Gospel According to Paul

Grace Church: Roanoke, VA > Sermons
The best way to know what the Gospel is, is to see what the Bible has to say about the Gospel. Paul preached the Gospel of Grace and the others preached the Gospel of the Kingdom.

This caused a problem: Acts 15 and Galatians 2. The solution was 2:9that we (Paul, Barnabas) should go unto the heathen (Gentiles), and they (apostles) unto the circumcision (Jews). see Acts 13:46

Some verses in Acts 14:7,21, 15:7, 16:10, 20:24 about the Gospel preached:
Paul reminds the believers in Rome about the Gospel he brought to them:
Romans 1:1,9,15-16, 2:16, 10:15-16, 11:28, 15:16,19-20,29, 16:25
And to the Corinthian believers:
1 Corinthians 1:17, 4:15, 9:12,14,16-18,23, 15:1
2 Corinthians 2:12, 4:3-4, 8:13, 9:13, 10:14,16, 11:4,7

To the Galatians, who were being led back under the Law, he tells them only one Gospel:
Galatians 1:6-9,11, 2:2,5,7,14, 3:8, 4:13
To the faithful Ephesians he wrote:
Ephesians 1:13, 3:6, 6:15,19
To the saints in Philippi:
Philippians 1:5,7,12,17,22, 2:22, 4:3,15
To the faithful brethren in Colossi:
Colossians 1:5,23
To the Thessalonians, who thought they had missed the rapture:
1 Thessalonians 1:5, 2:2,4,8-9, 3:2, 2 Thessalonians 1:8, 2:14
And to his son, in the Lord:
1 Timothy 1:11, 2 Timothy 1:8,10, 2:8
To his friend:
Philemon 1:13
To Jewish believers:
Hebrews 4:2
For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: …
The Gospel of GRACE, is the Death, Burial, and Resurrection according to the Scripture of the LORD JESUS CHRIST.

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Resurrection – According to the Apostle Paul

Defending the Resurrection | Evidence Unseen

How important is it that we believe the Lord Jesus was raised from the dead, resurrected back to life and that he rose from the grave after 3 days and 3 nights?

If an individual can not or will not believe this, then Christianity is no different than any other belief in a god. Let’s see what the apostle wrote to the churches in his day.
To the Churches he wrote:
Romans 1:4 And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:
Romans 4:24-25 But… if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.
Romans 6:4-5 Therefore, we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. …
Romans 6:9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more;
Romans 7:4 Wherefore, …, even to him who is raised from the dead, …
Romans 8:11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead
Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, …
Romans 14:9 For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he …
1 Corinthians 6:14 And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise …
1 Corinthians 15:4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third …
1 Corinthians 15:12-13 Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen:
1 Corinthians 15:15-17 Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not.For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.
1 Corinthians 15:21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
1 Corinthians 15:35 But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? …
1 Corinthians 15:42-44 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
1 Corinthians 15:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, …
2 Corinthians 4:14 Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you.
2 Corinthians 5:15 And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.

⇛ continue reading Resurrection – According to the Apostle Paul Part 2
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Did Paul Teach about Hell?

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Paul never uses the Greek words that are translated “hell.” 
He does teach about the fate of those who reject Jesus Christ.
2 Thessalonians 2:12 That they all might be damned who believe not the truth … Read full text (2:7-12)
Paul describes God’s action against unbelievers with the word “wrath.” Romans 2:5, 8 says, “But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed…But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.”
Paul is clear that those who are stubborn, unrepentant of their sins, and who reject the Lord will be objects of God’s wrath on the Day of Judgment. Colossians 3:6 explains this further when Paul says that God’s wrath is coming because of things such as lust, idolatry, greed, sexual immorality, and other evil deeds.
However, Paul doesn’t just give us the fate of the wicked. He teaches that those who believe in Jesus Christ are not to be recipients of God’s wrath (Romans 5:9; 1 Thessalonians 1:10; 5:9), showing his audience that there is a way to avoid the coming judgment: believe in Jesus Christ.
Paul wrote the letter to the Galatian church to combat false teaching. He opposed the false teaching so strongly that he said, “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!” (Galatians 1:8-9). Paul goes as far to say that anyone who teaches something that is different from the gospel of Jesus Christ (a person or even an angel) will be condemned to damnation forever.
Paul continues his teaching of hell when he says in Romans 2:9, “There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil.” Clearly, the afterlife is in view since, in our current world, those who do evil don’t always experience trouble and distress. The righteous are typically persecuted and go through tribulation (tribulation means trouble). Paul is teaching that those who reject God and do evil will experience trouble and distress in the next life.
2 Thessalonians 1:8-10 is one of the most important passages about Paul’s teaching on hell. These verses say, He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among those who have believed.”
Paul teaches this idea elsewhere. Galatians 6:8 says, “The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.” Philippians 1:28 and 3:19 teach that non-Christians will be destroyed. 2 Thessalonians 2:10 says, “They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.”
These verses tell us a lot. First, the ungodly will be destroyed, but Christians will be given eternal life. Second, those who perish will do so because they refused to believe in Jesus Christ. However, these verses have fueled a debate on whether or not hell will last forever. Paul says that the wicked will be destroyed. Does this not imply that those in hell will be destroyed in a way that means they will cease to exist?
Most of the time when Paul describes the fate of the wicked as “destruction he is using two Greek words or word groups.[2] These words do not absolutely have to be defined as meaning “destruction” in the sense that something is going “extinct.” These terms often have another meaning: “the situation of a person or object that has lost the essence of its nature or function.” In fact, these words can refer to land that has lost its fruitfulness (Ezekiel 6:14; 14:16); ointment that is wasted and used for no apparent purpose (Matthew 26:8; Mark 14:4); wineskins that have holes in them (Matthew 9:17; Mark 2:22; Luke 5:37); a coin that’s useless because it is lost (Luke 15:9); or the entire world that “perishes” in the Flood (2 Peter 3:6). “In none of these cases do the objects cease to exist; they cease to be useful or to exist in their original, intended state.”[3]
Bible scholar Charles Wanamaker notes that “destruction” in
2 Thessalonians 1:9 can be interpreted as a literal annihilation or as having a metaphorical meaning of punishment, not a literal destruction. He says, “As there is no evidence in Paul (or the rest of the NT for that matter) for a concept of final annihilation of the godless, the expression ‘eternal destruction’ should probably be taken in a metaphorical manner as indicating the severity of the punishment awaiting the enemies of God.”[4]
Conclusion Although Paul does not use the Greek words translated “hell,” he does speak about the destination of those who reject Jesus. He teaches that those who go to hell will endure the wrath of God, become useless, be separated from God (the source of happiness and all that is good), and be distressed. This reality should motivate Christians to share the gospel with everyone that they know.

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