BIBLE
DIGEST - Number 69
(Revised)
May 1997
WHAT
IS "A DIFFERENT GOSPEL"?
By Allon
Maxwell
|
In Galatians 1:6, Paul refers to a "different
gospel", which he says is a perversion of the gospel of Christ.
There is another similar reference, in 2
Corinthians 11:4, to a "different
gospel" which was causing problems in the Church in that city. We are left in no
doubt about Paul's condemnation, both of the "different
gospel", and those who embrace and propagate it! He said, twice over,
"let him be accursed". These are
strong words! They contain a serious warning about the consequences of
embracing such a gospel, which in reality, is not good news at all! Can we identify
what Paul means by his use of the term? Are there "different
gospels" in the Church today? The term is
almost self-explanatory! A "different gospel" is not the same
as the Real Gospel! Of course, to
some that may sound rather trite, but it does need to be said! A
"different gospel" claims to offer Good News, BUT it is different
Good News, which in the final analysis, is NOT good news at all! It is not good
news because it does not, and cannot, ever deliver what is promised. The particular
false gospel, about which Paul speaks in Galatians, appears to be one which
sought to impose circumcision as an "extra" condition of
salvation. That which was
found in Corinth, is less clearly identified and much more complex, but we
are not left without "clues". For instance,
Paul found it necessary to address the problem of those who denied the
Resurrection. Those who did not believe in the Resurrection, were, he said,
without hope and still in their sins. That means they were unconverted and
unforgiven! That same false
gospel still exists in our day. We still find many who either deny the
physical resurrection altogether, or who pay only lip service to it,
substituting instead, the false expectation of Heaven
for immortal souls, as the real hope offered by their "good news". Surely that
must fall into the same category as the problem which existed in Corinth. Another element
of that Corinthian "other gospel" must surely be the problem of false
Pentecostal gifts, which existed in the Church at Corinth. Their
unbalanced emphasis on the place of "spirit gifts", especially the
"gift of tongues", is exactly parallelled by the
claims of many modern Pentecostals that no one is saved, and no one has
received the Holy Spirit, until they speak in tongues as evidence of their
"spirit baptism". It is also
significant that amongst the other problems at Corinth, there was carnality
and gross immorality. None of this
should surprise us. These things are the inevitable fruit of a false gospel.
Only the True Gospel has the power to deliver lost mankind from
their sins, and from all the other strong delusions
which they suffer as a consequence of their lack of love for truth. (2 Thessalonians 2:10-12) A SIMPLE
DEFINITION For our
purpose, the simplest definition of a false gospel is one which uses the name
of Jesus, but not his words! A false gospel
will be about a Jesus who has a different identity. A false gospel
will offer a false hope for the future, based on different promises. A false gospel
will call its hearers to an inadequate repentance, offering a false
expectation of forgiveness. A false gospel
will reject the Gospel call for obedience, allowing people to continue in
their sins, (sometimes selectively!) A false gospel
will offer a false sense of security by changing the meaning of Grace and
Faith, (often rejecting Works as mere "legalism") THINGS TO
REMEMBER ABOUT THE GOSPEL The concise
definition of the real gospel is that preached by Philip ..... "good news
about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ," ...... to which an adequate response was - "they were
baptised, both men and women". Acts
8:12 Knowing God It was Jesus
Himself who addressed His Father as the one true God. (John 17:3) In this prayer
to God, Jesus left us in no doubt that He Himself is not the one true God! He
is the completely human Son of the one true God. If Jesus is not
the one true God, then neither is He any part of a Triune God (the Trinity)
Nor can He possibly be the confused "role player" of the
"Jesus Only" God.). Nor, if He is truly a man, can He be the Arian
pre-existent spirit. Any Gospel
which labels us as heretics, when we reject those impossible
"mysteries", is false. The Gospel
Preached To Abraham. The hope
of the Gospel is contained in God's covenant with Abraham, "that they
should inherit the world". (Romans
4:13) The resurrection is implicit in that hope. Inheritance of
the promises requires a belief in that Gospel ..... and baptism into Christ.
(Mark 16:15-16 & Galatians 3:27-29). Any
"gospel" which does not offer the future Kingdom of God on Earth
and an inheritance of God's promises to Abraham, in a resurrected immortal
body, is NOT the Gospel preached by the Apostles in obedience to the
commission given them by Jesus! The Gospel And
Baptism Any Gospel
which substitutes the baptism of unbelieving infants, in place of the real
baptism, received in response to belief in a real gospel, is NOT the Gospel
of the New Testament. Any gospel
which offers forgiveness of sins without a real "believers
baptism", without an adequate definition of sin, and which comes with an
equally inadequate definition of the good works to which faith calls us, is
also a false gospel. (How else can
we be convicted of sin if we do not know what is sin? And how else shall we
bring forth works "worthy of our repentance",
Acts 26:20, if we do not know what those
works are?) The Gospel And
Works Any gospel
which ignores, or explains away, or justifies and encourages disobedience to
the plain teaching of Jesus in Sermon on the Mount, is no gospel at
all. Any gospel
which rejects as mere legalism, our insistence on those works as the visible
token of a living faith, is a false gospel and a dead faith. Paul says quite
definitely that at the resurrection, it is our works which will
form the basis of our Judgement! CONCLUSION This is NOT a
complete treatise on the subject of saving faith! Our goal has
been to identify just some of the common "other gospels" which
ought to have no place, or recognition, or fellowship, amongst those who
share the "Faith of Abraham" which was "once
delivered to the saints". (Jude
1:3) We may not
dismiss these differences as "not important", by seeking
recognition from, or co-operation with, those who preach "other
Gospels". No lie is of
the truth. Some of the things discussed above are certainly lies! They are
lies which Jesus did not tell, and never would condone. They are lies,
which he will not confirm in the preaching of those who use His
name, but not His words! (Mark 16:20) They are lies, which
lead to deception and strong delusion ..... and rejection by Jesus on the day
of Judgement. |