The full gospel

We are living in times of change. The world is changing rapidly, and new teachings are coming and going. People take teachers for themselves to “coach” their lives as they wish, to satisfy their own desires and support what they already believe.

For the church, this has led to great confusion. The traditional gospel is rarely preached in churches anymore. It has been replaced by another gospel, that is stripped from everything that people generally don’t like. The new gospel is a message of grace, but without repentance of sin. It is a message of heaven, but without the message of hell. It is a message of loving yourself, instead of dying from yourself and live for Christ. What Jesus did for us on the cross is not often talked about, as well as the message of taking up our cross daily and follow Him.

The modern gospel has reduced the gospel to a message of goodness. The word goodness has been given a new meaning, now it means something like acceptance and being inclusive, as well as being kind to your neighbour. So as the society changes, many churches have accepted the trends and changes in the society, and changed the teachings of the church accordingly. More important than to preach what is written in the Bible is not to hurt anyone’s feelings.

Paul said it would come a time when they will not endure the sound doctrine, but after their own lusts they shall heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears.

What does the changes in the society and in many churches mean for the Bible believing Christian? First of all, it means that your faith is challenged in your daily life. The people around us does not accept our faith as easily anymore if you are a true believer of the Bible. They will challenge your view on abortion, homosexuality, sexual purity, Islam, and so on. You may get problems in your workplace. People will say you are racist and intolerant, and you might not get the promotion you wanted and deserved. To pick up your cross daily and follow Him suddenly becomes more difficult. It becomes a daily sacrifice.

The bible however, warns us several times not to be deceived. The Bible has not changed, and the gospel of Jesus Christ has not changed. It contains the everlasting Word of God. When the society changes, the Bible remains the same. When the society takes a new path away from the Word of God, we were never meant to follow the society into the darkness. We were meant to be the light of this world. We were meant to stand firmly on our foundation, which is the Word itself. We were to believe the Word, and lift it up as the truth. It may sound tough, but Paul said that all things are possible if you believe.

The full gospel is a message of hope and eternal salvation by faith in Jesus Christ. It first of all brings repentance from sin. But it also brings hope for this life, and for the next one. It contains fullness of joy, healing and restoration from sickness and disease, repentance and being free from sin. It is about becoming a child of God. To be filled with the Holy Spirit and have fellowship with God our Father and with each other. The gospel is a message given in the power of the Holy Spirit, through revelation, and not through earthly wisdom. It brings peace in your heart, but division to the world. The Bible is full of promises for those who choose to believe them. Don't let anyone take Gods promises away from you.

Jesus never promised us that everything is going to be easy. But He promised you that He well be with you always. And He also said that every true disciple of Him will be persecuted. Christians in the West have not been used to persecution the same way as Christians in countries like China, North Korea and countries in the Middle East. However, this is about to change. Christians are going to be persecuted, also in the West. Unless of course, you choose to become a part of one of the churches that has adopted the new and modern gospel. This gospel however, is a false gospel.

Jesus told his disciples a parable that related to the last days. It is called the parable of the ten virgins. They all had lamps in their hands, but five were foolish, and five were wise. The fact that they were all virgins and had lamps, shows that they were all Christians. But the wise virgins brought containers of oil to fill their lamps, and the foolish virgins did not. When the groom came to take the virgins to the wedding, the foolish virgins did not have enough oil and their lamps went out. Only the wise virgins were allowed to follow the groom into the wedding. Choose wisely what you believe and who you listen to. We need the fullness of the gospel to have the power to withstand the enemy in the last days, and to expose his lies. We need to have fellowship with Jesus every day, so he can give us more of his oil (Holy Spirit). Do not become one of the five foolish virgins. You put your own salvation at risk.

#Sounddoctrine #Gospel #Jesus