What if…the Good News!
The Mystery of Paul’s Good News
I get that what you are about to read is an expression of my own personal quandary, but on the off-chance that it will help explain what comes after, I will share it anyway.
As I was working on this post I was torn as to whether I should frame it as an addition to the “What If…” posts that have focused on the tendency of many of our most common translations of the Bible to resort to utilizing (for the older editions) or retaining (for the more modern editions or revisions) the use of a transliteration from the original languages to express a term.
The classic example is the word “angel” which, technically, is a phonetic transliteration of the Greek “aggelos” which if translated would read “messenger”. “Angel”, as a phonetic transliteration, which was then (likely as a consequence of the Septuagint Old Testament) pushed back into the Old Testament in a somewhat random pattern, to replace the Hebrew word for “messenger, emissary” which would transliterate as (“malak”) about half of the times that word was used.
The other option I considered was to include it in the somewhat informal sub-series of posts regarding the “mysteries” of the Bible that I had purposed (and which was actually sourced from a “What If…”).
As a reminder from “What if…The Mysteries of God”:
[W.E. Vine defines the distinction this way (paraphrased):
In the Greek, “mustērion” does not denote the unfathomable (as the English word “mystery” tends to be used) but of that which can only be fully understood with the aid of divine revelation (either first or second hand). It (“mustērion”) infers that which is not only made known by God – but that which is made known at His appointed time to those enlightened by the Spirit.
In our normal use “mystery” implies knowledge withheld; Biblically “mystery” refers to Truth unveiled. As Paul puts it in Col.1:25b-27:
“…so that I might complete the word of God, the “mustērion” which has been hidden from the ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this “mustērion” among the Gentiles/Nations, which is the Anointed One in you, the hope of glory. Col.1:25-27]
The reason for my internal debate is that one of the most commonly addressed “mysteries” is the “mystery of the Good News” where “Good News” is the actual translation of the word typically seen as “gospel”: “ěuaggěliǒn”. This represents one of the most egregious insertions that we can find. On a topic that is clearly of extreme importance to God! (I will gladly call out that the “New Living Translation” and the “Young’s Literal Translation”, as well as a couple of other “modern translations”, have removed the error!)
Allow me to explain my furor. The word we read as “gospel” is notably and unabashedly a conjunction of the word “god” and the word “spell” and yes, in the archaic sense of that word. If you are as shocked as I was when I first discovered that…well, I will give you a moment to research it yourself…
How the translators were ever justified in taking a very common Greek term, “ěuaggěliǒn”, and instead of taking three minutes to recognize the prefix “eus” which means “good” and the base word “aggelia” which means “a message” to come up with the translation “good message” (or the more common, euphemism “good news”) they create the term “gospel”, is just this side of inexplicable! Instead of a translation we get a word that has ZERO CONNECTION with the ORIGINAL LANGUAGE (pardon me while a settle down a bit)…
We get a word that has zero connection with the original language but is instead a conjunction of “god” and “spell”!?! As if somehow we as followers of Jesus Christ are supposed to be okay with an implication that the wonderful message of the atoning work done through His sinless life, sacrificial death (having become sin for us), vindication by the Father, bodily resurrection, delivery of His sinless blood to ransom and redeem the entire created order, and ascension to the right hand of the Father should be thought of as a “spell”?
Let’s be clear. The common understanding of a “spell” goes all the way back to old English and old high German (spel). And (not surprisingly) has an etymology that originates in an entirely different Greek work “apeilē” which means “to boast”. Webster’s New Collegiate: “A spoken word or form of words held to have magic power: incantation; the state of “enchantment”.”
Let me hit this one more time: the common versions of the Bible have accepted as a “translation” of the Greek word “ěuaggěliǒn” (which was a common Greek term accepted to mean “good news” or the more literal “message of wellness”) a term that implies that God is speaking a series of words that will “enchant” people to believe something that they would not otherwise choose to believe.
Under these circumstances I would also like to reaffirm my absolute conviction that the Holy Spirit inspired the original writings of both the Old and New Testaments. That He also shepherded the process of selecting, securing, and eventually translating the scriptures for the purpose of giving us the story of God’s plan. Our Bible is in fact the “open” (or unsealed) version of the contract that God made within Himself that defines how He has chosen to interact with His creation within the confines of time. And therefore, within its pages are the fundamental concepts that definitively communicate His desires for His creation both within time and in eternity.
As I have noted before, William Tyndale was executed for translating the Greek New Testament into English (circa 1526). His being burnt at the stake was because that translation fulfilled the very desire for which Tyndale believed he was commissioned: to put the Word of God in the hands of the People of God – not just in those of the clergy or monarchy.
That there is more than one way to translate the verified, original scrips into any particular language is indisputable; that any of those ways are also refined over the course of time can also not be denied (in other words, there are multiple “editions” of the New American Standard Bible, for example). The various translations are joined by even more devotional or expositional works that focus more (and maybe exclusively) on application than they do on an attempt to interpret the originals.
In all of this I believe the Holy Spirit – despite the variety – will lead us into all Truth, if we submit to His leading as we read and meditate on the written Word. (He does, after all, work through flawed and feeble men and women.) And that journey will often require us to make the effort to “search out a matter” (Prov.25:2).
By the way – the noun form which we have seen a few times already -- “ěuaggěliǒn” – can be found 73 times in the New Testament. The verb form – which describes the delivery of a message of good news (“ěuaggělizō”) – is used 52 times; though only 25 of those times (in the NASB1995) is it associated with the conjunction “gospel” – with the other 27 noting the phrase “good news”. (And though I should probably give them credit for that…oh well: to their credit they do asterisk the translation most of the time and suggest that it “could” be read as “good news”.)
All of that said – I think it may now be apparent as to why this fell firmly under the category of a “What If…”
I will leave that there for now…though I will not promise that it won’t find its way back into my thoughts later in this (or other) posts.
In my original post regarding the “mustērion” of the Bible, I listed twelve examples of those things that Jesus promised His followers that they had been “given to know the mysteries of the kingdom” whereas others had not been granted that insight. I would like to clear something up as far as my understanding goes.
Jesus is not speaking of special knowledge for a select few – or “gnosticism”. I mention this because the idea of “Gnosticism” was inferred onto Jesus’ words and on the rest of the New Testament fairly early after the first and second generations of followers had died. That inference is an error.
Simply put, gnostics were poly-theists who took some of Plato and some of Epicurus and, eventually some of the writings of Paul and John, among others, in the late first century AD and formed a theology that presented the dualism of the Greeks, a docetic perception of Jesus (that He was never truly a human, but the source of “special knowledge” from the immaterial or “spirit” realm), and what they perceived as inferences to knowledge that could only be accessed by those with special revelation. Mixing this all together they concluded that the material world is evil (created by inferior “god” or “gods”), that mankind somehow are trapped here and are ignorant of that “fact”, and that the “higher gods” have sent (one or many) “saviors” or “sparks of the divine” who have shared the “secret knowledge” that will allow “some” to “evolve” to the immaterial realm.
As we have seen – the message of salvation, of our ransoming from sin and the promise of redemption, is freely and joyfully available to all. There is only One God, Whom we experience in Three persons. He created that which was other than Himself, including Man who was made in His Image and Likeness. He specifically chose to include Man in His eternal plans – even at the cost of His having to become one of us in order to be our Near Kinsman and to cover for our inability to “bring what is required” (the basic definition of sin) by dying for us. We are currently being “made fit” (tested and approved) to share eternity with Him by the simple choice of whether we accept His offer or not. What we are told awaits us is only a hint – but is intentionally true for us all – because He loves us all and gave His life for us all. As we live out that gift of life He has given, we are encouraged to take advantage of His Word and the presence of God to lead us into all truth. But He respects our choices, even the bad ones.
Jesus’ acts of becoming a baby, living 33½ years sinlessly, suffering the death we all deserve, and being resurrected in flesh and bone (transformed flesh and bone, but truly flesh and bone nonetheless) are all antithetical to Gnosticism. As is also the universal access to Truth that Christ made possible and God desires.
And so, when Jesus tells His disciples that they have access to the “mysteries of the kingdom” and that the others do not, we should not infer from that that the access was limited from the others; but instead that the access was limited by the others: themselves, refusing to accept the clear evidence of His ministry.
With those two “housekeeping” items taken care of, we can move on to the mystery (the unveiled truth) about the good news as described and explained by Paul.
The scriptural foundation of any “mystery” is its designation as such. In the case of the good news according to Paul, we have four specific occasions where that term is used and another that could, in essence, be a short-form description of his understanding of the good news. All told we find the “good news” spoken of 57 of the 73 times in Paul’s writings; and 19 of 52 times that the action of delivering that good message are found there as well. Clearly he can be said to be a proponent of the importance of the message.
For starters, I will bring out the five occasions of his referring to the unveiling of his good news message, given in the likely order of their publication (meaning made available to the public), which I believe helps us to see how the idea matured over the course of his ministry. I have specifically noted their occurrence in light of the very pivotal events recorded in Acts 21-22 (which I will touch on in a moment). Once we have viewed those specific references, I believe we will benefit from digging a bit deeper into what made him believe that his version of the good message stood out from the others that were written and shared.
Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my good news and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past, but now is manifested , and by the foretelling of Scriptures, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, to obedience of faith; to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever. Amen. Romans 16:25-27
Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden which God predestined before the ages to our glory; which none of the rulers of this age understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; but just as it is written, “Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and have not entered the heart of Man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him.” 1Cor.2:6-9
The two above were written in letters sent before the completion of his third missionary journey (likely written in Ephesus); the three below: after he is taken prisoner and eventually sent to Rome.
With all prayer and petition praying at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, and on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the good news, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. Eph.6:18-20
Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving; praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned; that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak. Col.4:2-4
I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you before too long; but if I delay, so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the gathering together of the citizens of the kingdom of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth. By common confession, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was revealed in the flesh, was vindicated in the Spirit, seen by messengers, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory. 1Tim.3:14-16
Amen and amen!
Paul was clear on the message of the good news he had come to understand. He also understood that because he had brought it forward in plain language it had led to his imprisonment; and that, even though he could (and we can) look back into the words of God and see the foretelling of the message, those who choose ignorance would not see it. And, we learn, that that is true not just of the men alive in Paul’s age, but of the rulers of the age themselves.
This message that, as Paul declares, was in reality founded in the eternal plan of God, needs to be shared, no matter the cost of doing so. But because there was a cost for Paul, he was asking for those who know him and who benefitted from his willingness to share the message, that they pray for him. Pray that he stay in the wisdom from God and that he speak the words of truth in a way that will change the hearts of men.
Before I go on, I want to add Paul’s introduction of himself to those in Rome. This, as you likely know, was a congregation of almost exclusively Gentile believers (caused by the banishment by Claudius of all Jews, including Christians of Jewish heritage) who had never met Paul. It was a unique circumstance for Paul – he had not before and would not again write to a fellowship that he had not worked with in person. What he knew of them came primarily from his conversations with Priscilla and Aquila – two Christian Jews from Rome who had been banished and who had previously hosted the fellowship in their home.
I remind us of this setting because it adds to the importance of how he chooses to introduce himself. His opening words of what will prove to be a monumental communication should be understood by us, to contain the importance that all of that detail suggests.
Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as one sent with a message, set apart for the good news of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and the mission to deliver His message to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name's sake, among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ; to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world. For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the preaching of the good news of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you… Romans1:1-9
We can see right at the beginning, when describing himself to those who, at best, knew him by reputation only, that his obedience to Christ Jesus and his mission to deliver the message of the good news of God are paramount.
He validates this good news by noting that it was actually a part of the foretelling statements of the spokesmen of God in the Old Testament. And then he defines the parameters of this good news message: it is all about the Son of God. Who, though born of flesh (descendant of David) was proven in His divinity by His resurrection. Paul then declares Him in the majesty of the triune name: Jesus Christ our Lord. In this he is saying that He is man, He is the Anointed One, the Messiah of God, and He is his and their ruling authority (think Caesar or King or Governor or all of the above).
And then Paul points out – though not obviously – what makes his good news message different: it is to help bring about the obedience of the faith among all of the Gentiles for His name’s sake!
This was the prophetic aspect of the good news that fell most heavily on, of all people, Paul. That the message of the good news God had for Man was not to be isolated to the Jews only but was to be delivered to all the nations.
In so many ways this should not have been a surprise. When God called Abram out of Ur (the nation that would be founded in his cousin, Chesed’s ancestors) he was told that in him all families of the earth would experience blessing. And though it may not be obvious to all, it should be: this is a direct reference to Jesus being brought out of Abram’s descendants (Gen.12:3).
And, in hindsight, numerous passages even in the Law, point to God’s intent to bring His glory into all of the earth – and that it (His glory throughout the earth) will be the result of the ministry of the Messiah!
Nonetheless, it was Paul’s recognition of this expression of the good news from and of God that eventually got him arrested and chained and imprisoned in Rome. We know this to be the case because of Luke’s record.
As enlightening as it is, I will forego rehearsing all that Paul experienced in Jerusalem after He had finished his third journey. I will however note a couple of the statements from those who were followers of Jesus and who remained in the city and the temple. Keep in mind that it is likely around 57 to 58 AD that this occurs – so nearly 30 years since Jesus’ ministry and death. Nero is Emperor in Rome; his early years of “sensibility” are coming to an end and things are getting tense, especially with the Jews. It is also noteworthy that after Paul’s being made prisoner in Jerusalem, he never again writes of Jerusalem in his letters; a common topic previously!
And the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present. After he had greeted them he related one by one the things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. Acts 21:18-19
Luke’s recount is interesting because it does not shy away from the very early conflict that had developed in the experience of the first followers of Jesus. After hearing of the impact that Paul was having on the Gentiles, we are told that they stated what they held to be God’s opinion.
…and they said to him, “You see brother, how many ten thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed, and they are all zealous for the Law; and they have been told about you, that you are teaching all the Jews who are among the nations to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs.” Acts 21:20-21
Luke does not record any reply from Paul to this statement. I wonder if he was shocked to hear what they had said; certainly he must have been after what came next.
They recommended that he act the part of a pious Jew, “that you yourself also walk orderly, keeping the Law.” And this act was followed through up to and including a blood sacrifice being offered for him and four fellows seeking purification. What we know about Paul’s convictions by his writings before his imprisonment, can only suggest that he did this for their sakes not for his own. When in Rome/Jerusalem…
He knew that God was fully satisfied with the sacrifice of Jesus; but he clearly believed that it was best for their sakes (those whom he had troubled greatly already – see Acts 8-9) that he try to avoid stirring up more trouble. It should not be missed that what he had been told is that there were ten thousands that believedJesus was Messiah – but, that somehow, they were still obligated to the Law that Jesus had fulfilled. I can only imagine how discouraged Paul (and likely Luke) was by their reminder of the letter that was sent after the last time he had been in Jerusalem.
[Should they (at least James and the elders, if not all of “those who have believed”) not have understood more decisively what the rent veil and the crying out of “It is finished!” and the resurrection meant from God’s perspective? Does this not suggest, even strongly suggest, that the forty years of mercy (again, what we are discussing occurred nearly thirty years after Jesus’ death) that God had offered (from the crucifixion to the fulfillment of the foretold destruction of the temple and the city) was being wasted by allowing the Judaizers to “set policy”? (PS – I do know that the stated time frame of forty years, that I inserted, had not been made known; that said the consequences had been, as had been the cause and the need for watchfulness – see Luke 21:5-24; 19:41-44; 13:31-35.)
We do have reason to believe that the letter to these Hebrews was written some little time after Paul’s imprisonment – the letter that lays to rest any doubt about how the Law was intended to be understood through the cross. But here and now, following Paul’s third journey, there was already reason to know! The confrontation and council some ten years earlier (see Acts 15) and the letter to the Galatians following that meeting, were known and did serve as a warning of the risk of the faction of those who taught: “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” Had they even forgotten themselves that this was the seal of the covenant with Abraham; the covenant that promised that all nations would be blessed?]
We also learn that as soon as his seven days were up that they seized Paul anyway and accused him before the crowd of bringing a Greek into the temple – simply because he had been seen with a Grecian when he arrived to Jerusalem. And so all the city was roused and rushed together to take hold of Paul:
…they dragged him out of the temple, and immediately the doors were shut. While they were seeking to kill him…and when they saw the commander and the soldiers they stopped beating Paul. Acts 21:30-32
So much for the benefits of compromise! Again, these are at least in part members of the “ten thousand” of believing Jews.
After his foretold arrest in Jerusalem, and after invoking his credentials to the commander, Paul turns to crowd, including the religious authorities, and begins speaking to them in Hebrew. Acts chapter 22 provides his entire defense of his calling and his right to speak. He goes through his heritage, both naturally and spiritually; sharing with them his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus.
And they seem to be willing to accept all of that without shouting him down – which aligns with what James and the elders had said to him about the “ten thousands”. We are in fact told that, “They listened to him,” right up to one certain statement that he made.
He had just recounted the story of his return to Jerusalem after being visited by Jesus on the road (see Acts 9:26ff). He details for them what some of them would have recalled from several years prior:
“It happened when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I fell into displacement, and I saw Him saying to me, ‘Make haste, and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about Me.’ And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves understand that in one synagogue after another I used to imprison and beat those who believed in You. And when the blood of Your witness Stephen was being shed, I also was standing by approving and watching out for the coats of those who were slaying him.’
And He said to me, ‘Go! For I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’” Acts 22:17-21
It was at that last statement that they lost it.
God help us to avoid the mistake of requiring Him to fulfill His promises our way!
Speaking of Galatians – a letter Paul would have written nearly ten years before this event, but shortly after the initial conflict regarding the Judaizers. In his early comments to them, Paul reiterates what he had shared with them when he met them; the extent and importance of the good news that he brought to them. In this region, as we remember, Paul started by meeting in the synagogues and by sharing the good news of Jesus with “his brothers”. And then, only after being rejected, would he meet with the Gentiles. That matters because we know that this letter was written to both – to the Jews and the Gentiles – the two that God, through Jesus, was making into the one new man.
I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different message of good news; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the good news of Christ. But even if we, or a messenger from heaven, should preach to you a message of good news contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a good news message contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!
For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ.
For I would have you know, brethren, that the good news which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. Gal.1:1-9
Paul goes on in this letter to provide his perspective on the meeting that he had in Jerusalem, and the letter that was written by James regarding the Gentiles and on the confrontation with Peter that led to his and Barnabas’ decision to go to meet with the fellowship in Jerusalem. All of which were reinforcements to his original good news message.
In case I have yet to make it clear what this unveiled mystery contains, I will finish with the clearest tie-in of the two ideas that Paul provided.
Written while under house arrest in Rome, the city in which Paul would spend most of his last 8 years serving the Lord, Paul sends a letter to those in Ephesus with whom he had spent significant time. History suggests that Timothy ends up ministering there during the years that followed him being with Paul – and if so, Paul would indirectly write to those of the city a couple more times.
In this letter can be found much of what would be considered the basic doctrines or teachings of Paul. And though the theme of the bringing together of all nations into the body of Christ is touched on elsewhere in this letter, the connection between the mystery (the unveiling of the teaching) of the good news in general and the specifics of the good news that was revealed to Paul and which he was commissioned to preach is found in the middle part of the letter.
For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles—if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace which was given to me for you; that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief. By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery (again, we should think “unveiling of the teaching) of Christ, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His saints who are sent with a message and who declare the word of God in the Spirit; to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the good news, of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of God's grace which was given to me according to the working of His power. To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things; so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the gathering of the citizens of His kingdom to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him. Therefore I ask you not to lose heart at my tribulations on your behalf, for they are your glory. Eph.3:1-13
So first, I clearly am not the only one who writes long compound sentences.
What Paul is bringing to a sharp point here is that the promise of salvation and blessing for all nations is not only God’s current desire, it has been all along. That our lack of recognition, he suggests, is not because it was not His eternal plan, but because we were unable to see.
I love this statement: “…to be specific, the unveiling of the teaching of Christ is…that the Gentiles, the nations, are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the good news…” In that, Paul homes in on what his ministry has been since shortly after he was sent back to Tarsus and after he received the revelation from Jesus directly: the “no Gentile, no Jew; no male, no female; no bond, no free; no young, no old – but one New Man: the new creation through the New Covenant” message – which was and is the time bound revelation of His Everlasting Covenant!