Truth is that which is
in Jesus Christ (John 14:6), who he is and what he has done”
15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. —John 14:15-17 ESV
4 I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we were commanded by the Father. 5 And now I ask you, dear lady—not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning—that we love one another. 6 And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it. 7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist. 8 Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward. 9 Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. 10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, 11 for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works.
12 Though I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink. Instead I hope to come to you and talk face to face, so that our joy may be complete. —2 John 4-12
If they stray from the
, they will not
well; and if they don’t love well, they will stray from the truth. (the same is true for us)
In a fallen world, our communication of the gospel won’t always be perfect. We’ll misunderstand or misinterpret Scripture at times, and no one will get everything right. But those who
add to the message aren’t walking in the truth and love that John instructs believers to walk in.
They are creating false gospels. And sadly the game has not changed. Our world is filled with false gospels and false hope, masquerading as truth. Which highlights all the more the fact that we need to hold fast to the truth and be grounded and firmly rooted in it. So that we are not tossed by the waves of popular opinion.
15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved,[c] a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. 16 But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, 17 and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, 18 who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some. —2 Timothy 2:15-18 ESV
6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 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 accursed.
10 For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. —Galatians 1:6-10 ESV
A false gospel would tell you that all you have to do is believe, but not that you need to repent. A false gospel would tell you there is a Heaven, but would not warn you of a Hell. That is not the true gospel. Think of repentance and believing as two wings of an airplane—you need both. Or think of repentance and belief as two sides of a coin. They are connected. Believing is grabbing hold of something. Repentance is letting go of something. —GREG LAURIE
“We believe a false gospel whenever we make something else besides faith in Christ necessary for salvation and when we assume that it doesn’t matter what you believe so long as you are a sincere, loving, and good person.” —J.D. GREEAR
THE GOOD PEOPLE GOSPEL
- “WE ARE ALL BASICALLY GOOD PEOPLE”
22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. —Romans 3:22-25 ESV
THE EXPRESSIVE INDIVIDUALISM GOSPEL
- IT IS ABOUT “BEING TRUE TO YOURSELF”, “FOLLOWING YOUR HEART”
17 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. —Romans 6:17-18 ESV
- BUT OUR HEARTS ARE DECIETFUL
The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately sick; who can understand it? —Jeremiah 17:9 ESV
- SIN BLINDS US AND DARKENS OUR MINDS SO WE CANNOT SEE THE TRUTH
4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. —2 Corinthians 4:4 ESV
THE OPTIONAL JESUS GOSPEL
PEOPLE SEE JESUS AS “A WAY” INSTEAD OF “THE WAY”.
14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. —1 Corinthians 15:14 ESV
19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. —1 Corinthians 15:19 ESV
THE FAITH-AND GOSPEL
- THE IDEA THAT FAITH “AND” SOMETHING ELSE SAVES ME.
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. —Ephesians 2:8-10 ESV
PROSPERITY GOSPEL
- INSTEAD OF STRESSING THE IMPORTANCE OF WEALTH, THE BIBLE WARNS AGAINST PURSING IT. BELIEVERS ARE TO BE FREE FROM THE LOVE OF MONEY.
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have because God has said “never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.” —Hebrews 13:5 ESV
It comes back to trust. It comes back to
“Two things I ask of you, LORD; do not refuse me before I die:
8 Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches,
but give me only my daily bread.
9 Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you
and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’
Or I may become poor and steal,
and so dishonor the name of my God. —Proverbs 30:7-9 ESV
SOCIAL GOSPEL
- ACCORDING TO THE SOCIAL GOSPEL, THE BETTERMENT OF SOCIETY EQUALS SALVATION.
10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, 11 for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works. —2 John 10-11 ESV
The
is worth protecting.
Like everything else in life it takes practice.
“Don’t ever mix up the implications of the gospel with the gospel itself. The gospel is not about what you are to do but about what Jesus has done.” —J.D. GREAR