Tim Hayes – Page 9

Founded Upon a Rock

The ending of the Sermon on the Mount is majestic, imposing, ominously authoritative and frighteningly demanding. After laying out what looks like an impossible standard of conduct, Christ says all who don’t obey Him and do what He says will be eternally destroyed (Mt 7:26-27), including many who call Him Lord. (22) If the Gospel is simply a free gift of salvation to all who are willing to receive it, how do we square this up?

One way is to ignore the warning and hope for the best, that God’s love and grace will cover our sin and we’ll be fine in the end even if we don’t obey Him. This isn’t wisdom, to say the least; it’s building on the sand: equivalent to rejecting Christ Himself. (Jn 12:48) We can say we’re receiving Christ while we’re ignoring what He says, but it’s pointless doubletalk. (Ja 2:20) Christ is saying something exceedingly profound, and He means exactly what He says; we ignore Him at our eternal peril. (De 18:19)

Another way to deal with this is to claim we’re saved by obeying Christ, reject the idea of salvation is a free gift and try to earn it. Another dead end, hopeless approach. (Ga 3:10)

The correct way to resolve this must be that those who are justified freely by His grace also obey Him (1Pe 1:2), not to earn salvation but as a necessary consequence of believing in Christ. Though works aren’t the cause of salvation, they must be the evidence that salvation has taken place. In other words, faith alone is a myth (Ja 2:17); faith and works always go together, we can’t separate them.

This implies those who are saved cannot live in willful disobedience as a manner of life. If our lives don’t reflect faith in the Son of God, we shouldn’t deceive ourselves; we should seek God until we find Him, until He reveals Christ in us and begins to sanctify and transform us. (Ep 2:10)

It also implies that Christ is not demanding absolute, sinless perfection from the start of our spiritual journey; there’s a sanctification process where we grow in faith and love over time. (Php 1:9) While we’re growing, we find within the longing to be more holy and obedient (He 12:14); continuous, stubborn defiance does not characterize the child of God. (15)

If we’re justified in Christ, we’ll be able to see how Christ is working within us obedience to all of His words, ensuring our lives are bearing out the fruit He says will come. Where we aren’t obeying too well yet in a particular area, we ask Him to show us why and heal us so we become more like Him. (Ja 5:16)

This is how we dig deep, laying up for ourselves a good foundation against the time to come, and lay hold on eternal life (1Ti 6:18-20), grounding our eternal home in the Rock Himself: Christ Jesus.

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He Doth Not Resist You

It’s tempting to conclude from Christ’s teaching that we ought not resist evil or defend ourselves (Mt 5:38-39), but there are clear indications otherwise: He encourages us to arm ourselves (Lk 22:36) and He Himself resisted injustice and malice (Jn 18:23), as did the Apostle Paul. (Ac 23:3) However, James characterizes the just as those who don’t resist when they’re wronged. (Ja 5:6) How do we reconcile this with the rest of Christ’s message?

If we look carefully, the context is describing those who are brought to civil court by the wealthy and tried for wrongdoings (Ja 2:6b); the rich can be oppressive, powerfully abusing legal systems to achieve their own destructive ends. (Ac 16:21-21) They often succeed in imposing severe punishment on the innocent (22-24), perhaps to acquire their wealth, eliminate them as obstacles or otherwise control them.

One clear boundary which is applicable here is we’re not to resist government by fighting against civil authority (Ro 13:1-2), so even if we’re being persecuted unjustly (1Pe 3:14-16), as is evidently the case in James’ example, we ought not to forcefully resist. (17-18)

There are certainly exceptions when we should suffer patiently when wronged, especially when defending ourselves or seeking justice would harm the cause of Christ. (1Co 6:7) However, generally, defending ourselves and loved ones with minimal necessary force is appropriate when we have the means, when it would not be offensive to the world and it’s supported by civil authority. (Es 9:2, 16) Further, once we have been wronged, seeking justice for ourselves and others through due process (Ac 16:37-39) is also appropriate and good (De 19:16), especially within spiritual community. (Mt 18:15-17)

As further guidance, we’re forbidden to pursue vengeance, to seek to enforce justice by taking matters into our own hands, or to be malicious toward others in any way, unmercifully seeking their harm in hatred (Ep 4:31-32), or to be proud, thinking of ourselves better than others. (Php 2:3)

It is unloving to promote injustice, or to fail to appropriately resist if we have the means to do so within the above guidelines. While it is not our primary purpose in life to be justice warriors, looking to right every wrong, since Christ Himself did not do this, it is certainly consistent with loving our neighbor as ourselves to do what we can within reason.

If someone were taking advantage of us and we were powerless to help ourselves, if we would want someone else to stand up in our own defense, even so we should seek to minimize harm towards ourselves and others in a spirit of humility and meekness. Doing justly while loving mercy (Mi 6:8) is within the law of Love. (Ro 13:10)

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Circumcision is Nothing

The Apostle Paul faced a severe dilemma in the early days of the Church; circumcision, commanded by God (Ge 17:10) as an expression of saving faith (Ro 4:11), and obediently observed by Abraham and the patriarchs, had also come to represent ritual conversion to Judaism (Ac 15:1), a religion teaching legalism: salvation by works (Ga 5:4), entirely contrary to justification by faith. (2-3)

Should Paul discourage obedience to one of God’s core commands (Mt 5:19) now that it’s been twisted into the foremost expression of rejecting God’s salvation? symbolic of earning salvation by works? (Ro 10:3) How could he neglect a plain command of God in good conscience, knowing saving faith establishes the law? (Ro 3:31) Yet how could he encourage obedience here without compromising the gospel? (1Co 9:22-23)

Paul circumcised Timothy (Ac 16:3), evidently not as a convert to Judaism, but to fulfill Torah as a good testimony to the Jews in his community, since Timothy would be a constant, faithful fellow worker with Paul throughout his ministry. (1Co 4:17)

However, when Titus was being pressured into ritual conversion to Judaism Paul objected fiercely, understanding this as a direct denial and corruption of the gospel. (Ga 2:3-5) Making a severe and costly break with the legalistic traditions of his people (5:11), Paul concluded those pushing Judaism on the Gentile saints as a condition of salvation were unsaved and cursed (1:10); he even wanted God to kill them. (5:12)

Paul clearly taught that those who converted to and depended on Judaism for salvation were not trusting Christ and were unsaved. (Ga 5:2-3) However, though he was accused of teaching the Jews to forsake circumcision (Ac 21:21), both by his public example (24) and testimony (25:8) it is clear Paul never did teach it was appropriate to neglect physical circumcision as an act of obedience to God.

If Paul didn’t discourage Jewish believers from circumcising their children, he wouldn’t have discouraged Gentiles from doing so either; circumcision was not a particularly Jewish thing (Jn 7:22); it existed in Abraham, the father of us all (Ro 4:16), long before the Jewish people.

So, Paul encourages circumcision in the context of obedience to God’s Law and forbids it when it is embedded in the larger context of ritual conversion to Judaism. Further, Paul teaches it is unnecessary for Jews to renounce their Jewishness by undergoing a formal act of becoming uncircumcised (1Co 8:18a), and encourages Gentiles to retain their ethnic and national identity rather than becoming Jewish. (18b) Effectively, he sees national identity as irrelevant in the context of defining a right relationship with God (19a); what’s important is staying true to the gospel while faithfully keeping God’s commands. (19b)

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The Lord’s Day

When the Apostle John received the Revelation of Jesus Christ (Re 1:1), he tells us he was, “in the spirit on the Lord’s Day.” (10) This term, “the Lord’s day”, occurs only here in Scripture, and it’s nearly universally understood by Christians to be a reference to Sunday, the first day of the week, though there’s no indication of this in the immediate context.

Why would Christians insist John is referring to Sunday? Typical reasoning is since the saints in Troas assembled for a meal and teaching on a Sunday (Ac 20:7), the early Christians must already have been observing Sunday as their day of rest and worship since Christ rose from the dead on Sunday. (Mk 16:9)

However, it is reasonable to think this particular meeting in Troas occurred in the evening, just after sunset on Sabbath, since Paul’s speech continued until midnight (speaking 5-6 hours straight is much more likely than 12-15 hours). The evening is when the biblical new day begins, and it would be very convenient for believers to meet just after sabbath on the first day of the week at or near a synagogue where both Jews and believing Gentiles would already be gathering to hear Scripture read and expounded. (Ac 15:30)

Early believers only had the Tanach (Old Testament, there was no formal New Testament yet), and copies were very expensive; the synagogue likely had the only Scripture in any given city. If one wanted regular access to the Word of God, synagogue was it. This is a very reasonable motivation for meeting on in the evening after Sabbath (Sunday evening); we need not assume early Gentile believers were arbitrarily fabricating a new holy day to supplant the sabbath, breaking with their Jewish brothers and sisters to despise a basic command of God observed by saints for millennia.

Sunday was a workday for Jews, so it would have been problematic for any congregation with a sizeable Jewish element to assemble during the day on Sunday. There is no indication in Scripture God told them to do so, there is no historical record of this practice during the apostolic era, and there is no clear motivation from their circumstances until quite late in the first century, so we may be confident they didn’t do this at first. The early disciples met daily, randomly, to eat and fellowship as much as they could, not just on Sundays (Ac 2:46), likely mostly informally in the evenings after work.

Paul’s instruction to Macedonian believers to allocate alms for poor Jewish saints (Ro 15:26) on the first day of the week (1Co 16:2) is also offered as evidence that early believers were meeting on Sunday and setting it apart as holy. However, the text does not indicate this was a collection taken up in the assembly but dedicated privately at home. So, this text also does not indicate believers were setting aside Sunday as holy.

Finally, since the disciples assembled in unity on the day of Pentecost (Ac 2:1), when the Holy Spirit was poured out on them (2-4), is taken as evidence that Sunday was already of extreme importance to the saints since it was Christ’s resurrection day. However, the Israel of God is commanded to assemble on the Day of Pentecost (De 17:16), which always occurs on a Sunday. So, the disciples were evidently simply obediently observing this biblical feast according to the commandment.

The above comprises the sum total of evidence from Scripture suggesting Sunday is the Lord’s Day, and it’s not evidence at all, not even close. Christianity’s insistence on Sunday must be driven by something other than Scripture, by tradition starting well after the apostolic period as believers were desperately trying to distance themselves from Judaism and the burdensome Jewish Tax imposed by Rome. The eventual result was a new religion which was foreign to the apostles, corrupted from the true (Is 8:20), an imitation and counterfeit using all the same words and phrases, but fundamentally different, with new traditions and practices, often deeply antisemitic.

There’s only one reasonable choice for the Lord’s Day, it’s the day God Himself blessed and sanctified, the day He rested from His creative work: the seventh day. The sabbath days are His (Le 19:30), (Ge 2:4)[/simple_tooltip], in other words, belonging to Him; it is the sabbath of the LORD thy God (Ex 20:10), that is … the Lord’s day.

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If We Sin Willfully

God warns the saints to not sin willfully: He threatens severe chastening if we do. (He 10:26-27) What types of sins does this include? How do we avoid committing them?

The Greek is Ἑκουσίως (Hekousiōs), appearing only here and (1 Peter 5:2); it means deliberately, willingly, as opposed to thoughtlessly, instinctively, or from ignorance, weakness or under duress. It modifies the Greek ἁμαρτανόντων (hamartanontōn), to go on sinning. The thought is that the sinful action is habitual, premeditated, intentional, brazen, defiant … knowing the law of God and despising it. (Ro 1:32)

Biblical examples would include the sanctimonious lying of Ananias and Saphira, claiming to donate all the proceeds from the sale of their land while they were keeping back some for themselves (Ac 5:1-2), who were immediately and supernaturally slain. (Ac 5:5,10) The Corinthian who took his father’s wife (1Co 5:1) was delivered over to Satan by the church for the destruction of his earthly body so his spirit would be saved (1Co 5:5), and a man gathering sticks on sabbath (Nu 15:32) was promptly stoned to death. (Nu 15:35-36)

The context of God’s warning refers back to the precedent He sets in Torah: anyone in Israel caught despising Torah would be executed without mercy. (He 10:28) Mercy was available for those who sinned ignorantly (Nu 15:27-29), but there was no pity for those despised Torah and sinned presumptuously. (30-31)

If we find this harsh, inconsistent with the New Testament god of love and mercy, we’re trusting in another Jesus, one not found in scripture: the punishment for believers who sin willfully is not less severe but more. (He 10:29) Torah’s punishment was carried out by civil authority, but the punishment of believers is designed and carried out by God Himself and may very well be much worse than death. (30) Don’t go there; it won’t be worth it, not even close. (31)

David’s adultery with Bathsheba would certainly also fall into this willful category (2Sa 12:9); he didn’t die for it, but he may often have wished he had, for all the suffering and tragedy which followed because of it. (10-12)

It isn’t cruelty that drives God’s severity; God is good; there’s no malice in Him. God’s love moves Him to severity as appropriate. (Ro 11:22) The consequences of sin are simply too devastating to be left unchecked (Mt 5:29-30); God loves the saints way too much to let us go off and destroy ourselves and others. He will do whatever is needful to bring us back and keep us close because He loves us. (He 12:5-6)

When we’re tempted to sin presumptuously, we can ask God to keep us back from it and restrain us. (Ps 19:13) We can also assure ourselves that whatever it is that’s telling us it’s a good idea to sin willfully is lying; we can ask God to give us repentance to acknowledge the truth (2Ti 2:25-26), choose the fear of God and depart from evil. (Pr 3:7)

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We Have an Altar

To establish the relevance of Torah for today we must consider the sacrificial system: would offering an animal sacrifice today dishonor the sacrifice of Christ in any way? If we are thus serving the earthly tabernacle, are we necessarily forsaking the cross of Christ? (He 13:10)

A key text here describes God’s peculiar interest in His earthly temple at the end of this present age; He has John measure the temple, the altar and those who worship and serve Him there. (Re 11:1)

Though the Jerusalem temple is dormant for now, it will evidently be rebuilt and re-established in all its glory in this present age by the miraculous hand of God (2Th 2:3-4), and the sacrificial offerings will evidently resume. (He 8:4-5) So, even after the atonement of Christ is complete, a functioning Levitical priesthood is evidently not offensive to God. (He 8:4) Why would it be? After all, He designed and ordained it to help us all understand redemption (Jn 1:29): it never was designed to take away or finally atone for any personal sin. (He 10:11)

Both the earthly temple and its sacrificial system remain a precious example and shadow of heavenly things (He 8:5); they are not the heavenly reality (He 10:8), but constantly and perfectly point us toward this reality. (Re 11:19)

So, as the Apostle Paul fully participated in the Levitical sacrificial system with burnt offerings, sin offerings and peace offerings (Nu 6:13-14) without dishonoring Christ (Ac 20:26), we may each do the same if we understand these as merely shadows of heavenly realities (He 10:1), and not the ultimate realities themselves. There can be no more dishonor to Christ in a New Testament believer participating in such divine rituals with proper understanding than it was for an Old Testament believer to do so.

It is no surprise then that we find the early Jewish believers, the Twelve Apostles taught by the Master Himself, along with their faithful disciples, all zealously keeping Torah, including the sacrificial system, long after the sacrifice of Christ. (Ac 20:20) As they ministered powerfully in the Holy Spirit, they saw no inconsistency, knowing animal sacrifices never have taken away sins (He 10:4) but have always perfectly illustrated Christ’s redemptive work (1Co 5:7-8), reflecting the eternal mystery of divine atonement for sin in Christ. (He 10:14)

If it isn’t a problem for Jewish believers to participate in the sacrificial system today, if this type of worship brings no dishonor to the work of Christ and is perfectly consistent with the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit (Ro 7:22-25), then it is so for the Gentile as well (Ep 2:12-14): we may all continue to enjoy the beauty and mystery of temple worship on Earth so long as Heaven and Earth stand. (Mt 7:18)

So, while John doesn’t officially measure the court of the Gentiles (Re 11:2), God at least mentions it — that there is a special place for all of us at the altar of God, even in these last days, an open invitation to all to come, remember, understand and rejoice in the redemptive work of Christ.

There will come a day when this type of worship is no longer possible, or even helpful; when the earthly temple is no more, only a heavenly tabernacle will remain. (Re 21:22) In that day the Levitical priesthood will finally be obsolete (He 7:12), and thus the related ceremonial laws of Torah abolished (18-19), replaced by the Melchisedek priesthood of Christ (11), Who serves the saints eternally in the Heavenly temple. (He 8:1-2)

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Let No Man Judge You

There are certain parts of scripture which seem to say, on first reading, that certain parts of the Law have been abolished, rendering them obsolete, no longer binding or relevant for us today.

For example, when Paul says, “let no man judge you in food, or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath” (Co 2:16-17), it’s very easy to conclude he’s giving us freedom to ignore some of these old Jewish laws. Is this because we’re already inclined to think this way? Are we imposing our view on the text? or is the text actually saying this?

Let’s consider it carefully: What does “let no man judge you” have to do with our own, personal moral responsibility before God? or with what God Himself expects of us? or with our own obligation to obey His Law?

Nothing, actually: this is about how others assess how we’re obeying certain parts of Torah, how they think we’re supposed to observe God’s dietary laws, festivals, holy days and sabbaths.

When others accuse us of not doing it right, trying to impose their man-made traditions on us (Co 2:20-22), we shouldn’t be intimidated into trying to appease them. We should only be concerned with what God says, not the customs, traditions and commandments of men. (Co 2:8)

This is how Paul lives generally, not placing much stock in how others judge and evaluate his earnest walk with God (1Co 4:3), and this is how he encourages us: search out truth for ourselves (Ac 17:11) and obey it all as well as we can, as unto God. (Ro 14:4)

So, how is a text which has absolutely nothing to do with our personal responsibility to keep Torah so easily misread as permission to break it? Our presuppositions can easily blind us to what the Word actually says; they are much more powerful than we might think. (Ro 8:7)

When error is common, taught us right from the start of our spiritual journey, it may take the special intervention of God to set us free (2Ti 2:25-26), even when He’s laid it all out there right in front of us. Our teachers probably mean well, but at times we all regurgitate what we’re taught, failing to think it through and discern the truth for ourselves. (Ps 119:99)

So, what does Christ Himself say about the continuity of Torah, and about our responsibility to keep it today? First, He says we’re not to think He came to abolish any part of Torah; He came to fulfill it: to honor it, obey it perfectly and complete all the prophesies related to His first coming. (Mt 5:17)

He then confirms that all of Torah, every single law, will be relevant as long as Heaven and Earth stand — until all be fulfilled: Torah is God’s standard of holiness until every single prophecy in the Bible has come true. (18)

Then He says, in no uncertain terms, that we’re all to be delighting in, respecting, keeping, observing, obeying and doing all of Torah that we can, including what we might consider the least of His commands, and teaching others to do the same. He even affirms that our obedience to Torah defines how we’ll each be esteemed and rewarded in His kingdom. (19)

That’s about as plain as it gets. How could He say this any more clearly, simply and directly?

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Complete In Him

Perhaps it’s become trite Christianese, but we say there’s a God-shaped hole in each one of us, and that the world is out there constantly trying to fill it up with something else. There’s something profound here; we do well to explore for ourselves, as well as for others.

According to Scripture, in Christ we find this inner fullness, satisfaction and contentment we’re all searching for: we’re complete in Him. (Co 2:10) Everything we need spiritually and emotionally is there for the taking in Christ; He loves us unconditionally, beyond our ability to comprehend (Ep 3:19), and He gives us ultimate meaning, purpose and fulfillment. (Php 1:21)

Christ is also breathtakingly beautiful, more so than any other being in existence (Ps 45:2a); He is the ultimate in moral excellence, majesty, might and power (2b-4), as well as the embodiment of the ultimate divine mystery. (1Ti 3:16) Jesus Christ is amazing on every conceivable level. (Ep 3:8)

So, unless we’re so deeply satisfied in God that we feel no enticement from the best the world has to offer, such that it doesn’t even begin to lure us away, we still have some healing to do here. It’s helpful then to identify areas in our lives where we still feel enticed to sin, to not love God with our whole heart, soul and mind (Mt 22:37); it’s here that the God-shaped hole remains exposed and empty in us, beckoning us to fill it.

So, where are we looking? Searching for what will satisfy and complete us? The perfect friend, wife or husband? or that perfect house or career? Whether it’s more toys, more acclaim, a pain-free, trouble-free life … if we look carefully and thoughtfully, we’ll see where we’re still in need of healing, where we’ve bought in to the lie that God Himself isn’t enough, insuffieicnt, that something else besides God will balm the wound and fill our emptiness.

Yet, the One Who made us knows our wounds better than we do, and only He knows how to heal them. If He Himself bore our griefs and carried our sorrows (Is 53:4), if He’s willing to take on all our demons and heal all our sicknesses (Mt 8:16-17), He’s willing to help us with the deeper, spiritual healing we need, sanctifying us in Him. (Ti 2:14)

Truth is, our old man will never be satisfied (Pr 27:20), no matter what; its very nature is to crave more and more. Christ didn’t come to fix our old man; He has already crucified it along with Himself. (Ro 6:6) We’re to reckon ourselves dead unto sin, and alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Ro 6:11) We are to abide in the energy and life of Christ within us (Co 3:3), Who’s always feeding in the majesty of God; we’re to be living out His life in Him and with Him. (4)

So, find each worldly thing that beckons us away, every distraction turning us from the love and perfection of Christ, and hold it up to the light in Him. Sense how He Himself compares this thing with Himself, and let Him heal the lie holding onto it with Himself. (Ep 1:17) Play this out before Him, with Him, in Him, examining it with Him, and examining Him alongside it, asking Him to deliver and quicken, to open the understanding (Ep 4:17-19), and drink in the vast, immeasurable chasm between this paltry little thing that promises to charm us, and Himself. (Ep 3:17-18)

Everything outside Christ can be made to look shiny and appealing if we look at it in darkness, in isolation from Christ. But out in the blinding, stunning, majestic radiance of Jesus Christ (Re 1:14-16), there is simply no comparison; nothing outside Him can abide His unveiled presence. (Re 20:11)

Let all these cheap, earthly trinkets vaporize before Him, let them all go … and be satisfied in Him. (Php 3:8)

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Hath God Said?

When Adam chose to sin he exalted himself as God, to know good and evil (Ge 3:22); that is, Adam started deciding for himself what good and evil are, rather than letting God define it. He expressed this by deciding to disobey God, to sin, to break God’s Law. (1Jn 3:4)

In doing this, Adam effectively removed God from the center of his own world view and placed himself in the center, as if he were God. The basic problem with this is that Adam never was, nor ever could be the actual center of any coherent world view: the center of our universe must also be imposed on everyone else as the center of their universe: this is the definition of center.

So, Adam effectively chose to orient himself around a lie, and this corrupted and distorted his every impulse, emotion and thought pattern from that moment forward; it blinded him to cosmic reality and caused him to live in delusion, a type of spiritual death.

Everyone has a world view, something about which they orient their behavior, a center to align their thoughts and actions into a coherent, meaningful focus. This center is either God or it isn’t; if we try to displace Him we’re making the same mistake Adam did, with the same consequences.

The way we do this, take God out of the center of our world view and place ourselves there, is by defying God. We defy God by breaking His law on purpose, rebelling against His revealed will. We first conclude God isn’t good, that His laws aren’t good, and that if we disobey we’ll be in a better place. Sin always works this way, every time.

Consider the first sin: Satan first drew attention to God’s command, “Yea, hath God said?” (Ge 3:1) When he claimed God was evil (Ge 3:4-5) and made sin look good (6), we all went for it. (1Co 15:22)

It doesn’t really matter which law we break; for Adam it was a dietary restriction: “Thou shalt not eat of it.” (Ge 2:17) There is then a very real and practical sense in which every willful sin is equivalent: it’s both an expression of defiance against God and an attack on His holy character, claiming God isn’t good and can’t be trusted.

Breaking God’s law not only offends and angers God personally, it grieves Him because it misaligns us with reality in a fundamental way: God actually is the center of the universe, nothing else could ever be, and when we choose another center it causes misalignment within us on every level of existence. Like an off-center, out-of-balance wheel that wobbles out of control when put to work, sin results in a dysfunctional, pervasive corruption of the mind and spirit.

So, if God tells us to do something, or not to do something, is this sufficient reason to obey? If it depends, or if we’re any more inclined to obey when we think it will be good for us, we’re still disrespecting and distrusting Him, pushing God out of the center of our universe and placing ourselves there. There is no fear of God in the soul that willfully defies Him, no true knowledge (Pr 1:7) or wisdom. (Pr 9:10) This is the way of death.

This is where we all start out: in Adam, going our own way right along with him. When God mercifully intervenes, giving us repentance and rescuing us, then knowing His will is enough, moving us to obey from the heart.

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The Everlasting Gospel

Clearly and accurately identifying Christ, the Holy Spirit and His eternal Gospel (Re 14:6-7) is central to the Christian faith, yet given the many attractive counterfeits (2Co 11:4), it’s evidently no easy task.

Consider the claim that repentance, turning from our sin, is optional, that one may receive the gift of free grace in Christ with no strings attached. The claim is that God offers forgiveness to those who remain hardened against Himself, who intend to continue in rebellion against Him, who will not submit to Him as Lord. It’s claiming we can receive the gifts of Christ without receiving Christ Himself (Jn 1:12), that we may have eternal life without giving up our own life (Jn 12:25), without offering up ourselves to the Son in Whom this eternal life resides. (1Jn 5:11-12) Is this a false gospel, or the true?

It’s true we’re not saved by our works; there’s nothing we can do to earn salvation, or to add to what Christ has done to save us: justification has nothing to do with our obedience to God. But it’s also true that all who don’t love Jesus Christ will be cursed at His coming. (1Co 16:22) Those who pursue sin as a manner of life don’t yet know God (1Jn 2:4) and are heading for eternal damnation. (Ro 2:8-9)

So, offering unrepentant sinners a get-out-of-jail-free card may seem like free grace, but it’s a misunderstanding and misapplication of the Gospel: that would give us a license to sin and make Christ a minister / enabler of sin, and this isn’t Love. (Ga 2:17) Yet we don’t need to clean up our act before we come to Christ either: Christ didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. (Lk 5:31-32)

The biblical Gospel isn’t merely an offer of forgiveness, it’s an offer of holiness, without which we’ll never see God. (He 12:14) God’s inviting us not only to justification, but also to sanctification: He’s offering to transform us from rebels into saints. (Ro 8:29-30) The redeemed are elect unto obedience (1Pe 1:2), predestined to good works. (Ep 2:10)

The New Covenant in Christ writes God’s Law into the very fabric of our minds and hearts (He 8:10), equipping us to obey and honor Him: receiving Christ involves pursing this transformational relationship, in which He starts cleaning us up and making us more like Himself. (Ti 2:11-14) He enables us to start submitting to and obeying God from the heart so we can walk in fellowship with Him, in more and more alignment with Him. (He 12:28) If we aren’t interested in that good news, we aren’t interested in the Gospel at all. (Ps 119:155)

If we have faith to believe God is Who He says He is, and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him by enabling us to find Him, then the Gospel invites us to come (Re 22:17); it’s the only way we can come to God. (He 11:6) Saving faith works in us not only to rest in God (He 4:10-11) but also to pursue God. (Php 2:12-13)

We’re to seek first God’s kingdom and righteousness (Mt 6:33), believing Christ is both our righteousness and our sanctification (1Co 1:30), obeying Him with what strength He’s already giving us as we rest in Him, trusting He will deliver us yet more and more from our sin (Ga 1:4), confident in His promise to ultimately present us faultless before Himself with exceeding joy. (Ju 24)

This is the Good News, the everlasting Gospel; it has never changed, and it never will.

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