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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.

Your Relationship With God

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This week, a young lady asked me a familiar question, one that I had also asked before: How can I know if I have a relationship with God? Christians talk a lot about the importance of a relationship with God. As we should—it is the source of eternal life: “And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:3). Still, with all of our emphasis on a relationship, we are often left wondering if we have one.

One reason why we struggle is that we don’t know what we’re supposed to be looking for. What does a relationship with God look like? Interestingly, the Bible doesn’t offer a one-size-fits-all, formulaic type of relationship that all must have with God. In fact, the Bible uses several types of human relationships to describe our relationship with God. 

Different Types of Relationships

One of the more common relationship comparisons is between husband and wife, or bride and groom (Isaiah 62:5, 2 Corinthians 11:2, Revelation 19:6–9). Another is the father/ parent and child relationship (1 John 3:1, Hebrews 12:7, Luke 13:34). The Bible also uses friendship (Isaiah 41:8, James 2:23), and brothers (Matthew 28:10, John 20:17). Other, less common relationships (at least we do not always view these as relationships) is the healer and patient relationship (Exodus 15:26, Psalm 30:2, 103:3, Jeremiah 33:6) and our relationship with God as our Savior (2 Samuel 22:3, Jeremiah 17:14; Luke 2:11, 2 Timothy 1:10).

Why use so many different types of relationships rather than just one to reveal what God truly wants? Doesn’t God want, and expect, the same relationship with everyone? From my studies, this is my conclusion: More than anything, God wants a relationship with each one of us, but He does not expect the same relationship from us.

Not All The Same

Let me explain. I have met many Christians who struggle with viewing God as their Father. Why? For some, their father was abusive; for others, their father was absent. Either way, they did not have a good relationship with their earthly father so they didn’t know how to have such a relationship with God. Sadly, some gave up because they thought that was the only relationship they could have with God.

A lady recently expressed her desire to have a passionate loving relationship with God. She knew she loved God but didn’t know why she couldn’t have the passion she had witnessed in other people’s lives. I asked her if she had ever had a relationship like that with another person. She said she had, but it had burned her. Her previous bad experience was keeping her from having a deeper, more passionate relationship with God.

What Can You Give?

You see, the Bible uses these different types of relationships to describe what God wants with us because He knows that we are not all capable of having the same relationship with Him. Each of us has experienced good and bad relationships. Some of those bad experiences have damaged us to the point where it can be difficult, if not impossible, to trust enough to try such a relationship again. Whatever you can give, though, is what God wants.

Maybe you’ve never had a good friend, but you have a wonderful relationship with your brother—then God wants to be your Brother. Maybe your marriage was miserable and full of conflict and pain, but you have a wonderful relationship with your parents—then God wants to be your Parent. Whatever positive relationship you cherish the most here, God wants to have with you. 

Start Somewhere

Consider the thief on the cross (see Luke 23:40–43). What kind of relationship could he have had with Jesus? Yet, he was promised paradise. At best he was an acquaintance. However, at some point, while hanging on the cross next to Jesus, he was convinced Jesus was someone greater than himself. His request to Jesus to “remember me when you come into your kingdom,” revealed the beginning of a servant–master relationship. It may not have been much, but it was a start.

What about you? Do you have a desire to have a relationship with God? That’s a start! Then just do the things you do to build any other relationship: talk to Him, listen to Him, spend time with Him, etc. If you are doing these things with God, then you have a relationship with Him.

Could we all end up with the same type of relationship with God? Will we all, someday, be able to experience Him as Father, or Husband, or Friend? It’s possible—when we are in heaven and God is able to fully show us what a good father, husband, and friend can be. Until then, we may be limited by our bad relationships and can only give God our brokenness. The good news is that God will accept whatever you can give. It may not look like everyone else’s relationship, but it doesn’t have to—it’s yours.

Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

Fishing Without Jesus

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I heard a question recently that concerned me: how much of what Christians do still depends on Christ? Another way to ask it is this: Is Jesus still the center of Christianity, or is He just a bystander? 

It concerns me because in the letter to the church of Laodicea (Revelation 3:14–22), Jesus reveals a group of God’s people who think everything is fine, but its not. The reason? He is not inside; He’s no longer a part of their church (Revelation 3:20 – the reason for His knocking). Therefore, according to Jesus, a church that is no longer reliant on Him is not only a possibility, it’s a reality. Sadly, we can get to a point where our religion is less CHRISTianity and more CHURCHianity—more about us than about God.

If we’ll be honest with ourselves, much of Christianity in developed countries resembles this Laodicean attitude. More often than not, it seems that a lot of what we do is something of our own creation and has no reliance on the power and authority of Jesus. Our worship services are typically tailored to the people we hope will attend rather than focussing on the God who deserves our worship. Ministries in our churches often come from brain storming committee meetings rather than time spent in prayer. Even our evangelistic efforts have become well-practiced strategies of persuasion rather than organic testimonies about our experiences with Jesus.

The Bible gives us two clear examples of why we shouldn’t try to do these things on our own. They’re fishing stories.

photo by Fredrik Ohlander

Fishing with Jesus, part 1 (Luke 5:1–6)

Jesus was teaching on the shore of the sea of Galilee when the crowd grew too large and forced Him into one of the boats nearby. They pushed off a little from the shore and He continued teaching. When He was finished, He turned to the boat’s captain, Simon Peter, and told him to go further out and cast out his nets. Simon argued that they had already been out—all night, even—and didn’t catch a thing. However, since Jesus was the one asking, he obeyed. As soon as he cast them out, the nets filled with fish. So many that the nets began to break! They even called their other boat to help but, because of the amount of fish, both boats began to sink. Wow.

What strikes me about this story is not just how many fish they caught, but Jesus’ comment about it to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men” (Luke 5:10). The whole purpose of Jesus’ demonstration of His power and authority was to prepare Simon, and the others, to trust Him in ministry. Jesus would be sending them out to do the impossible: create more disciples of Jesus. However, with Jesus in the boat, their fishing would be sure!

Fishing with Jesus, part 2 (John 21:3–6)

I don’t think it was by chance that this event happened again. This time, it happened after the resurrection and after Jesus appeared to the disciples. For some reason, a few of the disciples were at the Sea of Galilee again. While they were there, Peter decided to fish and the others joined him. (I often wonder if he went out because it was relaxing and a way to pass the time, or if he was reverting to his old career.) Nevertheless, their fishing was fruitless: they didn’t catch anything. Then Jesus arrived (but they didn’t recognize Him). He asked them if they had caught any fish and they replied that they hadn’t. He instructed them to cast their net on the right side where they’d find some. When they did, like the first time, they caught so many fish they couldn’t bring it all in.

Why would Jesus do this again? In that moment, before sending His disciples out to finish the work of the kingdom (Acts 1:7), He was reminding them that He is the source of power and authority. They would not be successful without Him. They could not, dared not, try to finish the work on their own.

Have we been trying to fish without Jesus? Do we still depend on Him for the things we do as a church? Or do we think we can handle the rest of the work on our own? It seems plain to me: we need to let Jesus be the foundation of our worship, our ministries, our evangelism, and every other part of Christianity. We need Jesus back in Christianity.

Proof in the Fruit: Evidence of the Spirit

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I had the opportunity back in college, to visit several different denominations during their worship. I had a wonderful time worshipping with each of them, but one in particular really stuck out to me. It was different than I was used to, but even more, it raised a question I had never considered before. Did I have the Holy Spirit in my life? Is it even possible to know if I had the Spirit? And if I could know, what would be the proof?

God reveals the difference between the life led by the Spirit and the life void of the Spirit. Notice what was told to Saul as he was anointed king, “Then the Spirit of the LORD will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man” (1 Samuel 10:6). Here is the foundation of a Spirit-filled life: you will be changed. When the Holy Spirit comes into your life, it will never be the same.

Of course, some might argue that the prophesying was the proof. What about Jesus’ warning that there would be false prophets in the last days? Prophesying, by itself, could not be proof if there will be both true and false prophets. Instead, like we just read in 1 Samuel, Jesus said in Matthew 7:15–18 that there would be a difference in the fruit. The proof of a tree is in its fruit; the proof of the Spirit is also in its fruit.

Image by Maja Petric

So what does this different fruit look like? Galatians 5:19–21 shows us a glimpse of our natural fruit (it’s not pretty). Unfortunately, what this passage describes is the natural growth from a life of sin. It is the result of an unchanged life.

The Fruit of the Spirit

We will not follow both our own desires and instincts if the Spirit’s leading. The two desire opposite things—they are in conflict with each other (Galatians 5:17). So when God sends His Spirit into your life, a change begins, which means different fruit. Instead of the fruit of our sinful nature, we now see new fruit in our lives:

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law” (Galatians 5: 22, 23).

Notice, these are all about character. They cannot be faked. In addition, they all have something in common: they are not conditional. Let me explain.

The first fruit mentioned is love. The love from the world says, I will love you if you love me back, or if you are lovable, or if you give me a reason to love you. But this is agape love—love without conditions. We don’t have to be loved back or have a reason. As the Spirit dwells in us we will love. Period.

Then there is joy. Joy is not happiness—happiness varies with the circumstances. Isaiah 58:14 says that we find our joy in the Lord. Therefore, this joy is not based on what is going on around us, it is based on the presence of the Spirit.

Peace. The Greek word defines this as “freedom from anxiety and inner turmoil.” We may find a type of peace by going to a special solitary place away from all the turmoil. But this peace is freedom from inner turmoil and anxiety—regardless of what is going on around you!

Patience. Sometimes we credit ourselves as patient because we refrain from jumping lines at the supermarket. While this is a good start, notice it’s definition: “emotional calm in the face of provocation or misfortune without complaint or irritation.” Once again, this is not simply being patient when the conditions are right.

These are just a few examples, I could continue with kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Like each of the others before, the idea behind them is that they are present in the person’s life regardless of the outside conditions.

These are the Fruit of the Spirit: character traits that do not depend on circumstances. These are the real proof of the Spirit in your life.

A Changed Life

The proof of God’s Spirit in your life has never been one of the gifts, or some extravagant show. The proof of God’s Spirit is a changed life. When the Spirit is at work in your life you will not remain who you used to be. You’ll find yourself more loving, more joyful, more patient, more kind. You’ll tend to be more generous and faithful. You’ll becoming more gentle and have more self control.

Frankly, if you are the same now as you were before you met Christ, then the Spirit hasn’t been allowed to work in your life. While it is true that God accepts us where we are and how we are, He will never leave us as He finds us! This is the work of sanctification—the process of being made back into His image.

We can be sure that if the Spirit of God is in us, we will be changed. We will be changed to be more like Jesus. Do you want to know if the Spirit is in your life? Look for His fruit. That is the proof. It can also be a picture of your future.

Still Following

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One of the more discouraging things a Christian can experience is watching a person reject the Gospel and walk away. It hurts when someone does not want to get to know the God you love. Now imagine how Jesus must have felt when it happened to Him.

It’s a fascinating, yet tragic story found in John 6. The story actually begins in verse 26 with Jesus teaching the crowd about how He would be the Bread of Life. By verse 60, though, it says that many of His disciples considered His teaching to be too hard to understand. Granted, Jesus did mention eating His flesh and drinking his blood (verse 54), so we might be able to sympathize with their lack of understanding. We have the gift of hindsight today to know that Jesus was referring to His sacrifice on the cross and its connection to the Lord’s Supper. Regardless, their confusion as to the meaning seemed to be the last straw for some, since, “After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him” (John 6:66).

These are the same disciples that had seen Jesus perform miracles, heal the sick, and teach many truths from heaven. They had walked and talked with Jesus, but now they only walked away. Why? How could they leave?

I struggled with that question. I had assumed that everyone would choose Him and stay. Yet, Jesus said that few would choose the “narrow road” that leads to life (Him), while many would find and choose the “wide road” that leads to destruction (Matthew 7:13, 14). I realized that I was asking the wrong question. This is the question I needed to ask: why did the other disciples stay? In verse 67, Jesus asked the twelve if they also wanted to leave, but they didn’t. When everyone else was leaving, they remained. Why?

The question is not why others leave, but why do I stay? The answer to this is vital. Because if I cannot answer this question for myself, how can I give others a reason to start following (or remain)? I can attend a church every weekend, and call myself a Christian, and even label myself with a denominational name-tag, but why do I continue to follow Jesus when others leave?

If we are only following Jesus because its the cool thing to do, soon it will become uncool and we’ll stop following. If we follow only because of what Jesus can give us, then if He doesn’t give us something we want, we’ll stop following. If we follow only because it’s easy, then as soon as the journey gets difficult, we’ll stop following. If we follow out of guilt, or because we’re forced, we’ll stop following any chance we get. So, what reason would cause a disciple to stay?

Peter’s reply contains the true reason any of us remain: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God” (John 6:68, 69). This is why we start following Jesus and the reason we stay following Him: salvation is not found in anyone else. He Is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. When we have come to understand and believe this, how can we leave?

There may be many excuses for leaving His side, or rejecting His teachings, or refusing to go further, but Jesus urges us to remain. Jesus asks us to trust Him and stick it out with Him:

“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in Him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. … By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” (John 15:4, 5, 8–11)

Friends, it will become increasingly difficult to follow God. Many do not want to hear His truth anymore, and may even try to pull us from it. So we have to make a choice: leave His side or stay following.

I know Jesus has the words of eternal life and I believe He is the Holy One of God. That is why I’m still following.

Photo by Nathan McBride on Unsplash

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand” (John 10:27, 28).

Too Many Distractions

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During a recent prayer meeting at church, I overheard one of the members stating how difficult life is these days. They suggested that it is much harder for Christians today because of all of the distractions the world offers. It got me thinking: Is this really true? Do we really have more distractions today than others throughout history? Are these distractions the greatest obstacle modern Christians face today? Or is there a bigger problem?

Distractions have existed ever since the beginning. While the things that might distract are different, our ability to be distracted remains the same. We don’t even have to go past the Garden of Eden to find distractions. The serpent distracted Eve with deception, flattery and doubts. But the distractions didn’t end there.

The Children of Israel were easily distracted by the gods of the Canaanites. King David was distracted by a bathing beauty. Nebuchadnezzar was distracted by his success. Jonah was distracted by his hate for a group of people. The Pharisees were distracted by their laws. I think you get the point: people of God, throughout the Scriptures, have regularly faced distractions.

However, a very powerful story about distraction is found in Matthew 14:22–32. It takes place just after Jesus fed the 5,000. He had instructed His disciples to go across the Sea of Galilee in their boat ahead of Him. Later that evening, when the boat was pretty far off shore, Jesus came out to them.

Now, the disciples were already on edge due to the strong winds and waves they had been fighting, so they were not prepared for what they were about to see: Jesus, walking on water. They did not recognize Him (walking on water is not a common occurrence) and were terrified, thinking they were seeing a ghost.

I don’t know about you, but when I’m not sure of what I’m seeing, or if what I’m seeing is scary, my eyes are glued to it. Of course, I know there are people who will stare at a wall, afraid to move their eyes lest that tiny spider disappear (and suddenly appear on them)! In such moments, we will allow very little to distract us. It would have to be something major to make us take our eyes away. Likewise, I believe that, at that moment, the eyes of every disciple were glued on Jesus.

Jesus assured them that it was Him, and that they did not need to be afraid. While this may have calmed their fears some, I think Jesus had their undivided attention even more! In typical fashion, Peter spoke before thinking (I can’t imagine he thought his response through), “Lord, if it is you, tell me to come out on the water with you.” To which Jesus replied, “Come.”

It is amazing to me that Peter did not hesitate. He got out of the boat and walked on the water. We don’t know how far out Jesus was, but verse 29 says that Peter came to Jesus. He walked all the way to Him, but when he got to Jesus something happened. Verse 30 says that Peter saw the strong wind, became afraid, and started to sink. He became distracted. The interesting thing, though, is that the thing that distracted him had been occurring for a while—the winds were battering him throughout the evening, and were gusting throughout his walk to Jesus. So why would they distract him when he got to Jesus?

Peter wasn’t distracted because there was too much wind, he was distracted because he took his eyes off Jesus. As long as Peter had his eyes on Jesus he didn’t notice the wind. Sadly, according to the story, he took his eyes off Jesus when he got to Jesus. Did he become too confident, or maybe too comfortable? It can be easy for us to be distracted when we feel comfortable (or lukewarm—like Laodicea). Regardless, he only noticed the wind when he was standing next to Jesus because he wasn’t looking at Jesus.

You see, there are many distractions these days—there always has been and always will be—but they are not any worse than at any other time in history. We cannot blame them for our struggles. Because, when we are completely focused on something, it has our undivided attention. Which means, distractions are not our biggest problem, our lack of focus is. Maybe we think there are so many distractions today because our focus is no longer on Jesus. It doesn’t matter what took our focus away—deception, beauty, success, hate, self-righteousness, or even comfort—if we do not fix our eyes on Jesus, even the smallest thing will distract us. Therefore, as the beautiful hymn says,

“Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.”