons are not preachers, but servants or helpers. It takes a special calling to be a master or a servant, and one is no less important than the other. Preachers claim to be bishops. They are not. Deacons claim to be preachers; neither are they. Ministers are both bishops and deacons in a sense because they both lead and serve. However, the leaders of the apostolic churches were bishops. They had under them many others who presented the gospel. Paul was what we would call a "General Superintendent", as were all the apostles.

As royal priests, we are all called to preach the gospel. The Great Commission is for all the priests, not just the apostles and bishops. Even the deacons are royal priests. They can preach as well as the bishops. The episcopate is not about the gospel but about government. All the governors must be called to administer; hence, "ministers".

When anyone presents the gospel, they are preaching. Preaching is from Scripture - the Bible. We really don't need supplemental stories. When the Word was preached after it was recovered, the following was the order of service:

Nehemiah 9:2 And the seed of Israel separated themselves from all strangers, and stood and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers. 3 And they stood up in their place, and read in the book of the law of the Lord their God one fourth part of the day; and another fourth part they confessed, and worshipped the Lord their God.

Look at the order of worship:

1. Separated themselves from the world in unity (went to "church" so to speak)
2. Stood and confessed their sins, even their inherited sin.
3. Stood and read the book of the law of God (Holy Scripture).
4. After the word, they confessed more sins.
5. They worshipped the Lord with praise (which would include prayer, that being a manner of praise.)

Confession and praise are what we call "testimonies". We are to stand and confess our sins, and at the same time praise God for forgiving them. Of course, praise is done by speaking and singing. My point is that cute little stories and jokes are not required. Neither are bands with their drums and symbols. They did not need to quote Dr. Jeremiah since they had the word first hand, and neither do we! It took only the Word from Scripture to change hearts at that time, and that's all that's needed today. However, most preachers add so much more that preaching that it becomes ineffective.

There was no hint of entertainment. Pleasure was for other times. The reason for church is to entertain God, not us!

It is the gospel which God ordains preachers to preach - the entire gospel without picking and choosing what people can believe or should not - the full gospel! 

In order to preach the gospel, the preachers have to "live the gospel", according to Paul. How does one live the gospel? By being Christ-like:

1 Corinthians 11:1 Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.

Walk the talk as we now say. Those who don't are hypocrites! The most effective means of preaching is by example. In fact, preachers are a stumbling-block if they don't follow the example of Christ. Teaching partial gospel is damning to those who listen. For instance, the teaching of salvation without the creation is claiming a weak God. Tolerance of sin is issuing the proclamation that God is wrong. Get this straight: if God kills someone for carelessly touching the ark, He will punish one for willfully living a life disgusting to Him!

Therefore, preaching the gospel entails living the gospel! There are few who do that.