(Romans 1:16) “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”
(1 Corinthians 15:3-4) “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that the Messiah died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.”
(Acts 2:38-29) “Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
(Romans 10:8-13) “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in Him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile–the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on Him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
The seven assemblies (churches) in the Book of Revelation were seven literal assemblies that existed in the time of John. They can represent seven types of churches that have existed in every century even down to the present day. They can also represent seven types of Churches that will exist in the last days. They can also represent seven periods of Church history which the names of the Churches would suggest.
People’s Opinions
The last assembly mentioned is Laodicea which means “people’s opinions” and this assembly was a lukewarm assembly that made the Lord Jesus feel like throwing up. They were neither hot nor cold. They were an affluent materialistic minded and well to do assembly, much like we see by and large today in the western democracies such as in Europe, the United Kingdom, America, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, all countries traditionally and historically associated with Biblical Judeo Christianity.
Knocking at the Door
The assembly at Laodicea were spiritually proud and subject to man’s opinions concerning the nature of the gospel and related spiritual matters yet from the perspective of the Lord Jesus they were almost spiritually bankrupt. They had lost sight of what really counts and needed to once again experience the refining fire of God’s Spirit that burns up spiritual dross and brings forth the pure gold of fidelity to the Lord Jesus that to Him is more precious than gold. The Lord Jesus loved the Laodicea assembly but needed to rebuke and discipline them and bring them to the point of heart felt repentance and reconsecration of themselves to Him as individuals and corporately as an assembly of believers. The Lord Jesus was standing and knocking on the door of this assembly!
The Apostles Doctrine
An atmosphere of wealth, prosperity, abundance and having things good in this world is a conspicuous mark of the western Church as a whole today. We have people’s opinions, views, ideologies and doctrines usurping the pure untainted message of the gospel as the Lord Jesus passed on down to the apostles and to those of the apostles who wrote the New Testament. We read in the Book of Acts that after the assembly of believers at Jerusalem had been baptised with the power of the Holy Spirit from on high, that first and foremost they gave themselves or devoted themselves to the apostles doctrine which we have today in the New Testament (Acts 2: 42a).
Only One Doctrine
As a result they were able to enjoy Spirit-filled fellowship, celebrating the Passover meal and to give themselves to prayer (Acts 2: 42b). It was the apostles doctrine endorsed by the Holy Spirit that set the course of all they said and did as an assembly (Acts 2:43-47). All of the assemblies that were founded by the apostles held a common doctrine that had its roots in the Old Testament. The apostle Paul writes; “There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all” (Ephesians 4:4-7).
“All Scripture is God-Breathed”
Denominations with their varying doctrines were not even in the thinking of the apostles, neither was this even in the mind of the Lord. Today we have apostolic doctrine in the New Testament and what they taught is the benchmark for any assembly of New Covenant Believers. Does not Paul also write; “All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
Re-contextualised or Redefined?
Now the gospel re-contextualised is okay. When a missionary goes to another country to preach the gospel he or she will usually seek to relate the gospel in a way the people can relate to culturally without changing the message. For example take the text in Isaiah which says; “Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow.” Now if the people who hear this message have never seen snow but have cocoanut Trees then the message would be contextualised to say; “Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as coconut.” This is contextualising the gospel. Using the culture of a people to relate the gospel while not changing the message is one thing, but changing the message to blend in with people’s opinions and lifestyles is another thing altogether and this is redefining the gospel.
Destructive Heresies
Satan does not tell outright lies but uses subterfuge and deception and manifests all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders when seeking to deceive God’s elect saints. No believer is exempt from spiritual deception and seduction (Matthew 24:24). This satanic deception involves truth and error being laid side by side which the New Testament defines as those false teachers in the local assembly who by stealth “secretly introducing destructive heresies” (2 Peter 2:1).
God hates the Mixture
God hates the mixture as we read in the Torah; “Do not wear clothes of wool and linen woven together” (Deuteronomy 22:11). Wool represents what is earthly and of a fleshly fallen nature, whereas linen represents the righteousness that comes from God through faith in the Messiah (Romans 3:21-22). One cannot walk with God and walk with the devil at the same time! As Paul writes, “for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial (Satan), or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever?” (2 Corinthians 6:14-15). We are either walking in the light or walking in the darkness. There is no common ground when it comes to walking in the commandments of God! The Bible is black and white! While we have to daily contend with the desires and appetites of our old fallen nature that militates against the desires of the Spirit inside of us, we will have the desire to walk in the Word of God and to fulfil His will and have the Spirit’s power to enable us to follow after the commandments of God. The four powerful spiritual weapons we have been given is the power of the Spirit, the power of the blood of Jesus, the power of God’s Word and praying continuously in the Holy Spirit.
The Gospel Redefined!
Today within evangelical and charismatic circles by and large within western Christendom the gospel is being redefined. The apostle Paul pulled no punches when it came to describing those who preach a different gospel. He writes; “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be under a curse! As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be under a curse!” (Galatians 1:8-9). How then is the gospel being redefined? Let’s now look at this…
1. The ‘Instamatic’ Gospel
We live in a world where instant gratification is a distinctive mark of this generation. It is a form of self-gratification where the advertising bombarding the physical senses through the media is specifically aimed at getting what we need instantly. People no longer wait but line up at the retail stores when mega sales are on offer. Credit card debt in our modern society is in epidemic proportions. People want instant fixes of one sort or another to bolster their enjoyment of life and which they cannot do without. They must have it now as they cannot wait but rush out to get what they want.
It is no different in the majority of Churches today, especially those churches that focus heavily upon miracles, signs and wonders and that think God is a kind of spiritual vending machine that bestows spiritual goodies as a rather self-indulgent father. This fosters the “name it and claim it” mentality for many in these supermarket style assemblies where instant spiritual gratification and blessings and miracles of one sort or another are demanded and expected. There is no emphasis on waiting on God or persevering in trials and adverse circumstances, or really allowing for the sovereign purposes of God that do not always include instant answers to our prayers. We live in a have it now generation in the world and within wider Christendom.
2. The ‘Media Driven’ Gospel
Today on the internet and on television there is no short supply of preachers selling their wares, their videos, their CD’s and their ‘ministries’ where they have pictures of themselves plastered all over the screen and set themselves up as spiritual gurus of one sort or another portraying themselves as the ones who have a handle on God and can get from Him what they desire. While there are genuine ministries on the internet there are also many that are preaching what they call the gospel for financial gain and fleecing the sheep of their hard earned dollars that are going into the coffers of these greedy hyper faith money preachers who are profiteering on the blood of the lamb. The tragedy is that many are following them and buying their goods as well as their ‘theology’. There is usually no solid exposition of scripture, hardly anything mentioned about the need for sanctification and for heartfelt repentance. The love of money is what drives them!
Their brand of the gospel is a mask for covetousness and greed. Peter and Jude call them experts in greed, an accursed breed and call them greedy shepherds who feed only themselves and for whom the blackest darkness has been reserved forever. Both Peter and Jude write at length about these conniving deceivers who also believe their own publicity.
Now the media especially the Internet can be a very powerful tool in preaching the gospel and this is happening today but also side by side you have those self-styled ‘prophets’ and teachers preaching the gospel for the sake of money to feed their greedy materialistic appetites. One thing that is happening today is you have genuine ministries being aired on some well-known Christian television networks that also entertain false teachers. It is once again entertaining the mixture.
As we read in the Torah; “Do not plant your vineyard with two types of seed; if you do, the entire harvest will be defiled—both the crop you plant and the fruit of your vineyard. Do not plough with an ox and a donkey yoked together” (Deuteronomy 2:9-10).
The seed is the nutritious spiritual grain of God’s Word but when the tares of spiritually deceptive seed is sown in the local assembly and the differing seeds are mixed together the result will be spiritual defilement.
We are also told in the gospels that the eye is the lamp to the body and that if the eye is full of light or clear sighted spiritually then the body will be full of light. However, if the eye is full of darkness and not clear sighted spiritually then the body will be full of deep spiritual darkness (Matthew 6:21-23). Who gives sight and light to the Body of the Messiah? Teachers do? Those teachers who have clear spiritual sight give spiritual sight to those they teach, whereas those who have spiritual darkness impart spiritual darkness to those whom they teach and the darkness is great, because it has eternal consequences for those who are experiencing it, both the teacher and those who are being taught.
While the blessed Holy Spirit uses the media so does the devil! The spiritual gift of discernment is desperately needed within the wider Body of the Messiah today because we are all to a greater or lesser degree have our minds, our emotions and especially our wills bombarded with the media aimed at fulfilling the lusts of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life including instant gratification of our fallen fleshly appetites and desires.
We are also told “not to plough with an ox and a donkey yoked together.” The ox represents the true teacher treading out the nutritious grain of God’s Word whereas the donkey represents the false teacher treading side by side with the true teacher. They are yoked together and the gospel will be tainted and compromised by such a yoke!
3. The ‘Psychologized’ Gospel
Christian counsellors have their place within the wider Body of the Messiah and there are those who can help certain believers struggling with issues that can be connected to their past unpleasant experiences or to things that traumatized them in their childhood or matters troubling them in their daily lives such as family or marital issues. Having said this, the problem that arises is that many Christian counsellors rely upon secular methods of counselling mixed in with the Bible. While some believers do have genuine psychological problems in many cases it is related to unconfessed and un-renounced sin. Psychology if not subject to the teaching of the Bible, can be like lopping of the branches but not dealing with the root cause which in the majority of cases is connected to a spiritual problem rather than an emotional or mental problem which may be ‘the branches’ but not the root!
God has His book of Psychology in the Bible which is the Book of Proverbs. There is no other ‘counselling’ book that can even compare with Proverbs. God gave us the Book of proverbs for attaining wisdom and discipline for spiritual understanding and for words that bring spiritual insight and show a believer how to live and how to work through spiritual and temporal issues in their daily lives ending in the fear of the Lord which is the beginning of spiritual knowledge and insight, both is spiritual as well as temporal matters, and that will prevent us from becoming foolish in our decisions and daily living.
If we would go to the Book of Proverbs more often than we do we would find in there God’s psychology for the saint and the answers we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him. Psychology has its value humanly speaking but when it disagrees with the Bible we must go with the Bible every time. God’s Word is “the lamp for our feet and the light for our path!”(Psalm 119:105).
4. The ‘Multi-Faith-Multi-Cultural’ Gospel
The Lord Jesus said; “I am the Way the truth and the Life and no one comes to the Father unless He comes through Me” (John 14:6). We also read in the Book of Acts that “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). This truth blows all other religions, philosophies, ideologies and the views of man out of the water big time! Confucius, Buddha, Mohammad and every other religious guru in history are still in their graves to this day! The Lord Jesus is alive, having been physically resurrected by the power of God, whose resurrection was witnessed firsthand by many and affirmed physically by them, and one who still lives today in a glorified resurrected physical body at the right hand of God the Father in heaven. The Lord Jesus Himself is the only mediator between God and man and the only one through whom men can be reconciled to God (1 Timothy 2:5) (2 Corinthians 5:19). To even consider embracing those who teach a different gospel is condemned in scripture (2 John 7-11).
5. The ‘Existential’ Gospel
This is a new age concept which says that however you experience God then that is a valid experience for you even if it goes against the teaching of God’s Word. It says everyone has a right to believe what they want to believe and have no right to force it on others. This kind of thinking has crept into the wider Christendom today where the Bible is no longer the final authority in matters related to apostolic doctrine and living endorsed by the Word of God, but where people’s opinions override the plain teaching of the Bible.
6. The ‘Experiential’ gospel
This is where people’s subjective spiritual experiences override the Word of God. Now while dreams, visions, miracles, signs and wonders are Biblical they are not to be the barometer of spiritual truth and revelation. Every subjective spiritual experience must be tested by the Word of God. There are churches today where they are heavily weighted with all kinds of manifestations of one sort or another and some of it occult in nature. You have grave soaking, the reading of destiny tarot cards, gold dust and feathers floating down and believers laughing uncontrollably and in hysterics and rolling around on the floor of falling backwards into some spiritual euphoric state.
You have so called prophets blowing on people supposedly making them fall backwards and the list goes on! Every dream, every revelation, every vision, every prophecy uttered and every manifestation seen, must be tested by the Word of God. You may have a slightly bent stick that looks strait to the naked eye but when laid side by side with a perfectly straight stick you will see the bend of the one that looks straight. The plumbline for any doctrine or manifestation is the Word of God! One spiritual experience no matter how impactful on the one who claims it, the experience must align with the Word of God.
7. The ‘New Age’ Gospel
This is a bedfellow of the experiential gospel when professing Christians get into dreams, visions and mystical experiences of one sort or another claimed to be of a spiritual nature and imparting an inner knowledge that is subjective in nature. The Gnostics that the apostle John was warning against were those who denied the basic tenants of the apostle’s doctrine related to the deity of the Messiah and the way of salvation and who claimed that Jesus was a phantom being of sorts after His resurrection but it was not a physical resurrection. The word ‘Gnosticism’’ is the word that describes a secret wisdom that only those who re inducted into it can have revealed to them. It is a form of mysticism that has no relation to one’s physical behaviour. There is no moral or ethical compass associated with it so one can have these inner spiritual experiences of one sort or another and still live however they want to live and are accountable to no one.
The Hippy movement of the 1960’s was a clear example of this New Age emphasis and there were Christians who got into the revelations, the dreams and the mystical experiences. These sorts of manifestations are a conspicuous mark of many Charismatic churches today within wider Christendom. If one has had a personal encounter with God through an encounter with e Lord Jesus according to the Bible then it will radically affect the way they live (2 Corinthians 5:17). Of course these matters are nothing new within wider Christendom today. As Solomon wrote; “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9).
8. The ‘Programmatic’ Gospel
This is a vast problem today within wider Christendom. The attitude of many Church leaders and pastors is that if they can get the right programme, the right musos, the most charismatic and effective speakers, the latest music even if from a dubious source then they will see results meaning ‘bums on seats’ to be ruthlessly honest. Most of the mega church worship services inclined to Charismatic manifestations and all that comes with it are platforms for popular trendily dressed preachers touted to be prophetic and engaging the masses. They use some Bible texts here and there to boost their feel good positive message but have no spiritual giftedness to expound the Word of God properly in context or to rightly divide its truth.
Laughter, emotionally moving stories, embellished testimonies and purported visions and revelations with personal prophecies thrown in for good measure, are all the rage in these supermarket mega churches where everything is orientated to instant gratification. You also have loud amplified music, repetitious choruses with little Biblical content in the lyrics but orientated around one’s personal experience. Now musical instruments have their place and amplified guitars are acceptable as are all kinds of stringed and other musical instruments and singers to lead the congregation are also advantageous in worship.
In the Old Testament Temple worship you had numerous instruments and singers and much dancing and enjoyment of the Lord but the focus was on Him, not the singers or the musos. So then many church leaders today think that if they can just get the right mood, the right speakers, the right human strategy to reach people or the right music then they will be able to draw people into their churches. This trend today is a conspicuous mark of a Church leaning heavily upon a humanly orchestrated programme and seeking the Holy Spirit to endorse it. This leads us to the next ‘gospel’ as such which is also a bedfellow of the programmatic gospel.
9. The ‘Marketing Strategy’ Gospel
Some years ago now there was a huge mega-church in America that sent its members out doorknocking asking them what they would like to see happening in a Church service which in reality was bringing the ideas of the unsaved into the Church. Somehow they were under the illusion that if they could find the right marketing strategy they would see Church attendance blossom. Well when did we see the New Testament assemblies evangelising in this way? Those early New Covenant believers were filled with the Spirit of God, grounded in the teaching of the apostles and bringing the Gospel of the Kingdom to the people.
We live in a day and age when secular marketing strategies used in secular corporations are being considered by many church leaders as the supposed answer to church growth. One such programme for Church growth being used in churches around the world, has been initially based on secular marketing strategies for Church growth with purpose driven content that for the most part emphasises God’s love but has very little content if any on His law, on hell, on the judgement to come, on real Biblical repentance and on eschatology being the Second Coming of the Messiah our Lord Jesus and what is going to happen in the last days leading up to this event that will see the culmination of this present age.
As for Israel related to Biblical prophecy it is not even on the radar of this so called world renowned secular strategy supposedly to reach the unsaved. It is the master of the soft sell gospel and the seeker friendly feel-good approach which is quite prominent in many modern church fellowships where they do not want to offend people. However in the Bible we are told that the preaching of the cross is an offense to the unsaved that have no intention of being saved or want to keep their self-indulgent lifestyles!
The preaching of the cross is offensive to the unsaved and those who are religiously inclined yet also not saved (Galatians 5:11). The only one who can give the right strategy for evangelism and discipleship is the blessed Holy Spirit. When you read the Book of Acts you have God’s Biblical blueprint for evangelism, discipleship and for church growth. Much more could be said on this matter.
10. The ‘Mysticism’ Gospel
Mystical experiences of one sort or another are a common feature of all religions and religious sects. Occultists have them as well. Not all mystical experiences are from God. These mystical experiences are seen by those having them as divorced from earthly bodily appetites of the flesh and have no link to a moral or ethical compass. Sometimes these mystical experiences will actually lead to immoral activity of all kinds not endorsed in God’s Word.
It is also seen in many orthodox churches where for example an over emphasis is placed on icons, symbols and statues of past saints which in themselves can become substitutes for objective Biblical truth. Our faith is based on the Word of God and we know “that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God” (Romans 10:17). Every supernatural experience, every dream, every vision, every mystical experience and every revelation must all be tested in the light of God’s Word. We are “to test all things” (1 Thessalonians 5:21).The barometer must the Word of God!
The apostle John who had to deal with Gnosticism, in those who had been at one time church members writes; “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world”(1 John 4:1). Many in the wider Body of the Messiah are craving for spiritual gifts but how many want the real Biblical and genuine gift of discernment of spirits? It is desperately needed in the wider Body of the Messiah these days! It is a gift God uses when spiritual deception has by stealth infiltrated the ranks of the Body of the Messiah.
11. The ‘Post Modern’ Gospel
This is also a bedfellow of Existentialism. Post modernism has no absolutes. Everyone does what feels right in their own eyes and no one has the right to challenge them for what they believe. It is that attitude that says “It works for me, don’t criticise!” Biblical absolutes are not even on the radar of those into postmodern thinking. If it feels good then it must be right! One has a right to express their opinion in post modernism but no right to force others to believe it. It is that ideology that advocates that there are many paths to God. This thinking is typical of those into interfaith and ecumenical associations.
These days Ecumenism is increasingly becoming fused with interfaith ideology. Western society is rapidly moving down this path and those who believe the Bible and that the Lord Jesus is the only way the truth and the life, and that no one comes to God the Father except through Him, will be increasingly marginalised in society and persecuted as they are in third world countries on a global scale, especially in Islamic countries. Also we see this happening in Communist countries like China and in North Korea.
So then the Gospel can be re-contextualised but nor re-defined. In light of these ‘other gospels’ within wider Christendom that are clearly aligned with the way the unsaved think in the world, how do we as New Covenant Bible believers evangelise the lost when people’s opinions within the professing Christian Church are considered all valid in light of post-modern thinking?
We must look for the Biblical answer, not people’s opinions or ideologies. The Lord Jesus clearly said that the last sign that would mark the end of this present age and His return to earth would be that “This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14). The gospel of the kingdom is the gospel but also includes the Messianic kingdom to come which the Lord Jesus will inaugurate after He has come back. Biblical prophecy is a very strong feature in both the Old and the New Testament. In fact the whole Bible is prophetic in nature! What is the gospel of the kingdom? Let’s now look at this…
The Heart of the Gospel
(1 Corinthians 15:3-4) “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that the Messiah died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.”
This is the heart of the message that Paul and the other apostles preached. It was of first importance that the death of the Lord Jesus was for our sins, not for His own sins, because He was without sin, and that He suffered death in our place, bearing in His own body our sin and its consequences and by His shed blood providing redemption and forgiveness of sin, and on the third day was raised to life physically. He appeared to many, including His disciples and ascended to the right hand of the Father where at present He sits as a glorified immortal man and as the Great High Priest who ever lives to intercede for us as His blood-washed, blood redeemed, blood sanctified saints. His resurrection by the power of the Holy Spirit guarantees our resurrection when He comes back (Ephesians 1:7) (Romans 8:11).
The Power of the Gospel
(Romans 1:16) “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”
Paul understood that the gospel was God’s power to save the soul of men and women whether Jew or Gentile and that the Jew should be first in line to hear and to respond to the message. Paul gloried in the cross and did not want to know anything or preach anything else other than Christ crucified (Galatians 6:14) (1 Corinthians 2:2). Paul also writes; “Jews demand signs and Greeks search for wisdom, but we preach the Messiah crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:22-24). If anyone was wise and learned in the languages and philosophies, lifestyles and religious thought of those in the world Paul was most knowledgeable yet all he did was to centre of the cross and the resurrection and that only through the Messiah our Lord Jesus was salvation obtained. He most certainly did not use the methods of persuasion used by the secular world and religious scholars in which he lived. He could reason and debate with the best of them but always sought to preach Christ crucified and dead, Christ raised physically from the dead, Christ the soon coming king and the judge of all men! This is the power of the Gospel!
The reception of the Gospel
(Acts 2:38-29) “Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
On the Day of Pentecost those listening to Peter’s sermon were cut to the heart with conviction of their sin of unbelief in the Messiah and cried out in their anguish of soul “What shall we do?” Well Peter told them what to do. He did not tell them to join a church, read a book on psychology, go to a priest to confess and receive absolution and do penance of some sort, or try harder to live a good life or seek to excel in good deeds, or turn over a good leaf as it were, or to try harder to resist sin. Peter did not mince his world but told them plainly in no uncertain terms what they needed to do.
Firstly; Peter told them they were to repent of the sin of unbelief in the Messiah, to change their mindset from a Messiah hating, Messiah rejecting way of life to a Messiah loving, Messiah accepting way of life.
Secondly; Peter told them to be baptised as an outward sign of the inward change having been born again by the Spirit indicating by their baptism that they had turned from their old life of sin and embraced the new resurrection life of the Messiah our Lord Jesus and by this outward act indicating their willingness to be forgiven for their sin of rejecting the Messiah and His claim over their lives.
Thirdly; Peter told them to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit to empower them to live as followers of the Messiah. The Holy Spirit had already done His regenerating work but also wanted to fill them to overflowing with His light and power. These three simple steps are the means by which any man, woman, boy or girl can be saved, forgiven, redeemed, cleansed, sanctified and made fit for God’s heavenly kingdom! (John 3:3) (John 7:37-39).
The Confession of the Gospel
(Romans 10:8-13) “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in Him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile–the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on Him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
The Lord Jesus always called men and women who had been saved by Him to publically confess their faith in Him. Baptism was the initial way in which they confessed their new found faith but also there needed to be a verbal confession before men. The Lord Jesus said; “Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father in heaven” (Matthew 10: 32-33). In the gospels we see that when people encountered the Lord Jesus they were quick of the mark to tell others. Confession is a part of the salvation process and will strengthen ones resolve to follow the Lord Jesus from that moment on.
You believe in your heart and confess with your mouth and because you confess with your mouth you show that what you are confessing is in your heart. Those who are saved will never be put to shame before God on the day of judgement because their sins were dealt with at the cross and they have received the atonement made on their behalf by the blood of the Messiah, the Passover Lamb sacrificed for us all (1 Corinthians 5:7). No matter how much we have sinned in the past the blood of Jesus has been shed to redeem us from the power and penalty of sin and ultimately from its very presence and will cleanse us from all sin and erase the past. Even though knows all about it He chooses to forget it when we repent of it and confess our sins, holding nothing back and making no excuses for it. When we do this with transparency before God He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all that is unrighteous in our lives and give us a clean bill of health spiritually! (Ephesians 1:7) (Psalm 103:2) (Hebrews 8:12; 10:17) (1 John 1:7-9).
Conclusion
This then is the gospel! It can be re-contextualised but not re-defined as we see happening on a global scale within wider Christendom in the western democracies that primarily are at ease in Zion and living in prosperity, while our dear brothers and sisters in the Islamic world, in China and in North Korea are imprisoned, marginalised in society, impoverished, tortured, maimed and murdered for their faith in the Messiah our Lord Jesus. These dear faithful brothers and sisters in the Messiah will not dilute or compromise the gospel of the kingdom with the wisdom, the psychology, the philosophies, the ideologies, the music and secular methods of persuasion used by the world merely to get ‘bums on seats!’
And so in a nutshell Paul declares; “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” And so the Lord Jesus is saying to many churches today imbued with the spirit of Laodicea; “Behold I stand at the door of your assembly continuously knocking, let Me in, so that I can eat the Passover Meal with you all once again and show you how to evangelise and disciple the lost” (Revelation 3:20).
Epilogue
What many within wider Christendom are promoting, propagating and purporting to be the gospel today is in fact the gospel re-defined and at best a mixture of truth and error laid side by side, and that done by stealth, and one of Satan’s master strategies to weaken the faith of New Covenant Bible believers in the western democracies against the time when inevitably persecution will come to the western Church. May the Lord give us the strength to stand when that time comes and to proclaim unashamedly the undiluted gospel of the kingdom and that God desires all men to be saved and to come to a saving knowledge of the truth as it is only and fully found in the Messiah our Lord Jesus!
