Introduction When you have the key to a building, you can open it to let someone in; or you can lock it to make sure a person stays out. Jesus used this picture about the kingdom of heaven. In Mat. 16:19, Peter had just made the first clearly Christian confession of faith: “You are the … Continue reading The proclamation of the Kingdom (LD 31 q&a 83-84)
Tag: gospel
The source of faith (LD 25)
Introduction In Christianity, faith is extremely important. That is why the catechism talks about it often. In Lord’s Day 7, it said that only those are saved who by a true faith are grafted into Christ. Then it defined what faith is: knowing that God’s promises are true, and being confident that they are for … Continue reading The source of faith (LD 25)
The holy gospel (LD 6, q&a 19)
Introduction The Lord Jesus Christ is our Saviour. He is the God-man who can and does take away our sin and misery, and gives us righteousness and life. Therefore we have great hope, both in life and in death, for body and soul. At this point the Catechism stops to ask an important question (q&a … Continue reading The holy gospel (LD 6, q&a 19)
The meaning of ‘gospel’
The word “gospel” was coined in older English from “good-spell”, that is, “good message”. This is a literal translation from the Greek word used in the New Testament: evangelion, from eu “good” and angelion “message”. But the meaning of a word is not only determined by its parts. What did the original readers think when … Continue reading The meaning of ‘gospel’