How do we pervert the Gospel of Christ?
If you were on a sinking ship and had a choice of going into the water holding an anchor or a life preserver, which would you choose? Silly question? Yet this is the same choice we make when we choose which gospel to be believe.
Choose a gospel? Isn’t there only one?
Many so-called gospels are preached, but there is only one which is divinely empowered to save those who trust in it. All the rest are anchors.
In Part 1 of this study we asked the question, by which gospel are you saved? The answer is the gospel of God’s grace. Contrary to what you may have heard, this is the only gospel message found in the Bible. What does the gospel of God’s grace look like? It looks like Jesus. Jesus is grace personified. To preach the gospel of grace is to preach the exceeding riches of God’s unmerited favor revealed to us through Jesus Christ (Eph 2:7).
The turned-around gospel
Tragically, the gospel of grace is not always preached in its pure form. The result is that sincere believers get confused about their standing before God. In their confusion, they may even abandon God’s grace for inferior alternatives. That’s like swapping the life preserver for an anchor. It’s not a smart move. If you see someone doing that you really ought to speak out, like Paul did with the Galatians:
“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel — which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ.” (Gal 1:6-7)
What does it mean to “pervert the gospel of Christ”? The Greek word for the verb “pervert” can be translated “turn around.” A perverted gospel is a turned-around gospel. It is a gospel which turns the focus away from Jesus onto something else. If the gospel of grace reveals Christ alone, then a perverted gospel is Christ plus something. It’s the somethings that’ll sink you.
Ten ways to set aside grace
The Bible lists many things that can distract you from sincere and pure devotion to Christ. Here are some of them:
1. Human effort (Gal 3:3): think performance-oriented Christianity. “Gotta get busy for Jesus. Gotta work for my salvation. Gotta start producing fruit or he’s going to lop me.” Except that you don’t and he won’t.
2. Traditions (Col 2:8). “That’s just the way we do things around here; if you’re going to be a part of us, you’d better get used to it.” So you’re saying Jesus is the gate into the kingdom, but right behind him is this other gate that you have added.
3. Hollow and deceptive philosophy (Col 2:8), like karma: you do good, you get good. “God won’t judge me, I’m basically a good person. At least I’m better than that guy.” Indeed, there are good sinners and bad sinners, but they are sinners alike. Your goodness still falls catastrophically short of God’s goodness. What matters is whose righteousness you’re wearing – yours or his?
4. Angel worship (Col 2:18). God told you the name of the angel watching over this church? Cool! Now let’s get back to Jesus.
5. Rules and regulations (Col 2:21-23). Smoking will kill you, but it won’t send you to hell like unbelief does. Working on the Sabbath may wear you out, but Jesus still loves you.
6. Self-denial, abstinence (Col 2:23). God gave us taste buds and appetites to enjoy life! Keep your monkish asceticism away from my chocolate stash!
7. Endless genealogies (1 Ti 1:4). So you think you broke your leg because your grandfather was a mason? But weren’t you adopted into a new family when you believed? Didn’t Christ redeem us from the curse so that we might inherit the blessings of Father Abraham?
8. Myths (1 Ti 1:4). Did Adam have a second wife? Were the Nephilim really angel-spawn? Is this stuff going to be on the test? I think not.
9. Sin consciousness (Heb 10:2,22). God’s grace is greater than your sin. If you are more conscious of your sin than you are of his righteousness, it’s like saying that the payment of Jesus Christ was insufficient. His worth is greater than your unworthiness!
10. The 10 Commandments, a.k.a. the ministry that brought death (2 Cor 3:7). God hid these inside the ark under the blood-stained mercy seat and now you want to hang them on the wall? In the Sunday School?!
What’s wrong with all these things? Very simply, they diminish your faith in Christ. The more you trust in your own works, for example, the less trust you’ll place in His finished work. Trusting in your works is like filling your life preserver with cast iron.
I call these things anchors because they have no life in them. They can’t save you because they are based on “worldly principles rather than Christ” (Col 2:8). We have died to such things (Col 2:20). They have no value for us. “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love” (Gal 5:6).
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Yes, we need a gospel that is not added by any human ideas. The gospel of grace must so pre-eminence or so focus on the Lord Jesus Christ that there is nothing in added or subtracted but pure Grace right from God. This I believe will transform the hearts of men. Thanks for the blog article
hello Paul,
I believe in agreeing to disagree.there are some things that can make one prevert the gospel by the way you explain some of your so called “anchors”
some of your anchors are in The Good and Holy Book but could definitely be misinterpreted.be careful because you don’t want to be the one who is doing the preverting! God bless you!
The Gospel is already so perverted by religious teaching. You would have to go a long way to pervert it anymore. I listen to the Spirit within and truth is revealed to me. The writers of the bible have not a clue who God is. Jesus is the only one who knew God and most have completely ignored His Gospel of Grace and Unconditional LOVE. They still try to live by the Israelites religion of law. The law was for the Israelites..never for us. Much of the Old Testament is made up of Paganism and mythology and definitely not practices ordained of God. We really must learn to rightly discern the truth of God.
Absolutely the best article I have read lately. Thank you so much for it!
I echo your sentiments …. great article and so uplifting.
Dear Sunny and Janet – thanks for the encouragement!
You said, “The 10 Commandments, a.k.a. the ministry that brought death (2 Cor 3:7). God hid these inside the ark under the blood-stained mercy seat and now you want to hang them on the wall? In the Sunday School?!”
Fantastic! Thank you.
Hey there Bob from Chicago. Your comment to Paul was the only one on the topic so I’m choosing it to reply to the whole 10 Commandments thing. 2 Timothy 3;16 tells us that all scripture is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, The covenant of Law (10 Commandments) had it’s purpose and that law was perfect, Psalm 19:7. God found fault with “The Law” not because there was anything wrong with it but because there was something wrong with men, which required a better covenant (Hebrews 8:6) As far as the 10 Commandments in a statue in America it is not the same. In this sense the 10 Commandments is seen for what it truly is, a perfect set of laws, being the groundwork for American jurisprudence. With this as a bases for law has the country not done the same thing Israel did though? The Supreme Court recently found gay marriage constitutional, which was dead wrong so again it is not the law that is the problem but men.
Hi Paul, thanks for all the articles you have posted they are really helpful. Stay blessed.
Very interesting…but you do realize that there are 2 types of tradition, and that Paul actually commanded the church to adhere to that tradition handed down from himself and the other apostles? See 2 Thess 2:15 and 3:6. Also, which do you think came first, the Holy Traditions passed down by the Apostles in the framework of the Church, or the Scriptures as we know them today? There is a good tradition that came from those who followed Jesus personally (meaning the 12, the 70, and the other original disciples) and then there is the tradition of men that has twisted and warped many peoples ideas about tradition to the point that they will hear nothing regarding it (even though, if these same people were to consider it, they would have to admit that they have their own traditions as well.) This good, or Holy, Tradition is that which gives roots to our faith, and makes us realize that those of us striving to follow Christ here in the 21st century do not need to reinvent the wheel…it’s there and it’s been kept unadulterated, without addition or subtraction, by the Orthodox Church. Please look into it and do not merely dismiss what I’m saying, and you will see that, while the Roman Catholic Church has added many unnecessary and unscriptural things to the faith, and while the Protestant Churches have been so anti-tradition that they have “thrown the baby out with the bath water” so to speak, the Orthodox Church has kept inviolate the faith and traditions handed down for the past 2000 years, even through some of the fiercest persecutions man has ever dreamt of. This Church has truly kept the Faith of the Fathers and is welcoming to all to come and see.
Hi Charles, thanks for your comment. The context of Col 2:8 can probably be summarized as this:
Bad traditions = those that depend on human effort, worldly principles, hollow and deceptive philosophy, man-made religion and superstition, etc. and which purport to make men righteous, holy, etc. the Bible calls these works of the flesh and they are fatal (Rms 8:6,13, Gal 6:8).
Good traditions = depending on Christ and continuing to depend on Christ (Col 1:23).
One thing I have noticed is that the lifeless traditions of men are complicated and distracting while faith is simple and is manifested in sincere and pure devotion to Christ (see 2 Cor 11:3). Lifeless traditions draw men to other men and institutions, but the gospel always points people to Jesus.
There us no such thing as holy tradition unless you’re referring to faith in Christ who is our righteousness, holiness and redemption. What was the essence of Paul’s teaching (2 Thess 2:15); “Christ and Him crucified.” What was Paul’s remedy for the carnal Galatians when they started to embrace bad traditions? Remind them that “before your eyes Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified” (Gal 3:1). This is what orthodoxy means to me. I have written more about this here. I can’t speak for Catholicism or Protestantism, only myself.
Lifeless traditions is what drew me to university and even religion. Since failing in both, books became my new “life source.” Since being divorced, escapetoreality became my new life source. Since being beaten over the head by Mark Driscoll, Mars Hill became my new life source. Since, still struggling with sin and pornography, GRACE has become my life source!!! Amen!!!
Faith apart from works is dead, which means our faith is worthless if our hearts have not been transformed by His grace to do the cooperative work that is required of us with it in order for us to become grace, the grace of God’s character. So, what would Paul tell people? The same that Jesus told the adultress, go and sin no more! We must work with His grace to do that, instead of just wishing for Him to do it all without denying ourselves and picking up the cross of our sins as we follow Him to Calvary so they can die – and we can live without them and with Him.
In Christ,
Andrew
Where there is Spirit there is freedom – not traditions. Freedom form sin, death and law.
Whom ever the Son sets free they will be free indeed. Christ has set you free therefore stand firm – in freedom. Sever the Lord out of love not out of obligation.
God gave us taste buds and appetites to enjoy life! Keep your monkish asceticism away from my chocolate stash! LOL!!! Paul I bless d day I found E2R!
Beautiful analogy – succinct and powerful post. Truly, when we reach our very dead end, we come face to face with our breathtaking impotence and complete and utter spiritual bankruptcy. If God in His Wisdom did not provide a way of redemption for us (all of us, every last one of us), our precious lives would all be over. Praise God: Christ is our all in all. Thank you for not mincing words and publishing this, Paul. The sooner we face Christ, the better. Maranatha!
Can we get an article specific to levin it’s often referred to as sin and not so much as the mixture of legalism that Paul spoke of in Galatians?
Levin is an additive to cause out of proportion rising or swelling or inflammation. This is exactly what the mixture of law and grace is, a little law levins the whole grace message out of proportion to the point of it no longer being grace or cheap grace which has confused so many even caused the fallen from grace of some.
We receive grace so we are actually able to keep the laws of His character! Those laws are not irrelevant, and never will be!
In Christ,
Andrew
I agree completely,but I sometimes find myself making the ten ways, rules and regulations,like my mother used to say[ take it easy your trying to hard.] take it easy,dont let the sound of your own wheels make you crazy.——-wow sounds like good lyrics for a song. ha ha
we all must now be glad and rejoice , after reading this article, we can now serve any god, we can now make images of those gods and bow down and worship them, we can now through our freedom given through the grace of the almighty god use his name in vain, we can now forget about keeping the sabbath holy, we can now dishonor our father and mother, we can now kill our fellow man, we can now have each others wives, we can now steal others people wealth or anything that they have, we can now bear false witness against others, we can now covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s. and one more thing I am free from death and am free to live forever and keep on doing all those to all people and they can never kill me wahoooooo!
Why would I want to kill you for stealing my ass?
Paul Ellis! Thank you! LOL. God bless you, I really needed to see something like this after the last two days I’ve had. I will read the rest of the comments on down now. I just had to pause and appreciate how this kind of thing is handled! Great job!
Bwhahahahahaha—-belly laugh! Thank you! Lol–I SO needed to see a response like this after the last two days I’ve had! God bless you, Dr. Paul Ellis! Great job! My heart is light again! 😄😇
I guess the question Lawrence would have to be,do you want to do all that stuff,so much for writing the law on our hearts in Jeremiah. please don’t steal Paul’s ass, that’s just not right, and besides I dont think Paul would kill you……………………JUST SAYING
Thank you so much for posting this it was truly a blessing to my spirit I thought it was truly meant for not only me but so many of us it is truly something to live by to study and ponder it in our hearts thank you and God bless you I must study this again I really enjoyed it
Actually, friend, Grace empowers us to do what is right, without our self-righteously measuring our performance. We are not perfect, but, we look to Jesus who fulfilled the law perfectly on our behalf so that we don’t have to live as slaves to sin anymore. We are grateful that He has paid the penalty our sinfulness deserves and we want to honor Him, not ourselves. No one who has had this encounter with Jesus Christ desires to walk in sin. Life in Him leads us to becoming more like Him and less like our carnal selves. Does that help at all? I hope so. God bless you and keep you in His love.
I see how it is, after posting that ridiculous post destroying the TEN COMMANDMENTS and setting people free to live filled with all the things that bring misery into peoples lives, you have failed to post a comment that reveals the things we are set at liberty to do with out remorse
Well since Paul dealt with your previous rant so eloquently I’ll tackle this one. 🙂
There is new covenant and an old one. Christians are under the new covenant.
Deuteronomy 4:13 says quite clearly that the 10 commandments written on tablets of stone were the covenant made with Israel which is the old one. Jesus has brought us a new one, a better one.(Hebrews 8:6-13) Looks like you should do an in depth study of Galatians chapters 3 & 4 as well. Romans 5-8 also deals with what makes a person holy and it is without the law.
Surprised by lack of specificity in these posts on the 10 commandments. Jesus says in Matt.5:17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law and the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but fulfill them.” He goes on to say that anyone who practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
However Paul in Galatians and Romans (the unabridged version of Galtians) states that by the works of the law no flesh will be justified! And the law is a tutor to lead us to Christ (2:16 & 3:26 resp.). Clearly there is much work to do exegeting Matthew, Romans, and Galatians to understand how both concepts can be true.
Once readers do the hard hermeneutical work of understanding the context and authorial intent of the passages they will see that the commandments haven’t been done away with but transferred to our hearts. Salvation come apart from the law and through the regeneration of the Holy Spirit and renewing of our minds through studying the scriptures we want to and are now able to keep the commandments.
The holy spirit remains anonomys and testifies of Jesus this is his sole purpose, and this is done in many way, as if he were still walking with us, but he requires people who agree with this witness.
Lawrence, would you agree that we have not a prayer of achieving salvation, sanctification, or any notion of holiness by keeping the 10 Commandments? I have a difficult time understanding why, when someone speaks of God’s incredible grace, others hear “we have a pass to live like hell.”
But even if I decided to wallpaper my home with the10, it will never lead me to a truly Christ-like life. Why else would Jesus have offered Himself as the ultimate, perfect sacrifice?
irene, i have also had a hard time understanding why some Christians think grace means “we have a pass to live like hell…” honestly, i think it is bc they havent experienced what it is like to actually live in faith by the Spirit – they are fearful and dont trust that the Holy Spirit will lead them to keep the law without focusing on it themselves.
jennie,I hear ya, I just got done trying to convince,help explain,etc that grace is not a licence to sin,…….so Paul doesnt want to kill you and please dont steal his ass……..SEE ABOVE FOR THOSE WHO DONT UNDERSTAND.
well put irene,do we need laws?you bet,in todays world,where would we be without them. Romans 13. you will find lawrence,that more of the one who was able to complete the law,it will become your nature to DESIRE to keep the law,although we will still break it,but that is already forgiven,because we have a advocate,who sets at the right hand of the father.
Read Matthews 5,6,7 for a breakdown on the new covenant.
Hey Law…rence, maybe just change your name to… Gracerence. Yeah?
God KNOWS you. Get to know Him, which is Life Eternal and when you know Him you can’t but live and keep the dear 10 commandments.
Be perfect as the Father!
Blessings!
I find grace a freedom to confidently assert my identity in Christ, knowing that it’s not about me or keeping to any law other than believing that Jesus is my everything. Sin hurts people. I know…I’ve sinned, and the consequences of all sin are painful. God gave us His laws because He doesn’t want us to get hurt, like a loving Father…but He also loves us no matter what, so He made a way to have victory over sin. That Victory has a name…it’s Jesus. Lawrence, I used to think the way you do, I do understand what you’re saying, but what Earl (above) says is true: when we have rested in Christ’s grace, we will have freedom to depend on Christ more instead of trying to overcome sin on your own strength, which humanly speaking is not possible. But with God, it is…and I don’t see Paul’s posts as doing anything but affirm that. Grace is peace and rest, so that our energies are focused on our Savior, Jesus, instead of focusing on the sins He already dealt with on the Cross.
I am blessed to have discovered this site. Thank you Paul!
God’s Grace is NOT a License to sin, as some do believe, who also have turned God’s Grace into lasciviousness (Jude 1:4). There will be a Judgment Seat Of Christ for ALL Blood-Washed believers, and those who live ungodly will suffer LOSS (not Salvation). We see this in Romans 14:10-12; 2 Corinthians 5:9-11; 1 Corinthians 3:11-15. God Is NOT MOCKED (Galatians 6:7-9).
It’s their problem if anyone can’t conceive grace and the freedom in Christ without going after women, lying, stealing, and indulging in all kinds of licentious life styles. They don’t know grace, they’re still bound by the Law, under the curse and they don’t know the Father.
That’s the problem of nominal Christians “knowing about God” but not having had an encounter with God and “knowing Him”, the greatest hinderance for the world to see Christ, lukewarm stench.
What is that to thee? You… follow Me!
Anyone who lives Grace and enjoys God’s quality of life (eternal llfe is to KNOW the Father) will be the last person to whom you have to remind the Law. The Spirit of God, the Life and Light of God in him fulfill the law continually.
John 14:20 – In that day you will KNOW that I am in the Father, you are in Me and I in you.
John 17:20-26, I mean, try to relate to what Jesus says about us right there, do you think that the Father answered Jesus’ prayer? And particularly this verse: [Jhn 17:22 ESV] The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one. – The glory and quality of life He had we have. Was Jesus having trouble trying not to sin?
Or was He speaking about a glory where people walk in fear of sin and sin consciousness all the time? Do you think the prodigal son, after experiencing the Love, Goodness and Glorious acceptance for who he is – a son – will ever think of the pigsty ever again and wish he could return to its filth and stench and cheap counterfeits?
1st John tells us “who is born of God CANNOT sin” and cannot dance anymore to that old tune: “God’s grace is not a license to sin”.
Why try to constantly substitute the feast we have eating from the Tree of Life (Jesus) to eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and sin-consciousness?
Instead of looking in the Word to find out where we miss the boat, let’s try to see the Living Word in our hearts that makes us One with Him, how we have become the Living Word and how WE FULFILL THE LAW, us in Him and He in us.
just discovered this site a day ago, in fact God bless you people here. am happy for post and all the wonderful comments.
more grace!!
The grace of God to all.
First the terms of the new covenant in the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ are CLEARLY STATED in Hebs. 10:15-17.
To get the full context and power one must read from the first chapter.
2nd the traditons apostle Paul referred to were the contents of the gospel of God’s grace. In other words the gospel is the tradition. Paul said, “For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” 1 Cor.2:2. The traditions were the message of God’s Amazing Grace he taught them.
3rd pls anyone who thinks that the grace of God is a green light to live in sin should study, not read, study Rm. 6. The summary is this: anyone who is in union with Christ is DEAD to sin and ALIVE (RESPONSIVE) to God (Hebs.10:16 bcos of vs.17). Such is now a slave of God and WILL bring forth the fruit of holiness the end of which is the enjoyment if the benefits of eternal life the one now has in Christ Jesus. For while the consequences of being under is sin is the rule if death we, who are in Christ, now rejoice that we have from God the gift of Eternal Life in Christ Jesus!
Romans 6 is, when understood, a real cause of rejoicing!
I thank God for His great mercy and grace given to man through and in His Son Jesus Christ our Lord!
As Gentiles we can always go back to Galatians 1:7-9, and Acts 15,
Gal 1:6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:
Gal 1:7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.
Gal 1:8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
Gal 1:9 As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
What is the other gospel Paul was saying here?
The perverted gospel of Christ and that is, by faith plus the law of Moses.
Do Gentiles/Christians today still follow or mix the Law of Moses with faith? Yes!
If they do Paul said “let him be accursed” or “ye are fallen from grace.”
I have a question. I believe the Gospel of Grace but dont know how to handle the following situation. We have taught my step son about this beautiful gospel. Last time he was caught in a lie and he basically said he would repent later and that Jesus already died for his sins. Although that is true how would one respond to that?
I know we dont stop sinning to be saved but once we are saved we are made a new creation but yet struggle with sin. The Holy Spirit is supposed to guide us not to do certain things? What about those who believe but never show fruits? Wouldn’t people say the Holy Spirit isnt working in this person? Sorry just confused. Thanks for your response.
A person who loves sin more than Jesus is desperately confused – they need a revelation of God’s grace that empowers them to sin no more. This post may help.
Most of the church is working under a perverted grace. True Grace is the ability to do what is right. The New Testament clearly states that the ’10’ are not un-attainable. The church, under the cover of grace, is nothing more than a social club of lovers of wealth, adulterors and divorcees. Do you really think that we are One with Christ? I don’t think so. There is no fruit coming out of the church….just one sinner complimenting another sinner. Salvation IS most definitely by grace but salvation is not the end point. Sanctification follows and this is what the grace movement never tells you. this is why many of our children think we are hipocrits and why they want nothing to do with Christianity. Even children can see that there is no difference between Christians and non-Christians.This was Jesus issue with the Pharisees. They knew the law and knew what it was to be righteous, but they did not live the law. Be Holy because I am Holy. From the beginning we were to be the image of God here on Earth. We’re not even close. Jesus said FEW FIND THE GATE CALLED STRAIGHT. FEW being the key word there. But of course, what does Jesus, our Master, know, right?
Before grace the only sanctification I knew about was the kind I built out of my own efforts. Grace taught me Hebrews 10:10 & 14, true sanctification. Jesus issue with the Pharisees was that while they were outwardly holy they were wolves full of dead men’s bones on the inside.(Matthew 23) Fruit is lacking in the church because the church has been told to grow it for themselves instead of abiding, that is resting, in the vine. Human flesh does not grow holy fruit. We are one with Christ or we are not redeemed and born again. That glaring omission is the true heart of all the issue you mentioned. When people do not know that they are one with Christ they do not act like it. As for the 10 C’s first read Deuteronomy 4:13 & 9:9 which describe what the first covenant was and then read Hebrews 8:8-13 which describes what the new covenant is and why the old one was faulty.
The world thinks we are hypocrites because of people like you who claim they are able to keep the comandments but only fool themselves,just like the Pharisees. The only difference between Christians and non christians is Jesus,and until you see this you remain a hypocrite.
Alex,
I’m so sorry that your church is like this. Sounds like you might be attending the wrong church and hearing the wrong message. maybe if you met some grace-focused brothers and sisters, you will be blessed again.
Try shopping around for a Gospel believing church; and meet some new friends.
Hope this helps
They want no part o the Gospel because it’s “almost too good to be true news”.. The word “Gospel” was rarely used in pauls day. And its still too good to be true.evidently because its not preached. My wife and i were delivered from these heretic teachings and for the first time received revelation of the truth of the Gospel right here in our living room. It’s not about the building, its about the truth…And the truth is, the Gospel of Christ is the Gospel of Grace…There’s not another.Thanks be to God for such an indescribable Gift.. Thank you,Paul for all your work.. It is truly a pleasure to receive your posts..
“5. Rules and regulations (Col 2:21-23). Smoking will kill you, but it won’t send you to hell like unbelief does. Working on the Sabbath may wear you out, but Jesus still loves you.”
If Jesus “still loves you”, then he will not “send you to hell”, nor even allow one to send himself to hell, for any reason. I agree that “the gospel is always 100% good news” (and therefore 0% bad news). But the threat of hell, even if you never mention it except when asked, is always 100% bad news, (and therefore 0% good news). The threat of hell is the hyper-law bad news. God is God, our unbelief (our so-called “free will”) is not God (Rom 3:3,4)
Hell was not created for man, it was created for satan and the fallen angels, and those who reject the Gospel of Jesus Christ; they are not going to die for their sin, Christ dealt with sin at the Cross…”he died once for all” it is the rejection of the Gospel which is Jesus Christ! Christ and Him crucified! Thank you Paul for the truth, the Holy Spirit has been leading me to clear up some of my old thinking (coming out of legalistic congregations) and see I know that I am one with Jesus…He is in me and I am in Him! It is finished and I have finally entered into His rest! He is all I need, and I am free indeed!!! God is never the author of confusion, that is the work of the devil! Holy Spirit came to lead us into all truth and Truth is a Person = Jesus Christ! I am on fire to share the Good News – Jesus Christ and Christ alone! “Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so!”
So, you think that the Lord is lying in some way through the Bible when He says that those who don’t believe are already condemned (to hELL)?!? There are more examples to show that what you wrote 7 years ago is biblically inaccurate and untrue. I hope the Lord has brought that to the light for you since then.
In Christ, Andrew
Grace and love is given us in exchange for our sin which is buried in Jesus’ tomb and purposely left there when Jesus rose from the dead. He is the first born from the dead, i.e, of a new creation made up of immortals of which we who love and receive him by faith are members and will be made so at His coming. All the new creation are children of God, filled with His Spirit not mere natural born sons of Adam and adherents of the Law of Moses which was not a gift but commands made to make all men realize their need for a Savior (the Christ). We have been set free from the law of sin and death, from a ministry of condemnation and death. (2 Cor 3) We are not under bondage to it. It has brought us to Christ according to the purposes of God. His agape love which gave us our salvation makes no records of the wrongs done against it. See 1 Cor 13. The task before those in Christ is to be transformed into His likeness by continuing to walk by faith in the likeness of He who bought each of us for a horrific price, and to also love one another. We are made children of Grace, the proverbial good tree of scripture that bears only good fruit, e.g., love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control by the HS who dwells in us, against which there is no law. Blessed be the name of the Lord!
people dont want the true,gospel because they dont wont to obey(example)DEUTERONOMY chapter 22 verse 5 woman shall not wear that which pertaineth to a man ,neither shall a man put on woman garment;for all that do so are abomination unto the lord thy GOD . an what people will say that dont mean that. case close woman take the pants off, and put on a modest dress
Mark,
Just curious; is it your position that Jesus wore pants?
Regards
Mark I think you need a hefty dose of the true gospel because you are chasing rabbit trails. 😀
I would like to share these thoughts and hope that it will help those who are hung up on sin vs. Grace.
When we were Born Again, our newly created spirit man was so spotless and holy, that God Himself could live there. He lives in our spirit, not in our flesh. As He lives there He empowers our flesh, mind and emotional realm (soul) to come into alignment with what He finished at the cross. By His creative Word, He heals our soul and renews our mind.
He made the ultimate sacrifice for sin and there is no more atonement necessary. He forgave our sins, past present and future and He says He forgets them for His own sake and they are never to be brought up again ! His blood atoned for sin once and for all. The fact that man sins is no surprise to Jesus; that is why he died to give us a way to overcome. There is no condemnation in Christ Jesus. When you realize how much you are loved and how precious you are to Him and the freedom He has given you, sin no longer has as much power over you and you desire to turn away from it, not continue in it.
Renew your mind with the Word of God and make the Word the ultimate source you depend on to live this life. It empowers you and is your source of strength. He sent His Word to heal us, because He loves us, not because He loathes us. Religion brings death, grace brings life. Grace is God’s ability living in us.
Well said Marjorie.
What does Jesus mean “end of the law for righteousness”? This one is giving me a migraine like all those repent mis-leds.
The passage as a whole explains what it means. Following the laws given to Moses to try and be righteous before God is zealous but ignorant. God’s true righteousness comes through faith in Jesus.
Thank you!
First off, what we call ‘new’ in ‘New Testament’ actually means ‘renewed’ in the original language. As in, God’s covenant was renewed with the coming Jesus, the messiah. The word of God is like food to us— so reading and understanding God’s wisdom in both testaments is crucial to our soul’s development. Salvation is received, yet we have an ongoing, daily relationship with God though the Holy Spirit, and our lives are meant to be spent in accordance with God’s will for us. Therefore both scripture plus the Holy Spirit equip us for life, a life we can live without condemnation thanks to Jesus’ payment on the cross. Yet to think we have proper instruction by being saved by grace along is very naive. We need to be educated and fed by the word – including the 10 commandments. God’s instruction is wise, and the Holy Spirit allows us to discern how to apply it to our lives. Amen.
I think you misunderstood the point about the 10 commandments. He was not suggesting ignoring them but that obeying them adds nothing to your salvation or in how God sees you. Sad many places tie the 10 to your acceptability before God.
I would like to add that the old covenant was not renewed through Jesus. Hebrews 8 says that we have a new and different one built upon better promises. I always thought “testament” meant covenant in Latin. So the division of old and new is a loose grouping of the old and new covenant books.
Amen, sister, amen! In Christ, Andrew
This is perfectly in line with everything Christ taught, as well as Paul- the Apostle that is. I’m blessed beyond measure to be a part of this truth infusion which years of human effort has diminished into a religion equal to any other.