The Perverted Gospel
By Stewart Baker
[Page 183] |
Pollution is a major problem with which our world is concerned. Our land is contaminated, our water is unsanitary, and the air filled with unwanted impurities. Unless drastic changes are made, the world will continue to suffer and eventually life could perish from the earth. The evil effects can even now he seen and felt, although there are those who deny or ignore this threat to life.
The pollution problem, however, is a physical one. I am concerned with a spiritual situation that endangers the spiritual life of the church and the world. If allowed to continue it will destroy the very gospel that leads men to God. This was mentioned in Galatians 1:6, 7, "I marvel that you are so quickly removing from him that called you, unto a different gospel, which is not another gospel, only there are some who trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ." This perversion or pollution is demonstrated by the fact the gospel is not as productive today as in the past.
We can see that something has gone Wrong, but few have been able to detect the real cause of this problem. More preaching is being done today than ever before, more people are making a start for Christ, more Bibles are being sold and read than ever before in history, yet Christianity is falling behind in its task of bringing the world to salvation. We would like to show how the gospel has been perverted and polluted by men, and suggest some corrective measures which need to be taken, so that it can do its work again.
In the beginning, when the gospel was preached, it changed the world. It was God's power unto salvation (Romans 1:16), to save men from the practice of sin, the guilt of sin, and the penalty of sin. The same gospel then preached will have the same effect upon people today. The gospel has not lost its power. It can lift men from sin if it is preached in its purity. It is still God's power unto salvation and it is through the "foolishness of the preaching that God saves those that believe" (1 Corinthians 1:21).
In 1 Corinthians 15:3-5, the gospel is identified as the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. These are the facts of the gospel and they demand a corresponding response in order to be saved. One enters into death by dying to sin, into burial by baptism, and into the resurrection by coming forth from the watery grave into new spiritual life. It was the Good News recorded by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John which was originally preached. It produced obedience. John said, "These things are written that you might believe, and believing you may have eternal life." The preaching produced faith which is the basis for all actions which lead to God. One who learns of Christ through the testimony of the four gospel writers, turns from sin and embraces Christ.
But we live in a pushbutton age, and it affects us both physically and spiritually. We turn a knob to get music, flip a switch to secure light, and push a button to clean our clothes or wash our dishes. With a switch our garbage is crushed, the bed is warmed, the bread toasted, and our teeth brushed. We add water for instant coffee, tea, cocoa, milk or mashed potatoes. In an instant we change a frozen dinner into a steaming hot meal. We have been caught in a maelstrom of speeding things, methods and people.
And this has affected us spiritually. We can no longer take the time to pray, study, or meditate. We rush to meeting, worship in a hurry, and rush back out. We cut corners in every way to save time. When we start into all the world "to make disciples of every nation," we want every streamlined method we can find. We want to quickly make a believer out of an alien, get him to repent, and by quickly adding water, make him a Christian. This system clouds our thinking
[Page 184] |
Actually we are preaching "our conclusions," reached through our study of the word. We have learned that every person must believe that Jesus is God's Son, must turn from his sins, and then be immersed for the remission of his sins (Acts 2:38). We convince a man of these things, and, with his consent, we lead him through these steps and accept him into fellowship as a Christian. But he has never had the privilege to become a disciple of Jesus. He has not had the Good News preached to him so that he can have a simple trusting faith in Jesus. His faith, at best, is shallow, for his learning is limited. Faith comes through hearing the word of God (Romans 10:17), and under the instant Christian system he has not been taught the gospel. He has been taught our conclusions, and he has obeyed us and our conclusions rather than obeying the Christ.
What happens when one is thus brought to Christ? Temptations come to him as to all Christians, and because his faith is based upon our conclusions, he surrenders to temptation and is again involved in sin. His faith is very weak or non-existent, and he is soon gone. This path has been followed by many new Christians in the last few years. Where are the last five hundred you have seen brought to Christ? The last hundred? The last ten? They are gone! They leave almost as fast as we bring them in through preaching our conclusions.
When we see the new members involved in some sin, we try to offset the condition by preaching against the sins. We inveigh against every existing sin known to man, and some unknown ones. Smoking, drinking, movies, dress, jewelry, gambling, necking, television and dope! These are the popular subjects of many. They loudly denounce the idea of Christians being involved in any of these, and proudly proclaim, "We are preaching the gospel as it is!" Now these things may need our occasional notice, but they are not the Good News of salvation from sin.
Good news (the gospel) of the saving power of Jesus will save men from their sins, while preaching against the sins may only reform sinners or make hypocrites out of them. Our churches are filled with both. Reformed sinners without faith or salvation, and hypocrites playing church behind a false front!
No wonder that many preachers are frustrated with their failures to lead people to a spiritual relationship with Jesus. Their polluted gospel is not converting men to Christ. It is merely innoculating them against spirituality. At this stage of the game we start setting up rules and regulations to guide the people. The rules may not be written, but they are preached over and over to bring the listener into conformity. They consist of emphasis upon church attendance, singing with gusto, never missing the Lord's Supper, bringing your offering regularly, wearing the right clothing, and staying away from anyone who might teach you something different from "our teaching."
So well is this done that the people come to believe that by keeping these rules they are assured of a safe passage into heaven. They faithfully follow them year after year and depend upon these works to have them. Their faith is grounded in rule-keeping instead of in the Son of God. Their love is a love for the church and its regulations rather than for Jesus their Lord. As one poet said, "They went about their church work with a glamorous, beaming face; Not realizing that their church work had taken the Master's place." Rules that are right should be kept, but only because of one's faith in Christ and not for the sake of the regulations.
You may have wondered what was wrong with the church and its message and perhaps thought the gospel had lost its power. The reason for the ineffectiveness is obvious. The message preached today is polluted and perverted. We are not talking about false teachers and false teaching. We refer to teachers who know the truth, but have been subverted into preaching on things, policies, conclusions
[Page 185] |
In the physical realm we say, "Stop dumping things in the streams and rivers to clean them up. Stop putting acids and smoke into the air to restore its purity. When this is done we will then have done away with pollution." The same reasoning will work with the gospel. Quit giving lectures on the evils of sins, and preach the gospel of God which is His power to save men from all of their sins. Let the preachers and teachers again lead the sinners to Jesus and introduce them to each other.
They will hear the voice of Jesus teaching the simple truths of the parables. They will sit with the multitude and be fed with the loaves and fishes. They will see him in his glory as the walks on the water. They will learn to weep with Jesus as he stands at the tomb of Lazarus. They will stand amazed at his denunciation of the hypocrisy of the religious leaders. Take the sinners with Christ through the trials and scourging. Let them witness the Son of God being nailed to the cross for their sins, and see him die. Let them see the sealed tomb, and behold the angel roll away the stone for the risen Lord. Then they will have a faith which will cause an unceasing sorrow in their heart for their sins, and a lasting desire to be forever rid of them. This is the victory of faith which overcomes the world.
Let us cease to preach our conclusions as the gospel. Let us quit proclaiming a variety of other subjects and labeling them the good news. Instead, let us preach the gospel so that all of our hearers will believe the same thing, and reach the same conclusions as ourselves, not because we proclaimed our conclusions but because we preached and they believed the same Good News. Then they will stand in the same power by which we stand, the power of God. To Him be the glory forever! Amen!
Stewart Baker resides at Route 1, Box 223-A, Clackamas, Oregon. 97015, and he will be delighted to hear from you. Write to him.