Struggling against the tide

john 3 16 gal 1a2This is where I am at this point in time after a discouraging evening with the evangelism team and as I struggled through Galatians 1 thinking. Here is the struggle….

One of the prevailing answers to the faith question in our culture today is this: we are all on different roads and they all lead to the same destination: heaven. Is this true? If so we might have to discard Jesus’ words “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me.” In fact, Jesus Christ gave himself for our sins to rescue us. It is therefore an astonishing thought to think that one who received the pure gospel message would so quickly desert and follow another gospel which is not really a gospel at all. The reason it is not a true gospel is because it is not the good news but rather one that seeks to put one into the bondage of faith plus works.

Why is that? It is because the true gospel is offensive to our human nature, our pride and our wisdom. We want/need to be in control and are offended when it is God’s way only. Our pride is offended to know that a man died in our place. That removes our self-sufficiency. And it offends our wisdom to think that God would use this humiliating disgraceful death to save us. But the truth is this: “Christ 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.” That is the truth of the pure gospel message and although the world considers it foolish God chose that so that we might know that His grace is the all sufficient, all wise way and there is no other way. Which gospel are you following—one of grace alone or one that says grace plus works?

BTW: this will appear on Facebook.com/bible.org on May 1…so any ideas you can offer here would be eagerly anticipated and considered.

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