THE ONLY TRUE GOSPEL, OR THE PRIMITIVE CHRISTIAN FAITH.  
BY WILLIAM BUDGE,
 
An Elder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
 
"Prove all things: hold fast that which is good."—1 Thess. v, 21.
 
"And this Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto nations, and then shall the end come."—Matt. xxiv. 14.
 
At a time like the present, when all society is impressed with a foreboding of coming changes in the affairs of men, we may, with propriety, call the attention of those who look to the Scriptures for divine guidance to the foregoing important text. It was given by the Savior as a warning, and its fulfillment is to be a sign of the end of the world as it is, under man's dominion, and of the coming of Jesus Christ, according to the predictions of the Prophets. It is like all other warnings given of God, simple, easy to be understood, and sure to be fulfilled. Let us try to understand its meaning and spirit, without prejudice and in the fear of God.
 
What is to be understood by this Gospel of the kingdom? Is it possible that another Gospel might have been mistaken for the one of which Jesus spoke? Paul, in his epistle to the Galatians (1-8, 9), prohibits any one from preaching any other Gospel than he had preached, and, no doubt, it was the danger of a false or perverted Gospel being accepted for the true one which led the Savior to express himself as he did, when he said this Gospel. He certainly had reference to the Gospel which he had taught and sent his Apostles to teach, and to none other. Let us try to find it. There is no other religious system like it, and we cannot find it unless we are guided strictly by the word of God.
 
{136} It is important it should be known to us, so that when it is preached as a "sign" of coming judgments and of the end of the world, we may be enabled to recognize it. Some may say, "we have had the Gospel preached for generations." Not the Gospel spoken of by Jesus, for its restoration was to be a Latter-day work and a "sign" or warning; something strange and remarkable. An appeal to the word of God will, however, decide the matter for such as seek the truth, and if we teach not according to the Scriptures, there can be no light in us. Besides, Christianity, as it is called, is represented by many forms and faiths, and without reference to the Bible it would be very difficult to make a distinction with any degree of assurance. We could not accept all the systems of Christianity as the Gospel of Christ, for the Apostle Paul says there is but one faith (Eph. 4-5), and to receive one religious system on the recommendation of its teachers as the true Gospel, and reject all the rest, without a substantial Scriptural reason, would be unwise, as we would still be in doubt. The true Gospel is one, not many systems. All but one are perversions of the Gospel of Christ, as truly now as anciently. I submit that the surest way to find the Gospel is to find it from the revelations of God, as taught by Jesus and other inspired men, and accept their doctrines even if we must, by so doing, reject the faith of our fathers, as it is God's ways and not man's we should seek and walk in, if we wish to obtain eternal life. Jesus says to his Apostles (Mark 16-15), "Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature," and we believe they did so, and will endeavor to find what their instructions were. What effect did Jesus expect from the preaching? faith, for he continues (Mark 16-16) by saying, "he that believeth," etc., shall be saved. Again, Paul, when asked by the jailor what he should do to be saved, says (Acts 16-30, 31), "believe on the Lord Jesus Christ," both of which Scriptures establish the fact that faith is the first principle or condition upon which salvation is promised; or, in other words, the first principle of the Gospel of Christ, or the beginning of true Christian worship. Faith must be the first principle of revealed religion as it is the first effect created in us, through the administration of the word. We hear and faith is the first consequence, the most immediate, natural and unchangeable result. The Scriptures say (Rom. 10-17), "faith cometh by hearing," and our experience confirms this. The principles of the Gospel are always the same, for the same purpose, and invariably taught in the same order.
 
Repentance of all sin is the second principle of the unchangeable {137} plan through which salvation is promised. Peter, the Apostle, tells the gathered multitude on the day of Pentecost, who already believed that Jesus was the Christ, and who then asked what they should do, that they should repent, and be baptized every one of them. (Acts 2-38). Repentance, according to the Scriptures, follows faith. But is it necessarily so? It is, for we cannot repent before we believe; we cannot repent of sin against God, until we believe that there is a God. We cannot repent of a wrong done by us, against our fellow-man until we believe we have wronged him. The propriety of the advice of the Apostle is very apparent. His hearers, under the influence of the power which rested upon the Apostles, believed that he whom they had crucified was the Christ. Repentance of the part they took in that great wickedness was to be expected. Baptism, being promised after repentance, and the history stating that many were baptized, we must conclude that repentance was a result of the preaching, and that effect agrees with the organization of our natures.
 
Baptism is the third principle of the Gospel of Christ, and follows repentance; Peter places it there when he says, "Repent and be baptized," and John preached the "Baptism of repentance for the remission of sins." (Mark 1-4). A little reflection will show how consistent the Scriptural citations are. Baptism is an ordinance of the Gospel, administered for a special purpose—as well as being simply a commandment, namely: for the "remission of sins." It is not reasonable to suppose that any person could receive the remission or forgiveness of sins without repentance, or that any one would desire baptism that his sins might be washed away (Acts 22-10) without having already repented. Baptism necessarily follows repentance, as through its administration the sins repented of are remitted: thus our necessities, and the Scriptures are in unison. This order must be right, as each principle follow as an effect of the one preceding it.
 
We will trace the Gospel plan a little further. It is a code of divine laws, calculated to improve the human race. Being perfect, every principle is revealed in its order, and for its own special purpose. Faith, Repentance and Baptism, as taught in the foregoing pages, administered by one ha............