That Gospel

"Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and also took Titus with me.  And I went up by revelation, and communicated to them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to those who were of reputation, lest by any means I might run, or had run, in vain." Galatians 2:1-2

When it comes to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Bible makes mention of "different gospels." While trying to define what these "different gospels" are can be a difficult task, the assumption is usually made that this term is only referring to cults or false religions. The Bible talks about the gnostics in 1 John; the belief that Jesus didn't come in the flesh. Then there are the cults of today that believe error like Jesus is a god or the brother of Lucifer. However, we don't often talk about the "different gospels" within the accepted realm of Christianity. These Gospels agree with the basics of the faith, that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh, lived a sinless life, died on the cross for the sins of all humanity and rose from the grave after three days and nights. However, they differ in how Christians are to live out their faith. While people who differ on how the Christian life is lived are still saved and have eternal life, it doesn't mean that we all agree and get along with each other. While this is unfortunate, it is nothing new for the church as a whole. The early church, as recorded in the pages of scripture, had many disagreements about the fullness of the Gospel and how we are to live out the life we have in Christ. Yet, the majority of Christians today will have you believe that the early church, in particular, the writers of the New Testament, were in complete agreement. The classic example of this is when it comes to James and Paul's writings on being saved by faith alone. James writes in his letter that, "You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone (James 2:24).” In his letter to the Romans, Paul says, "A person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law (Romans 3:28)." To me, they are saying two different things. But, to others, afraid that by admitting this they are undermining the inerrancy of scripture, they will try and spin it to make it appear that James and Paul were in agreement. For example, as one author puts it, "James doesn’t deny that faith saves; he rejects the notion that a particular kind of faith saves—a faith that doesn’t produce works. In short, faith that is merely intellectual assent is not saving faith." I have no argument with saying our faith leads to works, but there are two things wrong with making this statement about what James wrote. One, defining the works that a saving faith produces is not up to me or anyone else to define. That is between the individual and the Lord. After all, the works of the Lord are those things "God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them (Ephesians 2:10)." Second, and most important, James did not say this. Back in James 2:14, he asks, "What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?" To James, this is a rhetorical question. His answer would be, "No, a faith without works does not save him." Paul would disagree and he wrote as much. We have people today that fall on both sides of this debate and are still born-again Christians; saved and have eternal life. Again, this is unfortunate that they disagreed, but it doesn't diminish the Bible. It actually helps explain it.

The problem that arises when you believe that Paul and James believed the same thing is how do you explain other passages of scripture? In Galatians 2, Paul recalls a meeting he had with the leaders of the Church in Jerusalem, namely James. It often goes unnoticed or ignored, but Paul says he communicated "that Gospel" which he preached among the Gentiles. Why would he say "that Gospel" and not "the Gospel" if it was the same Gospel? Fact is, it was not the same Gospel preached by the others; specifically, those in Jerusalem. This is made clearer in Galatians 2:11 when Paul writes, "Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed ..." If there was agreement on the Gospel, why would Paul have to withstand Peter to his face? He did so because Peter "withdrew and separated himself (v12)" from the Gentiles which led to the "rest of the Jews (v13)" and Barnabas being hypocrites and doing the same. What made Peter, the rest of the Jews and Barnabas act hypocritically? It was their fear of "those who were of the circumcision (v12)." Who were those men of the circumcision? None other than men who "came from James (v12)." In modern terms, we could call the men from James legalists because they believed that the works of the law play a role in the Christian life. Paul vehemently opposed this belief and made his feelings clear even to the point where he said this of the leadership in Jerusalem; "But from those who seemed to be something—whatever they were, it makes no difference to me; God shows personal favoritism to no man—for those who seemed to be something added nothing to me (Galatians 2:6)." Again, if there was complete agreement in the Gospel messages of Paul and James, there would be no need for Paul to oppose people to their face and say that the leaders added nothing to him or his faith. You see this type of disunity today when it comes to issues like law and grace, forgiveness, free will giving, water baptism, church attendance and many other subjects debated within the body of Christ. This lack of unity is not what God would desire from His children who have come to faith in Jesus Christ. However, I believe God does desire for us to stand for the truth of the Gospel which Paul preached and to stand against those who would teach otherwise or deny the truth they know out of fear of what others may think. To compromise what we know to be true in order to get along is akin to running our race for nothing. Let us stand firm and remember the words of Paul when he said, "I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain (Galatians 2:21).”