Paul's Passing Thoughts

The Gospel Truth

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There is much written in this book about the false gospel of antinomianism which presents Christ as Savior only, and not Lord. Much is also written about the breed of antinomianism prevalent in our time, gospel sanctification. But I would be amiss to present my complaints about this false gospel without also presenting a true gospel from Scripture.

The word “gospel” means “good news.” How did Jesus Christ Himself present the gospel? When He initiated His ministry, He introduced it as the “good news of the kingdom”(Matt 4:23). Christ came to mankind in this worldly kingdom of darkness and despair, and announced that God had His own kingdom that humanity could be a part of while escaping this present kingdom of darkness. That’s good news.

How did this reality come about? There are many Scriptures that could be utilized to explain this, but the gospel truth can be found in the very beginning     in the beginning, we find that God is a creator. He created a splendid being that was the prince of His creation (Satan), but one day, “sin was found in [him].” Where did the sin come from? Most certainly, we have no idea, and to even speculate is to ascribe to ourselves more brain power than we may ever have. God informs us on a need to know basis, and He cannot lie; the “Day Star, son of the Dawn” rebelled against God and took a third of the other angels with him, and God saw fit to allow that kingdom of darkness to dwell for a time (Isa 14:12, Eze 28:12-19, Rev 12:4).

In Genesis 1:1-2:2, we have the creation account, and for His own good reasons, God presented a standard that was paramount in maintaining a valid relationship between Him and the beings He created: “The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the LORD God commanded the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die’”(Gen 2:15-17).

Throughout Scripture and creation, we see an order in all that God creates. Even in the Trinity, we see specific roles. How much this (or the prior rebellion) has to do with God setting a condition for spiritual life and death between Him and Adam is not known, but nonetheless, it is the fact of the matter. It is also apparent that Satan had one specific goal in mind when he approached Eve; his goal was to to get Adam and Eve to disobey God.

Obviously, obedience is no trite matter; the misery that has come upon humanity because of that one act of disobedience perpetrated by God’s enemy cannot be comprehended. It is also worthy to note that the enemy’s purpose and tactics have not changed. If you are God’s enemy, what will you do? Attack heaven? Hardly. There is but one way to attack God –    disobey. These are the very first words God said to Adam when He found him after the fall: “And he said, ‘Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?’”(Gen 3:11).

We now see two things almost immediately in the very beginning: God’s atonement for sin in order to reconcile mankind, and the warfare that commenced between the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of light: “So the LORD God said to the serpent, ‘Because you have done this,  cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel”(Gen 3:14,15).

Christ, the Son of God, would be born of a woman (the virgin Mary), and the warfare between the two kingdoms will cause Christ much trouble, but He will eventually crush the head of the ruler of this world. And the sacrifice of Christ to reconcile mankind to God was immediately pictured by the way God covered their nakedness: “The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them”(Gen 3:21). It may be assumed that an animal of some sort was slain for the skins that would cover their nakedness (sin). We also see that a prescribed form of worship in regard to this symbolism was established by God:

“Adam made love to his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, ‘ With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man.’  Later she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast”(Gen 4:1-5).

Whether or not there is relevance to the idea that Cain offered the works of his hands rather than the sacrifice Able offered (killing an animal and dressing it is also work) is not the point. The point is: Cain did not offer worship as prescribed by God. Worshipers of this day may also want to take note of that. What follows is the first documented gospel presentation, and presented by God Himself: “Then the LORD said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it’”(Gen 4:6,7).

Abel was righteous (Heb 11:4), so God’s words to Cain must be a call to righteousness as well (God’s counsel rarely, if ever, offers a temporary fix). God tells Cain that he will be “accepted” if his faith is demonstrated by doing what is right. That is what submission to God’s will is all about; it is a way to demonstrate what we believe about God and who he is. Saving faith and obedience cannot be separated. The Hebrew writer stated it this way: “By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead”(Heb 11:4).

There is another important principle here. The unrighteous will not truly follow God’s way, but will rather offer God things that are of their own device. Again, a submission to God’s will is synonymous with saving faith. We also see God calling Cain to fight against the sin within: “sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it” Therefore, Cain was called on to demonstrate his faith by following God’s ways (“If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?”) and going to war against his own sin, and sin in the world. Furthermore, demonstrating your faith through obedience comes with the promise of blessings: again, “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?” God makes Cain’s downcast state synonymous with not being accepted by God. There is NO true happiness apart from being a citizen of God’s kingdom (see Matt 5:3-12).

We see the warfare between the two kingdoms from the beginning, and Abel is the first casualty, or what we call a martyr: “Now Cain said to his brother Abel, ‘Let’s go out to the field.’ While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him”(Gen 4:8). Christ said this about Abel being the first casualty in the war between the two kingdoms: “And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar”(Matt 23:35).

As the Hebrew writer notes, the account of Cain and Abel is an apt gospel presentation, especially in regard to worship and a true believers willingness to worship in a way prescribed by God. However, all of life is worship, including the finer details of life. How we talk to other people is worship, and the Bible has much to say about godly communication. How we relate to our wives is worship, and the Bible certainly has much to say about that as well. How we think is worship, and God already destroyed one kingdom of darkness because, “The LORD saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time”(Gen 6:5). And the Bible certainly has much to say about right thinking.

These things are not only worship, but the Scriptures instruct us on the finer points of being God’s kingdom citizens as well. The Sermon on the Mount was the Lord’s kingdom proclamation, and He concluded the sermon this way: “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock”(Matt 7:24). After His resurrection, this was His mandate to the church: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” This, because it demonstrates our faith (like Abel), and makes us workman in the kingdom that need not be ashamed (2Tim 2:15; 3:16,17).

When we were saved by believing that Christ died for our sins and rose from the grave on the third day as pictured by Abel’s worship, “He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son”(Col 1:13). We were given new life, and clothed with the righteousness of Christ as pictured by the skins that God clothed Adam and Eve with. Having no righteousness of our own, the righteousness of Christ was credited to our account. But now our reasonable worship is to put off the old self, and put on the righteousness of Christ that is a free gift from God. The apostle Paul stated it this way in Ephesians 4:20-24:

“That, however, is not the way of life you learned when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”

God did not create us in the same way people bake cookies; we are all different in personality, appearance, and life experience. Though the gospel has a core truth that never changes, that truth can be expressed from many different perspectives. Certainly, a cursory observation of the different ways the gospel was presented in the book of Acts is testimony to this fact. But one fact is absolutely critical: Christ is the king of His kingdom, and no person who will not recognize that has rightful entry thereof. Jesus said: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven”(Matt 7:21). That’s worship. Doing the Father’s will, which is not necessarily praise :

“As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, ‘Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.’ He [Jesus] replied, ‘Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.’”

This book challenges a doctrine that calls our roll into question regarding Christ being the true Lord of our life. It seems we have the Savior part down; all evangelicals agree that we are saved by faith alone.  But getting the Lord part wrong is still a half gospel, in fact, “Another Gospel” because Christ is indeed both (2Pet 1:11, 2:20, 3:2, 3:18). Whether one holds that Christians are not obligated to the Law (the Bible, God’s word) or simply unable to uphold it, the result is the same. True Christians proclaim their faith with their mouth, and proclaim Christ as Lord with their actions. Besides, Christ said, “If you love me, keep my commandments.”