by Jerry Shugart

The Gospel of the Kingdom

As mentioned previously, Pastor Sadler asserts that the Jewish epistles "are instructions and warnings for the future kingdom saints who will be called upon to endure the coming Tribulation."

During the coming tribulation the "gospel of the kingdom" will be preached throughout the whole world:

"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" (Mt.24:14).

Pastor Sadler asserts that those who received Peter's epistles were proclaiming the "kingdom gospel":

"So then, these dear saints were enduring 'different kinds' of trials, testings, and solicitations for faithfully proclaiming the kingdom gospel" (Sadler, The Life and Letters of the Apostle Peter; Part IV," The Berean Searchlight, May, 2000, p.7).

Let us look at the following verses from Peter's first epistle:

" Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever...And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you" (1 Pet.1:23,25).

Here Peter is saying that the sinner is born again by the gospel. Pastor Sadler says that the context in which these words of Peter are written demonstrate that the "gospel" spoken of is the "kingdom gospel":

" “And this is the Word which by the gospel is preached unto you,” Peter says. Clearly the context of chapter one leaves us with little doubt that the gospel they had heard preached and readily received was the kingdom gospel" (Sadler, "The Life and Letters of the Apostle Peter; Part VI," The Berean Searchlight, August, 2000, p.12).

When we look at the "context" we can see that the gospel being referred to by Peter is not the "kingdom gospel" at all, but instead the same gospel which was not proclaimed until Paul was converted. Just a few verses later Peter wrote:

"Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot" (1 Pet.1:18-19).

These facts were never a part of the "gospel of the kingdom" but instead are the heart and soul of the "gospel of grace," that gospel which proclaims that the believer is "justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (Ro.3:24).

Pastor Sadler himself recognizes that the facts concerning redemption by blood was not preached until the conversion of Paul: "You see it was given to Paul to explain the significance of Calvary. He was the first to reveal that Christ is the mediator between God and man, the first to teach that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself, the first to show that we have redemption through Christ’s shed blood, even the forgiveness of sins, the first to make known that Christ died for all, the first to reveal that Christ was the propitiation for the remission of sins that are past (prophetic saints), through the forbearance of God" [emphasis added] (Sadler, "Christ and Him Crucified; The Preaching of the Cross" The Berean Searchlight, January, 2002, p.9).

In the same episle Peter wrote, "Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed" (1 Pet.2:24).

Again, these facts are the heart and soul of the "gospel of grace" and that teaching cannot be found in the "gospel of the kingdom." The following is also written in the same epistle:

"For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit" (1 Pet.3:18).

The facts cannot be any plainer that the "gospel" found in Peter's first epistle is the "gospel of grace." Despite this Pastor Sadler says:

"When Peter says they had 'obtained like precious faith with us,' he wants us to understand that his readers had believed the same gospel he and the other kingdom saints had received. Thus, 'like precious faith' is synonymous with “the apostles’ doctrine” taught by the twelve on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:42). But what exactly is the apostles’ doctrine? Clearly it is the Great Commission—the terms of salvation being: repent, believe on the name of Christ that He is the Messiah of Israel, and be water baptized for the remission of sins. In addition, they were to render obedience to all the Lord taught during His earthly ministry (Matt. 28:16-20; Mark 1:14,15; John 20:31; Acts 2:38). In short, both Peter and his hearers had believed the kingdom gospel" (Sadler, "The Life and Letters of the Apostle Peter; 2 Peter 1:1-9," The Berean Searchlight, February, 2002, p.9).

Cornelius Stam, the founder of the Berean Bible Society, cotrrectly understood that the "gospel" presented in Peter's epistle was not the same gospel which was preached on the day of Pentecost:

"In I Peter 1:18,19; 2:24; 3:18, Peter tells his readers how they were redeemed by 'the precious blood of Christ,' how Christ Himself 'bore our sins in His own body on the tree' and how He 'suffered, the Just for the unjust, to bring us to God.' Does this sound like his Pentecostal message, where he referred to the cross only to blame his hearers for it and then, in response to their 'What shall we do?' demanded that they 'repent and be baptized.. .for the remission of sins' (Acts 2:37,38)? Surely Peter did not preach the finished work of Christ at Pentecost" (Stam, Commentary on Galatians [Worzalla Publishing Co., 1998], p.202-203).

On the day of Pentecost there was absolutely no mention of the "purpose" of the Lord Jesus' death upon the Cross. Therefore it is certain that the "gospel" mentioned in Peter's epistles was not the same gospel preached on the day of Pentecost--the "gospel of the kingdom."

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