Adding to the Gospel

In Revelation 22:18, it says, "I testify to everyone who hears the words of prophecy in this book: If anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book." It reminds me of a quote I heard. It went, "Whatever somebody adds to the Gospel is what they emphasize." This has always stayed with me in my experiences talking with Christians about the Bible. I believe that many Christians do not understand the fullness of the Gospel. In my opinion, this leads to many of the beliefs that divide Christians. 

Water Baptism

Water baptism is generally accepted by most Christians as an "outward expression of an inward reality." However, some say the "Bible teaches that the person who has believed in Christ, repented of one’s sins, and confessed one’s faith in Christ must then be baptized by the authority of Christ to obtain the remission of sins. There is no other way but Christ’s way." If you want to believe that, fine. I am not attempting to persuade anybody. But, I do not believe that water baptism is required at any level of a Christian's walk with the Lord. Most Christians do not realize that water baptism didn't begin with John the Baptist, but about 100 years beforehand during the aftermath of the Maccabean War. Therefore, Jesus Christ used it as an example of the baptism that does save; that being the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The Gospel is sin, death, forgiveness, and the restoration of the life of God. Adam sinned (Genesis 3:5) and lost the life of God (Genesis 2:17) breathed into him at creation (Genesis 2:7). All humanity is born in the image of Adam (Genesis 5:3); spiritually dead to God in our sins and in need of His life. Before God could restore His life to us, He had to deal with the sin that caused Him to remove His life. Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, died for the sins of the world (2 Corinthians 5:19).

Therefore, when He was raised from the dead, He could offer the life of God as a gift to anybody who would believe in Him (Romans 5:10). In John 3:5-6, Jesus said, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit." Born of water refers to our physical birth (flesh gives birth to flesh) and born of Spirit refers to the restoration of the Holy Spirit which occurs as a result of the resurrection of Jesus Christ (Spirit gives birth to spirit). When you understand what the problem is between man and God, spiritual death, and what God's provision is for that problem, spiritual life through the giving of the Holy Spirit, you realize that water baptism is not a part of the Gospel. When you don't understand the Gospel then you add things like water baptism. This is understandable when you see many in the early church not having a grasp of the full Gospel; going to the synagogue, believing Gentiles had to become Jews before being saved, living in subjection to the Mosaic Law, selling all their possessions, etc.

Free Will

Similar to the subject of water baptism is the topic of the free will of humanity. Do we have free will to choose or not? This is a complicated subject. But, as one pastor said, "It is only complicated because we make it complicated." The idea that free will does not exist is summed up in the belief that "a future eternity will be spent either in heaven or hell by every human being and that if someone is brought to heaven (or hell) that is entirely God's doing." In other words, God decides which individuals go to heaven and which go to hell. Again, this comes from a misunderstanding of the Gospel. For example, many Christians believe the Gospel to be, "Jesus died for my sins so that I can go to heaven when I die." This is not wrong, but it is not complete. When you believe forgiveness is salvation you end up having to confront heretical beliefs like universal salvation that teach everyone will be saved. Since the Bible doesn't teach universal salvation and if you believe that salvation is the forgiveness, of sins, you have to get around verses like 1 Timothy 2:3-4. There it says, "This is good and pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." 

Uh oh. If you believe people do not have the free will to choose to accept or reject Jesus Christ, then how do you explain God's desire for "everyone" to be saved when not everyone is saved? You cannot. The only option is to accept the truth that we do have free will. When I confessed my belief in free will to a Christian who does not believe in it, their response to me was, "You believe you are greater than God!" They have to say that because if I have free will and God doesn't allow me to have it, then I must have divine abilities to be "greater" than Him. If I, specifically, and humanity, in general, do not have the free will to choose then why does John 3:16 say we do? "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." Jesus Christ said, "whoever believes." This means whoever accepts as true what God is offering them will be saved. You cannot accept something unless you have the choice not to accept it. When you don't understand that the Gospel is offered to everybody then you must add something like the lack of free will to it to make it work. And in doing so you destroy the Gospel and the love of God in the process. 

What have you added to the Gospel? It may not be water baptism or the lack of free will. But, is it speaking in tongues. Perhaps, you believe a Christian can lose their salvation, therefore, you have added works. You might not believe in the complete forgiveness of sins, so you have added "sacrifices" for sin like altar calls, confession booths, or short accounts. Have you added to the Gospel by saying your denomination is the "true" Church? The list is endless. Everybody believes they understand the Gospel, including me. But, we can't all be correct. That is why I say to go to God in prayer and ask, "Lord, do I understand the Gospel? Have I added to it or taken away from it?" Then allow Him to add to your understanding. Grace and Peace.

The Potter and the Clay

When discussing whether or not mankind has free will to choose to accept God, those who believe we do not have a choice, but rather are "predestined" by God to either go to heaven or hell, will use Romans 9:19-21 as evidence to support their belief. The passage reads, "One of you will say to me: “Then why does God still blame us? For who is able to resist his will?” But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’” Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?" The inclination is to say that because God has the right to do what He pleases with the clay, then that means that He has chosen the eternal outcome for each individual that has ever lived on earth. As one website puts it, "God predetermined that certain individuals would be conformed to the likeness of His Son, be called, justified, and glorified. Essentially, God predetermines that certain individuals will be saved." As I have stated before, I believe in predestination, but I don't believe in it the way those that say we do not have free will believe in it. Another verse used to support their view is Ephesians 1:11, which reads, "In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will ..." I believe the answer is within the verse. When it says, "In him," this means that God has chosen the criteria by which a person is saved, not the individual themselves. If you have made the choice to accept Jesus Christ as your savior, you are, essentially, "in Him." Therefore, you have been predestined to go to heaven because you have accepted the criteria by which God makes that determination. Conversely, if you have not accepted Jesus Christ as your savior, and do not accept Him prior to your death, then you have been predestined to go to Hell. What is never mentioned by people who believe we have been given no choice in the matter of salvation are all the scriptures that talk about God's love and His command to preach the Gospel. Did God love the world so much that He gave His only Son (John 3:16) to die for its sins? Well, apparently, He did not love the world because a good portion of the world is predestined to eternal damnation. Was Jesus mistaken when He said to the disciples to "make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19)"? He should have just gave them a list of those who have already been chosen by God so they can just go speak to them, right? After all, what is the point of going to all nations when everybody can't respond to the Gospel? But, I digress. What about the example of the potter and the clay?

There is a parallel passage to the one in Romans 9, found in Jeremiah 18:2-6. There it reads, "“Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. Then the word of the Lord came to me. He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel."" What I want you to look at is verse 4 where it talks of the clay being, "marred in his hands."When something is marred, it means it is resistant to some degree. Keep in mind that the Lord was speaking about the nation of Israel. We know all about Israel's disobedience to the Lord, even to this day. They were "marred" because of their resistance to what God wanted for them. What did the potter do with this "marred" clay? Continuing in Jeremiah 18:4 it says, "so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him." The potter did the best he could with the clay and formed it into another pot. In other words, God did/is doing the best He can with the nation of Israel given their resistance to Him. Therefore, when Romans 9 talks about God making the clay into pottery for special use and some for common use, it means God does the best He can with what He has been given to work with.There are people who want what God has to offer and some people who don't want what He has offered. Later in the same chapter, it says, "What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory— even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles (Romans 9:23-24)? The clay God is working with comes from the Jews and the Gentiles. This is another way of saying God has called the entire world to be "objects of his mercy who he prepared in advance for glory." He has not called certain individuals, but all the world to come to faith in Jesus Christ. Not everybody will respond to that call, but everybody is invited. Some will respond to His call, others will resist it. And God does the best He can with what He has been given. It is not about God choosing to send some people to hell and choosing others to be saved, it is about both being given the same choice to respond to His mercy, through faith in Jesus Christ. Some respond and are saved. Some will resist and will go to hell.

Condemned Already

"Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son." John 3:18

A Christian apologist was taking questions about God when someone asked him about free will. This is how he responded. "Ladies, is there anybody in here who's ever had a man pursue you and you did not want that man to pursue you; you did not want to date him? Anyone in here? Of course [hands go up] ... Okay ladies, suppose this man continues to pursue you and continues to pursue you. You say, 'I only like you as a friend.' Ladies, why don't you just take the knife, stick it in, and turn it [laughter]. Because every man in here has heard this; I like you, but only as a friend. Well, suppose that he continues to pursue you, continues to pursue you, continues to pursue you. And he gets to the point where he says, "Look, I love you so much, I am going to force you to love me! Can he do that? No, he can't do that. Love, by definition, must be freely given. So, if he truly did love you, what would he do? He would leave you alone. That's exactly what God does. He keeps sending us cards, letters and flowers while we're here. And if we keep rejecting Him, keep rejecting Him, He gives us up to our own desires. And that, ultimately, is what Hell is; Hell is separation from God. So, you're free in Hell.You can continue to reject God in Hell. But, you are confined to Hell. In fact, Hell is a quarantine of evil. And Heaven, of course, is being in the very presence of God. God loves you too much to force you into His presence against your will." One of the rejections often put forth by unbelievers is that they cannot believe in a God that will send someone to Hell for not believing in Him. This same Christian spoke of a debate he had with an atheist. The atheist said to him, "My mother was a survivor of the Holocaust. She lived an awful life. Somebody presented her with the Gospel and she rejected it. Is she in Hell right now?" It doesn't get any more direct than that. The Christian said, "I don't know where your mother is. I don't know if she made a profession of faith in her last moments. But, if she didn't, then God will not force her into His presence against her will. God is too loving for that." That is a good answer. When I heard the question the atheist asked, I thought to myself, what he is really saying is that I won't believe in a God that allowed my mother to go through hell on earth and then sent her to Hell because she didn't believe in Jesus Christ. He is not only judging God, he doesn't realize that the whole reason people suffer is because we, in Adam, rejected God and sin entered the world.

Everybody knows John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." In fact, it may be the most well-known words ever spoken in human history. But, how many people, especially unbelievers, know John 3:18? In this verse, Jesus clearly says that those who do not believe in Him are "condemned already." In other words, you may be physically alive and have not believed in Jesus Christ as your savior, but your "reservation," if you will, has already been made in Hell. Through His sinless life, death on the cross for the sins of the world and resurrection from the dead, to offer us the life of God, Jesus has done everything for us, except for one thing. He can't make you believe in Him. God doesn't send anybody to Hell. If a person ends up in Hell, it is their fault, not His. He has left the door to salvation wide open. All a person has to do is walk through it. But, many people don't want to. They have their own ideas about who God should be and how life should be. And because the truth of the Gospel doesn't match up, they reject it, to their demise. I could imagine the conversation between the atheist and God, assuming the atheist never comes to faith in Jesus, and his mother is not in Heaven. It may go something like this. Atheist: "How could You allow my mother to suffer so much in the Holocaust and then send her to Hell for not believing in Jesus Christ?" God: "How could you and your mother not accept My Son when He died for you, your mother, the Nazis and the entire world? I wanted You all to be here with Me, but you did not want to be here." Jesus said, "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41).'" Hell was made for the devil and his angels, not for man! But, if you reject the Gospel of Jesus Christ, God has nowhere else to put you. The Apostle Peter wrote, "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9)." He clearly says that God does not want anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. God doesn't want you to go to Hell, He wants you to change your mind about Jesus Christ and believe the Gospel. The suffering that we all go through, to one degree or another, is designed to get us to focus on eternal things; things above as the Bible calls it. Unfortunately, for some, they believe that life should not be one of suffering. And instead of blaming sin, they continue to reject God because they don't want His love. God will have given them exactly what they wanted and they will have an eternity to think about it.

Predestination: Fate or Free Will

“What is predestination? Is predestination biblical?” This is the title to a recent article written by a ministry. The average Christian may not have even heard of the word predestination, much less engage in a conversation about it. There are many Christians who believe there is only one answer to the question, “What is predestination?” To them, in short, they believe it to mean that God determines beforehand who will be saved and who will be damned. In other words, they believe that God doesn’t allow for individuals to choose if they want to accept Jesus Christ or not as their savior; He creates some to go to heaven and others He creates to go to Hell. Sounds like a real loving and just God, right? Not at all. To support their belief they will use a passage of scripture like Ephesians 1:11; “In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will…” They believe that the phrase, “In him we were also chosen,” is evidence that God predetermines that certain individuals will be saved. However, this same phrase is what I say proves their belief to be wrong! Predestination is that God has chosen the criteria by which individuals are saved. Predestination is not that God has chosen which individuals to save. The key is the use of the words, "In him." If you are "in him," meaning, if you have accepted Jesus Christ as your savior you are saved, thus chosen. If you have not accepted Jesus Christ as your savior you have not been chosen, but the offer to accept Jesus remains open to you.

Think about it. If God has predetermined that certain individuals be saved, how much of the Bible must now be rewritten? The most famous passage in the Bible, John 3:16, reads, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” If God chooses beforehand who is saved, this verse should say, “For God so loved the chosen that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever He chose should not perish but have everlasting life.” The truth is that God loves the world, meaning everybody on the planet who has ever lived, that whoever, meaning any person, believes in Jesus (accepts Him as their savior) will not perish but have eternal life. If you are “in him” than you are chosen. The opposite cannot be true. Otherwise, what is the point of the Great Commission? Why would Jesus tell His followers to “make disciples of all the nations” if God had already chosen them? Ultimately, you cannot say God is a loving God if He has predetermined the eternal destiny of individuals. He is either a cosmic rapist who drags people into His presence whether they want to or not or He is a cold and heartless deity who simply creates people to destroy them in eternal fire! When you don’t understand the Gospel you end up with false teachings that rob God of His grace and mercy and remove the individual’s accountability for their choice. Remember the words of Jesus; “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing (Luke 13:34)!” The people weren’t willing to come to Him. It wasn’t that He prevented them from coming. It is a choice. A choice all of us will have to make. I pray you make the right one.