The Gospel (according to ______?)
Jun 07
Over the past year, many of my posts in this blog have been devoted to the Gospel. The Gospel (as given to us by Scripture) is the foundation of our faith, according to Ephesians 2:20. The problem is, it is easy to trade the Gospel that is given to us by the apostles and prophets in Scripture for a more contemporary one. We do this oftentimes without even realizing it. This is why it’s so important to keep reading the Bible.
“We don’t worship the Bible; we worship Jesus.”
This is true, but the Christian faith has been passed down to us from those who “saw and heard these things.” They continually warned us to not listen to others who think they know more or know better than the apostles or prophets of old. Even if they have claimed to receive something directly from Jesus. This has always been a problem, even in Old Testament times. It is easy to stray from what has already been given by God. We learn who Jesus was and is, based on those who actually knew Him and His apostles. As much as the Christian faith is about trusting Jesus and His message, it’s about trusting that those who wrote the Scriptures properly passed down Jesus’ message.
As time goes on, however, the Church strays away from the original teachings of the apostles/prophets. It happens to all of us, including me. Recently, I came across an article that was written by Keith Green about thirty years ago. So much of what he said challenges me and confirms much of what I have been processing through for the past year on this blog.
As you read the article, you might think, “I thought the Gospel was supposed to be easy to understand–why complicate it?” I don’t think Keith Green is complicating it. Yes, the Gospel is easy to understand, but it is also easy to twist. It is important that we continually re-examine what it is we are teaching others. Are we passing along the Good News from God? Or is it some tabloid gossip that’s coming from less credible sources?
If you claim to be a Christian, but feel you cannot trust the Gospel as given to us in Scripture…tell me: what other sources do you feel have more credibility? Your gut? Your pastor? The latest book out? Keith Green? What makes them more credible?
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I generally agree with Green’s overall message (I have some sticking points I’ll mention below), but this seems to me to be a response to something. I wonder if my general reaction would be different in Green’s context.
I absolutely agree that when you truly read Scripture, there is a lot that is ignored or flat-out changed in modern day Christianity. Both the libertines and the legalists do this, and it’s really due to human nature. There is a lot about modern American Christianity that was and is distinctly unbiblical, and Green was right to challenge us to asses this.
I have to nit-pick, though, on some minor perspective issues.
First, teaching on the judgment is very important, especially as it relates to fearing God. It is still milk rather than meat, though, as is teaching on repentence, faith, baptism, intercession, and the Resurrection (Heb 5:11-6:3). Green is right that many Christians don’t even have enough foundation that they accept and understand the milk, but if this is as deep as teaching from the pulpit gets something is wrong.
Second, I don’t agree that Jesus was trying to convict the rich young ruler with the Law because the elements of the Law that Jesus mentioned the man kept. It was only after Jesus went beyond the Law that the man walked away disheartened. If anything, Jesus illustrated the inadequacy of the Law in that situation.
Finally, when Jesus tells his audience in Matt 5:48 to be holy as our Heavenly Father is holy it was in direct contrast to those who were arguably the best at keeping the Law (Matt 5:20). The point of the passage wasn’t that we have to meet some impossible level of holiness on ourselves, but rather that we all fall short of the perfection that God expects, so our justification and sanctification cannot come from ourselves. This is the one point that I often feel people in the Holiness movement miss, that none my holiness comes from myself, but from God doing a work in me.
Again, I agree that modern Christianity breeds selfish and lazy followers. I think this has been the case to varying degrees in all generations since Christ. Finally, I agree that our ultimate purpose in life is to literally sacrifice all that we are daily to God. I am not there, yet, though. God is still in the very long and arduous process of turning me (something wretched) into something perfect.
Hey Drew, I like what you say at the end about holiness. I think because we grew up in Arminian circles, we have missed out on more of a Calvinist perspective that puts the weight on what Christ did for us, and not what we do for Christ. Part of my re-awakening in the Gospel has centered around that theme. We are not justified by how we live our lives–we are justified by because we have freely received Christ’s holiness when we put our trust in Him for salvation. However, the Arminian part of me responds by saying, “Yeah, but Jesus and Scripture are pretty clear that God’s desire is that we live into what we’ve been given.” In fact, there are some passages of Jesus which seem to indicate that if we don’t live into it, what we have been freely given will be taken away. (Most Calvinists would probably say we never had them in the first place.) I’m still wrestling with those passages.
I have to admit I’ve never really understood all this focus on salvation (whether we have it, when we got it, whether we can lose it, etc.). That initial conversion “getting saved” is just the beginning. To focus so much on it is a little bit like me constantly reliving my first date with Erik after we’ve been married almost ten years and have grown together and shared so much since then. Others have likened that initial “getting saved” moment to walking through a door. The door leads to a path that goes a long way, but lots of people instead pitch their tents and set up camp just inside the door and then spend lots of time admiring the door and forgetting there’s this long winding road ahead. I think I get what Keith Green is trying to say, and I certainly agree with a lot of it, but I wonder if part of the reason the message gets stuck and the converts get stuck is because “getting saved” seems to be viewed as this be all end all as if there were nothing beyond that, in which case the temptation to reach that end goal as efficiently and painlessly as possible is certainly understandable.
Good points! It’s easy to over-emphasize any doctrine. I think salvation has so much emphasis for many people because there are a lot of conflicting opinions on it (largely because most people are ignorant of Scripture’s clear teachings), while it is of supreme importance when it comes to eternity. However, when people get into the “iffy” areas of salvation (like calvinism vs arminianism, whether we lose salvation or not, etc.), I too get bored pretty fast. I do have opinions on those areas, but they aren’t as important as the issues Keith Green brings up in this article, in my opinion.
Thanks for the very thoughtful reply!
As you know, I am definitely not Calvinist. Though I believe that Scripture is clear that it is God who does the work, I fully believe that it is our choice to allow or resist His work in us.
A common response to the assertion that God does the work in our lives is Phil 2:12 regarding working our salvation out with fear and trembling. Reading that passage with verse 13 as well, though, makes it clear that even our obedience is due to His work through us.
“Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed–not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence–continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.”
The real concern I have is not that people do good, but that the reason they do good is because that is an expression of God’s work in their lives rather than out of guilt, coercion, false piety, or bad doctrine. As 1 Cor 13:3 says, “If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.”
I agree. One thing God seems to be reminding me is that “works” is not the same thing as “love.” Only when they find themselves coming from the true source of love (Christ) are they really anything at all. That’s why I am cautious of people who put the emphasis of salvation on what we do. I believe that leads to just as much of a false sense of security as those who think they’re saved based on saying a prayer at one point in their life.
And just got this tweet from David Platt today, quoting his recent book: “True faith in Christ produces work for Christ–not works fueled in the flesh in an attempt to earn your way to God.