When you consider the progression of the dispensations and that in each dispensation, God had a different relationship with humans, the answer to this question becomes clear. As a simple example, consider that when Noah lived, there was no Israel nation and Mosaic law. Obviously, Jesus had not come yet and there was no prophesy concerning His life and death. So, how then would Noah be saved? It could not be by Jesus or the cross! When we understand progressive dispensations and we take the text in the Bible for what it is, then the answers start to form in the Word. Noah and his family were saved because Noah obeyed God’s word. What was God’s good news to Noah? Build a boat. So, Noah obeyed God and built a boat and became an heir of the righteousness which is by faith.
Heb 11:7 By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.
Abraham was declared righteous because he believed and did what God told him to do. God said, leave your family and your father's house and go to a land I will show you. Abraham believed and left, Heb.11:8-10. God said, sacrifice your son. Abraham believed God and was about to kill his son when God stopped him. Because of Abrahams obedience to the word of God, he was saved and God brought Israel forth from his seed.
In past times, before the cross, the good news, or gospel, was not the message of Christ. The gospel for these people, and what saved them was to do what God instructed them to do. They obtained righteousness because of their faith in what God told them to do.
So, what was the good news message in the four gospels? Well, it started with John the Baptist preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, Lk.3:3. John did not preach the cross or the kingdom. All he proclaimed was repentance through water baptism and that after him was coming another whose shoes he was not worthy to untie and who would baptize in the Holy Spirit and with fire. That was the message of John, and whosoever believed that had right standing with God.
When Jesus came preaching the gospel he said the following,
Mat 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Mar 1:14 Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
Mat 24:14 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.
The good news that Jesus taught was John's baptism and repentance and that one had to get ready for the coming of the promised Kingdom which was at hand. So, the conditions in the Kingdom gospel spoke of repentance, being water baptized, identifying and confessing Jesus as the Messiah, the one John spoke of, and doing these things to prepare for the coming kingdom. If Israel would believe this and act upon it, they would be saved and be able to enter into the Kingdom.
Did you notice how the gospel was building? John spoke of repentance by water and a coming Messiah. Then Jesus added to John's gospel, the news of a kingdom at hand. The Kingdom gospel was being filled in with more detail. Now, let's see what happened when Peter preached the same Kingdom Gospel on the day of Pentecost.
On the day of Pentecost, Peter preached the following,
Act 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
At this point the gospel contained the repentance and baptism of John, a need to identify and confess their Messiah, and expect a coming kingdom. Now Peter adds that the baptism of the Holy Spirit will become available after repentance and water baptism. We also see how the early Jewish believers added substance to their faith by selling all their possessions. We learn through Jesus teaching that it was also necessary to be faithful to the Mosaic law and endure in their faith to the end. All of this contributed to the 'works' orientated Kingdom gospel that was proclaimed in the early Jewish church of Acts.
Is this our gospel today? Absolutely not! If we apply right division to our study and separate Israel from the Body of Christ, and focus on what our apostle, Paul, taught us, we will find our complete gospel message in his epistles.
Our gospel today is the message that God revealed to Paul in this grace dispensation. Remember that today, both Jews and Gentiles are the same in God's eyes, Gal.3:28. In Jesus day, Jews were God's special people and preeminent in the world. But when God blinded the Jews and turned to Paul with a new grace message, Jews and Gentiles became the same. Jews lost their preeminent position. That is why Paul writes that there is no Jew or Greek, no circumcised or uncircumcised, Gal.5:6. We are all one in Christ. So, with this in mind for the grace gospel, what did Paul share about what we believe today, whether Jew or Gentile? The gospel that Paul preached was none of the above criteria in the Kingdom gospel. Paul simply preached that we believe in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. When we trust in the cross, God saves us utterly and unconditionally. God justifies us instantly and seals us into the Body of Christ the moment we believe in His Son. That’s it. Our salvation today has no works requirements to qualify us or prove our faith. It is the works and the faith of Jesus Christ Himself that saves us. We simply believe in Him.
The gospel message changed based on the dispensation in which that person lived. When we respond in faith to the message God reveals at the time we live, we are saved. Our gospel, the good news message for today, is that which God revealed to Paul in 1Cor.15:1-4.
1Co 15:1-4 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:
See also these scripture references: Rom 4:25; 1Thess 4:14; Rom 14:9; 2Cor 5:15; Eph 1:13.
Amen.
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