Preserving the Truth of the Gospel—Part IV: Confessing With Our Mouth…

Much has been discussed and written about “belief”—and what belief really is all about.  For the true Christian, belief is much more than merely acknowledging something.  What matters is “saving faith”.  What do we mean when we talk about “saving faith”?

Well, when Jesus was dining at the home of one of the Pharisees named Simon [Luke 7], a “woman of the city”—a prostitute—ministered to him by washing his feet with her tears, drying them with her hair, and anointing him with very expensive oil.  Of course, Simon and the others were freaked out because Jesus allowed such a woman to touch him.  Jesus took it a step further, and, after teaching Simon and the others with a parable:

And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” (Luke 7:48-50, ESV)

Yikes!  This really blew their minds!  They were thinking, “Who does this guy think he is, forgiving sin?”

Preserving the Truth of the Gospel, Part III: A Question to Consider...

I've been reading The Gospel Driven Life: Being Good News People in a Bad News World by Michael Horton.

As I have been reading, a question came to mind:

If one claims to believe in Jesus--but at the same time, knowingly holds that they must contribute to their own salvation--does that belief negate saving faith?  That is, does holding to a works righteousness cancel out a claim to have been saved?

Paul's letter to the Romans (Chapter 4) and the entire letter to the churches in Galatia seem to answer the question.  I've had conversations with various friends, mostly coming to the conclusion that adding to the gospel is a false gospel that Paul so vehemently addressed in Galatians.

More later...

PRESERVING THE TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL—PART II

…so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. (Galatians 2:5, ESV)

The preservation of the truth of the gospel is something that clearly occupied the thoughts and concerns of the Apostle Paul.  He had heard that those he addressed in this letter had basically abandoned the faith they had received in favor of “a different gospel” (1:6-7), a “gospel” that caused them to desert Jesus (1:6).  Of course, Paul argued that there was no other gospel, other than the gospel of grace that had been preached to them, and which they had believed.  What was that gospel of grace, what was that truth?

Paul told them:

¹⁶yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.  (2:16, emphasis added)

Paul later wrote in the same letter:

¹⁰For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them’.  ¹¹Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for ‘The righteous shall live by faith’.  (3:10-11)

Why would Paul make this such an issue?  It is because the concern Paul was dealing with had to do with certain people Paul referred to as “those who unsettle you” (5:12), who had infiltrated the church (not unlike what Paul talked about in 2:4) telling the Gentile believers that in order for them to be truly saved, they had to become Jews first, and be circumcised.  These people, Jewish Christians who more than likely came from Jerusalem, came to be known as “Judaizers”.  Paul clearly condemned this heresy, going so far as to say,

If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed (Gr.: anathema).  (1:9)

Paul was preserving the truth of the gospel. 

It is so sad that even today, nearly two thousand years later, there are those who “claim” Christianity, those who “claim” to believe in Jesus, who add to the gospel for salvation.  Even more disconcerting, these folks have no Biblical basis for the works they claim are necessary for salvation.  This particular belief system will be addressed in a later article.

Then there are those who make the gospel into something it is not, by claiming all one has to do is “believe in Jesus”.  James addressed this view, saying:

You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!  (James 2:19)

This view will also be addressed in a future article.

Of course, because of the centrality of the truth that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, having the Judaizers come in telling these new Gentile believers they had to be circumcised only heaped a burden upon them.  Instead of experiencing freedom in Christ (5:1), these new believers were being subjected to the law, the law the Judaizers themselves could not keep.  The Judaizers added to the gospel (circumcision), making what the people did as important as what Christ had already done.

Why in the world would the Judaizers trouble these Galatians in this way?  Paul gives us the answer toward the end of the letter when he wrote:

¹²It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised, and only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ.  ¹³For even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh. (6:12-13)

Really?  Yes, the Judaizers were worried about what other Jews might think of them.  As a result, they reinstituted the law, made the law a requirement for salvation, which completely flew in the face of the true gospel. 

One can readily see the importance of preserving the truth of the gospel.  Failure to do so can and does result in people taking the curse upon themselves, rendering what Christ has accomplished to “be of no advantage to you” (5:2), thereby severing themselves “from Christ” (5:4).

Future articles will address the concerns in the church today with more specificity. 

SDG

PRESERVING THE TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL…

Introduction

The truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ is being threatened—and not by of some “outside” influence, but threatened by some within the church.  This threat, as will be seen in subsequent articles, is oftentimes not even recognized by those who engage in such activity as being a threat.  Instead, they sincerely see their “logic” as being true.  However, their logic proves to be false when scrutinized through the lens of Scripture.

This is the first in a series of articles springing from the letter the Apostle Paul wrote to the Galatian churches:

…to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. (Galatians 2:5, ESV)

and

But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”  (Galatians 2:14, ESV)

Twice, Paul talks about the truth of the gospel, which tells us that the preservation of that truth was extremely important to God.

Paul’s letter to these churches that were spread out across the region know as Galatia resulted from three things:

    1.    The activity among the believers in Galatia by the so called  Judaizers, and

    2.    The abandonment of the true gospel as a result of the work of the Judaizers, and

    3.    The false accusations made against the Apostle Paul by those who were antagonistic toward him.

Just as it was important in Paul’s day to actively stand against that which might threaten the truth of the gospel, so it is today, because nothing has changed when it comes to “the present evil age” (Galatians 1:4) in which Paul lived and in which we live.  Not only are we faced today with the non-Christian cults and their messages, but the true church is also faced with threats “from within”.  These people are variously described in Scripture as those who “troubled you with words, unsettling your minds” (Acts 15:24), those who present “danger from false brothers” (2 Corinthians 11:26), and “those who unsettle you” (Galatians 5:12).

Those who unsettle some in the church may very well be “well intentioned”, but the problem with that is that the road to hell is paved with good intentions.  Good intentions do not make for good theology.  Good intentions do not make for solid doctrine.

It must be recognized that part of the problem—these good intentions—result from the inability of those who present such "good intentions" to follow the logic of the Scriptures because they are derailed by emotion—emotion, for example, resulting from a sincere desire to believe loved ones are truly saved.  Those who allow themselves to be driven by emotion, those who are well-intentioned, end up providing a false assurance of salvation to people they talk to.  That is dangerous.

Then there are those who claim Christianity, who do not hold to a Biblical view of salvation, but instead allow salvation to be a very man-centered thing.  How?  They do this by adding to the true gospel of Jesus Christ, and, in doing so, completely negate the effects of the atoning sacrifice of Christ for themselves. 

Finally, there are those who advocate an “easy-believism”, saying, “all you need to do is acknowledge that Jesus died for your sins and you will be saved”.  Of course, because that statement contains some truth, many will believe it.  However, a statement that only contains “some” truth—even if that “truth” accounts for 99% of the statement—the remaining 1% that is not truth renders the entire statement false.

This series of articles will not address the attacks from without, but the dangers from within, as described above, with a view toward Preserving the Truth of the Gospel.

SDG