"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." Galatians 1:6-9
A Christian, in an effort to promote his "2019 Easter Conference: Answering Atheists," said, "I challenge Christians to be more vocal in this battle, boldly proclaiming the gospel to unbelievers and calling Christians back to the authority of the Bible." I have no problem with this comment. However, I did want to call attention to one thing mentioned. Therefore, I responded with, "I challenge Christians to know the Gospel. The rest will fall into place after that." In my opinion, there is an assumption made by many Christians who desire other believers to preach the Gospel. That assumption is that other Christians know the Gospel at all or preach the same Gospel being advocated. Not surprisingly, there were a few examples of exactly what I am talking about in the responses to my comment. One person said, "...when we say Gospel, we mean all four books." This is in reference to the Bible books of Matthew, Luke, Mark, and John, which are commonly referred to as the gospels. The Gospel is contained in these books, but the books aren't the message. Another individual offered up a lengthy explanation of what they believe the Gospel message to be. In short, they finished up by saying, "Anyone who rejects God's escape plan and would rather still lie, hate, and sin as he wants, will suffer eternal punishment." I have often referred to preaching the Gospel as Christians being "rescuers" going behind "enemy lines" in order to save people. So, I agree with their reference to "God's escape plan." However, when they mention someone who "would rather still lie, hate, and sin as he wants, will suffer eternal punishment," I get the feeling they are saying that a person's sins are still being held against them and will be the reason they end up in hell. If that is the case, and I don't know for sure, I would disagree because all sins have been forgiven. Even the sins of unbelievers. The only sin that was left unforgiven when Jesus died on the cross was the sin of unbelief in Him (see John 16:9). A person goes to hell because they are spiritually dead; without the life of God indwelling them. And as has been said, "What do you do with dead things? You burn them." We should expect a change of behavior after a person accepts Jesus Christ as their savior. However, this is a side effect of being born again; coming alive to God through His indwelling Spirit. It is not the direct indicator of saving faith. If someone appears to have no change in their behavior, it is not their behavior that is ultimately the problem. It is that they may still be dead to God and in need of His life. The final example was this comment. "Many of you are replacing the cross of Christ with YOUR interpretation of Genesis. Stop it." When a person says "the cross of Christ," and leaves out the resurrection, I can only think that they believe the Gospel to be something like, "Jesus died for my sins so when I die I can go to heaven." While this is true, it is incomplete. Jesus dying on the cross doesn't save anybody. It is necessary for salvation, but it is not salvation itself. The death of Jesus was necessary in order to pay the price for our sins and take them away from the eyes of God, never to be remembered. However, as previously mentioned, it is the restoration of the life of God, made available through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, that saves. Otherwise, the Bible would not say, "And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith (1 Corinthians 15:14)."
One individual "challenged" me, if you will, by asking me, "Which Gospel? More than one in the Bible," and to offer scripture to support my belief. Here is my response. I offer it because my prayer is that it offers clarity to what I believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ is and why it was necessary for Jesus to do what He did for us. "In Genesis 2:7, God breathed His life into Adam and Adam became a living being. That means that God put His Holy Spirit into Adam. God then told Adam in Genesis 2:17, that the day he ate the forbidden fruit, he would die. Adam ate the fruit in Genesis 3:6. But, Adam didn't die physically, he died spiritually; God removed His life from Adam. Adam and Eve did not have any children prior to this. Therefore, when they had children, they were born in the image and likeness of Adam (Genesis 5:3). Children are born spiritually dead to God, but alive to the world. All of us were born in the same condition. But, before God could restore His life to us, Jesus, God in the flesh, had to die for our sins (i.e. 1 Peter 3:18). Now, through the resurrection of Jesus, God can offer His life, the Holy Spirit, back to those who accept Jesus as their savior (Romans 5:8-10). We become born again, having the life of God restored to us. And because of the cross, no sin will cause that life to leave; an eternal life (Hebrews 9:12). The Gospel; sin, death, forgiveness, and the restoration of life." It has been my experience that many Christians, unbelievers, and even those who claim to have walked away from the faith, never knew the full Gospel in the first place. The questioner is correct that there is more than one Gospel in the Bible. Now, this doesn't mean there are different ways to be saved. Only by being born again of the Spirit of God through faith in Jesus Christ is a person saved. However, because of poor understanding of the problem between man and God (spiritual death) and God's solution to that problem (the restoration of His life), combined with our own understanding of scripture and personal beliefs, you can have different Gospels. You see it all throughout scripture, including having it directly mentioned by the Apostle Paul. Different gospels are best explained as people having bits and pieces of the full Gospel and proclaiming what they know, as well as straight up false teachers who pervert the truth for their own gain. False teachers aside, in the Bible you have people who believed a person had to become a Jew before they could get saved, some believed you had to be circumcised, others who had never heard of the resurrection, and so on. Today you have people who believe you have to be water baptized, speak in tongues or belong to a particular denomination in order to be saved. This doesn't mean that if you believe such things you aren't saved. God knows a person's heart and I trust He can make the determination as to who has truly turned to Him in faith. But, that doesn't mean that there isn't only one, true Gospel of Jesus Christ. Once you know and understand what that is, you will have no problem accepting and meeting the challenge to proclaim it, whether to atheists, or whoever you cross paths within your daily life.
Showing posts with label Salvation.. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Salvation.. Show all posts
Sunday, March 3, 2019
Saturday, March 31, 2018
Your Faith Is Not Futile
"For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied." 1 Corinthians 15:16-19
Although it will happen to all of us one day, dying is something we try not to think about, even though it is around us all the time. That is why for Christians, it is easy to look at the death of Jesus Christ and be in awe. Most of us don't like to think of dying. We may consider dying for a loved one if we believe it is absolutely necessary, but for the entire world? Not a chance. That is why all we can do is look at what Jesus did and say, "Thank you." What is even more sobering to think about is the fact that Jesus died for us when He didn't have to. We are the ones that deserve death. We are the ones who, in Adam, didn't believe God and ushered in the sin and death we struggle with today. But, the most humbling aspect of it all is that while we deserve death for our sin, we don't even have a life to give that would satisfy God. Sin is so terrible that it required the death of God as payment! Yet, for most of us, we still try to appease God; not believing the death of Jesus was once and for all. Because we don't believe Jesus when He said, "It is finished (John 19:30)," we come up with our own bloodless sacrifices that God doesn't require and does not accept; confession booths, short accounts, altar calls, repetitive prayers, etc. Even the Jews, who do not believe in Jesus, much less His sacrifice for their sins, have initiated plans to rebuild the Temple in Israel so they can once again perform sacrifices for their sins. It would not surprise me to see Christians flock to Israel to try and take part in these ceremonies and even give financial support to the building and maintaining of the Temple. Despite what Jesus said on the cross with His last breath, despite the Bible saying that God no longer remembers our sins and lawless acts (Hebrews 10:17), despite our being told that sacrifice for sins is no longer necessary (Hebrews 10:18), and despite scripture saying that the blood of bulls and goats can never take away sins (Hebrews 10:4), we still put Jesus back on the cross to die all over again because we don't believe He did enough. When I was younger and before I came to a saving faith in Jesus Christ, I was given a prayer to recite each time I asked God to forgive my sins. It was called an "Act of Contrition." The prayer went as follows: "My God, I am sorry for my sins with all my heart. In choosing to do wrong and failing to do good, I have sinned against you whom I should love above all things. I firmly intend, with your help, to do penance, to sin no more, and to avoid whatever leads me to sin. Our Savior Jesus Christ suffered and died for us. In his name, my God, have mercy." God, in His love, listened to me say this prayer repeatedly, but I can't help but wonder if when He heard it, His heart broke and made Him want to shout, "I already forgave you!" With so much focus on sin, is it any wonder that most of us don't grasp the true meaning of the resurrection of Jesus Christ?
All believers acknowledge the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Believers in Jesus Christ will experience resurrection because, having the life Jesus gives, it is impossible for death to defeat us. We know that when we die we will go be with God for eternity. However, it is incomplete and worse, it misses the main point about the resurrection. The death of Jesus Christ is necessary for salvation. However, the death of Jesus Christ does not save anybody. We are told that without the resurrection we are to be pitied and are still in our sins. Why? The main problem between man and God is not that we are sinners in need of forgiveness. The problem is that we are spiritually dead to God and in need of His life. Salvation is the restoration of the life of God. In Genesis 2:7, it says, "Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being." When God created Adam, He breathed His life into him and Adam became a living being. However, in Genesis 2:17, God warned Adam that if he ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil he would die; "..but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die." Adam didn't believe God and ate from the tree. When Adam sinned, he didn't die physically. That would come later as a separate consequence of his sin. We know that because he lived to be 930 years old. What happened immediately is that Adam died spiritually; God removed His life, the Holy Spirit, from within him. Adam was created in the image of God; a reflection of what it is like to have the life of God indwelling him. But Adam did not have any children with Eve prior to his sin. Therefore, all of mankind is born into this world in the image of Adam; a reflection of what it is like not to have the life of God indwelling us. Genesis 5:3 says, "When Adam had lived one hundred and thirty years, he became the father of a son in his own likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth." God, in His love, desired to once again indwell mankind. However, before He could do that, He had to deal with the sin that caused His life to leave Adam. Jesus Christ, being born spiritually alive, is the only man ever born who had a life to give that would satisfy God as payment for our sins. Now, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, God is able to offer His life to mankind. "For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life (Romans 5;10)!" And because of the eternal consequences of the cross, there is now no sin that will cause that life to leave. That is why it is called an eternal life. A life that will carry a believer through this life and on into eternity. Hebrews 9:12 says, "He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption." The Gospel is sin, death, forgiveness and the restoration of life. This Easter we celebrate the moment when Jesus Christ rose from the dead to offer the life of God as a free gift to all who will receive Him by faith. Let us not forget the importance of the empty tomb because we are stuck at the foot of the cross. Happy Easter!
Although it will happen to all of us one day, dying is something we try not to think about, even though it is around us all the time. That is why for Christians, it is easy to look at the death of Jesus Christ and be in awe. Most of us don't like to think of dying. We may consider dying for a loved one if we believe it is absolutely necessary, but for the entire world? Not a chance. That is why all we can do is look at what Jesus did and say, "Thank you." What is even more sobering to think about is the fact that Jesus died for us when He didn't have to. We are the ones that deserve death. We are the ones who, in Adam, didn't believe God and ushered in the sin and death we struggle with today. But, the most humbling aspect of it all is that while we deserve death for our sin, we don't even have a life to give that would satisfy God. Sin is so terrible that it required the death of God as payment! Yet, for most of us, we still try to appease God; not believing the death of Jesus was once and for all. Because we don't believe Jesus when He said, "It is finished (John 19:30)," we come up with our own bloodless sacrifices that God doesn't require and does not accept; confession booths, short accounts, altar calls, repetitive prayers, etc. Even the Jews, who do not believe in Jesus, much less His sacrifice for their sins, have initiated plans to rebuild the Temple in Israel so they can once again perform sacrifices for their sins. It would not surprise me to see Christians flock to Israel to try and take part in these ceremonies and even give financial support to the building and maintaining of the Temple. Despite what Jesus said on the cross with His last breath, despite the Bible saying that God no longer remembers our sins and lawless acts (Hebrews 10:17), despite our being told that sacrifice for sins is no longer necessary (Hebrews 10:18), and despite scripture saying that the blood of bulls and goats can never take away sins (Hebrews 10:4), we still put Jesus back on the cross to die all over again because we don't believe He did enough. When I was younger and before I came to a saving faith in Jesus Christ, I was given a prayer to recite each time I asked God to forgive my sins. It was called an "Act of Contrition." The prayer went as follows: "My God, I am sorry for my sins with all my heart. In choosing to do wrong and failing to do good, I have sinned against you whom I should love above all things. I firmly intend, with your help, to do penance, to sin no more, and to avoid whatever leads me to sin. Our Savior Jesus Christ suffered and died for us. In his name, my God, have mercy." God, in His love, listened to me say this prayer repeatedly, but I can't help but wonder if when He heard it, His heart broke and made Him want to shout, "I already forgave you!" With so much focus on sin, is it any wonder that most of us don't grasp the true meaning of the resurrection of Jesus Christ?
All believers acknowledge the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Believers in Jesus Christ will experience resurrection because, having the life Jesus gives, it is impossible for death to defeat us. We know that when we die we will go be with God for eternity. However, it is incomplete and worse, it misses the main point about the resurrection. The death of Jesus Christ is necessary for salvation. However, the death of Jesus Christ does not save anybody. We are told that without the resurrection we are to be pitied and are still in our sins. Why? The main problem between man and God is not that we are sinners in need of forgiveness. The problem is that we are spiritually dead to God and in need of His life. Salvation is the restoration of the life of God. In Genesis 2:7, it says, "Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being." When God created Adam, He breathed His life into him and Adam became a living being. However, in Genesis 2:17, God warned Adam that if he ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil he would die; "..but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die." Adam didn't believe God and ate from the tree. When Adam sinned, he didn't die physically. That would come later as a separate consequence of his sin. We know that because he lived to be 930 years old. What happened immediately is that Adam died spiritually; God removed His life, the Holy Spirit, from within him. Adam was created in the image of God; a reflection of what it is like to have the life of God indwelling him. But Adam did not have any children with Eve prior to his sin. Therefore, all of mankind is born into this world in the image of Adam; a reflection of what it is like not to have the life of God indwelling us. Genesis 5:3 says, "When Adam had lived one hundred and thirty years, he became the father of a son in his own likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth." God, in His love, desired to once again indwell mankind. However, before He could do that, He had to deal with the sin that caused His life to leave Adam. Jesus Christ, being born spiritually alive, is the only man ever born who had a life to give that would satisfy God as payment for our sins. Now, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, God is able to offer His life to mankind. "For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life (Romans 5;10)!" And because of the eternal consequences of the cross, there is now no sin that will cause that life to leave. That is why it is called an eternal life. A life that will carry a believer through this life and on into eternity. Hebrews 9:12 says, "He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption." The Gospel is sin, death, forgiveness and the restoration of life. This Easter we celebrate the moment when Jesus Christ rose from the dead to offer the life of God as a free gift to all who will receive Him by faith. Let us not forget the importance of the empty tomb because we are stuck at the foot of the cross. Happy Easter!
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