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The Gospel of Matthew:
Represents Jesus Christ as King and was directed especially to the Jews.
The book opens with the royal genealogy and closes with the King
commissioning His disciples.
The Gospel of Mark:
Represents Jesus Christ as the Servant of God and was directed to the
Romans. No genealogy is given since Jesus is portrayed as a servant and
no one is interested in the pedigree of a servant. The book closes with
the Lord "working with them," laboring as a servant with His disciples.
The Gospel of Luke: Represents Jesus Christ as the "Son of
Man," the perfect man and Savior of imperfect men. Luke 3 traces the
human genealogy of Jesus back to Adam. Luke ends with this perfect man,
Jesus, ascending back up to Heaven to His Father.
The Gospel
of John: Represents Jesus in His position as the Son of God. The
book opens with Jesus the Word revealed as God. The closing verse of
John indicates that the world could not contain all Jesus did during His
earthly ministry. This is further evidence He was truly the Son of God.
The last chapter of Matthew specifies the calling of all disciples
of Christ: “Go ye therefore, and teach all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and
of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have
commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the
world. Amen." - Matthew 28:19-20.
This is the Great
Commission that is given to all Christians who have accepted Jesus
Christ as their Savior. We are to spread the Gospel "Good News" of Jesus
Christ to the world and teach the lessons that He commands.
There are 3 Commands That Jesus Gives Those Who
Are Saved
1. Teach. "Go
ye therefore, and teach all nations". This means that we are
to teach the Gospel to all in our nation (surrounding area). This is
known as soul winning. "Go
ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that
believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not
shall be damned." - Mark 16:15,16
2. Get
Them Baptized. "Baptizing them in the name
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." This
means that once one gets baptized with the Holy Spirit we are to
encourage them to get baptized by water. If you are saved and not been
baptized, Jesus encourages this for you too. "For
John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy
Ghost not many days hence." - Acts 1:5.
Getting
baptized is merely a public profession that you have accepted Jesus
Christ as your Saviour and are depending on Him alone to take you to
heaven. Yes, it is wise to get baptized after you are saved as Jesus
commands, but there is no requirement to get baptized to keep your
salvation or is necessary to wash away your sins as some religions
teach. The key to realizing that baptism is not necessary for salvation
is in the second part of the verse in Mark 16:16 “He
that believeth not shall be damned”, Jesus did not say, “He
that believeth not and is not baptized shall be damned.”, He only said,
“He that believeth not shall be damned.”
3. Teach Them to Tell Others. "Teaching
them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you".
This means that once one gets saved and baptized we are to teach them to
teach the Gospel to others. Jesus said, "And
this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a
witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." -
Matthew 24:14
Christ ended the Great Commission by saying we
should do these things, "even unto the end of the world." This shows
that the Great Commission is to be taught to all until the day He
returns
One thing that you may want to be aware of, not everyone
that you present the Gospel to will accept Christ, but do not let that
discourage you. You must not let those who refuse to be saved discourage
you from seeking those who want to be saved. There are many searching
for the truth and you may be only one to help them.
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What
is the Gospel?