As we come to our fifth week, studying Romans 1:1 – 7, we will be directing our attention to Paul’s words in verses 1 – 2 where he says that “the gospel of God” is something “which he [God] promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures”. Have you ever stopped and thought about how the gospel, as an ancient promise, is meant to become part of your identity? Part of the image of who you are?

1Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh 4and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among the nations, 6including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, 7To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

This may be one of the most difficult things to comprehend – that the gospel itself is part of who you are if you belong to Jesus. I am sure by now, that you agree, that these opening verses are more than a mere appetizer before the main course. I think you probably agree that God created us to be human beings instead of human doings.

I have a feeling that you are beginning to see how your vertical relationship with God is absolutely essential to performing your horizontal calling to serve God and those around you. I bet you are beginning to see how your identity as a slave of God is central to living the life of a true servant. You may even have a glimpse of how vital it is to see yourself as being set apart to belong to God – especially as you wage war against sin, and shame, and fear, and all the effects of darkness that tries to own you.

But I am also willing to bet that you may not have thought much about how the gospel is meant to be part of your identity, part of who you are, part of the makeup of your existence in Christ Jesus. When we think about the gospel, we often think about how we got saved or about how we wish someone else would hear the gospel and believe it and become saved too. We think of the gospel as the message of salvation, which it certainly is.

This is not wrong thinking at all. But if the gospel is the message of salvation, then what does it meant to be saved or to be gospeled or to be gospel formed or to be marked by the gospel? I would say that to “be saved” is about so much more than merely being rescued from the fires of hell.

Salvation is about far more than mere fire insurance. Salvation is far more than a one-time event where you and I were made right with God and were brought into relationship with him. Salvation – or you could say, gospelization – is meant to affect every aspect of our existence; every aspect of our ongoing relationship with God.

We have talked a little bit, over the last few weeks, about the ugly little boy or the filthy little girl that exists inside every one of us. We have discussed how that creature must be confronted with the truth of who we actually are in Christ Jesus, if we are to walk in the freedom of who we are in Christ. And yes, thankfully, I believe the Spirit is painting a new image for us to apply to that old image inside of us – he is actively transforming us through this study.

Thankfully, we have some new images of what it means to be a slave of God, and called by God, and set apart by God. But now, we get to ask the Spirit to open our eyes to the reality of what it means to put on the identity of the gospel as though the gospel is part of who we are; not merely jacket we put on when it gets cold – more like an inerasable tattoo that stays in the skin forever.

I think this a monumental task for us today. Far too many of us are so conditioned to putting the gospel on like a coat – or taking it off when we feel too filthy or cold. To let the gospel become part of our DNA is something that only the Spirit of God can make happen for us. So that is my prayer for us as we dive into our first circle of context as we try to get our minds wrapped around what it means to put on the gospel as our identity to the extent that it becomes our DNA.

#1: ROMANS…

So, what does it mean to have our identity, our DNA, to be infused with the promised gospel? As we dive into what it means in the book of Romans, we must begin with the apostle Paul himself, since he refers to the gospel as something that is part of his own identity, part of his DNA.

We know that Paul refers to himself in verses 1 – 2 of our main text as “Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures”. We know, from our previous studies, that Paul is using his opening words to establish his own identity in Christ so that his listeners can become just like him – he wants his listeners to experience the same freedom, the same faith, and the same transformation he has experienced (Acts 26:29; Gal. 4:19; 1 Cor. 11:1).

And after describing himself as a servant of Christ Jesus, one who was called out of darkness to be an apostle, and someone who had been set apart since before the foundations of the earth, he now clarifies that all of those identifying characteristics find their ultimate fulfillment in the gospel that he had been set apart by and for.

It is the message of the gospel that sets us apart or separates us from our old life and sets our feet on a new path as God’s rescued and adopted children. It is the gospel which calls us into an eternal relationship with Christ as our Lord and Savior. It is the gospel that solidifies our newfound slavery, our newfound ability to serve our crucified, risen, and returning King.

It is the gospel and the gospel alone that sets the meaning of every mark of spiritual identity that we have been given in Christ Jesus. Therefore, it makes sense that we should think of the gospel as something that is part of our newfound identity – part of our new DNA – in Christ Jesus. And Paul refers to this gospel as something that God “promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures”.

We will examine some of that promise from the prophets when we get to the third circle of context, but for now, I want us to remember that our identity is meant to be infused with that promise in Christ Jesus. The question is, how does that promise affect who we are, according to what Paul writes in the book of Romans? Now, here’s the thing, the book of Romans in its entirety, is an explanation of the gospel and how it affects our new identity in Christ Jesus – how it becomes part of our DNA.

So, although we could just read the book of Romans this morning and highlight every word, I am just going to highlight some of the most concrete examples for us to add to the painting of our identity or our DNA.

In Chapter One, Verses 16 – 17, Paul says, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith”’. How does the promise of the gospel become part of our identity; part of lur DNA?

The gospel removes shame and replaces it with saving power and true righteousness for anyone who believes, regardless of social, economic, ethnic, background. No matter where you came from, if you have trusted in Christ, you have been clothed with a gospel power, and a gospel righteousness that have totally destroyed the power of shame, leaving you unashamed of the gospel which transformed you. Shame is no longer part of your DNA.

In Chapter Four, Verses 13 – 16, Paul says, “For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression. That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring – not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all”. Once again, we ask: How does the promise of the gospel become part of our identity or deeply embedded into our DNA? According to this passage, the gospel removes the need to earn a relationship with God through obedience to the law by extending grace, by relying on righteousness through faith, by helping us to rest in our new identity as heirs in Christ Jesus.

The bottom line here is that Abraham was saved – kept in relationship with God – by his faith in the promise of salvation through the future Messiah that would come through his own bloodline. In the same way, the gospel identifies us as children of God, by grace, through faith, in the guarantee of our future inheritance of eternal life in Christ Jesus. Your identity – your DNA – has been infused as an heir to the kingdom of God.

In Chapter Eight, Verses 28 – 30, Paul says, “we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified”. Again, how does the promise of the gospel become part of our identity or infused with our DNA?

The gospel sets our hearts and our minds on the solid foundation of God’s intentional work in saving us. We are not mistakes. We are not afterthoughts. We are not unlovable. We are not worthless. God called us before we called out to him. We are known intimately by God. We are part of God’s eternal plan; our names are on his eternal timeline. We are being formed into the image of the perfection of Christ. We are justified and made completely right. We are now heirs to the glory of Christ and will share in that glory completely in eternity.

The gospel literally marks every inch of our beings, every inch of our DNA… called, foreknown, predestined, justified, glorified. That is the picture of how the promise of the gospel is being infused into your identity.

In Chapter Nine, Verses 8 – 9, Paul says, “…it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. For this is what the promise said: ‘About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son’”. Once again, we see a repeated theme here that reminds us that we are children of God if, like Abraham, we have believed the promise of the gospel, that salvation came, miraculously, through the bloodline of Abraham, in the person and work of Jesus. If Abraham and Sarah’s old age could not detour the Savior, what in your life could detour Him?

Your identity is literally infused with the person of Christ, whose image you are being formed into by your heavenly Father. You do not look exactly like him yet in this moment in your physical body – although, in Christ, your heavenly Father sees perfection.

Through the Spirit, you are being conformed to be more and more like Christ every day. Simple and sweet: The promise of the gospel marks you, infuses you, inscribes the image of Jesus onto your DNA. Look in the mirror, if you do not see Jesus in the reflection, it is because the enemy still has a foothold in your life.

In Chapter 15, Verses 8 – 9, Paul says, “For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy”. This last passage in Romans reinforces this foundational truth, that Jesus is the embodiment of the promise of the gospel. Jesus is the gospel in the flesh. The word gospel simply means “good news”. The bad news is that apart from Christ, we had no hope and were headed towards eternal destruction. But Christ, in the flesh, became the good news of an ancient promise from our Heavenly Father, to save all who would turn to him, according to his eternal rescue plan.

So, being marked by the promise of the gospel, having our DNA infused with the gospel, means that you are no longer marked by shame. You are not an outsider. You are not unlovable. You are not filthy. You are not weak. You are not an outcast. You are not a mistake. You are not broken beyond repair. This is not who you are! These are not the images you should see in the mirror any longer, if you are in Christ Jesus.

If you have trusted in Christ Jesus, your DNA, your identity is marked by the gospel. The gospel is your new identity. Christ is the perfect image of the gospel in the flesh. Therefore, whatever Christ is, you are too (apart from his designation as God).

You are free from shame. You are a son or daughter. You are fully loved and loveable. You are perfectly clean. You are full of power. You are part of a preplanned eternal family. You are worthy of being repaired into the perfect image of the Savior who calls you his own. This is what it means for our identity, our DNA, to be marked by and infused with the promise of the gospel in the book of Romans.

#2: PAUL’S OTHER LETTERS…

Now as we move into our second circle of context, examining how the gospel marks our identity in Paul’s other letters, it is important to understand that every word of what Paul writes – and frankly, every word of the Bible – is meant to help us see how we are marked by the promise of the gospel, in Christ Jesus.

So, my aim here is to simply show you a couple of the most significant passages that I think will act like anchors when the image you see in the mirror does not match what God sees in you through Christ Jesus.

In the book of Galatians, Paul argues that our identity is centered on our union with Christ. Our identity is no longer rooted in worldly, ethnic, social, or economic status. In Galatians 2:20, Paul says, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me”. Every ounce of our being is marked by the very presence of Christ who gave himself on our behalf at that bloody cross. At that cross, we are united with him – woven into Christ’s identity – as our old identity dies and our new identity comes to life.

The rest of the book of Galatians will teach you that regardless of your background, in Christ, you are an adopted son or daughter of God, you have been redeemed from the curse of the law of sin and death, you are justified or made right by faith, and you are no longer owned by your flesh because you are owned by the Spirit who is producing His fruit in your life (Gal. 2:16; 3:7 – 9, 13 – 14, 26 – 28; 4:4 – 7; 5:16 – 25).

Now, the book of Ephesians is another one of those books that you could all soak in for years and still have more to soak up – even though it is only six chapters long. I encourage you go to our website and listen to the sermon series from years ago, and especially the first three chapters since those chapters focus entirely on the reality of our new identity in Christ Jesus.

With that said, I think Ephesians 2:1 – 10 is the paramount description of the mark of the promise of the gospel on our newfound identity in Christ. Verses 4 – 6 of that chapter are the center of that description, where we read, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved – and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus”.

Did you catch the fact that God loved us, even when we were dead in our sins? Not only that, but to be marked by the promise of the gospel is to be marked by the never-ending richness of God’s mercy, marked by the overflowing unconditional love of God – even in our trespasses and sins – marked by the fact that God gave new life to spiritually dead people, and not only that, but he seated us with him in heaven.

This is why, I always say that we need to sit in front of the mirror and ask the Spirit to cement this identity deep into our hearts and minds before we ever try to walk it out or stand firm in this world. Without this identity, the identity of gospel promise, you are powerless. With this identity, with your DNA marked by the gospel, you could change the world! Study the first three chapters of Ephesians daily and it will radically transform the picture of who you are in the promised gospel.

The book of Philippians is one of my other favorite books in the Bible, and it is also another sermon series that is available on our website. Definitely go listen to it as you are able to. Just like the rest of Paul’s letters, he uses every word he writes to help his listeners understand that the identity of the promised gospel is now part of our DNA.

Paul’s own proclamation in Philippians 1:21 where he says, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” flows out of his belief in verse 6 where he states that “I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion on the day of Jesus Christ”.

That proclamation and belief – that our lives are to be a reflection of Christ who is completing his work in us – drives his instruction in verse 27 to “let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ” along with the reminder in chapter three, verses 20 – 21, that “our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him”.

The point is this: if the promised gospel of Jesus Christ is our identity, if the gospel is part of our DNA, then our lives are meant to reflect, not only the life of Christ himself in all of his character, but we are also meant to reflect the fact that God is constantly at work in us on this earth as citizens – not of this earth – but of heaven.

Bottom line: believers do not possess the identity of this earth – this world is not part of our DNA – because we have the identity of Christ himself and the eternal kingdom that he has made us part of. This earth is not our home; therefore, we are meant to live for the sake of Christ being known as we live in relationship with him.

Colossians is another super beautiful letter of Paul’s that focuses intensely on how the promised gospel informs our identity. In Colossians 1:21 – 22, he says that “you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him”. Our new identity in the promised gospel is an identity of reconciliation from living in hostility to God, to being blameless and holy, whereby our once-upon-e-time enemy (God) made it possible for us to become his family!

Furthermore, in Colossians 2:12 – 14, Paul says that in our newfound identity, we have “been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us”.

The promised gospel informs and shapes our identity – it transforms our DNA – into a new identity that shares in the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ as we hold onto the image that we “are” – not just “have been” but “are” – forgiven since the debt of our sin has been paid in full!

There is so much more in Paul’s letters that we could examine! But let this rest heavily on you right now. When you and I look in the mirror in the morning, or when we begin to confront that ugly little girl or that filthy little boy in the basement of our subconscious, (the one we try to hide from and ignore) we should be applying the promised gospel as our new identity over anything that is contrary to what God sees.

When God looks at you and I, he sees Christ. And in Christ, you and I share a full and complete union to his life, death and resurrection, regardless of ethnic, social, economic, or circumstantial backgrounds. We are covered in the richness of God’s never-ending mercy and his unconditional love and have been seated on our heavenly seat with Christ, fully alive.

The image of Christ’s reflection is being completed in us on a daily basis as we live for him like citizens of heaven who do not belong to this world. We are reconciled to God in the cross of Christ, and we no longer need to live in isolation. The power of the cross and the empty tomb has canceled the debt of sin and made us into new creations in Christ Jesus. This is what it means to have our identity – our very DNA – infused with the promised gospel my friends!

#3: WHAT DOES “GOSPEL” MEAN IN THE O.T. & N.T.?

Now, as we launch into our third circle of context, examining what it means to be marked by the promise of the gospel in the rest of the Bible, it might surprise you to see how the gospel was promised in the Old Testament and how that promise was confirmed in the New Testament. as well.

In the Old Testament all the prophets continuously pointed to the promised Messiah. In Genesis 3:15, Moses recorded God’s words to Adam and Eve where he says, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel”.

This specific promise is the promise of God that from Eve’s offspring, will come a Savior who will crush the head of Satan, Sin, and Death. From the very beginning, God communicated that he had a plan to destroy the power of Satan, Sin, and Death through the work of the coming Chris. Nothing that has ever happened to you has happened without God first including it in his plan of your redemption!

In Isaiah 53:4 – 6, during a season of great suffering for God’s people, the prophet says, “Surely, he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned – every one – to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all”.

Can you imagine the comfort and hope this promise would have brought to its original listeners, after enduring decade after decade of suffering at the hands of their enemies because of their rebellion? The promise here, is that a Savior would bear the weight of the penalty and power of our sins and that despite our sinful wandering – like stupid head strong sheep – our Savior would provide full peace and healing for our sin, along with redemption from our enemies.

How much hope and comfort does this give you, even now as you suffer in this life and struggle with the effects of Satan, Sin, and Death? God is done with you yet! He has given you a Savior and the promise of eternity with him. What more could we want in this moment? Think about how that promise could transform your everyday life.

Psalm 22 is another beautiful place to spend some time chewing on the promised Messiah. The opening lines say, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest”. These words may not sound like a promise until you recognize that Christ uttered these very words from the cross as he died in our place.

As David wrote the words of this Psalm, evidently suffering in his own time, it is as though he looked forward to a Savior who would suffer far more than David ever did, and he took comfort in knowing that the One who would occupy his throne one day would suffer in our place so that we would not suffer in eternity.

The bottom line here is that the prophets of the Old Testament stood on the promise of the gospel for centuries of suffering on this sin-soaked earth. They held onto the power of the promise of the gospel that Paul wrote about in Romans 1:1 – 7. The promise of the gospel permeated the DNA of Old Testament believers so deeply that it enabled them to endure intense suffering as they looked forward to full redemption.

Let me leave us with one other passage now from the New Testament in Christ’s own words as he stands up in a religious meeting and quotes the prophet Isaiah in Luke 4:18 – 21where he says, “‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news [the gospel] to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.’ And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, ‘Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’”

This may not seem like a mic drop moment to you until you realize that at this moment, all of Israel is under the occupation of the brutality of Rome and their religious leaders have become heavy handed hypocrites. When Jesus reads these words and essentially says, “I am the Messiah that Isaiah promised” it would have been a total shock to the system.

Jesus’ promise here, is that he is the one who is bringing true freedom, complete healing, and miraculous spiritual insight to God’s people amidst their suffering. He is saying that the day of freedom is here. The day of miraculous new sight is here. The day of freedom from suffering under the effects of darkness is here… in the person and work of Christ himself.

This is the promise for all of us in the gospel: True freedom from the effects of darkness! All of the shame, and filth, and guilt, and isolation, and suffering, and blindness, and brokenness, and separation from God, has been destroyed by the One who left the cross bloody, the tomb empty, and the promise of eternity for those who believe upon his name! This is radically good news that is meant to become part of who you are, part of your very DNA, my friends!

APPLICATION…

Now by way of application, when Paul says that he was “set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures” (Rom. 1:1 – 2), I think he makes that proclamation as a man who had been set free from the darkness by the power of the promised gospel. His identity – his very DNA – had been radically transformed and marked by the gospel promise of true freedom in Christ Jesus.

Later in Romans 8:1 – 2, Paul says that “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death”. To be condemned is to be marked for death as a criminal – a criminal who has received a life sentence behind bars.

Paul knew what it was like to experience the fulfillment of the promised gospel, as one who had been set free from the domain of darkness with its life sentence and its imminent death penalty behind bars.

Paul also proclaimed, in Colossians 1:13 – 14, that God “has delivered us [in Christ] from the domain of darkness and [has] transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins”. The truth of our identity in Christ Jesus – the essence of our new DNA – is that we have been set free by the promised gospel, from the domain of darkness.

But, the problem for many professing Christians today is that while we may have the freedom of salvation, and while we may hold fast to the power of our crucified, risen, and returning Christ for our future hope in Heaven, far too many of us have become numb or comfortable with living behind the bars of a prison cell built with the bricks and mortar of anxiety, depression, shame, fear, worthlessness, and isolation.

Far too many of us, live with the hope of the gospel’s promise of eternal life while living under the invisible captivity of “this present darkness” (Eph. 6). Far too many of us have never had the courage or spiritual eyesight to confront the wounds and the lies and the thought patterns and the behaviors that have held us in bondage for far too long.

This is the challenge of our study today: To be marked by the promised gospel is to be marked by the very image of Christ himself and to live in the freedom he offers to us right now!

To say that we have been set free by the promised gospel, but to live in defeated isolation, behind the bars of unhealed wounds, and demonic lies, and sinful thought patterns and destructive behaviors, is to live in the darkness and the condemnation that was destroyed by the work of Christ Jesus at that cross and empty tomb.

CONCLUSION…

In conclusion my friends, freedom, freedom right now, amidst a dark and perverse world that is under the domain of darkness, full freedom in Christ, is what it looks like for you and I to live out of an identity that has been infused with the promise of the gospel in Christ Jesus.

The way that you and I live in this identity of the promised gospel, the way we dismantle the prison cell, is to simply open the wounds, identify the lies, confront the demonic thoughts, and apply the healing, freeing truths of the promised gospel.

We must constantly take our wounds, and the demonic lies we have covered them with, and the ungodly thinking patterns we have been imprisoned by, to the foot of that bloody cross; to rest in the doorway of that empty tomb; to be demolished by the hope of eternity. Our old identity and all its ungodly baggage must be put to death by the gospel.

And that’s not all! We must become students of God’s Word. Consumers of the Bible. Studiers of the promised gospel as it unfolds through those three circles of context that we have been using. The truth that will set you free, the truth that needs applied to the wounds, the lies, the thinking patterns, and the behaviors, that truth is contained in the very words of Scripture. Eat the Word my friends. Consume it. Get hungry for it. Thirst for it.

For in the words of Scripture, you will find the keys to the prison cell that has held you in captivity since you were born. Those keys – contained in the key ring of the promised gospel – specifically applied to your unique circumstances, will set you free to be who you never thought you could be.

The only question left is this: Will you pick up the keys and walk through the door of that cell? Will you confront the wounds, the lies, the emotions, the desires and the behaviors that have held you imprisoned for far too long?

I pray you will. I pray that you will apply the promised gospel of Christ Jesus over your life and that you will experience what Paul experienced: Freedom from this present darkness that is still alive inside of you. Freedom to be fully healed. Freedom to be set free from the lies. Freedom to be transformed by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:1). Freedom to live like an uncondemned man or woman. Freedom to live out of the promised gospel that has been infused with your very DNA – your very identity. – Amen!

1 Unless otherwise specified, all Bible references are to the English Standard Version Bible, The New Classic Reference Edition (ESV) (Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, 2001).