The Wednesday Word ~ 29 October, 2025 A.D.

The Gospel & Authentic 

New Testament Ministry, Part II

by D.G.  Miles McKee

 

The apostle Paul proclaimed the gospel evangelistically (I Corinthians 4:15), but he knew that this was far from its exclusive use.  Unfortunately, many preachers don‘t seem to have this same insight. According to them the Gospel is exclusively for the lost. They foolishly imagine that spiritual growth is divorced from the Gospel and its applications. Yes it´s true, Paul preached evangelistically but as an apostle, Paul’s central burden for the Churches was to establish them in the faith.

 

This apostolic ministry of establishing, however, was accomplished only by and through the Gospel. He writes, Now to Him that is of power to establish you according to my Gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ ... (see Romans 16:25).

 

According to Romans 16:25, Gospel preaching establishes believers. It is the Gospel of Christ that makes the believer stable and steady. Paul says, Now He which establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, is God; (see II Corinthians 1:21). Mark it down, we are established in Christ and nowhere else!

 

The Gospel of Christ is the primary power in establishing and confirming the people of God. Yet, despite this, many believers are encouraged to run ‘hither and thither’ to seek new supposed life changing blessings from some supposed ‘new move’ of the Spirit in various parts of the world. However, these ‘new things’ are a damp squib; give them enough time and they will fizzle out. They promise much but deliver little. The Gospel alone will build Christians and make them sturdy! Why? Because the Gospel is the heart of authentic New Testament ministry!

 

But what is the Gospel? It’s important that we get this right. Most preachers claim they preach and understand the Gospel and its applications, but do they? Have they seen that the Gospel is the good news of the God-man?  The Gospel is about Jesus.  It is the good news of His person, His offices, His doing, dying and rising again. He is the one who is presently seated on the throne of grace applying all His redemptive riches to His blood bought saints. When this ever-living crucified Christ is ministered and held before the people they find Him to be both beautiful and precious and discover in Him the road to spiritual strength, stability and godly character.

 

But many people in Paul’s day could see no beauty in Jesus (I Corinthians 1:21). The unsaved still laugh at the Gospel and, strange as it may seem, they are not so far removed from the ‘believer’ who sees no use for the Gospel other than as a doorway doctrine. Such a person sees no power in the finished work to transform. They want transformation by rules and principles, but not by grace alone. The Gospel centered believer, on the other hand, delights that the Gospel is both the power and wisdom of God. Being the power and wisdom of God, the New Covenant minister also knows better than to restrict the Gospel to evangelistic meetings.

 

The Gospel is the power of the all-powerful God: So just how powerful is Omnipotence? It defies description! The Gospel is also the wisdom of the all-wise God: so just how wise is Omniscience? We can not express or fathom such things: But this we know, the power of the Omnipotent and the wisdom of the Omniscient are bound up and manifest in the Gospel. A true New Testament minister knows this and would, therefore, never take us away from the centrality of Jesus to focus us on a subjective, man-centered message.

 

And that’s the Gospel Truth!

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