1 Corinthians 15:
[1] Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
[2] By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
[3] For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
[4] And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
The Gospel of the Grace of God is a past tense gospel, so it could not have been preached before it actually happened.
Perhaps Paul meant what he said....
"But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ." (Gal. 1:11-12)
"Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began," (Rom. 16:25)
"But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith." (Gal. 3:23-24)
And perhaps the following verses mean what they say as well...
Matthew 16:
[21] From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.
[22] Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.
[23] But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.
Mark 9:
[9] And as they came down from the mountain, he charged them that they should tell no man what things they had seen, till the Son of man were risen from the dead.
[10] And they kept that saying with themselves, questioning one with another what the rising from the dead should mean.
Mark 9:
[31] For he taught his disciples, and said unto them, The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day.
[32] But they understood not that saying, and were afraid to ask him.
Luke 9:
[44] Let these sayings sink down into your ears: for the Son of man shall be delivered into the hands of men.
[45] But they understood not this saying, and it was hid from them, that they perceived it not: and they feared to ask him of that saying.
Luke 18:
[31] Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished.
[32] For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on:
[33] And they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again.
[34] And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken.
Seriously? If I WENT to the store, does that mean I could not have told anyone that I was going prior to my going?
ReplyDeleteThe above passage is written in the past tense because those events happened prior to the writing of the passage. To the Old Testament Saints, those events were a future event; it was a FUTURE TENSE Gospel. The Gospel of grace, or of righteousness by faith, is based on the death and resurrection of Jesus. Just because the Old Testament saints had a partial understanding, does not mean it was not preached. The Old Testament saints were saved in the same way we are, which is by faith in the Promised Seed, Jesus Christ. Of this salvation, the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the GRACE THAT WAS TO COME unto you; Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the SUFFERINGS of Christ and the GLORY that should follow.. Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the Gosepls unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, which angles desire to look into.
Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith (through the death and resurrection of Jesus), preached the Gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, In your Seed all nations will be blessed.
The Old Testament saints believed in the promises of God concerning the Messiah, knowing that all nations would somehow be blessed through Him. They believed God and God credited righteousness to them unto the fulfillment of the promise.
Abraham also understood that the promises were not earthly, but heavenly. He knew that he was a foreigner and stranger on earth, and longed for a heavenly country. He also offered up Isaac, believing that God could raise the dead.
"To the Old Testament Saints, those events were a future event; it was a FUTURE TENSE Gospel. " Even if the OT people did know about the gospel of the grace of God, by your own admission it would still have been different because it would have been future tense instead of past tense. So even you8 believe in at least two different gospels, the supposed future tense OT gospel and then the present tense gospel we believe today.
Delete"Just because the Old Testament saints had a partial understanding, does not mean it was not preached."You cannot get saved with a "PARTIAL" understanding of the gospel, you must fully trust the WHOLE thing. What 'part' do you think they knew? Because the Bible says "they understood NONE of these things" and that it was HID from them.
"The Old Testament saints were saved in the same way we are, which is by faith in the Promised Seed, Jesus Christ." No it they weren't, and no we aren't. Nobody has ever gotten saved by putting their faith in "the promised seed". Catholics have faith in Christ, but they aren't saved. Seventh Day Adventists have faith in Christ, but they aren't saved. What saves you is putting your faith in Christ trusting that He died for your sins, was buried, and rose again. It is not enough to have faith in Christ, you must have faith in what He did for you (1 Cor. 15:1-4, Gal. 6:14).
It is true that their are prophecies of Christ's suffering in the OT (Ps. 22, Isa. 53) but it is clear that nobody in the OT knew WHO the passage was about...
perhaps the following verses mean what they say as well...
Matthew 16:
[21] From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.
[22] Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.
[23] But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.
Mark 9:
[9] And as they came down from the mountain, he charged them that they should tell no man what things they had seen, till the Son of man were risen from the dead.
[10] And they kept that saying with themselves, questioning one with another what the rising from the dead should mean.
Mark 9:
[31] For he taught his disciples, and said unto them, The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day.
[32] But they understood not that saying, and were afraid to ask him.
Luke 9:
[44] Let these sayings sink down into your ears: for the Son of man shall be delivered into the hands of men.
[45] But they understood not this saying, and it was hid from them, that they perceived it not: and they feared to ask him of that saying.
Luke 18:
[31] Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished.
[32] For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on:
[33] And they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again.
[34] And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken.