Advancing the Gospel

The Gospel is basically the life story of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, particularly His life on earth.
It is the story of His birth, ministry, death, resurrection and ascension.

What does it mean to advance the Gospel? Does it mean simply proclaiming or preaching the
life story of Jesus Christ; its divine purpose and meaning?

What hinders the advancing of the Gospel? There are wide-ranging ways: from simple denial of
the truth of the story to misunderstanding of its divine purpose and meaning.

Paul talks about "progressing the Gospel" (Philippians 1:12) and "furthering the Gospel"
(Philippians 2:22). Is this what advancing the Gospel mean? Paul is making a contrast from his
becoming the Pharisee of Pharisees and of Judaism (Galatians 1.14) to his becoming a follower
of Christ.

Paul also talks about defending the Gospel (Philippians 1:16).

What would it take for you to advance the Gospel? For you to advance the message is to put
forward its story clearly and clarify matters when there is any misunderstanding of its divine
purpose and meaning.

Dictionary
Which of these definitions is more appropriate?
"To move or cause to move forward"
"To put forward; propose or suggest"
"To aid the growth or progress of"
"To cause to occur sooner"
"To raise in amount or rate; increase"

Word Study
The NT Greek words used were:
προκόπτω - most probably it was originally a nautical term which means "to make
headway in spite of blows." Thus, it is about pushing through toward a destination in spite of
hindrances from nature (sea storm) or from man (mutiny). It is less likely about the "blow" of a
blacksmith with his hammer in order to "lengthens out" iron. It was most likely used in a
transitive sense: "to promote," or "to further."
προκόπτη - This noun form first came to be used during the Hellenistic period.
Both of these Greek words were more or less the same in terms of "blessing," "fortune,"
or "success" because the destination or objective is often reached.
The noun form denotes the process of moral and spiritual development which translates
into development of culture, of learning, of philosophy, of religious knowledge, and of virtue.
Thus, the Christian faith is transformational. It accounts for the construction of culture,
philosophy, religious knowledge and virtue. The noun form is specifically referring to the
progress of the individual as opposed to mankind or the world.

Progress implies there is a goal or destination and a path towards reaching that goal or arriving
to that destination.

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