There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in the one hope of your calling. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in us all. – Ephesians 4:4-6
There is one message, one Gospel. It’s true that the evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John wrote four letters, but everything they wrote is one gospel. Afterall, what does the word “gospel” mean but the announcement of some good news, and particularly the Good News of God’s grace earned through Christ by His death? To be sure, the Gospel isn’t simply what we read in books and what is written in letters — though the Scripture certainly holds the physical letters called the Gospels and these Gospels are purely God’s Word. But the Gospel is the living word that rings out throughout the whole world, proclaimed from the pulpits, and taught to children in homes and in schools. Further, the Gospel is not a collection of laws and good teachings, instructions that we should do to be good people. It doesn’t teach us how to be virtuous in order to earn favor with God but proclaims God’s favor toward us in spite of our lack of virtue, for the sake of Christ, given freely to all who believe. Jesus paid for our sins, wiped the slate clean, and by His death, we can now become faithful and blessed.
Therefore, whoever teaches, preaches, and proclaims this Gospel just as the Apostles and Evangelists did — as we discover their message in the Scripture – preach nothing but the true, pure, and holy Gospel of God. Whoever heeds Paul and Peter and the others who wrote the Gospels and Epistles can be sure they are faithfully heeding God Himself because the Scripture is God’s Word written down. This is the ONE Gospel! No, there aren’t many gospels or teachings which all lead to the same Christ, but ONE teaching, one proclamation, one message which is living and active and accomplishes what it says. For there is only one Gospel, just as there is only one faith, one baptism, one Lord and Savior, and one God and Father of all.
Lord of the Good News, thank You for proclaiming Your Gospel, the only Gospel, into my ears and heart and drawing me to faith in Christ and His salvation. Keep Your Word living and active in me and in all who believe so that we might, on the Last Day, be ushered into our eternal home. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
