Most Evangelicals have a very specific understanding of the word gospel. They think gospel is what a person must believe in order to be eternally saved. However, many readers of this blog know it’s not that simple. The word gospel means different things in different contexts. It basically means “good news.” When we see the word, we need to ask which “good news” is being discussed.
Second Corinthians 9:13 is an interesting study in how the word is used. Paul writes, “while, through the proof of this ministry, they glorify God for the obedience of your confession to the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal sharing with them and all men…” (emphasis added).
What does Paul mean by the gospel of Christ here? He is talking about a particular ministry at Corinth. They are collecting money for poor Jewish believers in Jerusalem. Paul says that what they are doing is a confession of the gospel of Christ.
I recently heard a Bible teacher give his interpretation of what Paul is saying. He said that if the believers at Corinth gave their money to the poor believers in Jerusalem, it would show they were “really” saved. It would show (confess) they had really believed the gospel. If they did not help the believers in Jerusalem, then they were not saved. They had not believed the gospel.
Such an interpretation comes from a Calvinist/Lordship Salvation view, which says that all believers obey the Lord. If a person does not obey the Lord, they have not believed the gospel and will spend eternity in the lake of fire. In this view, that is the meaning of gospel in 2 Cor 9:13. If the Corinthians did not give their money, they were not obedient and thus not saved. They could preach the gospel by giving their money, thus showing what “true” believers do.
Such a view of eternal salvation is odious. It is impossible to despise such teaching enough.
A much better view of the “gospel of Christ” in this context is that Paul is talking about another kind of good news. The church at Corinth was made up mostly of Gentiles. They had an opportunity to help Jewish believers in Jerusalem. Gentile believers could serve Jewish believers. Christ had united Jewish and Gentile believers in one body. Before the coming of Christ, Jews and Gentiles were enemies. Now, Jewish and Gentile believers were brothers and sisters in Christ.
What Christ’s death and resurrection accomplished was “good news.” He did more than make eternal life available to anyone who believes in Him for it. It was good news that Jews and Gentiles were now a part of the same body, the Church.
When the believers at Corinth sent money to their Jewish brothers and sisters, serving them in that way, they were proclaiming that good news. They were not proving that they were saved. They were preaching the good news through their money. They were saying that in Christ, they were part of the same body. That was why they were ministering to Jews in another country.
Do I preach the gospel of eternal life by sending money to people in need? Absolutely not. Do I preach the good news that I am a part of the Body of Christ when I send money to meet the needs of fellow believers? Yes. It all depends on which good news I am talking about.
