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What is the most precious thing in your life? Spouse and family?
Friendship? Financial security? An absence of conflict? The Bible tells
us that the most important thing in this life or the next is peace with God
through Jesus Christ. Of the Christian the apostle Paul writes,
"Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our
Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom. 5:1). Yet that peace with God does not come
through meditation, praying to dead saints, fasting or self-denial.
Rather, it begins with the realization that unless I am a Christian I am
alienated from God (Isa. 59:1-2) and that includes every accountable
human being (Rom. 3:23). The gospel of Christ brings this peace to
sinners. Jesus paid the price and sealed the breach. "Having abolished in
his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in
ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace
(Eph. 2:15).
God is serious about the gospel. Millions each day die without obeying it. They face the Judgment Day unprepared. "Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity" (Matt. 7:22-23). Yet what is the gospel? Some say it is solely declaring the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 12:1-4). This is the fundamental basis of Christianity. But we must remember that Paul was dealing in First Corinthians 15 with the resurrection of the dead. He did not mean to imply that the commandments of Christ and writers of the New Testament were irrelevant. The gospel includes all the revelation of Jesus Christ, the New Testament. When the gospel is not preached in its fullness it is not the certified gospel of Jesus Christ (Gal. 1:11). Let us examine some of the identifying marks of the gospel as found in the pages of the Bible. The early Christians were unified by the gospel. No longer were they Jew or Gentile, slave or free and no longer sinners but Christians. "For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female; for ye are all one in Christ Jesus" (Gal. 3:27-28). This is the unity that Jesus desires. A unity based on faith in the word of God. "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me" (Jn. 17:20-21). One part of the unity is unity of doctrine or teaching. In First Corinthians 1:10 Paul begs his readers, "that ye all speak the same thing." This means that the church of Christ in Corinth was to teach only the things taught to it by the Holy Spirit; for us the word of God as given by the apostles and prophets of the New Testament (Jn. 16:13). In the 21st Century as in the First Century A.D. this means that there can be no compromise in doctrine or unity in diversity, no dumbing down of the condemnation of sin or God's conditions for pardon and no compromise of the pattern of worship as laid down in the New Testament (Jn. 4:24; Col. 3:17). Another part of unity in Christianity is the same name for the church and its members. There were no "Paulites" or "Peterites"; no denominational names at all in the early church — only "Christian" (Acts 11:26). The church of Christ at ancient Corinth used names as a source division, separating themselves from Christ (1 Cor. 1:11-13). Human names for Christ's bride, the church, rob Him of His glory. "Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf" (I Pet. 4:16). Another essential element of that unity was the same baptism — immersion in water for remission of sins. "Then Peter said to them, Repent, and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38). Baptism is essential for having a relationship with Christ (Rom. 6:4). Paul wrote that there is now only one baptism (Eph. 4:5). If you proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ you must teach the necessity of baptism for remission of sins (Mark 16:16). "For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect" (1 Cor. 1:17). In this elliptical statement Paul maintained that Christ did not send him to Corinth just to baptize folks only but also to preach the gospel. He did not want to create a cult of personality in which his followers would brag that Paul baptized me but to focus on the cross of Christ. The power of the cross is not found in education (wisdom of men) or eloquence but in the sacrifice of Jesus. "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him" (2 Cor. 5:21). But many of the religious in our world do not want to focus on the cross of Christ. They fail to even mention what the Bible says about moral living. They de-emphasize the necessity of baptism for remission of sins. They fail to plainly preach what the Bible says. This is not preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. A hardened soldier of the cross in the First Century said, "For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God" (Acts 20:27). Powerful false teachers today in their preaching and writings want to remove the focus of the gospel from the cross to themselves and their false doctrine. This is not the mark of the gospel we find in the New Testament. "Let no man deceive you with vain words" (Eph. 5:6). "For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God" (1 Cor. 1:18). Even in Paul's day the world viewed the gospel as moronic and silly. The idea that the Son of God would come from Heaven in the form of a servant of man, die as a criminal and be resurrected from the dead so that mankind might have power to conquer sin and live a godly life was preposterous to many (cf. Acts 17:32). The wisdom of the ancient world could not see the power of God in the gospel (Rom. 1:16). The wisdom of our world says that:
One of the marks of the gospel is that God chose to save people through the message preached (1 Cor. 1:21), the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is proclaimed to this world by frail human beings; not by angels, philosophers, theologians, kings or ascetics. It may seem foolish to them but the Bible says it is the wisdom and power of God. It has saved men and women, boys and girls for nearly two thousand years and continues to do so. When you obey it you become wise and gain the most precious thing in life. If you remain faithful until death you will be rewarded with the crown of life (Rev. 2:10). |