Many men and women have come forth for hundreds of years saying that God has called them to preach the gospel. In the course of these people entering into the ministry to do what God has called them to do, in most cases they have gone beyond what they say their calling was for. The problem is, they considered the gospel to be everything that is written in the Bible and not only did they enter into preaching the gospel, they applied themselves to also teaching for doctrine everything that was written in the Bible. The scriptures make it very clear that God sets both preachers and teachers in the church to bring us all into the unity of the faith. But a preacher and a teacher do not hold the same office. One is called to preach the gospel and the other is called to teach out of the scriptures for doctrine to be used in the church.
When Jesus first appeared on the scene and started His ministry, He went from place to place preaching and teaching. (Matt 4:23 & Mark 1:14) In every case where preaching was mentioned in the scripture, it said that He went about preaching the gospel. Nowhere does it say that anyone went about teaching the gospel. There is a difference between preaching and teaching and when God calls a person to one of these offices, it does not mean they are called to do both. The scriptures clearly differentiate between preaching and teaching and the Greek words that were translated into the words preach and teach were two different words.
Jesus came forth preaching the gospel. That gospel was, that God was fulfilling the promise that He had made, by bringing forth a new covenant with His people that He had promised hundreds of years before and the prophet Jeremiah spoke about it as follows:
Jeremiah 31:31-34: “Behold, the days come, said the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they broke, although I was a husband unto them, said the LORD: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, said the LORD, I will put my Law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, said the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
This new covenant was to take the place of the old covenant that had been given through the Prophet Moses, since the old covenant was almost impossible for the people to comply with. The new covenant was stated very simply by Jesus and is recorded in the Book of John as follows:
John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
The gospel that Jesus preached was that God had sent Him into the world to provide a way for all men and women to be saved from eternal damnation and enter into eternal life. Jesus was the Son of God who came into the world to give His life for the sin of the world and those who would believe in Him would be forgiven for their sin and iniquities and would be saved. This was the theme of the gospel in its simplest state that Jesus preached when He first started His ministry.
A part of the gospel that Jesus taught His disciples was that they should baptize believers in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Then He left it up to Peter to interpret exactly what He meant. Peter then explained to the people, on the day of Pentecost, that they should be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ in order to receive the promise of God, which was the receiving of the Holy Spirit in their life. The prophet Joel spoke about this as follows:
Joel 2:28 “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: (29) And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my Spirit. (32) And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem
So, in summary, the gospel is the bringing forth of God’s new covenant to His people—saying that He sent His only begotten Son into the world to pay the atonement price for our sin and whoever would believe in Him and are baptized in His name, would be filled with His Spirit and receive everlasting life in Heaven.
Those that God has called to preach should use those scriptures that relate to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, both in the Old Testament and the New Testament. The whole point of preaching the gospel is to make known to the people what God has provided for them and lead them into accepting the Gospel of Christ as being the truth of God’s Word. Those believers whom God has called to preach the gospel should lend themselves to preaching this gospel and leave the scriptures dealing with church doctrine to those whom God calls to teach.
I believe that the scriptures indicate that one who is called into the office of a pastor of a church must be prepared to preach the gospel as well as teach doctrine, but an evangelist is called only to preach the gospel, leading lost souls to the saving grace of the Lord.
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