Gospel of the Kingdom

Read the following verses. Of course, orient yourself to the context as best you can.

Matthew 11:12-13
Matthew 3:1-2
Matthew 4:17
Mark 1:38
Matthew 10:7
Acts 1:3
Acts 19:8
Acts 28:31

Recognize a theme? There are at least 92 other verses I could refer you to in the NT with the same theme. This is just a sampling, but it gives you an idea of consistency and clarity of the theme.

So, what would you say is the gospel according to these sources?

I have heard Dallas Willard (one of my mentors) comment on how this gospel of the kingdom is made irrelevant for our lives right now. In essence, they would say that Jesus ushered in the kingdom when we was here, but it did not take, so it went away until the millenium - a future time when Jesus will physically return and reign on the earth for a 1000 years. Now, we are in a new dispensation (or new time that is different than before). Thus, all that talk about the kingdom refers to something in the future and not now. The now becomes the time when all we really need to do is get as many people saved as possible before we are taken away to "eternal life." This place is not our home. What really matters is what happens after we die.

In this scheme, all the teaching about the kingdom becomes something in the future and does not apply right now.

That is why you do not hear much about kingdom living or the gospel that Jesus taught. We have replaced it with Paul's gospel, which is assumed to be different and more like what you defined (4 spiritual laws sort of thing) and Jesus is all about atonement (sin management).

This is the lens through which most in our circles will see Jesus' and Paul's teachings.

However, there are others across time, and more recently in the current emergent church movement, that see only one gospel, the one Jesus taught. They see it as including atonement, but much more. Once you look at the NT through this lens, then Paul's gospel fits perfectly with Jesus'. As indicated in the Acts verses, Paul taught the kingdom and used other words to describe it.

As Willard would say, this gospel naturally leads to discipleship and transformation. That is the point. The good news would go something like this: Rethink your approach to life (repent), put your trust in and rely on Jesus (implies much more than profession, more connected to intent and what you actually do; what you do reveals what you put your trust in) it is now possible to live your life in a way where your will and God's will are the same. (you can reformulate this in a number of different ways that can capture more or less Jesus' gospel. How do we do this, by following the clear teachings and examples of Jesus, as well as the others (Peter, James, Paul).

Two different gospels. One naturally leads to discipleship and transformation, and the other falls short (thus we have "born again" Christians living lives controlled by anger, contempt, and lust).

I may be wrong, but maybe not.