No Other Gospel

You’ve had moments when you heard two different stories. My wife says that about me all the time. She knows the way we experienced it and the way I tell it. Hey, don’t let the facts get in the way of telling a good story I say.

Paul’s letter the the Galatian churches is him setting the story straight. Paul had preached the true Gospel message to the folks in towns across Galatia, setting up house churches in the towns he visited. They believed in Jesus as salvation and the way back to God the Father. However, Jewish Christians called Judaizers, were literally traveling behind Paul and preaching a different Gospel to these same churches. These false teachers were saying you need Jesus but you also have to continue keeping the Law or obeying the Jewish rule system if you want to be right with God.

Getting the Gospel right is a big deal. It’s important. As a matter of fact, our very lives depend on us getting the Gospel right and when the church does get it right, a couple of things happen.

One, people begin to experience the saving power of Jesus Christ. Jesus will change how you neighbor, raise your kids, interact with your spouse, how you interact with folks in your school and workplace…he’ll change you! Honestly, Jesus changes everything! Once you know Jesus, the power of Jesus comes into your life and you have new purpose and direction.

Secondly, God is gloried, not you and me. Everything becomes about raising up the Name of Jesus in your daily life and pointing others toward him.

So we ask Paul, what is the Gospel?

The Gospel is the good news that Jesus died for us and rose from the dead so that through faith in him, we can be made right with God and enjoy life with him forever.

And as a follower of Jesus, he wants you to tell the good news through your actions and words. There’s a great story in Mark 5 where Jesus and the disciples cross the Sea of Galilee and land on shore at the spot where a cemetery is located. As the pile out of the boat, a demon-possessed man runs down the slope out of the cemetery towards them. He is bleeding, screaming, naked, has broken chains around his wrists and is clearly crazy.

Once in front of Jesus, the man asked, “Why are you interfering with us?” (it’s the demons talking). They demand that Jesus not send them out of the area but put them in the pigs, which Jesus does. The pigs rush down the hill and into the water. All of them drown so the local townspeople are not happy and ask Jesus to leave their area.

As Jesus and the disciples start getting back in the boat, the once demon-possessed man is standing by the boat, clothed and in his right mind. He wants to go with Jesus, the person that totally saved him and changed his life forever. But Jesus says he needs the man to stay on this side of the Sea of Galilee.

Interestingly, in Mark 7, Jesus and the disciples go over once again to the Gentile side of the Sea, where the demon-possessed man had been before. But now, Jesus and his disciples are welcomed by the people and invited to stay and do ministry. Why? Well, it’s because the man whose life was changed radically by Jesus went into the Decopolis and told everyone the good news about Jesus. They were ready and waiting.

See, in our lives as well, Jesus calls us, right where we live and work to share the Good News about Jesus, the man who can and will change your life forever. So, begin looking for those opportunities to share how Jesus has changed your life, revealing how Jesus can change their lives as well. Blessings on the journey.

Would the Real Gospel Step Forward Please?

My wife and I have an adopted son. Well, not in the legal sense. We came to know Riley in Junior High when he became friends with our youngest son. Riley was at our house often eating with us, for sleepovers. He was in our youth group so we saw him at least twice a week. He lived with us for several weeks after his house burned down. We attended his military graduations. He is part of the Hall family. He has all the rights and privileges a Hall has in our home.

Paul is trying to tell us the same thing when it comes to being a part of God’s family. We have been adopted but nothing we have done gets us in the family. It’s everything Jesus has done for us. See, the Gospel is the good news that Jesus came to earth, died for our sins and rose from the dead. Our belief in that story and faith in Jesus Christ makes us part of the family and makes us right before God.

In the letter to the Galatian churches, Paul is wanting to counter an argument that was leaning toward a “works-based” faith. Paul says there is a fake gospel circulating and the real Gospel is something totally different. So in Galatians 4, Paul teases out the difference between the fake gospel and the real Gospel.

Paul says the fake gospel is all about activity. The real Gospel is about adoption. The fake gospel says that God is only okay with you when you get your act together. The fake gospel is all about do, do, do while the real Gospel is all about what God has done, done, done. See, God did everything needed sending his perfect son, living a perfect life, dying a death we should have, fighting a battle we would have lost in order that we could be adopted and live with him forever. That’s the great, glorious Gospel.

The fake gospel ends at salvation while the real Gospel begins with salvation and continues through the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. Too many stories end with the salvific moment of accepting Jesus. People tend to believe that’s the end of the journey but truly, it’s only the beginning. When you say “yes” to Jesus as your Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit is poured into you, he transforms you and allows you to live into the fullness of the Gospel story. Until you understand that concept, you’ll live an empty and unfulfilled life. Then real Gospel is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit who sanctifies us throughout our entire life and through him, we can do all things.

The fake gospel constantly works for acceptance while the real Gospel confidently works from inheritance. Paul reminds us that we are no longer slaves but children of God, heirs to the Kingdom. Because you believe in Jesus Christ, you get to live from a declared inheritance. Some 2000 years ago, you got a new name: child of God. You got a new family, a felt security, a new purpose. You received forgiveness, healing and freedom.

The real Gospel is all about adoption and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit allows us to live into our inheritance. Blessings on the journey.