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The True Gospel, Simply Put

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In my last few posts, I have written about different views of the Gospel. As I mentioned earlier, Christianity and the Gospel are closely tied together. In fact, I don’t believe Christianity would even exist without the Gospel. The Good News of Jesus was the foundation of the early church. It was such good news, in fact, that they could not keep it to themselves and shared it with everyone they could (Colossians 1:23). It didn’t hurt that Jesus commissioned them to proclaim this Gospel to the world (Mark 16:15).

This is why it is so important to know what this Good News is. If anything could be considered the Good News, Paul and the other Apostles would not have had a problem with the “different” gospels. But they did. Because in their understanding, there was only one Gospel. They weren’t confused about what it was—it was given to them from Jesus Himself (Galatians 1:11, 12). Yet, already in their day, distorted gospels were popping up among the believers.

A Sacred Balancing Act

We still suffer from different gospels because we often grab onto portions of the true Gospel and elevate them to an unnatural position. This results in removing or reducing key elements of the Good News Jesus gave us. As the main two distortions revealed, by elevating the importance of our works too high we reduce the power of the cross, and by making God’s grace impossible to resist we remove the power of our choice (and remove the severity of sin).

Yet, how could it be good news if I don’t have a choice? How is it good news if God’s payment on my behalf isn’t enough? Fortunately, the real Good News that Jesus gave to His disciples has a very balanced view of each of these. 

Photo by Rod Long

Works in the Shadow of the Cross?

To Jesus, and the disciples, part of the beauty of the Gospel was that Jesus sacrifice for our sins is more than enough. The author of Hebrews reminds us that Jesus “offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins,” and that “by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified” (Hebrews 10:12, 14—emphasis mine). The price for our sins has been paid. Our works are not needed for salvation. The Bible is absolutely clear about this: we are not saved by our works, but by our faith in God’s grace (Ephesians 2:8, 9). 

Our salvation is the result of this dependent relationship with God. In fact, Jesus said that eternal life is knowing (experiencing) God (John 17:3). Furthermore, the apostle John wrote we can know that we have a relationship with Jesus because we will obey Him (1 John 2:1–3). He goes so far as to say that if we claim to have a relationship with God but do not obey Him, we are liars (verse 4). Jesus made it abundantly clear: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15). Our works are the fruit of this saving relationship, not a payment for it.

A Grace that Respects Our Choice

Another part of the beauty—the irresistible nature—of God’s grace is not that it over-powers our choice, but that it offers us a choice even though we don’t deserve it. We must not forget the truth about this: “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). We don’t deserve any of this. God didn’t wait for us to get “good enough,” before He sent the solution. John 3:16, the famous Gospel verse, reminds us that God’s grace isn’t given to us because we deserve it—or even because we are lovable—but because He “so loved the world.” 

Yet our sin still remains. God’s grace doesn’t give sin a pass, but a solution! This solution isn’t forced though; it is still reliant on “anyone who believes.” The choice is still ours. In fact, before God offered grace, we had no choice! The earnings (wages) of sin is death. Before grace, death was our only option. However, now, because of Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins, we can choose life! This is what makes His grace so irresistible. How could we resist the unmerited favor of a God who loves us so much He would offer salvation (through His Son) to humans who are not worthy of receiving it? What love!

It’s All About Jesus

The problem with every distortion of the Gospel is that it ultimately focuses on us—or, at least, it plays to our selfish desires. Whether we believe that we can earn our own salvation or that no matter what we do we will still be saved, it is all about us. But the true Gospel is all about Jesus. We are not saved because we became “good enough,” but because He paid for our sins at the cross. Jesus dying for our sins didn’t remove our choice, it frees us to make a choice. That’s our part in salvation: the choice. Do we trust in God and rely on Him for salvation? The ball is in our court.

“And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:11–13, emphasis mine). It couldn’t be more clear: if you do not have Jesus you do not have life, but if you have Jesus—hold onto Him, trust Him, follow Him, rely on Him—you can know you have eternal life. That is the Gospel, simply put.

A Different Gospel: Insufficient Sacrifice?

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In my last post, I wrote about a popular distortion of the Gospel: Universalism. It embraces a hyper-grace—that God’s grace is so powerful, no one will be able to resist it, thus removing the possibility of refusing it. The other popular distortion is the complete opposite view of grace.

Photo by Noah Silliman

 This “gospel” is based on the idea that our perfect lifestyle must be added to Christ’s sacrifice in order to be saved. In other words, God’s grace is not enough. It is best known through the concept of “perfectionism.” The main argument for this alternate gospel is that, since no one who has sin will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, it is our responsibility to work to remove all sin from our lives before Jesus returns. Interestingly, most who subscribe to this belief do not reject the sacrifice of Jesus. It is generally agreed that Jesus paid the price for sins on the cross and provides us with salvation. However, they add, we have to work to “keep being saved.” 

Biblical Support?

Once again, there are a few texts that seem to verify this idea. In Matthew 5:48 Jesus said, “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” However, read in its context, it is clear Jesus is not calling us to personal perfection (see my post on this passage). 

Jesus also said, “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20). While it almost sounds like Jesus is challenging us to “outdo” the pharisees, why would He call attention to the works of the Pharisees when He later calls them hypocrites (see Matthew 23)? In fact, when we examine all of Jesus’ teachings concerning salvation and the Pharisee’s works, we will find that He was actually telling us to quit trying to be like them—to stop trying to earn salvation.

Furthermore, Paul appears to support this idea when he wrote, “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12). However, if we continue reading, Paul adds, “for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (verse 13). How can it be about our efforts to “work out our own salvation,” if it is God who is working in us to do it? Actually, Paul consistently taught that salvation is not reliant on our works (see Galatians 2:16, Ephesians 2:8, 9, and Titus 3:5).

The Error of this Distortion 

The danger of this “gospel” is that it gives the misperception that heaven will be inhabited by people who deserve to be there. While it accepts the sacrifice of Jesus, it removes the power of God’s mercy and grace. Claiming the need to perfect ourselves for salvation makes Jesus’ sacrifice grossly inefficient at best, and completely unnecessary at worst.

Once again, we have merely to go to the fall of mankind to see this teaching’s origins. When speaking with Eve, Satan not only deceived with the lie, “you will not surely die” (Genesis 3:4), but he sowed another deception with the claim, “you will be like God” (Genesis 3:5). He claimed that through their works (eating the fruit) they would become like God. In fact, through this lie, our enemy created a new goal in the minds of mankind: becoming like God. Interestingly, Satan was simply tempting us with his goal (Isaiah 14:14).

Becoming Perfect

This deception causes many to chase after personal perfection. Yet, we must not forget that if we claim to be without sin (perfect) the truth is not in us (1 John 1:8–10). Besides, if it were possible to remove the sin from our lives through our own good works, then why would we need a Savior? A Savior is necessary because our works are worthless toward salvation—they only make us more in debt. Romans 6:23 says that the wages (what we earn) from sin is death. Isaiah 64:6 says that even our righteous works (works done in a relationship with God) are “filthy rags” (literally, bloody rags—which represent death).

In addition, even if we were to become “perfect” on our own, how would we know if we had reached it? Paul, the apostle, great missionary, and a contributor of the New Testament, didn’t even claim to have reached perfection but said that he was pressing on to the finish line (Philippians 3:4–14). Again, according to Paul, it was Christ doing the work in him and He would finish it by the time He returned (Philippians 1:6). Therefore, it isn’t our duty to do the work of cleaning ourselves up, we just have to keep holding on to the One working in us! 

Truth about our Works

Don’t be deceived, our works have nothing to do with our salvation. We will be saved because we trust in God’s mercy and grace, not our personally-obtained perfection (Ephesians 2:8, 9; 2 Timothy 1:9). Of course, this doesn’t mean our works are worthless. Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15). While our works cannot earn salvation, our obedience to Him expresses our love towards Him—it is our response to the wonderful gift of His grace.

Honestly, I am surprised that this concept is accepted by so many. I would have thought that “salvation is a free gift” would be more inviting. However, there are still many who feel the need to “do something.” In fact, many who adopt this belief often refer to the free gift of salvation as “cheap grace.” Our salvation is, by no means, cheap. Just because we don’t have to pay, doesn’t mean it didn’t cost anything. The price God paid was enormous—Jesus died on the cross for us. But that’s how much He loves us. It was a full payment too. And if our debt is paid, why would further payment be necessary? It’s not necessary. Praise God, He paid it all!

A Different Gospel: A Grace That Removes Choice

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In a previous post, I wrote about the danger of believing or holding onto a different gospel. While there may be many ways to distort the gospel, I believe that every distortion stems from two main ideas. The first of these ideas will be my focus in this post.

One of the main distortions of the gospel is based on the idea that God’s love and grace is so great that everyone, regardless of their relationship with Him, will be saved. It is probably best known through the concept of Universalism. The main argument of this “gospel” is that a good and loving God would never condemn people to eternal torment in hell. Therefore, it is concluded that, in the end, everyone will receive eternal life in Heaven. Some suggest that this reconciliation will only occur after a certain cleansing period in hell. Others say that people will have the opportunity to choose God after death (of course, this leaves the choice to the person who could still turn it down). 

Photo by Davide Ragusa

Biblical Support?

One could easily see how this would be attractive. I would imagine that most God-fearing Christians would love for everyone to be ultimately reconciled to God. Even early Christian leaders are quoted as embracing this concept, hoping for a great reconciliation of God with His creation.

It doesn’t hurt that there are also some texts that appear to support this view. 1 Corinthians 15:22 says, “As all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ.” Even stronger is the passage in Lamentations 3:31–33 which states, “For no one is cast off by the Lord forever. Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love.” 1 Timothy 4:10 and Colossians 1:17–20 are also texts used in support. Nevertheless, while these passages (and a few others like them) may seem to imply a universal reconciliation, they neglect many other passages that talk about God’s judgment and justice.

Its Danger and True Source

The advocates of this concept claim that the idea of a punishment of sin only reveals the inability of God to save. Thus, in their eyes, if God is truly able to save everyone, He has to save everyone. Herein lies the danger of this “gospel.” While it embraces God’s amazing mercy and grace, it ignores His (also amazing) justice and holiness. In addition, with this view, God’s statements about the severity and ultimate consequence of sin can only be viewed as empty threats—not anything that will actually be carried out. Yet, if sin is not bad enough for actual consequences, why is God’s grace necessary? This attempt to force God’s grace on everyone (especially those who do not desire it), undermines the principle of His grace for everyone. With this idea, sin is trivialized and God’s grace is diluted.

Of course, this isn’t a new concept. We can see the beginning of this distortion back in the Garden of Eden. As the serpent successfully sowed seeds of doubt into Eve’s mind, he offered one of the greatest lies still believed by mankind: “you shall not surely die” (Genesis 3:4). Much like what this “gospel” suggests, Satan claimed that God was overly exaggerating the results of sin. Did God make too much of sin to Adam and Eve? Has He changed His minds since?

The Truth About Sin

No, God hasn’t changed His mind. His proclamation against sin remains constant throughout scriptures. Not once does God lessen the severity or result of sin. In fact, scripture is consistent that the consequence of sin is real. We are told in Ezekiel 18:19, 20 that the soul who sins will die. Not eventually be reconciled. Die. Because “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). Not just death on this earth either: “Those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus, they will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His might” (2 Thessalonians 1:8, 9). Jesus reiterates this idea in the illustration of the wide and narrow gates (see Matthew 7:13, 14 and Luke 13:23, 24), mentioning two results in the end: life and destruction. He also said, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them” (John 3:36). This is the Biblical truth: death is the result of sin.

The Truth About Choice

Since sin is a broken relationship with God, then those who choose to remain in a broken relationship will not receive eternal life. Of course, this is why this distortion is not the gospel: If you don’t love God, why would you want to spend eternity with Him anyway? The true Gospel does not diminish the problem of sin, but reveals how God’s grace allows us to be rescued from sin and be brought back into a personal relationship with Him.  

You see, this is why grace is necessary. Grace is undeserved favor. God is giving us something we do not deserve: another chance. But the final choice is on us. We have the freedom to say no. A powerful warning about this choice is found in Ezekiel 33:11–16. I encourage you to read it. It shows the truth about God’s grace and our relationship with Him. Yes, sin has separated us from God, but He is doing everything He can to woo us back to Him. The Good News is that grace gives us the opportunity to say yes.

The Danger of a Different Gospel

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Christianity and the Gospel go hand in hand. They are closely tied to each other. Christianity wouldn’t exist without the Gospel and the Gospel wouldn’t have gone out into the world without the first Christians. Truly, one cannot exist without the other. Interestingly, although they are so deeply connected, not all Christians today agree on what exactly the Gospel is. Part of the reason why is that the general definition of term Gospel is: good news. Good news for one person is not necessarily good news for another. 

I learned this a while ago when talking to a church group about their favorite Bible passages. Most of them mentioned texts about God’s grace and forgiveness. A few others offered prophetic promises of paradise. But one man’s answer caught me off guard. His favorite passage was the story of Jesus entering the Temple with a whip and turning over the money changer’s tables (John 2:13–17). His reason for choosing that story was that he liked the picture of an angry, authoritarian Jesus. He actually liked the idea of Jesus whipping people. To him, the idea of an ultra strict, violently corrective, purifying God was good news. I’m not sure I’ve met another person who has also considered that as good news.

Multiple Gospels?

Photo by Vladislav Babienko

This brings up a good question. Of all the “good news” options, which one is the Gospel? Can there be more than one? In 2 Corinthians 11, Paul wrote about a fear he had concerning the church in Corinth, that “as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ” (verses 2, 3). He was fearful because they would readily accept any incorrect teachings—a different Jesus, a different spirit, and a different gospel (verse 4). So, according to Paul, some have tried to deceive with a different gospel.

He also talked about this in his letter to the Galatians (Galatians 1:6, 7). Again he was concerned that the church was “so quickly deserting him who called you,” and were turning to “a different gospel.” He clarifies though: “not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.” Paul said that there is only one Gospel—the Gospel preached by himself and the other apostles that they received from Jesus (Galatians 1:11, 12). Any other “gospel” is a distortion.

The Danger of Distortion

Why would a different gospel be bad? Good news is good news, isn’t it? Not necessarily. Paul’s concern for the church for being so quick to chase after a distorted version of the gospel was because when they accepted this “different” gospel, they were “deserting” Christ (Galatians 1:6). In fact, in his letter to the Corinthians, Paul warned that the deception of these different gospels would “lead us from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:3).

This is why a different, or distorted, gospel would be bad. Anything but the true gospel would draw us away from a pure, saving relationship with Jesus, causing us to abandon Him! And if we walk away from Jesus, we walk away from the source of our salvation. Then, “how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?” (Hebrews 2:3)

Furthermore, since the gospel and Christianity are so strongly connected, if one is distorted, the other becomes distorted as well. Christians who adopt a distorted gospel create a distorted Christianity. Sadly, a distorted Christianity will only create more followers of a distorted gospel. In other words, the true danger of a different gospel is that it is incredibly contagious and will cause many to fall away from Christ.

Hold Onto the True

Today, just as in Paul’s day, there are some who will try to distort the gospel of Jesus. We have been warned that this day was coming: “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths” (2 Timothy 4:3, 4). Too many today no longer want the simplicity of the Gospel. They no longer want sound teaching and would rather hear a “gospel” that supports their lifestyles. 

This is all the more reason we need to hold onto and proclaim the true Gospel of Jesus Christ.* Because the true Gospel will always draw us towards being fully devoted to God. It will always lead to a salvational, dependent relationship with God. And, like Paul, we must not be ashamed of this gospel—the simple and pure Gospel of Jesus—“for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16)!

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*Of course, to hold onto the true, we need to know what it is. I will write about it more fully in an upcoming post. In my next post, though, I will discuss the first of two popular distortions of the gospel today.

Armor of God: Gospel Shoes

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I was taught as a child the importance of wearing shoes. Occasionally, I was allowed to run around barefoot, but not as often as some of my friends or cousins. I remember one summer, while visiting my cousins, that they made fun of me because I wasn’t able to walk barefoot on the gravel driveway like they could. They said I had pretty feet (not something I liked to hear). I felt embarrassed having to go back to get my shoes, but I had no choice. My feet were just too sensitive.

Paul also talked about the importance of shoes. This is, in fact, the next part of the armor we must put on: first the belt, then the breastplate, and now shoes (specifically, “as shoes for your feet, put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.” – Ephesians 6:15)

Shoes shouldn’t need much explanation. They protect our feet from rocks, thorns, twigs, or any other sharp object on our path. To a soldier, good shoes are vital. Remember, our goal is to be still standing at the end, and protected feet are good at standing. It reminds me of something my grandpa said once about one of my cousins who had a large shoe size: he had “a good foundation.” Good shoes are about securing our foundation; the better the shoe, the better the foundation.

Even in spiritual combat, soldiers must make sure their feet are well anchored, because you never know what you will find laying on the battlefield. There will be things that cut you, trip you, or make you very miserable. I’m sure you’ve experienced some of these stones. You will be faced with a cold, hard truth: “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). Ouch! We wince, lift our foot, only to step down on another sharp truth: “The wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). Oh! This stuff can hurt! One step, “you’re nothing but a filthy sinner”—another step, “even your good works are worthless”—sends pain throughout our soul. This is why Paul advises, “…as shoes for your feet…”, or “…Having shod your feet…”, basically protect your feet.

Since our feet are so vulnerable, we need to make sure we do not buy into the alternatives. Satan will urge you to head into battle Barefoot with the Hesitancy that comes from Human Inadequacy. Forget about the Gospel, focus on you—the natural you. You must stand on your own weakness; bear the pain of the journey and toughen up! Of course, Satan knows this will leave you vulnerable. On the other hand, man suggests that you put on the Socks of Laziness that comes from a Hidden Gospel. Good news can make you feel warm and fuzzy, but there’s no need for everyone to know that you have it. Man’s motto: “Keep it close, but keep it hidden.” You see, your feet can’t get hurt because you won’t move out of the comfort of the pew.

No, true protection comes only from the Gospel of Peace (Ephesians 6:15). This is the good news of Jesus Christ! The good news that, “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that who ever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). That, “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). That, “the wages of sin is death, BUT the gift of God is eternal life” (Rom. 6:23). Standing on this Gospel, those other sharp truths will not make us stumble!

But that’s not all. Paul asks a very important question: how can people know the good news if we don’t tell them (Romans 10:14, 15)? For the armor, he mentions the preparation, or readiness, that comes with this Gospel. There needs to be a willingness to share this Gospel. Isaiah 52:7 says, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news.” How wonderful it is to hear the good news of salvation, and to hear that we can have peace with God. How beautiful is the person who shares this with us! God calls the feet of those who carry His good news beautiful—not pretty, not calloused, scarred, and stinky—beautiful. God doesn’t want us to have tough feet; He wants us to have beautiful feet!

There is a difference between pretty feet and beautiful feet. Once, while I was a lifeguard, I was called to an injury. An older lady had cut her foot on the nearly smooth texture of the concrete floor. I learned that she never went anywhere without wearing shoes—she had beautiful feet, but every step was painful. I realized that the more she wore her shoes, the more she had to.

You see, the longer the gospel is our foundation—the longer we walk in it and the longer we share it—the more beautiful our feet become and the more sensitive we become. Things that may not bother others become painful to us. We’ll become sensitive to our own rough edges. We become fully aware of our need of a Savior. Then we see the importance of the shoes: the longer we stand on the Gospel, the more we’ll have to. The more we share the Gospel, the more we’ll want to.

Paul proudly proclaims in Romans 1:16, “…I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believes.” Don’t be ashamed of the protection of the Gospel. Don’t be ashamed to share it with others. For if you desire to have victory in this rough world, you must secure your foundation; made ready by the Gospel to keep standing.

May the Good News of salvation be your foundation. May you proudly proclaim the Gospel of Peace to those you care about. May we stand, unashamed to have beautiful feet because of the Gospel of Christ!