Category Archives: The Gospel

Today’s ‘Contrary’ Gospel(s)

Posted by Dan C. on

The Apostle Paul had some stern words concerning ‘contrary’ gospels:

"As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed." (Galatians 1:9 ESV)

Some translations use the phrase ‘other than’ or ‘any other’ instead of ‘contrary’ in that passage, and both are most certainly true! Any gospel other than the one Paul preached is a false gospel. At the same time a ‘false’ gospel is a ‘contrary’ gospel. Is there a subtle difference in meaning here?

‘Other than’ means just that – anything not the same as. In this case a gospel not the gospel that Paul preached.

‘Contrary’ by definition means: opposed, as in character or purpose; opposite in direction or position. So not only are ‘other’ gospels not Paul’s gospel, they stand in direct opposition to and actually head in a different direction. When we turn to and accept other, contrary gospels, we can be led astray from true devotion to Christ. It does happen, if we believe the Apostle Paul:

"But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough." (2 Corinthians 11:3-4 ESV)

It seems that Paul saw the work of the enemy, who is always opposed to the true gospel, in false gospels in his day. I fear nothing has changed. I recently read a sad story told by a Baptist Pastor in Namibia, Conrad Mbewe; that illustrates what is perhaps the chief ‘contrary’ gospel in our day:

"Last Sunday, a young man came to see me after our church service. He is the kind of guy who shows up at church once in a while and then disappears for a season. My guess is that he goes around churches sampling sermons and looking for answers. On this visit, he asked that I help him to overcome a failure in his life, and it was a failure to progress. He said that his greatest problem is that he does not believe in himself. Could I help him believe in himself so that he could become successful?

I gave him a booklet to read, entitled, What is a Biblical Christian? When we met the following day, he was honest enough to tell me that he was disappointed with what he read because it was not telling him what he wanted to hear. “What I want to know is how I can be successful. This booklet did not say anything about that.” I repeated what I told him earlier. What he needed was not belief in himself but belief in a Saviour sent from heaven. He needed forgiveness as a foundation for his life.

Yesterday, a church member told me that he met the young man in the local market. He had two booklets in his hands. The first was the one I had given him and the second one was by Joel Osteen. He told our member, “Pastor Mbewe gave me this book but I don’t like it because it makes me feel guilty. I prefer this one by Joel Osteen because it lifts me up. It motivates me.”

This false gospel takes many forms, and I won’t even try to list them all here. You will probably be able to identify some of those forms in Pastor Mbewe’s remarks:

"Sadly, motivational speaking has become the staple diet of many evangelical pulpits. The message being heard is, “God has put the potential in you and all you need to do is believe in yourself to unlock that potential. Have a grand vision and live out that vision. You must be a man or woman of destiny and the sky will be the limit for you. Don’t let your past failures get in your way of success. Look beyond them, as Jesus looked beyond the cross and thus overcame it. You are the head and not the tail."

In his online post at A Letter from Kabwata, Pastor Mbewe concludes with this:

"Motivational speaking is not biblical preaching. It is a blight on the landscape of true evangelicalism. It is filling the churches with dead people who are being told to live as if they are alive. We need to return to the good old gospel that truly gives life to the dead and sets men and women free. Like Paul of old, every truly evangelical pulpit must sound out the clear message of “repentance towards God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21). Let us get rid of this curse of motivational speaking!

The question we must ask ourselves:

"Are we sitting under sound Biblical preaching that presents the true gospel, or do we spend our Sunday mornings listening to a ‘contrary’ gospel?"

Food for thought early on this Sunday morning, June 24, 2012.

Has the Gospel-Centered Emphasis Gone Too Far?

Posted by Dan C. on

clip_image002R. C. Sproul, James Boice, and J. I. Packer were already stirring many evangelicals with the vision of a great God who saves sinners by a grace that is amazing from start to finish. Out of the Philadelphia Conference on Reformed Theology, chaired by Dr. Boice, a host of annual conferences sprouted up across North America. Ligonier Ministries gained a national platform. Inspired and nourished by these efforts, several of us started the White Horse Inn and Modern Reformation 20 years ago out of a concern that we need to recover the riches of the Reformation, with the gospel of justification in Christ alone, by grace alone, through faith alone, at its heart.

Over these two decades, we’ve been through a series of controversies within evangelicalism about the character of God and his gospel: open theism, Evangelicals and Catholics Together, and the “emergent” movement, to name a few. Along the way, we’ve engaged Robert Schuller, with the publication of his Self-Esteem: The New Reformation, at a moment when it seemed from the Christian best-seller list that Christianity was being radically re-written in the subjective and therapeutic categories of modernity.

There are still enormous challenges, of course. As our latest issue of Modern Reformation points out, the diet of Christian trade books doesn’t exactly point in the direction of widespread renewal of catechesis. Nevertheless, there has been a proliferation of gospel-centered resources. Groups like the Gospel Coalition and Together for the Gospel sponsor large national conferences. Reared on moralism, a number of younger pastors—many of larger nondenominational churches—are being gripped by grace.

Just think of some of the titles of late in this genre: The Gospel as Center, D. A. Carson; The Prodigal God, Tim Keller; Jesus + Nothing = Everything, Tullian Tchividjian; Gospel: Recovering the Power that Made Christianity Revolutionary, J. D. Greear; The Good News We Almost Forgot, Kevin DeYoung; What Is the Gospel?, Greg Gilbert. I’ve added a few of my own logs to the “gospel” fire, so I can only rejoice in what Charles Swindoll called a while back “the grace awakening.”

Of course, there is always a danger that when you take God’s Word out of the church—out of the ambient environment of expository preaching, baptism, Communion, prayer, confession, absolution, and praise—it becomes a genre. Like “gospel music,” gospel or grace can easily become an adjective more than a noun—like a category on “Jeopardy,” carved up into emphases of each parachurch ministry. The latter can do a lot to put “first things” back on the radar, but they can’t proclaim the whole counsel of God week after week, baptize, commune, look after you and your family, and preach your funeral.

We have to be careful that this wonderful recovery of something so precious doesn’t become reduced to “the gospel thing.” I think that this is in part what people are reacting to when they wonder if it has all gone too far. But has it? From what I hear with some growing frequency, this is becoming a real question in our circles. With all this talk about grace, are we becoming antinomians? Maybe we’ve taken the gospel for granted, but are we now over-reacting by taking holiness for granted?

As I’ve said before, antinomianism (or what usually goes by that label) is never the result of taking the gospel too far; it’s the result of not taking it far enough. When, after treating justification so forcefully, Paul anticipates the question, “Shall we then sin so that grace may abound?”, his answer is an equally forceful “No—may it never be!” Yet it’s not by adding a dose of fear to douse the flames of libertinism, but by exposing us to the wideness of the gospel, that he answers this important question. Those who are united to Christ are not only justified but renewed, sharing in the benefits of his resurrection as well as his death. Sin is no longer in power over our lives and destiny. Finally, we are free to obey the command to offer ourselves to righteousness. No longer hearing the Judge’s conditions from Mount Sinai, we hear the Father’s commands from Mount Zion, with a better covenant and a better Mediator.

So does antinomianism really exist? Certainly there have been actual groups and individuals down through the ages advocating freedom not only from the moral law’s condemnation but from its precepts. In recent decades, some evangelicals have argued that one can accept Jesus as Savior but not as Lord. But is this a serious problem in our churches?

For whatever it’s worth, here is my take. There are basically three groups of professing Christians.

  • The first are nominal. These are folks who tell Gallup and other pollsters, as well as Christian friends and family members, that they’re believers. However, they resist any external authority; instead, the follow their own lights, their own inner intuitions, drives, and goals for maximizing their potential. Taking a pick-and-choose approach to religion, they do not belong to a local church, don’t really know what they believe and why, and consequently their lives are indistinguishable from those of their non-Christian neighbors.
  • The other two groups consist of what we might call the committed: those whose steady spiritual diet keeps them moralized and those who are regularly evangelized.

In the 1950s, Protestant liberals accommodated the faith to modernity by psychologizing, subjectivizing, and moralizing the faith. God was less a Lord and Redeemer external to the self than a power within us to realize our spiritual and moral potential as active agents of his transforming and affirming presence in the world. Meanwhile, conservative Protestantism was often obsessed with distinguishing itself from the world by narrowing the faith to a few fundamentals (fundamental though they indeed are) and superficial codes of behavior that have little or no scriptural justification.

As evangelical churches today accommodate to the psychologizing and subjectivizing of the faith, like mainline churches before them, we can expect more nominal attachments. Here one clearly finds at least practical antinomianism, despite a steady drumbeat of self-justifying moralism. People won’t go to hell for dancing—or for sexual promiscuity, but they may be frowned on if they aren’t happy, or perhaps drive SUVs and fail to participate in the various service projects listed in the bulletin. If all that’s important is finding the right spiritual technology for “my best life now,” then antinomianism is the theory regardless of the actual practices one chooses.

At its heart, though, this isn’t really antinomianism. It’s not a choice between law and freedom but between God’s law and the laws (principles, tools, expectations) that I determine suitable for judging my life and course of actions. After all, for all their personality differences, smiling life-coaches give you a work-out program every bit as arduous as anything you would have found in the party-crashing conservative churches of yesteryear.

There is a real process of secularization in the West, including the United States, and it’s deeper than “antinomianism-vs-legalism.” In my experience, at least, I just don’t run into many card-carrying antinomians in churches. What I do meet are (1) nominal Christians who aren’t converted and therefore are not communicant members of the church, (2) believers who are either self-deceived or burned out on a constant diet of “Do more/Be more” that takes the gospel for granted, and (3) believers who are regularly given a Christ who is great enough and a gospel that is big enough to save Christians, too. Those in the first two categories may be antinomians in theory (denying the external claims of a holy God), but they are far from it in practice; they simply exchange the divine condemnation that leads to Christ with the self-condemnation that leads to despair.

Those who are in the third category alone can pray, “Teach me thy ways,” with joy. They don’t pick-and-choose what they decide is useful or helpful for their life project. They don’t file out of the service saying, “I’m going to sin more so that grace may abound.” They receive the Word in the power of the Spirit: embracing the promises in faith and the commands as their “reasonable service…in view of the mercies of God.” As members of Christ’s body, they submit to the teaching and admonition of the one Christ who is saves to rule and rules to save. For this group of fellow pilgrims, among whom God’s grace in Christ has included me, there is a perpetual movement back and forth between confession of sins, absolution, good works, confession of sins, and on we go. There is joy and frustration, faith and doubt, obedience and disobedience. But the very terms associated with this cycle of sanctification tell the tale: In this new world, at least, antinomianism does not—for it cannot—actually exist.

Source: White Horse In Blog

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What Evangelism Is Not

Posted by Dan C. on

By Dr. Kevin Schrum

The Great Commission Resurgence proposals within the Southern Baptist Convention have reminded us of the high priority of evangelism and local/global missions. The same is true of many denominations across the theological spectrum of beliefs as Christian leaders worldwide seek to regain strongholds of spiritual influence in North America and Europe. However, unless we’re cautious and clear, a sloppy, imprecise definition of missions and evangelism will destroy renewal efforts. Let’s define evangelism by what it is not and then by what it is.

Evangelism is not…

1. Evangelism is not denominational renewal, reconstruction, or even deconstruction.

Sometimes, these are necessary to advance the cause of evangelism, but they are not evangelism. Denominations and ecclesiastical structures need occasional, healthy upheaval. But unless we’re careful, we may end up thinking that one more meeting and a new way of doing things constitutes evangelism. Structural reorganizations may end up being commensurate with rearranging chairs on the deck of the Titanic.

2. Evangelism is not inviting people to church or an evangelistic event.

Inviting people to events is important, but it’s not evangelism — it is pre-evangelism.

3. Evangelism is not imposing our will or beliefs on another person.

We make no apologies for attempting to persuasively make the case for Christianity. But in the end, only God can change the human heart.

4. Evangelism is not personal testimony.

A personal testimony does not save a sinner. The Gospel does. It’s quite right to support a Gospel presentation with what the Gospel has done in one’s life. Yet, we must never confuse the Gospel itself with a personal testimony.

5. Evangelism is not social work/justice or political involvement.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with seeking social justice, feeding the homeless, clothing the naked, and addressing institutional-political injustices. But social justice, food in a hungry belly, and a jacket on the back of a homeless man do not prepare that soul for eternity. Good deeds complement the Gospel enterprise; they do not replace it.

6. Evangelism is not doing apologetics in order to win an argument.

Apologetics is a necessary part of the Christian mission. Apologetics can help answer questions and remove intellectual objections, but only the Gospel of Jesus Christ can change the heart.

7. Evangelism is not the results of evangelism.

It is very easy to get caught up in numbers in the church business. And numbers are important. Even Jesus told three successive stories involving numbers in Luke 15 — one lost sheep, one lost coin, and two lost sons. But souls are not notches in our belt or numbers on our denominational charts. "One" represents a precious soul for whom Christ died. This means that we are to communicate the Gospel regardless of the results — God alone takes care of the results.

8. Evangelism is not church planting.

Church planting is biblical and necessary. Many church plants succeed at a higher rate of growth than already established churches. But it’s not because of the magical words — "church plant." The reason church plants grow fast for a season is because the believers of that new church have been reminded of the basics of one person sharing the Good News with another person.

Evangelism is…

So what is evangelism? Evangelism is a believer sharing the person/claims of the Gospel of Jesus Christ with a person who has yet to believe the claims of the Gospel or trust the person at the center of the Gospel — Jesus Christ. The Gospel is "that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures." (1 Corinthians 15:3-4; Romans 10:9-13) The Gospel is clearly stating what God has done in Christ for the sinner, calling for repentance and belief. To fail to do this is to fail at evangelism. All the other dimensions of church life are but outgrowths and/or complements to the Gospel itself.

___________

Dr. Kevin Shrum has been in ministry for 29 years, currently pastors Inglewood Baptist Church in Nashville, Tennessee, and is an Adjunct Professor of Theology for Union University in Jackson, Tennessee.

Sin, the Gospel, and Evangelistic Responsibility

Posted by Dan C. on

Comment addressed to me on a Christian blog today”

Ya know, Daniel, I do not need to talk to people about their sins.  I only want to talk to people about the Savior that loved me enough to come and assist me in living a successful life on this earth.
Once the people I talk with about my LORD and Savior and what He is to me and done in my life, it is then up to Him, through the power of His Holy Spirit to bring conviction for sin upon those whom He chooses.

Beating people down with all the sin I look for in their lives is really NOT my job.

My response:

Somebody needs to confront the person needing salvation with the sin issue, since it IS after all, the central issue that the message of the gospel addresses. I find nowhere in the Bible that says Jesus died to change your temporal life. If you do, let me know. You are free to tell (or NOT tell) people whatever you want, of course. Just don’t claim to be sharing a gospel message that has the ‘power to save’ when you fail to address the issue of sin. (Paul’s definition, after all).

The blog thread wasn’t really about evangelism, not even close, but we all know about ‘rabbit trails’. A ‘familiar atheist’ had once again complained about the ‘cruel God’ that commanded the slaying of groups of people in the OT (not the thread topic either), and the subject of ‘judgment’ had surfaced. To no one in particular I commented that:

Anyone who wakes up in Hell has only himself/herself to blame and everyone who wakes up in Heaven has only God to thank.

Somehow that prompted my friend to make his remarks about not needing to speak of sin and my subsequent response. Lest you think I was somehow unkind, this same man has told me the same thing over the last couple of years, even when I emphasized that I was only emphasizing the central issue the gospel message addresses being the issue of sin. For some reason even talking about sin is ‘looking’ for all the sin in their live and beating them over the head with it.

I’m not sure what causes this particular phenomena  to appear, but I see it often. I cannot claim innocence either, for there was a time when I felt the same way as my friend. I like to think I outgrew it with careful Bible study and learning that I had been duped by being told how we all have this marvelous ‘free will’ that by nature has the ability to come to Christ. I

I’ll stand by my conviction that ‘sin’ is the main issue that has to be gotten to (by somebody). At the same time I am convinced that we will meet many in heaven who think that their ‘natural free will’ got them there!

Be blessed!

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The Gospel Message

Posted by Dan C. on

I’ll be the first to admit that there are ‘levels’, of the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I tend to place them into two overall categories; the message needed for the salvation of lost sinners, and the ‘larger’ message(s) that encompasses the entirety of the gospel of the Kingdom in terms of all of the blessings promised to God’s people.

Having said that, I believe it is always important, when discussing the gospel, to define our terms. Especially important is the definition of the gospel message that has the power to save; the message the Apostle Paul speaks of in Romans 1:16:

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” (Emphasis mine)

Obvious is that there exists a gospel that in itself has the ‘power to save’. Given that the gospel, the ‘good news’ can include quite a lot, what exactly is the gospel that includes ‘power to save’? Since t is Paul who tells us there is one, does he also define it? What did Paul focus on in his preaching and teaching? What does Paul himself have to say?

”For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles.” – 1 Cor 1:22-23

“When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” – 1 Cor 2:1-2

We can conclude that the crucified Christ was central to Paul’s preaching, but does he define the gospel with ‘power to save’ more precisely? I believe he does. Speaking to the Corinthian church near the end of one of his letters, in his prelude to the importance of the resurrection to our faith, Paul states:

“Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you— unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.” – ! Cor 15:1-4  

We can readily see that the death and resurrection of Christ “for ‘our’ sins” was central to Paul’s preaching, and the central issue addressed in the gospel he preached. It is also logical to assume that the gospel we share with those whom God places in our paths for that purpose should be the same as Paul’s message. For many of you it is, but for many others in today’s evangelical climate, sadly it is not.

The gospel Paul preached as having ‘power to save’ has been widely supplanted with a gospel message that focuses on ’abundant living’. It takes several forms, and at times even addresses the issue of sin, but often in a secondary ‘back burner’ manner. What’s wrong with that, if we see sinners ‘accepting’ Christ as Savior? Isn’t abundant living part of the “good news? Yes it is, but is it the primary message we share with those who need a Savior?

Please hear me out.

First of all, remember that our gospel ‘invitation’ is intended for those living lives far away from God and his Son, the Christ. They are ‘by nature’ in rebellion against their Creator, cannot please God and unable to understand Spiritual truth, don’t seek him (See Rom 8:7,1 Cor 2:14, Rom 3:11, Ps 14), and have as their primary interest in this life, self-gratification, or self-actualization (if you want a ‘softer’ term). They behave with those goals foremost in their minds, not only from a biblical perspective, but also if we are to believe what the behavioral sciences have to tell us (Think Maslow).

Given all that accurately describes those who are apart from Christ, what are we doing if the primary focus of our gospel message is ‘abundant life’, which is actually a valid truth claim? (I hope that question is somewhat rhetorical.) We are feeding their ‘nature’; in effect telling them that the principal message of the gospel of Jesus Christ is their personal welfare and happiness, which is exactly what they want, but not abundant life on God’s terms.

Assume they like it, and make a ‘decision’ for Christ. Sooner or later, especially when their abundant doesn’t work out according to their wishes and desires, we have more explaining to do. What do you say?

"I know I said Jesus promised abundant life, but God’s definition in that John 10:10 passage really means a different kind of ‘abundant’ life." (Bait & switch alert!)

Or,

"Jesus did promise the abundant life you want, but maybe you haven’t given up a sinful habit or something."

Now you get to discuss the very real issue of sin you didn’t pay much attention to earlier, and how Jesus died for our sins and that he came to give e abundant life. (Another bait & switch?)

Do you see where I’m coming from? Why not just be lovingly straightforward with Paul’s definition of the gospel? Why not include the issue of sin, as of ‘first importance’?

I can think of several reasons; maybe you’re ashamed of the gospel, afraid someone won’t like you anymore, or maybe you really think offering an ‘attractive’ message is the right way to share the gospel! In that case you would have a lot of company. Most folks think that that we all are naturally seeking God and have the ‘natural’ capability to make the right decision. Well, we already talked about the ‘natural’ man. If you forgot what we said, rewind.

In reality, offering an attractive message denies the sovereignty of God in the salvation of men. If what we said about the ‘natural’ man is true, something has to happen to turn a rebellious heart toward God, and in fact give a spiritually ‘dead’ man life (See Eph 2). The something that happens is God himself. God opens the stony heart and deaf ears to hear the gospel message that at one time was offensive to the listener, and the sinner confronted with the reality of his/her condition runs joyfully and willingly to the Cross!

The apostle expressed that truth quite well when, speaking of his gospel ministry he stated:

"But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life.” – 2 Cor 2:14-16

Yes, the promise of abundant life is good news, and part of the overall message of the gospel, but there is only one gospel message that has the ‘ power to save’. Hear Paul one more time:

For I delivered to you as of FIRST importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. . ."

The rest of the ‘good news’, the ‘bigger’ picture of the gospel, begins at the Cross, or it isn’t ‘good’, but merely self-serving.

Five Things That Will Never Change

Posted by Dan C. on

1. Everyone ever born comes into this world with an inherent knowledge of God and is therefore has a spiritual bent. Adam and Eve were ‘bent’ toward God until they willfully disobeyed God and became rebels.

2. Since the Fall of man in the Garden the main problem in this world and everyone in it is called sin (the aforementioned rebellion against God).

3. Man’s sin and rebellion against God is the single most important issue the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ addresses.

4. If we omit the issue of sin from the ‘gospel’ we share with others and we think it has the power to save someone we are terribly deceived, or we are just plain liars.

5. We will be held accountable on judgment day for the ‘gospel’ we preached, whether or not we have been deceived about what it must contain. Whatever we are taught a saving gospel message contains, we have Bibles that make it crystal clear.

“Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you–unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.” – The Apostle Paul

That’s it. That’s the gospel that has the power to save. Pretty simple message isn’t it? There are a million ways to share it and we’ve all been given ‘divine appointments’ to do just that. So let’s get it right shall we?

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“Let him be accursed” – The Apostle Paul

Posted by Dan C. on

Paul to the church in Galatia:

“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.” – Gal 1:6-9

Strong words, aren’t they? The Apostle Paul was astonished to see believers in Galatia turning to a ‘different gospel’. What did he mean? Well, he defined it for us twice:

“. . .a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you.”

“. . .a gospel contrary to the one you received.”

Two definitions, one gospel. A different gospel is that which is contrary to the gospel Paul preached and the same one they received. All we need to do is find out what that gospel was – not at all a difficult task.

We are told in the New Testament, from the lips of Paul himself, that only preached Christ, and Christ crucified (1 Cor 2:2).The clearest definition of the gospel ‘preached’ and ‘received’ is in 1 Cor 15: 1-4:

“Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you–unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. . .”

This is this is the gospel message that is the power of God for salvation of which Paul was not ashamed (Acts 1:1), and therefore the gospel message we should offer those who know not Christ as Lord and Savior. We are not prohibited from also speaking of the many blessings God offers His children, but the gospel Paul preached and that must be received for salvation is to be paramount.

In our zeal to see ‘decisions for Christ’ we tend to offer the blessings and benefits of being a Christ follower as either primary reasons for trusting in Christ, or secondary reasons to counter the harshness of the matter of sin, judgment, and the wrath of God against all sin (if we mention the ‘bad news’ at all). When we do that, do we honor God, His Son, and the message of the gospel?

The Apostle Paul answers that for us:

“But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.” – Gal 1:6-9

I don’t know about you, but I need to ask myself “Self, what gospel are you preaching?”

Eisegesis Unplugged – Deuteronomy 30:19

Posted by Dan C. on

The Passage

“I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live,.” – Deuteronomy 30:19

This passage is often used in the context of witnessing/evangelism to offer someone who has not received Christ as Lord and Savior the promise of a better life now and eternal life after death, if he/she would only choose Christ. It often used to ‘prove’ that those who are living apart from Christ have the natural ability, in and of themselves, to choose Christ and live for Him. I have heard it a lot lately in the latter context.

And guess what? It works. Everyone wants a better life down here, and the witness/evangelist can avoid the uncomfortable topics of sin, the wrath of God, and judgment.

But is that what it really means? Let’s look at it again

The Passage in Context

Deu 30:15 “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil.

Deu 30:16 If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you today, by loving the LORD your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it.

Deu 30:17 But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them,

Deu 30:18 I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess.

Deu 30:19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live,

In context, we have God laying out, through Moses, the terms of the Covenant of Works based on the Law previously given to the Israelites, who are already God’s covenant people. The terms of the covenant are these – divine blessing and long life in the promised land for obedience, but cursing and loss of life in the promised land for disobedience to God’s Law. The rest of the story of the Israelites in the OT describes quite clearly the latter, due to Israel’s continued disobedience and idolatry. The passage was not addressed to ‘outsiders’, but to God’s chosen people!

The same is true about the other favorite “choose this day” passage, Joshua 24:15:

“And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

This passage, spoken by Joshua, Moses’ successor, is also directed toward children of the covenant. Both scriptures had in mind calling God’s children to a life of obedience, not converting anyone to the religion of the Israelites or invite outsiders to worship the one true God.

We evangelicals have long used these passages to invite people to Christ, often with promises of blessings for this life and the next, but omitting the harsh topics of God’s hatred of sin, divine wrath poured out against it, and eternal punishment. We think that man has the natural ability to choose Christ and find it a far easier task to offer the promise of blessings designed to ‘attract’, than address the ‘uncomfortable’ problem of sin and its consequences.

If anything, we should use them to call believers to lives of obedience, but not obedience to obtain favor with God, but obedience because of the gracious mercy of God extended to us through Christ when were by nature God hating children of wrath.

So What?

If using these passages obtains decision for Christ, what does it matter?

It matters a great deal. If they are used to attract people to Christ with promises of a better life down here, but the matter of sin is not addressed, we are being unfaithful to the genuine gospel message. In fact, what we think is great news for those to whom we witness is no good news at all!

If we are not addressing the central issue of sin, repentance and belief in Christ as having borne our just punishment, we might obtain decisions for Christ, but unless the Holy Spirit is working behind the scenes to convict of sin and grant the gift of repentance and faith, conversions are false, ‘still lost’ souls think they are now saved, and we have disgraced the Name of Christ.

If we use these passages for anything, we should use them to call believers to lives of obedience, but not obedience to obtain favor with God instead of divine curses as with the Israelites, but obedience because of the gracious mercy of God extended to us through Christ when were by nature God hating children of wrath.

Our duty is to present the truth in love, with all the ugliness of the problem of sin, and leave the ‘converting ’to God.

“It Is Finished”– Arthur W. Pink

Posted by Dan C. on

"When Jesus had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he gave up the ghost." – John 19:30

How terribly have these blessed words of Christ been misunderstood, misappropriated and misapplied! How many seem to think that on the cross the Lord Jesus accomplished a work which rendered it unnecessary for the beneficiaries of it to live holy lives on earth. So many have been deluded into thinking that, so far as reaching heaven is concerned, it matters not how they walk provided they are "resting on the finished work of Christ." They may be unfruitful, untruthful, disobedient, yet (though they may possibly miss some millennial crown) so long as they repudiate all righteousness of their own and have faith in Christ, they imagine they are "eternally secure."

All around us are people who are worldly-minded, money-lovers, pleasure-seekers, Sabbath-breakers, yet who think all is well with them because they have "accepted Christ as their personal Saviour." In their aspiration, conversation, and recreation, there is practically nothing to differentiate them from those who make no profession at all. Neither in their home-life nor social-life is there anything save empty pretensions to distinguish them from others. The fear of God is not upon them, the commands of God have no authority over them, the holiness of God has no attraction for them.

"It is finished." How solemn to realize that these words of Christ must have been used to lull thousands into a false peace. Yet such is the case. We have come into close contact with many who have no private prayer-life, who are selfish, covetous, dishonest, but who suppose that a merciful God will overlook all such things provided they once put their trust in the Lord Jesus. What a horrible perversion of the truth! What a turning of God’s grace "into lasciviousness"! (Jude 4). Yes, those who now live the most self-seeking and flesh-pleasing lives, talk about their faith in the blood of the Lamb, and suppose they are safe. How the devil has deceived them!

"It is finished." Do those blessed words signify that Christ so satisfied the requirement of God’s holiness that holiness no longer has any real and pressing claims upon us? Perish the thought. Even to the redeemed God says, "Be ye holy, for I am holy" (1 Pet. 1:16). Did Christ "magnify the law and make it honorable" (Isa. 42:21) that we might be lawless? Did He "fulfill all righteousness" (Matthew 3:15) to purchase for us an immunity from loving God with all our hearts and serving Him with all our faculties? Did Christ die in order to secure a divine indulgence that we might live to please self? Many seem to think so. No, the Lord Jesus has left His people an example that they should "follow (not ignore) His steps."

"It is finished." What was "finished? The need for sinners to repent? No indeed. The need for turning to God from idols? No indeed. The need for mortifying my members which are upon earth? No indeed. The need for being sanctified wholly, in spirit, and soul, and body? No indeed. Christ died not to make my sorrow for, hatred of, and striving against sin, useless. Christ died not to absolve me from the full discharge of my responsibilities unto God. Christ died not so that I might go on retaining the friendship and fellowship of the world. How passing strange that any should think that He did. Yet the actions of many show that this is their idea.

"It is finished." What was "finished?" The sacrificial types were accomplished, the prophecies, of His sufferings were fulfilled, the work given Him by the Father had been perfectly done, a sure foundation had been laid on which a righteous God could pardon the vilest transgressor of the law who threw down the weapons of his warfare against Him. Christ had now performed all that was necessary in order for the Holy Spirit to come and work in the hearts of His people; convincing them of their rebellion, slaying their enmity against God, and producing in them a loving and obedient heart.

O, dear reader, make no mistake on this point. The "finished work of Christ" avails you nothing if your heart has never been broken through an agonizing consciousness of your sinfulness. The "finished work of Christ" avails you nothing unless you have been saved from the power and pollution of sin (Matthew 1:21). It avails you nothing if you still love the world (I John 2:15). It avails you nothing unless you are a "new creature" in Him (2 Cor .5:17). If you value your soul, search the Scriptures to see for yourself; take no man’s word for it.

The Story of His Glory

Posted by Dan C. on

The greatest story ever told is a true story, recorded and preserved in the Old and New Testaments, a story which climaxes in Jesus of Nazareth. This story informs everything in your life with significance and meaning.

The Creator God

The story opens: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” By His powerful and creative word, God spoke into existence the Universe and everything in it. This truth defines everything, and its implications are massive.

Your life is not an accident, a mere product of chance. Because God is your Creator, you belong to him. Just as a sculptor is the master of her clay, and an inventor retains the ownership “rights” of his invention, God is the supreme owner of the Universe and everything in it. He created and sustains your life.

Made for His Glory

You were made for God’s purposes and pleasure, and were intended to live for His glory and fame, to display the worth and value of the One who designed you. Like a mirror, you were made to reflect another’s beauty: God’s.

God has revealed to us how we are to reflect His glory. Jesus summarized this in two great commands:

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.

A life fully defined by love—for God and others—is a God-glorifying life.

Shattered by Sin

But, we have not loved God supremely or loved our neighbors as ourselves. We have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. We’ve loved and worshiped idols of self, sex, money, power, prestige, and pleasure more than the Creator.

Our problem isn’t merely sinful actions, but sinful hearts:

What comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person.  For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person.

We may have lived respectable and moral lives by human standards, but often this is driven by self-serving motives and tainted with sinful desires. The Scriptures remind us that “Whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it.” It only takes one drop of cyanide to poison a glass of water, and just one sin leaves us guilty before a holy God.

We have committed mutiny and treason against the Creator-God. We are dead in transgressions and sins; blinded by Satan, the god of this world; and slaves of our passions and desires. Although man is a mirror made to reflect the radiance of God’s beauty and glory, sin has shattered the mirror.

The Covenant God

But the Creator God is also a Covenant God, One who makes promises and keeps them. Even before man sinned, God had formed a plan of rescue. He revealed his plan to a man named Abraham, and promised that through Abraham, all the peoples of the earth would be blessed. Abraham’s descendants became known as the nation of Israel.

God chose Israel to be his special people. He later made another covenant with King David, promising him a son who would be forever enthroned over God’s people. The story of the Old Testament is the outworking of these two promises: the story of God’s glory returning to earth through His chosen people.

This story climaxes in Jesus, who was descended from David and Abraham. Jesus was born of a virgin in fulfillment of God’s promises. He was the ultimate revelation of God’s glory, the true Image-bearer of God on earth:

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Jesus was God himself in human flesh.

The Crucified and Risen Messiah

For thirty years, Jesus lived a quiet life. Then He burst on the public scene, proclaiming the gospel (good news) of the kingdom, the fulfillment of God’s promises to his people. During his ministry, Jesus gathered followers and demonstrated both compassion and great power through many miracles. He taught with authority, appealing to the common people and raising suspicion among the religious and political leaders. He came with a message of hope, offering forgiveness and rest to those burdened and wearied with sin. He claimed divinity and oneness with God, and modeled a life of perfect love to God and man, always honoring his Father and extending mercy and compassion to broken people.

But his claim to be one with God led to his death. Jesus of Nazareth was sentenced to death by crucifixion—the most degrading and agonizing form of capital punishment at that time. A Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, sanctioned Jesus’s execution. He died outside of Jerusalem around 30 A.D., and was buried in the borrowed tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. His disciples were disillusioned and discouraged, and many of them denied and forsook him during the last hours of his life.

But three days later, mourners discovered that his tomb was empty. Jesus had come back to life and risen from the dead! For forty days, he appeared again and again to his disciples and closest friends, comforting them, commissioning them, and promising them the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit. Then he ascended into the heavens, with the promise that one day he would return again.

The Good News

The apostles and followers of Jesus emphasize in Scripture not only the fact of Jesus’ death, but also the reason. He died for our sins. The apostles realized that the death of Jesus resulted not just from the insidious plot of wicked men, but from the eternal plan of God to rescue men from their sins. Jesus himself said that he came to give his life as a ransom for many.

The death and resurrection of Jesus was the divine remedy to the problem of sin. God treated his sinless Son, Jesus, as if he had lived a sinful life, so that he could treat sinners as if they had lived the sinless life of Jesus. Through his crucifixion, Jesus absorbed the wrath of God against sin, so that God could be just in forgiving sin and declaring sinners righteous in his sight. By becoming a curse for us, Jesus delivered us from the curse of the law we had broken. The righteous one (Jesus) died for the unrighteous (us), so that we could be restored to a right relationship with God.

Jesus’ resurrection was proof that he had conquered sin and death once and for all. Death could not hold him in its grasp. Jesus destroyed Satan, who had the power of death, delivering those who through fear of death had been subject to lifelong slavery in sin.

Responding to the Good News

Someone once said that there are two kinds of people who go to hell: the unrighteous and the self-righteous. Living a moral life will not rescue you from sin, nor will baptism, confirmation, giving to the poor, or attending church. Religion is simply a more respectable pathway to eternal destruction. The only candidate for salvation is the person who realizes his utter helplessness to save himself. Self-salvation is utterly impossible.

But what is impossible with man is possible with God. The God-man, Jesus of Nazareth, has done for sinners what we cannot do for ourselves. When a jail-keeper asked Paul and his companions, “What must I do to be saved?” they answered, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.”

Believing in Jesus includes more than acknowledging the fact of his existence or the truthfulness of his claims. Believing in Jesus is trusting in him. Someone once defined faith this way: F.A.I.T.H. Forsaking All, I Trust Him. In the Apostle Paul’s words:

I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.

Trusting in Jesus is the pledge of allegiance to a person. Jesus said:

If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.

The life of faith is a life of repentance. Trusting in Jesus involves turning–turning from sin and self-righteousness to Jesus as Savior and Lord.

If you are to be rescued from God’s just judgment of your sin and rebellion, you must ask the Lord Jesus to save you. Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved. This is God’s promise:

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Repenting of your sins and trusting in Jesus is both God’s invitation and His command: “The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.”

Will you obey his command?

From Reviving Our Hearts