Introduction
Many Western Christians [i] and secular individuals have misunderstood the core message of the Bible’s Good News for centuries. This analysis aims to clarify the true Gospel, obscured since the Reformation, by examining relevant New Testament and Hebrew Bible passages to determine whether they support or challenge what I’m referring to as the “New Covenant Gospel”, first proposed (to my knowledge) by Dr. Jason A Staples. This interpretation diverges from the traditional Gospel message fundamentally.
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The Gospel (εὐαγγέλιον euaggélion)
Historical Context
The biblical narrative begins with the story of Adam and Eve and continues through the stories of Abel, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and the Exodus. This narrative depicts a recurring theme: God seeking a faithful, loving, and unified family that loves Him and one another, but not finding it.
Following the debacle leading to the flood, God chose Abraham, based on his expressed trust in Him, to become the “father of a multitude of nations” (Gen 17:5), and produce progeny (זֶרַע zera` — seed; offspring) through whom “all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.” (Gen 26:4-5)
God revealed that in addition to these characteristics, He sought a people that would “serve” Him (e.g. Ex 7:16) as a “nation of priests” (Ex 19:5-6). Priests mediate between God and people. So apparently fledgling Israel was to serve as mediators between their God and the “nations”, the non-Israelites, the Gentiles (ἐˊθνος éthnos: Heb -גּוֹי gôy, גּוֹיִם gôyim, הַגּוֹיִם hāggôyim). Early in the narrative we see this idea of God’s intention to use His people/children to bring Him to others and to bring others to Him.
These prospective priests refused their appointment and instead rebelled against God (e.g. Ex 32:8).
God warned His people, through His Prophets, to repent of their infidelity and return to faithfulness to Him and the covenant law given them through Moses that bound them to Him (e.g. Dt 30:2-3).
The people ignored these prophetic warnings from God.
God then judged the people through some calamity (e.g., the flood, the wilderness wanderings, the exiles and destructions) but promised to restore them in the future. It’s at this point that the image of a redeemer sent by God, an “anointed one”, a מָשִׁיחַmāšiyaḥ – a Messiah, enters Israel’s expectations for their future and scripture.
God then redeemed/restored His people, at least to a degree. (Typically, fewer people were available for redemption, only a remnant of the original, than had been judged.)
God ultimately promised to restore all “Israel” (the integration of the now-lost Northern tribes (Jer 31:20), and the Southern Judean tribes) to Himself – back into His family as His children. These are the promises identified in Jer 31:31 as a “New Covenant” (Jer 31:31-34, Ezk 36:24-28, Ezk 37:21-23, Is 11:11-12, Joel 2:28 [ii]). Under the Old Covenant the Bible never records the nation of Israel truly abiding by it[iii]. In the New Covenant, God Himself is going to transform His people so that they desire to love and obey Him (and their neighbors as themselves). And, He apparently is going to accomplish this transformation through the agency of a Servant (Isa 49:5-6)
5 And now the LORD says,
he who formed me from the womb to be his servant,
to bring Jacob back to him;
and that Israel might be gathered to him—
for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD,
and my God has become my strength—
6he says:
“It is too light a thing that you should be my servant
to raise up the tribes of Jacob
and to bring back the preserved of Israel;
I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
who will effect this transformative regathering. This becomes the bedrock of the New Testament’s Gospel Message.
So, as we leave the Hebrew Bible, there are some major open issues left unresolved.
- So far, Israel and Judah have not been reunified (i.e., as the two stick metaphor in Ezk 37:16-17 seems to prophesy), nor have the dispersed apostate of all tribes been revived to renewed spiritual life, as in the “dry bones” metaphor (Ezk 37:1-14). And, the nations are not streaming to Jerusalem to worship Israel’s God, nor being ruled by Israel’s King and Torah.
- Those in Judah (and Samaria, Galilee, and the Decapolis, for that matter), have not had God’s law “written on their hearts”. They have not experienced a supernatural transformation of their “hearts” from stone to flesh, from uncircumcised to circumcised, nor have they been given the knowledge of God (“all will know Me”) or had God’s Spirit poured out on/into them. These, and similar promises, remained unfulfilled as we exit the last page of the Hebrew Bible.
- Finally, no Davidic Messiah had appeared, as the Jews expected, to vanquish their Roman oppressors, assume the throne of David, and implement their law throughout the world. However, there was a guy that shortly thereafter did show up (among many of the time from, say, the 2nd century BC to the 1st century AD) to proclaim that the “time had been fulfilled” (we’ll have to unpack that phrase a bit), that the Kingdom of God was “at hand” – immanent in proximity and time.
This person did show up (and die) before the city and Temple once again were destroyed (in 70 AD), as prophesied by Daniel in 9:25-26. He was here, He said initially, only for the “lost sheep of Israel” (Mt 15:24). See also Mt 10:5-6, Jn 10:16.
However, He significantly opened the door to a more far-reaching ministry in Mt 28:19-20[iv], as he had hinted with the “Canaanite woman” in Mt 15:21-28, the centurion’s servant (Lk 7:1-10), and others.
Bible scholars and readers who see this dichotomy of Jesus’ calling to “the lost sheep of Israel” (only), later to be expanded to Gentiles (the normal interpretation of “nations”), are left wondering what it meant? Did God change His mind about His plan? Was this simply a natural continuation of Christ’s primary mission to Israel? This turns out to be a key aspect of the New Covenant Gospel.
This, then, is a kind of “Cliffs Notes” [xv] introduction to the meta-messages of the Hebrew Bible which sets us up perfectly for the resolution of these outstanding issues through the implementation of what the New Testament refers to as the “Good News” – the Gospel.
The Gospel Message
The Gospel message is far more profound than the trite “believe this and go to heaven when you die.” Such interpretations have been formulated to fit on bumper stickers and elicit popular appeal. Of course, God wants as many as possible to come to Him, so, if some do respond to this message and end up repenting and trusting God for their lives, then it’s all good.
However, far too many who initially respond to such superficial appeals as “accept Christ as your savior”, invite Him “into your heart”, “believe and go to heaven”, etc., end up flourishing for a time before all too often burning out and returning to the world (as in the seeds that fell on rocky ground — Mt 13:5-6).
God’s plan for His humanity is not a bumper sticker. It is a millennia’s-old story of love, mercy, and patience that continues today. This is the sweep of the Bible’s grand narrative.
If you’re looking for an AI-level “summary” of the Gospel, it is something like this:
God created humanity from which He sought to build a family for His glory (Is 47:3).
The Hebrew Bible documents that virtually none of His humanity wanted God or what He offered, despite His repeated appeals, and disciplines.
In the first century, Jesus of Nazareth shows up, develops a following, and demonstrates many supernatural acts of healing and resuscitation of the dead. He lives life in perfect accord with what God wanted from His children. As a result of this, His reputation spreads widely, attracting the attention of the Jewish authorities in Jerusalem. After challenging their man-made Temple cult system to their faces (Mt 23:23, Jer 8:8), the Jewish authorities have Him arrested, try Him in a kind of kangaroo court of the Sanhedrin at night, and condemn Him.
Following His crucifixion and death, Jesus is said to have appeared to many of His disciples, many of whom recognized Him, some of whom did not (as those on the road to Emmaus, Lk 24:13–35). In one of these appearances, He is recorded as having commissioned His disciples to: Mt 28:19-20
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Here is Jesus commanding that the world’s Gentiles receive His Gospel.
This is where we need to introduce the exegesis resulting from 20 years of scholarly study by Dr. Jason Staples. Staples has in his two books, “The Idea of Israel in Second Temple Judaism”[v] and “Paul and the Resurrection of Israel”[vi], not only upended Pauline scholarship, but New Testament scholarship generally. His work is the inspiration for this piece.
Oversimplifying by several orders of magnitude, Staples’ revolutionary insight reveals not only the direct connection between the New Covenant and the Gospel, but also the means through which the “nation” of Israel would be “regathered”.
Of course, Israel (i.e. the northern tribes) through their dispersion through exile into the “nations” had become, after a few generations, and certainly by the time of Jesus, the “nations” themselves, through assimilation by marriage and other cultural relationships. They became Gentiles.
Suddenly, the imperative Jesus issues in Mt 28 makes perfect sense, as does Paul’s commission, as does God’s promise to Abraham, His promise of a New Covenant, and many other related loose ends. God was doing exactly the opposite of abandoning Israel (as many Christians continue to believe).
So, to reunify all Israel and Judah (the two sticks of Ezk 37:16-17, 22), the now-Gentiles were going to have to be regathered to their God and thereby, as Paul says in Ro 11:25-26
25 Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written,
“The Deliverer will come from Zion,
he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”;
How is this regathering to be done? There are seemingly two requirements. First, the message of Christ has to be preached to them (Rom 10:4). And second, the Spirit of God has to work in them to respond in repentance for their apart-from-God lives, resulting in them committing themselves to Him and His service in love, after which they are animated and led by that same Spirit.
This is the New Testament’s Gospel, regardless of how it may have been presented to you in the past. It is the implementation of God’s prophesied “New Covenant”. Dr. Staples has, I believe, “cracked the code”.
Interpretation of the “Gospel” in the New Testament
Clearly, this subject is too large for a simple online essay. So, my objectives are simply to demonstrate that Paul’s and the Synoptic Gospels writers’ texts fit together naturally within the understanding of this New Covenant Gospel. Since Staples focused on Paul, let’s start with his epistles, primarily Romans.
Paul – Romans
You can review a summary of Staples’ presentation on Paul’s gospel in “Paul’s Real Gospel”. In addition, he has shared his insights in numerous podcast interviews[vii]
According to Staples’ exegesis, we can understand Paul, following his apocalypse on his way to Damascus, and after some years to think it through in the “wilderness” (the Arava – the southern Rift valley desert in Israel), plus his initial experiences in preaching Christ in the Levant and Asia to (primarily) Gentiles, as being compelled by the following facts:
God Was Committed to Regather (All) Israel
Paul agreed with his Jewish contemporaries that God had committed to regather “Israel” (i.e., the Southern Judahite tribes together with the Northern Ephraimite tribes, the former northern Kingdom of Israel) to Himself. This was the common understanding among most Jews in the 1st century AD as it lined up with what they saw being taught in their scriptures (see the examples above), though they didn’t have any consensus on how that would be achieved. (“Maybe they’re still out there” (after 700 years), “somewhere beyond the Euphrates, waiting to be called?”)
Paul’s Ministry: Called to Preach the Gospel to the Gentiles
As a Pharisaical Jew who no doubt knew his scriptures backwards and forwards, imagine Paul’s shock at his call to the Gentiles! While he accepted that God had called him to the pagans, he must have thought long and hard about how to square that circle. It wouldn’t have taken him too long, however, to recall God’s covenant with Abraham, and how his seed (זֶרַע zera` — seed; offspring, who Paul famously declared was Jesus) would bless “all the nations” (ּוֹי gôy, גּוֹיִם gôyim, הַגּוֹיִם hāggôyim – Gentiles) “of the earth” (Gen 26:4-5).
In Rom 11 we’ve already seen that he knew full well (by the time of that writing) that the Northern tribes were Gentiles. We see this clearly in his citations from Amos in which God calls the northern tribes “not my people”, but later says He will change them so that those who once were “not my people” He will declare “sons of the living God”. Paul, in applying this to the Gentiles provides a tremendously insightful hyperlink between Amos’s context and his.
However, Paul never lost his affection for his Jewish brethren and sought their redemption as well as the Gentiles he ministered to. We can see this clearly in his lament in Ro 9:1-3. Given that God instructed him to take the Gospel to the Gentiles, where, do you suppose, did he find his justification for preaching also to his Jewish brethren? Was it just his affection for his kinsman, or did he know something we don’t about the nature of God’s reclamation process?
Working of the Spirit of God
Paul saw the result of his preaching the Gospel to Gentiles, who had never heard of Jesus, and he must have been, initially at least, stunned. Following their repentance and commitment to the life of Christ, they were changed. Paul observed the miracle first-hand of their transformation into people devoted to God. It is from this experience that we get his experiential characterization in Ro 2:14-16:
14For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them 16 on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.
Paul explains the righteous behavior of these newly minted followers of Christ as having the law “written on their hearts”, a thoroughly New Covenant term (from Jer 31:33), that has been manifested as a reality…in his Gentiles! He knew his scriptures and understood that the writing of the law on one’s heart was a New Covenant promise to “the house of Israel and the house of Judah” (Jer 31:31-32). So, Paul squared the theological circle through observing his reality. He then goes on to explain what he’s seen in his heretofore mysterious portrayal in Rom 2.
Paul was seeing the Abrahamic covenant of nation-blessing fulfilled through the fulfillment of the New Covenant – something quite unexpected.
The Day of Judgment
The other piece of Paul’s theology we need to notice here is his reference to the day when “God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus”. He’s speaking about God’s final judgement on the Last Day (which, by the way, he thinks is immanent). This is a hugely important piece of our puzzle that we’ll pay attention to in the Gospel material, as it portends a virtual rewrite of the conventional wisdom on what “salvation” means. Paul was quite insistent on this point (Rom 1:18-21, Ro 2:6-11, 2 Cor 5:11, Gal 6:7-8, 1 Cor 6:8-11).
Rejoining of Israel
We’ve already seen that Paul was onboard with the proposition that the redemption of Gentiles to their God was (or at the very least included) the redemption of assimilated Jews and Israelites among the nations. Those who had become Gentiles (in Ezekiel’s metaphor, not only “dead”, but “dry”) were to be restored to life with God by, just like everybody else, repenting of their separation from God and committing to follow Him by following His Messiah.
What was the relationship of Gentile followers of Christ to this rejoined “Israel”? They were its members too. (Some have tried to portray this family of God as a regenerated ethnic Israel. For myself, I think this misses the fundamental point – that God’s faithfulness resulted in Him having an eternal family, regardless of its diverse ethnicity.)
What we find is that there are several idioms or metaphors used to describe the same “assembly” of the children of God; God’s Kingdom (Jesus’ favorite term), children/sons of God (the Hebrew Bible’s favorite image), Paul’s “in Christ” or “Christ in you”. This image is particularly helpful in teaching us that none of this works if not for the working of God’s Spirit.
It is the Spirit of God being poured out “on all flesh” (Joel 2:28) and working within each one in which He is alive that is the glue rejoining all of the branches of the vine/olive tree (another regathering metaphor) that have either broken off (assimilated Israel or hard-hearted Jews) or been grafted in (repentant Jews or Gentiles). This is Paul’s “mystery” revealed to him (Ro 16:25-27).
Obviously, there is much, much more to Paul’s theology – enough to fill 1500-page tomes. But these are the key ideas in his mind as he writes to his churches – and us.
Before leaving Paul, I encourage you to review these verses from his epistles which demonstrate the extent to which he saw his ministry, and our salvation, as the work of the Spirit.
and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,
But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God. (This is hugely important as it is in the controversial Rom 2.
and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (if you’ve given yourself to your Lord, you are no longer guilty of unrighteousness in God’s eyes.)
For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.
in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. (those with the Spirit can actually fulfill the “righteous requirements of the law”.)
For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.
For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.
You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, (family.)
And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.
And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit—
Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God—so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ;
I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf,
and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,
these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.
For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.
And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.
The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?
And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,
Yet in my judgment she is happier if she remains as she is. And I think that I too have the Spirit of God.
Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit;
To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, (gives various “gifts” that are capabilities one didn’t previously have)
to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit,
All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.
For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body— Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit.
So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church.
Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being” (Ge 2:7); the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. (Straight from Jer 31:33
who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. (another contrast with the written Law vs the Spirit-enabled conformance with that written law.)
2 Corinthians 3:7-17 (poetic contrast between Old covenant and New demonstrating why the New was necessary for the Jews.)
7Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, 8will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? 9For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. 10Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. 11For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory.
12Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, 13not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. 14But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. 15Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. 16But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. 17Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
2 Co 5:4
4For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. (this is a fascinating contrast between our mortal selves and the “life” that God implored us to choose (Dt 30:19))
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. (example of his letter benedictions)
Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?
Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith—
so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.
And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”
But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now.
For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness.
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.
But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. (The presence of the Spirit functionally replaces the law.)
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.
For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.
In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him,
For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.
In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. (conveys revelation)
that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,
eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,
and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,
praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,
for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance,
Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel,
So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh—
and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.
because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.
And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit,
Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.
Do not quench the Spirit.
But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.
Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.
Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, (forewarned)
for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.
Titus 3:5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,
Matthew’s Gospel
God Was Committed to Regather (All) Israel
The author of Matthew was perhaps the most intellectually connected to Israel’s scriptures, and particularly attuned to its Messianic narratives (as were many in the 1st century). For example, in Mt 2:6 he appropriates Micah 5:3, emphasizing a ruler who will arise from Bethlehem to “shepherd my people Israel”. In Micah’s context, “Israel” is the northern kingdom, since the United Monarchy had divided some 200 years earlier.
Our Matthew author concentrates on Jesus’ call to “the lost sheep of Israel” (Mt 15:24) and sending His disciples to the same (Mt 10:6). Being versed in the scriptures, it is plausible to assume that our author was referring in these passages to the northern tribes. In Matthew we read of Jesus weeping over Jerusalem, expressing regret that he yearned to draw its people (faithful Israelites) to Himself, but “you were not willing!” (Mt 23:37-39, saying, effectively, the same thing Paul was saying about a “partial hardening has come upon Israel” (Ro 11:25), speaking again of the northern tribes, and that Jesus was describing in Mt 13:14-15 (citing Is 6:9-10).
Matthew’s “Ministry”
The author of Matthew didn’t have a “ministry” target audience, per se. His purpose was to be a historian, recording the events in the life of the One he considered Israel’s Messiah. He is traditionally seen as appealing more to his fellow Jews than his other New Testament counterparts by, in part, focusing on the prediction, genealogy, and acts of the Messiah he believed was Jesus.
The Working of the Spirit of God
This is not a major theme for this author. While he notes the more miraculous actions of the Spirit (Jesus’ conception, anointing of Jesus at His baptism, being led by the Spirit into the wilderness and Jesus’ invoking of the Spirit in the deaf mute’s exorcism and healing (Mt. 12:22-28)), he does not delve into the theology of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, nor its relationship with the New Covenant.
Gentiles vis-à-vis Jews
Matthew’s author records one significant event in the ecumenical landscape of the 1st century, and that is the healing of a Canaanite (Mark says Syrophoenician) woman’s daughter from the affliction of a demon (Mt 15:21-28). This is significant because Jesus Himself chose to minister to this Gentile woman because of her faith, just as He did with the Centurion, who had demonstrated a similar faith/trust, for his servant (Mt 8:5-13). The author has Jesus proclaim clearly in Mt 24:14[viii] that the gospel would be proclaimed “to the whole world”. And, of course, we have the “Great Commission” verse, Mt 28:19[ix],[x], referencing “all nations”.
According to Matthew’s author, Jesus apparently wasn’t here to gather back only the lost sheep of Israel but rather foresaw the wider mission to gather Gentiles, some of whom Israel had become. Why else include these stories of the faith of Gentiles being blessed?
The Day of Judgment
Matthew’s author records several allusions to this final judgement uttered by Jesus. In Mt 13:24-30, He relates the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares, a classic final judgment metaphor. Notice also that He is using these parables to explain the “Kingdom of God” – its standards and justice.
This author also records perhaps the most powerful parable in the New Testament, the Parable of the Wedding Feast[xi] (Mt 22:1-14). This parable leaves no doubt that those who will be called into God’s Kingdom will be a mix of Jews and Gentiles consisting of the willing and the sincere (the one improperly dressed seems to fall into the category of insincere). It makes it quite clear that the Last Day Judgment will be of all, indiscriminately.
The author also includes some of the eschatological information Jesus provided, re: the presumed 70 AD cataclysm (Mt 24:29-31[xii]), not that it was “the Last Day”, ultimately, but certainly announced the end of one age and the inauguration of the next.
He concludes his judgment texts by presenting Jesus’ penetrating metaphor of the sheep and the goats – a decidedly “Last Day” vision (Mt 25:31-46). Like Paul, this author’s message is that all will be judged on the last day. This is an important idea to hold onto in understanding the purpose of the other covenant fulfillments, particularly the New Covenant’s Spirit references (which we’ll put a fine point on in wrapping up).
Mark’s Gospel
Mark’s Gospel is widely thought by scholars to have been the first of the Gospels written, though not before Paul’s first epistle (likely Galatians or 1 Thessalonians in about 48-49 AD). Mark’s author provides us with the narrative framework onto which Matthew and Luke construct their stories.
God Was Committed to Regather (All) Israel
Mark’s author (like the author of Matthew) relates Jesus alluding to the ultimate regathering of all Israel in a few places. Initially we have Jesus proclaiming that “the time is fulfilled”, which Staples interprets as Jesus’ announcement that the regathering of God’s people had begun (Mk 1:15). Then, we have Jesus having compassion on “a great crowd” of people pursuing He and the Disciples, characterizing them as “like sheep without a shepherd” providing an image of “lost”, “separated”, “uncared for”, and so in need of returning to the care of their shepherd (Mk 6:34).
Next, he (as Matthew and Luke) portrays Jesus’ “Palm Sunday” entrance into Jerusalem (Mk 11:1-10) evoking prophetic images of the Messiah and God’s glory returning to Zion, signaling the restoration of “all things” (see Zec 8:3, Zec 9:9, Ezk 43:1-4) and the establishment of God’s Kingdom over all His people.
His last allusion (Mk 13:26-27, Mt 24:30) has Jesus invoking Daniel’s vision (7:13) as of Himself:
26And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.
The image here is of a regathering – of the “elect” (chosen) — from wherever they have been dispersed (“from the four winds, from the ends of the earth”). For 1st century Jews, the “elect” were the people of the nation of Israel.
Mark’s “Ministry”
Mark’s author, like Matthew’s, defines no particular audience for his Gospel. His is widely believed to have been the first Gospel written, and so the other Synoptic writers pick and choose from his historical narrative scenes. He doesn’t highlight scriptural references or allusions to nearly the degree that Matthew’s author does. But when he does, he leaves no doubt as to the source text (or, more broadly, the scriptural theme/image) that he has in mind.
The Working of the Spirit of God
The author of Mark seems, like Matthew’s author, to have not been given the level of awareness of the ministry of the Holy Spirit to nearly the degree that later Paul had. He knows of the Spirit, and some of His capabilities (e.g., see Mk 13:11). I’ve wondered why this is, and it seems there are two possibilities:
- The authors were recorders of the Gospel historical narrative describing Jesus’ life. The Spirit would not be “poured out on all flesh” until 50 days after His crucifixion. So, they feature simply Jesus in their narratives; his teachings, his miracles, his death and resurrection, not what His post-resurrection followers would experience, or how.
- Having written 20 or more years after Jesus’ death, the working of the Holy Spirit in His followers was simply assumed — common knowledge, and so, in a way, unremarkable.
Whatever the case, it is clear that because of the Gospels’ absence of narratives that expose the function and power of the Spirit to followers, millions of “Christians” who focus only on these Gospel narratives come away oblivious to this radical, transformative truth.
Gentiles vis-à-vis Jews
Mark’s author notes several scenes demonstrating a more ecumenical ministry of Jesus. These include:
- The healing of the Gerasene demoniac in Gentile territory (Mk 5:1-20)
- The healing of the Syrophoenician (Canaanite) woman’s daughter (Mk 7:24-30)
- Jesus telling His Disciples that the Gospel had to be preached “to all nations” (Mk 13:10)[xiii],x
- The Roman centurion at the cross declaring, “Truly this man was the Son of God” (Mk 15:39)
The Day of Judgment
The author of Mark (as Matthew and Luke) records Jesus’ so-called “Olivet Discourse”, which certainly is apocalyptic. It is hotly debated, however, whether this prophecy has to do with the Day of the Lord (the Last Day) or the impending destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple in 70 AD.
Where this author does allude to the existence of a final judgment is in Mk 9:43-48
43 And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. 45 And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell. 47 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, 48‘where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’
By including this warning (to the Disciples!) by Jesus, Mark’s author leaves no doubt as to his understanding of the veracity and assuredness of God’s judgment of all people on the Last Day.
Luke’s Gospel
Luke, the “physician”, was the only apostle thought to be a Gentile. He may have been an early convert of Paul’s in Antioch. The author of the book of Luke’s writing stands apart from that of his synoptic colleagues as a more sophisticated and polished form of Greek. But he also had great command of and facility with the Hebrew scriptures.
God Was Committed to Regather (All) Israel
Following his famous birth narratives, Luke jumps to Jesus’ presentation at the Temple for his dedication, recounting the testimony of one Simeon there to officiate at the ceremony. Having been presented the boy by his parents, Simeon is immediately taken aback, and launches into one of the richest poems, employing multiple Hebrew scriptural allusions, in the entire New Testament – Lk 2:29-32:
29“Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,
according to your word;
30for my eyes have seen your salvation
31 that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and for glory to your people Israel.”
From this, it appears the author of Luke is onboard with the idea of the Christ mission being universal – Israel and Gentiles.
In Lk 13:29[xiv], he has Jesus proclaiming that in the Kingdom of God, there will be people from everywhere:
29And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God.
This verse helps us to see an added dimension to the Spirit-enabled assembly of Christ-followers/God-seekers as the “Kingdom of God”. It is, as alluded to by Luke’s author the result of the regathering of all Israel, which 1st century Jews anticipated as ending the ongoing curse of greater Israel.
We see this expectation also in this author’s rendering of the disciples’ question of the risen Jesus in Ac 1:6:
6So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”
Of course, Jesus didn’t answer them directly (as He rarely did). But just the question reveals what the common 1st-century Judaic expectation was for their Messiah — the restoration/reunification of greater Israel.
And, in Luke (24:46-47), the author has the post-resurrection Jesus instructing His disciples to proclaim repentance for the forgiveness of sins, in His name, to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem.
Luke’s Ministry
The Apostle Luke was likely a companion of Paul in Phillipi, Troas, and Corinth as well as with him at the end in Rome. So, in large part, at least initially, Luke’s ministry was essentially Paul’s ministry. As a Greek, he would have been uniquely qualified to help Paul frame his mission and message to Gentiles.
The Working of the Spirit of God
The author of Luke is, like his synoptic brothers, seemingly uninspired by the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the lives of followers of Christ, and likely for the same reasons: he’s writing a history of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, not a history of the early church following Pentecost.
Gentiles vis-à-vis Jews
We already saw this author feature the prophecy of Simeon at Jesus’ dedication at the Temple, that He would be a “light to the Gentiles”. But for Luke (later the author of the Acts of the Apostles), he was just getting started.
After having Jesus tell his hometown audience that the Isaiah verses He had just read to them (Is 61:1-2) were “fulfilled in your hearing”, and they then turning on Him for it, he has Jesus go on to throw a little ecumenical shade on their indignation Lk 4:25-27:
25But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, 26and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 27And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”
The whole point of this postscript to His synagogue message was that those healed in his story were Gentiles. No Jews. He is trying to get the synagogue authorities to realize two things: 1) they are rejecting His assertion simply because they know Him and His life as a youth, and 2) that God can bless Gentiles, and not Jews, if He so chooses, which must have been nearly equally painful for them to hear, located as they were in the very heavily Gentile and mixed region of Galilee.
Perhaps no other parable in Jesus’ arsenal was as ecumenical nor as sobering to His Jewish audiences as the Parable of the Good Samaritan, which Luke alone features (10:25-37). Luke (like John) features Jesus’ vision of the Kingdom regathering of all God’s people in Lk 13:29
29And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God.
This author, then, like our other synoptic authors, seems attuned to the mission of Jesus to draw both Jews and Gentiles to their God.
The Day of Judgment
The features of the Luke narrative that seem to endorse a final judgment include:
- John the Baptist’s prophecy that the coming Messiah will have a role in the Final Judgment (Lk 3:17)
- Jesus instructing his Disciples to abandon towns that reject them, thereby incurring judgment worse than that of Sodom (Lk 10:10-12)
- Jesus’ parable of the servants, whose message is faithful obedience to the master always so that one is not at risk of harsh judgment for sloughing off before judgment comes (Lk 12:35-48)
Now Luke’s author, like the others, presents his version of the Olivet Discourse (Lk 21:5-36). However, as mentioned earlier, this is likely a 70 AD prophecy, not a Last Day prophecy.
John’s Gospel
God Was Committed to Regather (All) Israel
This author presents one of the most compelling statements of Jesus regarding to whom His message and ministry were intended, Jn 10:14-16:
14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.
It’s hard to be clearer than that. Of course, this author understood and records that Jesus was also sent to “His own” (Judah/Israel) in Jn 1:11-12, though they generally rejected Him. This author also uniquely presents one of the strangest passages in the New Testament – a prophecy by the High Priest Caiaphas (before Jesus’ crucifixion), that Jesus would “die for the nation” (Judah/Israel- an outcome in which Caiaphas was instrumental), and that He would gather the “children of God” from abroad (Jn 11:51-52)iv.
This author records Jesus’ triumphal Palm Sunday entrance into Jerusalem (Jn 12:13), an echo of Zechariah’s prophecy of God returning to Zion (Zec 8:3), to rule a unified people, and the uniquely Johnine prayer for unity in Jn 17:20-21
20“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
The author has Jesus pray for a spiritual reintegration of disparate peoples based on God’s Spirit inhabiting each one.
The Working of the Spirit of God
Of all gospel authors, the author of the book of John connects most profoundly with the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
Perhaps the clearest insight into the author’s ‘Gospel of the Spirit’ occurs in his recording of Jesus’ “living water” idiom in Jn 7:37-39
37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” 39Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
The author then goes on to explain (remember, he is not so much writing a history of Jesus’ life, ministry, death, and resurrection as he is explaining, using many narratives from that history, who Jesus was – his so-called “Christology”) the workings of the Spirit:
Jn 14:15-17
15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
Jn 14:26
26But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
Jn 15:26
26“But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.
Jn 16:7-14
7Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; 11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
12“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
These verses comprise a pretty good summary of what the Apostles knew of the Spirit’s ministry and function.
Gentiles vis-à-vis Jews
Who can resist the heartstrings tug that the author’s Jn 3:16 presents? But it is important to read what he’s saying in the chapter to understand the magnitude of what rejecting this ecumenical appeal yields. Jn 3:16-18:
16“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
The point here for our purposes is that salvation or condemnation don’t have anything to do with identity markers of Gentile or Jew (male or female, etc.), but whoever “believes”, which Staples argues (as have I) that the meaning of the Greek here (πιστεύω pisteúō) is not “agreement that” but rather something like “fidelity to” or (as Matthew Bates has argued) “allegiance to”. The question on the floor is: “how can we persistently obey God’s daunting moral requirements (e.g., never to covet another’s possession) for us to remain faithful (or allegiant) to His will”? We’ll get there.
The Day of Judgment
John has a nuanced approach to the issue of God’s judgment on His faithful and unfaithful people. For openers, he has Jesus say that judgment is already happening based on belief or unbelief in the Son (Jn 3:18-21). This isn’t the Last Day judgment, but a judgment based on one’s current state of fidelity to God.
In keeping with this “now and not yet” understanding of salvation, the author goes on to paint a picture of two separate resurrections: the spiritual now, the “physical” on the Last Day (Jn 5:25-29). This is as clear-eyed an exposition of the Last Day judgment for all as we’ll find in the New Testament. And the author has Jesus Himself proclaiming it.
He later discusses the judgment “of this world” (Jn 12:31), but this is not the final judgment. He does have Jesus projecting one’s current rejection of Him to his fate on the Last Day (Jn 12:48).
Perhaps the one thing to note about the author of John’s approach to divine judgment is that Christ plays the major role, not the Father. In other words, one’s relationship to Jesus is the basis on which judgment is given.
Synthesis
In looking at these various topics’ influence within the Gospel authors’ writings, our purpose was to discover if they were consonant with the ideas revealed in Paul’s epistles (represented here only by Romans), or in tension with them.
While I think we could agree that the various points of emphasis shift between the various authors, one author’s portrayal of the Gospel message is never in conflict with Paul’s, contrary to a growing 20th and 21st century opposition to the “authentically Christian” pedigree of Paul.
If Paul isn’t “authentically Christian”, then please, show us where these gospel accounts conflict with the epistles (given their contexts). So far, we haven’t found any (particularly on these New Covenant Gospel emphases); only gradations of emphasis.
Please bear in mind, the subject here isn’t the theological nuances of Paul’s expositions vs the Gospel writers. Rather, it is to determine whether or not the Gospel of Christ, as Staples has exegeted from Paul and articulated, is disputed by the Gospel authors. Our little study here finds that it is not.
And What Is Staples’ Gospel of Christ?
Once again, as a gross oversimplification, the way I understand him, his Gospel of Christ consists of these fundamental building blocks:
- The agency of Jesus of Nazareth was divine. (I’m reading a bit between the lines here, but I believe this to be accurate. However, if true, his interpretation of the Gospel story does not depend on it, as I read him.)
- Jesus came to both expose the heart of the Father, through His own life and teaching, and to purvey, in response to our repentance to live as He lived, the Spirit of God to animate and provide God’s life to each of His followers. This is known as the New Birth, or the act of being “born again”. And it transforms each person who is its object to desire and pursue a life which honors God, loves Him, and seeks to be obedient to His will, by providing him the power to do so.
- The imparting of this Spirit into faithful followers of Christ was the implementation of God’s long-ago prophesied New Covenant (Jer 31:31-34, Ezk 36:24-28, Ezk 37:21-23, Is 11:11-12, Joel 2:28, Am 9:14-15 [ii]). As noted earlier, here we have to critically examine the passages of Jer 31:20 and Amos 9:14-15 as they place special focus and empathy on the northern tribes of Israel and God’s heart for their restoration. This is key to understanding God’s solution to their reclamation.
- The indwelling of the Spirit, following the hearing of the Gospel and repentance in response, was the means by which God was to regather the now-Gentiles of the northern tribes of Israel who had been swallowed up by their surrounding nations. This seems to be the conclusion we should draw from Ezk 36:22-27.
According to Staples, this impartation by God of His Spirit into His committed followers is something more than a life change. It is their salvation. This assertion takes us to the characteristic of Paul’s epistles and the Gospels regarding the Last Day judgment.
The Bible is consistent that everyone will be judged on the last day for what they have done in their lives: Ecl 12:14, 2Co 5:10
10For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.
In other words, the salvation one is gifted by God for his professed devotion and fidelity to God, and operating within His will, is His indwelt Spirit who, if not impeded or ignored by the Christ-bearer (Eph 4:30, Is 63:10) not only enables him to live in obedience to God’s will, but also for the living of that life to be the desire of his heart. Such people will, on the Last Day, be judged as just, not unjust, as sheep, not goats; as wheat, not tares; as a banquet guest, not one who refused its invitation, or insincerely crashed the party.
Said another way, if I’m going to be judged on the Last Day for what I’ve done with my life, then I will choose the path that results in me living the life God wants (and enables) me to live. And that is, apparently, a life He declares “just”.
God gives us a “sin defense system” in the form of the outworking of His indwelt Spirit. And it is this salvation that protects us from separation from Him (through sin) in this life. This is Staples’ (to me) profound and doctrine-upending insight into what our New Testament texts are (and have been for centuries) trying to teach us. It requires a lot more unpacking than we have the space for here. So I strongly encourage you to read his books (especially the “Paul” book) and listen to his lectures and podcast interviews. It is amazing to me how so many long-standing questions about our New (and Old) Testament’s seemingly opaque texts are answered and make perfect sense when viewed through this lens of this “salvation”.
What Is the Foundation of the (New Covenant) Gospel?
- God sought from the beginning to build a family who would love and honor Him, live within His will, and love their neighbors as themselves. If we think of God’s requirements for His family as living faithfully to the Decalogue or perhaps just the “Bible in the Little” (Mi 6:8), the requirements are simple. They’re just impossible for the natural man. As a result, they were never consistently followed, as recorded in the Hebrew Bible.
- God had a deep-seated affection for Israel, perhaps especially its “lost” northern tribes of “Ephraim”, and promised their regathering to Him along with Judah.
- (Not that it is formally a part of this Gospel message, but it is nevertheless crucial to understanding God’s will and heart that He despised the industrial Temple cult system as completely missing His purpose in #1. For more on this, see: “Did God Want a Temple, Sacrifices, or a Monarchy?”)
- The exiled Northern Tribes of Israel were assimilated over generations into the pagan Gentile cultures of the peoples to whom they were dispersed.
- Jesus saw His mission as calling Jews to return to life in the will of their God, and calling all those who had “faith” among the nations, especially assimilated Ephraimites, to their God. He provided the mechanism by which all people could take up residence within God’s will in what He called the “Kingdom of God” through the work of the Spirit of God poured out “on all flesh”.
- This Spirit of God, then, was the very means by which people would be transformed from living for themselves to living for their God and in so doing allowing the Spirit to guide and lead them away from sin and to obedience to God’s will.
- Those who sought life in God – in His will – would be those who, on the Last Day, were to be judged “in the right” based on what they had done “in the body” (2Co 5:10).
It is a much longer story to explain in detail how this works, and to explore all of the textual justification for it that Staples has revealed. However, we can summarize its bullet points:
Creating a Family of God
God’s single focus in His redemptive plan is to create from His humanity a family that seeks to live within His will and love Him (and their fellows) — forever (Is 43:6-7). In this enterprise, He must transform those who seek Him through their repentance, starting with His beloved Israel, whom He sees as being ‘regathered’ to Himself, as well as others represented as branches to be grafted into the family of God’s ‘olive tree’ (Ro 11:17-24) and Jesus’ ‘vine’ (Jn 15:1-10).
Justification
To build this family, its prospective members must be declared ‘just’ by God – justified (δικαιόω dikaióō) in New Testament terminology. This occurs when one repents of not living in God’s will (which means desiring to live in God’s will), at which point he is declared ‘just’ by God and endowed with His Spirit. This act fulfills God’s New Covenant prophecies.
Salvation
That Spirit and His workings in the Christ-follower’s life is his salvation – his rescue from the “law of sin and death” (Ro 8:2). Through the work of the Spirit he is changed, becoming a new creation in Christ, no longer a slave to the imperative to violate God’s moral will due to the Spirit’s ability to overpower his sinful inclinations. He is caused to be removed (stood apart, be separated) from his former sin (ἀˊφεσις áphesis – ‘forgiven’/’forgiveness’, e.g. Mt 26:28) by the power of the Spirit. The Spirit is the Christ-followers’ “sin defense system” that defends him against his own sin nature.
Kingdom of God
Such a one is deemed at that point as one of God’s family – one of His children. And Christ’s death and resurrection are seemingly the events that enabled God to implement his long-ago-prophesied New Covenant to make the Spirit’s indwelling possible for those expressing Abraham’s trust. These children of God are the inhabitants of God’s Kingdom, the “place” where God is King (“on earth as it is in heaven”).
Last Day Judgment
Each of us will be judged by God for “what he has done in the body” (2Co 5:10, Mt 12:35-37). For those in whom the spirit of God has been indwelt and directing their lives, they will be judged as ‘sheep’ (Mt 25:31-46), while for those without the Spirit, will be judged as ‘goats’ (Ro 8:9).
Mapping Traditional Gospel Messages onto the New Covenant Gospel
It may help to understand this Gospel to see its connection to the language of a few verses associated with the “traditional” Gospel.
Justification by Faith
In our modern English translation of Paul’s words, we end up concluding that by having faith (πίστις pístis) in the reality of Jesus as the Son of God and His resurrection, God will accept us – take us in, especially when we die. We have “faith” that those propositions are true: Jesus is the Son of God, and Jesus was resurrected from the dead. That’s the way Paul’s statement is framed in the vast majority of modern Western Christians’ minds.
The problem is that that is not what pístis means. It means to trust, or entrust one’s life to the truth of those statements – to live as if those statements are true. It means staking your life on their truth – their reality. Entrusting yourself to Jesus in this way implies turning away from (repenting of and leaving behind) your life apart from God. People who do so God declares just, right, those whom He adopts as His own to live with in communion. Paul describes them as “in Christ”, having “been crucified with Christ” (i.e., dying to one’s worldly self). Paul says: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
These He equips with His Spirit to lead, guide, defend from sin, and empower to act in love (“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”). The only way we can live faithfully to God is by receiving the gift of His Spirit. These people are “saved” to a life on earth of living in God’s will, loving Him and one’s neighbor as himself, and being judged “in the right” on the Last Day. The primary emphasis of Biblical salvation is being equipped to overcome Paul’s “law of sin and death” and carry out what God calls us to do while in our life on earth. These people will be judged “in the right” on the Last Day – saved to God’s eternal life. (If you don’t believe you need this redemption, please at least skim through this: Paul’s Real Gospel – A Pilgrim’s Search.)
“For by grace you have been saved through faith.”
“And this is not your doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that none can boast.” Of course! It is only by God’s mercy and grace that He extends His offer of faithful life with Him to all (which, sadly, most refuse).
What About Our Sins Being Forgiven?
We saw earlier Jesus instructing his Disciples “28for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” We also looked earlier at the definition of the word rendered “forgive” (ἀˊφεσις áphesis), meaning to ‘put away’, or ‘stand away from’, or ‘separate from’. So, Christ’s message here is that by your sincere repentance (as discussed above), you are placed in a condition where your sins are ‘put away’ from you. The sense of this ‘put away’ action is not that they are neatly hung in some remote closet, but that they are actively forced away from you by the power of God’s indwelt Spirit that has transformed your character and heart. Jesus is here connecting repentance with being equipped with God’s gift of His Spirit. This is undoubtedly the biggest distinction between the Gospel of the New Covenant and the traditional.
This idea is completely counter to the traditional, modern, Christian understanding of Jesus’ words, or indeed the concept of the word rendered ‘forgiven’/’forgiveness’. To me, it is far more logical as seen from God’s point of view than the idea of forgetting or expiating one’s sins only to thereafter have him continue in the sin of his worldly life. What good is that to God Who seeks “just” family members? He’s not going to get that by simply forgetting their unjustness.
For God So Loved the World that He Gave His Only Son, That Whoever Believes in Him Should Not Perish But Have Eternal Life
This verse, as interpreted by modern Christians, has the same problem that the ‘grace through faith’ verse, above, does. The word here rendered “believes” is a cognate (πιστεύω pisteúō — meaning to entrust, to commit in trust to someone) of the word there rendered “faith”, and our English words don’t have nearly the same weight and gravity that the Greek words do. Using the intended meanings of these words, the author of John is not having Jesus say anything differently here than Staples has interpreted the New Covenant Gospel to declare, or that we have described here.
Conclusion
As mentioned at the outset, this is not “your father’s” Gospel. It takes some careful study and reflection to accept as God’s reality. But the New Testament authors we reviewed all seem to agree on its basic tenets.
To get more comfortable with it, perhaps reread several of Jesus’ teachings and admonitions and see if they don’t all make perfect sense given this understanding of God’s plan (even some that in the past you may have found difficult or out of character.) I think that you’ll find they do.
[i] I’ll be differentiating occasionally between “Christian”, who I characterize as those believing in modern Western Christianity, and “Christ-followers”, who I characterize as those who have repented of their lives to entrust themselves to and obediently follow Christ.
[ii] Pay special attention to this Amos verse, as the Jer 31:20 verse earlier. Both have to do with God stating His unfailing commitment to His people “Israel” by whom He really is talking about the 10 Northern tribes of the nation of Israel. These verses, and those like them in the Hebrew Bible, will become crucial in understanding the Gospel message of the New Testament.
[iii] There is a momentary attempt by a new King, Josiah (640-608 BC) in 2 Kgs 22:1-2ff, to restore preeminence to the worship of the God of Israel. But it is short-lived as his son and successor is one of the most apostate Kings of Israel in its history – Jehoahaz (Rejected his father Josiah’s reforms and “did evil in the sight of the Lord” (2 Kings 23:32)).
[v] Staples, Jason A., “The Idea of Israel in Second Temple Judaism”, Cambridge University Press, July 8, 2021
[vi] Staples, Jason A., “Paul and the Resurrection of Israel”, Cambridge University Press, Jan 11, 2024
[vii] Staples has maybe a dozen or more interviews where he discusses Paul’s New Covenant theology. But if you only listen to one, I recommend this one: Salvation by Moral Transformation: What Paul Really Meant by Grace (Campbell University, Nov 2024)
[viii] See Psalm 22:27, Isiah 52:10,15
[x] See Malachi 1:11
[xi] The Parable of the Wedding Feast destroys vast tracts of historical doctrines and dogmas in one fell swoop including Calvinism’s Meticulous Sovereignty, Universalism, most modern Evangelical Christian messaging re: their immunity from Judgment (including “once saved, always saved”), most of Preterism, etc.
[xii] These verses continue to be debated by Preterists, Futurists (Dispensationalists, pre-Millennialists) post-Millennialists, Amillennialists as to what time is being predicted – 70 AD, the “rapture”, the Eschaton, etc.?
[xiv] See Isaiah 11:10-12 which speaks of the “root of Jesse” being a signal to “all the nations”, the “banished of Israel” and the “dispersed of Judah”
[xv] I realized only latter that many reading this may have no idea what a “Cliffs Notes” is. Back when people worked with paper books and other study materials, a publisher printed capsule summaries of many books or subjects called “Cliffs Notes”. They were similar to what AI bots can produce for you today (but they had significantly more detail).
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