Erroneous Gospel

The Gospel is divine, not human. Therefore, the question as to whether one should add or complete it, is superfluous. Paul was very rigorous and hard with regard to this (redundant) question: “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. For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.” (Galatians 1:6-7). Faith in the forgiveness of sin should always remain first and foremost when one speaks of being a Christian. No human deed, regardless of how well-intentioned and thought out, can bring us into a relationship with God. What we know about God, and what we can, should and will embrace, God Himself revealed to us: God became human and brought us the Gospel! Only and exclusively the free and sovereign grace of God, which, in Jesus Christ at the cross of Calvary, became the centre of the Gospel, can save mankind. Of the Son of God we read in Romans 4:25 “Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.” We have probably heard and read about it often and for this reason maybe some believers, craving for new, spectacular knowledge and revelation, simply forgot that we are not saved by ourselves or by works? Also not through invented acts of faith or through special teachings and pious self-importance. All glory (inner and outer) belongs solely to God, who through unfathomable grace, accepted us in Christ, our crucified and risen Saviour (Ephesians 2:8-9). Every pious doctrine, which does not proclaim this as the basis of faith and its consequences, is a distorted and thus false gospel. We may reject it with a clear conscience. Whoever honours the gifts above the Giver, or thinks he stands when he has already fallen (1 Corinthians 10:12 “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.) probably has a false concept of the grace of God.

One does not start the building of a house with the roof (Matthew 7:24) and one doesn’t go to war, but still allows himself to be distracted by the affairs of this life, trivialities and business as well as the vanity of essentials (2 Timothy 2:4). That which is essential is the cross and the blood of Calvary. It is not forbidden for us to uphold the flag for the things of God and to fight for the truth (1 Timothy 6:12), but when we do this it should be lawful before God (2 Timothy 2:5) otherwise we are performing artificial warfare which are of no use to anyone. This right stems exclusively from justification through the Gospel, which gives us the righteousness of Christ through faith. Only that is valid in the sight of God (Romans 1:17). One has no legal claim for a gift and no right to it. What we all deserve, without exception, is the just wrath of God! We simply have to comprehend this. And the grace of God does not simply stop when we are then allowed to become Christians – maybe some forget this? How often do we still fail? We humans also don’t give God the opportunity to forgive us, because then we would be the actors and God would simply react – this is however not the case. We did not ask about God (Romans 3:11) and God was merciful to us when we were still lost and dead (Romans 5:8 “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”) Upon this grace we should build, and not think that the forgiveness of sin is simply an incomplete, religious framework upon which to construct our own haughty philosophical beliefs. The Gospel as defined and taught in the Bible is complete. There are no footnotes with new conditions, and also not in the fine print. Let us not be deceived and confounded by anyone, but with true humility and gratitude (as we are able) thank our LORD and Saviour wholeheartedly for our eternal and total salvation – in accordance with the inspired words of the Scriptures.

Jörg Bauer