"The Gospel" is the shorthand for "the Gospel about the Kingdom of YEHOVAH God and the name of Yeshua the Messiah" (Acts 8:12), and another shorthand for that Kingdom Gospel is "the word," which in the New Testament is not just a synonym (as misleadingly in popular church language) for the whole Bible. Why is this so important? Because every time you come (say in the book of Acts) to the expression "the word," you need to know that this is shorthand for the saving Gospel of the Kingdom of YEHOVAH God as the Messiah preached it.

The apostles preached "the word," (Acts 8:4) and so did the Messiah (Mark 2:2), but not much is conveyed to you by that "shorthand" until you learn that it is the Gospel of the Kingdom of YEHOVAH God. The full definition of Acts 8:4 ("preaching the word") and 5 ("preaching the Messiah) is provided by Luke in Acts 8:12. But some Bible readers have never really defined the Gospel as the Gospel of the Kingdom of YEHOVAH God and they miss all those shorthand references such as "the word," "the message," "the truth."

None of this would be difficult if we first grasped Paul's definition of the Gospel in Galatians 3:8. He says there that the Gospel was preached in advance to Abraham. It would be essential then to know what was promised to Abraham. It was not "heaven" but THE LAND OF ISRAEL (Genesis 13:15), and that land is the Kingdom of YEHOVAH God on earth which YEHOVAH God in His Shekinah Glory will rule from Jerusalem and the Messiah will help establish when he comes back and gives the land to his Israelite followers (Matthew 5:5), where they will rule with him as kings and priests in the land over Israel (Revelation 5:10).

Paul in Galatians 3 (one of the most power-packed chapters of the whole Bible) speaks of "the blessing of Abraham" (Galatians 3:14), That in itself is a shorthand expression for the fuller definition found in Genesis 28:4 where "the blessing of Abraham" is defined more fully as inheriting "the land of your sojournings, which God gave to Abraham." That too is the promised inheritance of Israelite Christians who are meant to share the faith of "faithful Abraham," "Abraham the believer"' (Galatians 3:9). Abraham believed the promise of PROPERTY, progeny and blessing and Christianity, in its New Testament form, is modeled on the same promises, now offered to all of Israel who choose to believe what Abraham and Yeshua the Messiah believed: that we of Israel will inherit the land/Kingdom of YEHOVAH God and supervise a new world order with YEHOVAH God and the Messiah when he comes back.

YEHOVAH God must one day return to this planet to relieve the world of its present terrible problems and tragedies caused by our disregard for YEHOVAH God and what He has revealed to us through the Messiah. The Christian Gospel of the Kingdom of YEHOVAH God is the announcement of that NEW WORLD AND SOCIETY coming and how, through the Messiah, we can prepare now to enter it when it comes. Hence we pray, "Your [YEHOVAH's] Kingdom come."

In Galatians 3 there are eight technical terms which form the backbone of biblical Christianity. When they are not understood the whole faith is thrown into confusion.

1) "Works of the Law" = the legal system and yoke of bondage added by the Jews for ancient Israel -- i.e. the Talmud.

2) "Sons of Abraham" = the physical children of Abraham who believe the same Gospel as was preached to Abraham (Galatians 3:8). The Messiah called them disciples or sons of the Kingdom (Matthew 13;38).

3) "God" = (some 12,000 times in the Bible: Elohim, YHVH, Adonai and o theos) the unipersonal [ONE PERSON] God of Israel, of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and of Yeshua the Messiah, not the triune God of later theology.

4) "Blessing of Abraham" = the promise OF the LAND made by YEHOVAH God to the patriarchs and now to Israelite Christians (see Genesis 28:4).

5) "Justified" = counted and made right before YEHOVAH God.

6) "Seed" = the physical descendants of Israel, as the recipients of the promises made to Abraham (3:16). "Seed" is also the saving Message of the Gospel of the Kingdom of YEHOVAH God (Luke 8:11; 1 Peter 1:23-25).

7) "Covenant/promises" = YEHOVAH's promise to Abraham and later to David and the Messiah of the LAND (Genesis 12; 15; 17; Matthew 5:5; Revelation 5:10), to be given also to the Israelite descendants of Abraham (Galatians 3:29) -- the spiritual brothers and sisters of the Messiah, Israelite Christians.

8) "Inheritance" = the future inheritance of the ENTIRE LAND as the reward (Colossians 3:24) for Israelite believers of all the ages.