By Jim Mettenbrink
Jesus gave Peter the keys to Jesus’ kingdom (Matthew 16:18-19). The record of Peter opening the kingdom is in Acts 2 on Pentecost, the Jewish feast day, inviting Jews from 16 nations to enter. The apostle Paul later stated that it was actually God calling or inviting people to come into His kingdom – “…walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory” (1 Thess 2:12). Just what is this call? Is it a free lunch? A smorgasbord of pick and choose, entering according to your own desires? In His famous sermon on the Mount (Mat 5-7), Jesus said, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it (Mat 7:13-14). So picking and choosing is nixed. The broader context tells us this narrow gate goes into God’s kingdom – “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness….” ( Mat 6:32). He was speaking about entering the kingdom. So, what is this narrow, but difficult gate by which God calls us into His kingdom?
In his second letter to the Thessalonian church Paul wrote, “to which (salvation, jm) He called you by our gospel…..” (2 Thess 2:14). Being called to salvation by the gospel, prompts the question, “What is this gospel?” At the beginning of His three-year Messianic announcement, “Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:14-15). The gospel is about the kingdom of God and it is to be believed. Gospel is an old Anglo-Saxon rendering of God-spell (good story). Matthew, Mark, Luke & John are referred to as the gospels. But are we saved by mere “good stories?” The fact is the gospel is good news because it tells us we can be saved from death caused by sin, being eternally separated from God in an unthinkable place called hell where a person is all alone (the ultimate darkness) in constant anguish of regret for not accepting the call into Jesus’ kingdom. Yet just casually hearing the “good story” like listening to the news does not save a person.
The apostle Paul wrote that a person is saved by the gospel “…I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved” (1 Corinthians 15:1-2). This preaching of the gospel was the call to be saved. The people accepted it and were saved. So what is this “good story?”