My Concern
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| Another Gospel |
Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is
weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?
– 2 Corinthians 11:28-29 (NIV)
Am I therefore become your
enemy, because I tell you the truth? They
zealously affect you, but not
well; yea, they would exclude you, that ye might affect them. But it is good to be zealously affected
always in a good thing, and not only when I am present
with you. My little children, of whom I
travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you – Galatians 4:16-19 (KJV)
At some point in the ministry of
Jeremiah he did not want to speak for God anymore but he could not help it as
God’s word in him became like burning fire and he could not hold it in (Jeremiah
20:9). Paul the apostle made it clears that “though
I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid
upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!” (1
Corinthians 9:16). The preaching of these men of God was not popular; they
preached out of a burden that God had placed on them and it could be rightly
said that they were mere vessels with which God passed his message to the
people of their time; the messages these men preached were way greater than
them. True gospel preaching in any age is not stardom or show biz; it comes
with a price that only a few can pay.
My greatest concern about the
messages preached today in the name of the gospel is that these messages lack
the power to save. It is through gospel preaching that the power of God that
saves sinners is manifested. Peter went to minister in Cornelius’ house. The
people there listened to the gospel with a prepared heart and received it with
faith. Without making an altar call and without hands laid on anyone and
without saying any sinner’s prayers, these people were saved and filled with
the Holy Spirit, literally (Acts 10:44). God has ordained that salvation will
come to men via gospel preaching and this is the reason Satan attacks the
gospel. If he can succeed in ensuring that the gospel lacks its true
ingredients, then it looses the power to save and all we will have in the local
church is religion, entertainment, showbiz and a sheer waste of time. All of
these will be happening while hordes of souls are lost to hell moment by
moment.
There are no new tricks in the
Devil’s bag. We must understand that Satan’s means of making the gospel loose
its potency has not changed since the time of the apostles of Jesus. In the days when Peter, James and Paul led
the church, Satan’s primary means against the gospel was by confusing the grace
that was preached in the gospel of Jesus with the laws of Moses. He is still
doing the same today but in a subtle manner. This matter was what led to the
Jerusalem Council meeting in Acts 15. The conclusion of that meeting was not
the fact that four laws were enumerated for the Gentiles to keep but this: “But we believe that through the grace of the
Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they” (Acts 15:11). The
conclusion reached in that meeting is the belief that it is the grace of God
that saves sinners and that the Christian life must be lived by this grace and
not by any system of laws.
Today, the church is again weighed
down by laws but not necessarily the laws of Moses but our inability to
distinguish the Old Testament from the New. The church today takes much of it
examples for Christian doctrine and practice from the Old Testament rather than
the New. Thus, the priestly order of Aaron has been conveniently converted to a
league of Men of God. Rather than submit to the admonition of Jesus that says
we are all brethren (Matthew 23:8), we find it easier to have ordained Pastors
and Bishops, who hold such authority in the church and cannot be questioned but
must be revered. Any tendency to question these men, we are referred quickly
to the Old Testament again were God placed a curse on those who dared challenge
Moses: “touch not my anointed and do my
prophets no harm”. We forget quickly that the people of God in the New
Testament have been made priests and kings unto God (Revelation 1:6). This
fascination with the Old Testament extends to the church’s preoccupation with
buildings.
The temple in Jerusalem was the symbol of the Jewish religion. Today,
the church building occupies an equal place of relevance. And regardless of the
cost of building and maintaining it, the church building has become our symbol of
religion too. It is this Old Testament mentality that informs tithes and
offerings collected in church services; thanksgiving; child and property
dedication; Sabbath observance; full time ministry; mass choir; anniversary
celebrations, a queer belief that God dwells in church buildings and a host of
other similar practices. None of these can be traced to the New Testament
churches led by the apostles of the lamb.
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| Buildings: Symbol of Organized Church Systems |
Paul’s contention with the Judaizers
of his time was not just because they practiced circumcision but because he was
trying to ensure that the gospel and the church life that will emerge from its
preaching will not be adulterated and thereby loose its potency. God meant for
the church to be distinct from Israel and that distinction is not to be
confused. Paul preached the doctrine of dispensations (Ephesians 1:9; 3:1-11).
A mystery doctrine that teaches that even though God never changes, He has
instituted certain changes all through human history to bring about His eternal
purpose of redeeming humanity to Himself. This doctrine is a mystery in the
sense that it was not revealed to Old Testament Israel but to the apostles of the
Lamb, who in turn taught it to the church through their epistles: and therefore
the distinction between the Old and the New Testaments. We have three
dispensations that can be subdivided into two each. These are the Theocratic, Christocentric
and Eschatological dispensations. The theocratic dispensation can be subdivided
into the age of the gentiles and the age of Israel. The age of the gentiles
will range from the time of Adam and Even, through Abraham and up till the time
the nation of Israel came out of Egypt. The age of Israel will be from the time
the laws were given through Moses until the time Jesus was born. Then we come
into the Christocentric dispensation that can be divided into the Hypostatic
Union and the Church age. The hypostatic union is the time when Jesus was born,
through his earthly ministry and up till the time he died on the cross. It
called hypostatic union because of the unique union of the God-man found in
Jesus Christ. It also represent a unique time in the dealings of God with
humanity when grace and law operated at the same time. The time of Jesus must
be seen as a separate dispensation because that is the only time in history
when God dwelt amongst men and it is the dispensation that makes other
dispensation relevant. Then we come into the church age, which is the
dispensation were we live in the present time. It ranges from the time Jesus
died on the cross up till the time when the church will be taken away in
rapture. This dispensation is not characterized by the laws of Moses but solely
by grace. The teachings of the apostles, particularly that of Paul, are what
theologians like to call Church Age doctrines. These doctrines are particularly
designed to be taught to the church: for the equipping and perfecting of the
saints until we all come to the full measure of maturity in Christ Jesus
(Ephesians 4:12-13, 2 Timothy 3:16-17). After rapture there shall be the
eschatological dispensation that is subdivided into the time of tribulation and
the millennial rule of Christ. When we understand dispensations, then we can
understand the seeming discrepancies in the teachings of Paul and Jesus Christ1. Jesus operated in a time
of law and grace. He fulfilled the law and bequeathed its righteous requirement
to the church. Paul taught that the church is no longer under the laws of Moses
but under a new law that commands us to love God and men.
My Contentions
Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the
common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered
unto the saints – Jude 3
The major difference between the true
gospel and a false one is that
God is at the center of the former while man is
the central figure in the latter. The gospel of Jesus Christ peaks ultimately
on the sovereign workings of God. So that when Paul discusses justification by
faith in Romans, he could not but talk about the doctrines of Christians’
election (Romans 8:33) and Predestination (Romans 8:29-30; 9:1-33). He then
concluded the whole discuss with a wonderful rendition on the sovereignty of
God in chapter 11:
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| False Teachers are Wolves in Sheep Clothing (Matthew 7:15) |
33 O the depth
of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how
unsearchable are his judgments,
and his ways past finding out! 34 For
who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his
counsellor? 35 Or who hath first given to
him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? 36 For
of him, and through him, and to him, are
all things: to whom be
glory for ever. Amen.
A thorough study of scriptures shows
the sovereign out workings of God on the earth. History simply tells His Story.
It is all for His glory. On the other hand, the false gospels center on man,
his needs and how man can attain glory in this life; of course, at God’s
expense. I shall be taking sometimes to explain some popular doctrines but will
avoid linking them to specific popular preachers’ names so as not to breed
unnecessary offence.
There are some doctrines today that
place faith at the center of the Christian gospel. This faith is one that uses
God to gain the good things of life. It uses scripture like Mark 11:24 to claim
whatever is good, regardless of what God’s will on such things are. Adherents
of this kind of religion use faith to get wealth and health. Their core
justification for their kind of Christianity is the fact that it works. They
forget quickly that the bible does not record anyone using his faith to get
wealth and health, and if the early Christians truly lived this kind of gospel
life, they would not have been recorded being persecuted, poor or destitute, as
we have them well documented in
the New Testament (1 Corinthians 4:9-13). Jesus
Himself would have been super rich and would have devised a less ignominious
means of purchasing salvation for us than the cross.
There are many things that work today
and these things do not have any root in the bible. The reason why we have adherents
of Buddhism, Hinduism, Animism, and even Islam, is because there are certain
metaphysical aspects of these religions that can be used to conjure material
benefits to their adherents. I can never forget reading a book titled “The
Cosmic Power within You” written by one Joseph Murphy. In it the author
recounted many miraculous occurrences, blessings, healings, and prosperity that
came the way of people who have learnt to use a certain cosmic power within
them. That book never mentioned the name of Jesus, quote one bible verse or
tell us what the cross of Jesus did. He simply was telling us that every human has
a cosmic power that can be utilized to that person’s advantage. There is little difference
between those who espouse a Word of Faith Christianity and Joseph Murphy except for the fact that the former use scripture to lend credence to the same doctrine the latter teach.
The faith that is taught by the word of faith movement simply has as its end
product or benefit the prosperity, health, promotions, healing and blessings of
those who believe in it, however, in the name of Jesus. That is why this sort
of faith is not the one in which the individual prays and waits for God’s will
to be done. Rather this faith is a “living” or “active” faith whose outcome is
dependent more on the person than on God in whom we are expected to place our
faith in. Thus the need to be strong in
faith; and not to waiver; and the
need to continue exercising this faith
through a positive world view and confessions, as the outcome is wholly dependent on your faith and not necessarily on
God. “You are what you believe”, ministers
of this gospel bellow. It takes people who have ventured into the world of
metaphysics or have read the works of the likes of Joseph Murphy to understand
my point here. The end result of it all is for man’s benefit and to bring glory
to man. God is just a means or a vehicle to achieving this purpose. This is one
leading example in which man has replaced God in modern gospel preaching. It is
this teaching on faith that has led to others like it: the prosperity gospel
and motivational teachings. At the root of all of these doctrines are man and
his benefit, and not God and His glory. The teachings of Joseph Murphy come
under the New Thoughts doctrines that became popular in the United States in
the 20th Century. Doctrines from New Thought form the over-aching
doctrines in the Word of Faith movement. Paul the apostle certainly had the likes of the Word of Faith movement at heart when he talked of those who will see godliness as a means for making profit (1 Timothy 6:5)
Next to the faith movement is the
holiness movement. While the former is a more recent occurrence, the latter
dates back to the 18th and 19th century under the
Puritans, Quakers and some of John Wesley’s followers. The holiness movement is
a sharp reaction to
extreme grace preaching and living. There are those who
believe that God’s grace permits them to live without laws or boundaries and in
reaction to this, the holiness movement went the other extreme to say that God
is still the God that enacted the Ten Commandments and his commandments are not
for decoration in the bible. They also take scriptures like Hebrew 12:14 to
give the impression that we are saved by our holiness. Their doctrines on
holiness become so based on man and his efforts, that the grace of God in
Christ Jesus is gradually edged out of the life of their churches. The mark of
many of these churches is a pre-occupation with rules and regulations. The
church dictates the mode of dressing especially for the female folks, insisting
that they must wear head coverings. Many of the people in these churches become
very hypocritical as they see the practice of religion more in external things
than in inner purity. Salvation by works is their central doctrine. They are
constantly in pursuit of making heaven – and consider any doctrine that
suggests a Christian’s security in grace as utter heresy. These people live in
constant fear of one’s sin making them miss heaven and can be a very poor
representation of what the Christian life is and thus put off many people who
have at some point or the other considered Christianity.
When we realize that the majority of
churches in Nigeria fall into either of these two groups then we would
appreciate the enormous task at hand. The gospel of Jesus Christ has
continually been threatened by the gospel of man right from its inception and
it is our duty to call the Christian church back from were it has fallen to.
Yes, the foremost responsibility of the church is to propagate the gospel but
what will we propagate if all we have is an adulterated message on our hands.
We then realize that as much as we are called to propagate the gospel of Jesus
Christ, it is incumbent on us to preserve it also.
My Convictions
Jesus said “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God,
and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3). I desire that all men
will know God and Jesus Christ whom He sent,
and that by knowing Him men would
have eternal life. It is for this reason I am sharing the gospel of Jesus
Christ in this five paper series. I believe that in the gospel there is inherent
power to save sinners and to give sufficient grace to live the Christian life
in a manner that is pleasing to God. I believe the undiluted gospel of Jesus
Christ is the gospel of grace that has justification by faith as it central
theme, and that God is so committed to His word that He is ready to confirm it
anywhere it is preached. I am however concerned that the gospel will loose its
power if it is not presented with the necessary items within it and it will simply
become another philosophical talk or talk show or an avenue for entertainment (1
Corinthians 2:5). For this reason the gospel must be preserved from every sort
of distortion.
I believe the aim of gospel preaching
is to bring sons to God with Jesus Christ being the first born Son from the
dead. Sons of God, in this case, denote men and women coming to maturity in
Christ Jesus as they are indwelled by the Holy Spirit of God. So that unlike in
the days of old when God ruled men with laws written on a tablet of stones, God
desires that his sons be led directly by the Holy Spirit (Romans 8; Galatians
5:23; Hebrew 9). In this way their righteousness will be “greater” than that of
those who lived under the laws of Moses in that the demands of the Spirit on
God’s sons will always be greater. But it also means that every man can enjoy
growth in grace at his own pace and not having to depend on a general standard
of rules and regulations like in the days of Moses. So that the demand on the
new born babe in Christ will certainly be different from the demand on the
matured (John 21:22) and that way God can deal with his children at everyone’s
spiritual level without anyone comparing himself with another. The beauty of
the blessing of the Spirit is that God is with everyone that calls on the name
of the Lord. They can enjoy being led of the Spirit and see God do great things
in their lives, with everyone dealing with God according to the grace of faith
He has dealt each man (Romans 12:3). The mark difference between spiritual
babes and matured sons is that babes or children always require rules and regulations,
while sons have exercised their spiritual senses to discern between good and
evil (Hebrew 5:14|), and choose to do good without any system of laws to guide
them.
I believe that the Christian church
should be concerned with what its testimony is in the world. As it is now the
name of the Lord is continually blasphemed by the actions of many Christian people,
especially prominent Christian leaders. Our primary duty to the world as Christians
is evangelism and this includes how we conduct ourselves in the eyes of the
world. There is no reason why a Christian leader should indulge himself, living the life of a cooperate CEO of a multinational company, owning private
jets, fleet of expensive cars, mansions, etc, in spite of the poverty ravaging the
land. The fact that non Christians are at the forefront of criticizing this sort
of lifestyle should deter such actions. Even if a Christian leader finds support
for this in the bible, he should restrain from indulging himself in it lest he
passes the wrong message to the world and lest our witness is tarnished. Gospel
preaching is not in words alone but it is seen even more in our actions. When the
life the Christian man lives begin to approximate to the way Jesus lived, the
bible says the world will ask us a reason for our hope in Christ; then it
becomes very easy to point to a crucified Christ. The case, as it is today,
were virtually every air time on the local TV and radio, is occupied by either
one church jingle or preaching, but does not translate to Christians living
above board in their private homes and offices, is a disservice to the gospel
and cannot bring
souls to Jesus as God wants. There is a need for a total
overhaul of what true gospel preaching and living is, and this must be taught
to the Christian community in our various local churches so that we may be the
light and the salt Christ desires us to be.
My Conclusion
There is no end to any discuss on
what the gospel of Jesus Christ is. It is my desire that Christian people can
read what I have written and ask themselves if what I have written is according
to scripture. That will demand that they must be like the Berean believers who
checked everything Paul taught them before holding them up as doctrine. If in
doing this, my readers find out that what I have written is the truth, I will desire
that they compare this gospel with what they hear in their churches. If it
turns out that it is in anyway different, they owe it to themselves to ask
their ministers some very uncomfortable questions. And if adequate answers
cannot be given, they may need to find other congregations to fellowship with.
What I have written is not mere
theology. I have endeavored to
teach the bible not based on my understanding
but by taking the scriptures at face value. Bible teachers are always in danger
of reading into scriptures what it never says and that is why I maintain that
the best kind of bible study is teaching the scriptures, especially the
epistles, verse by verse. Anyone who has done this has always gone away with a
richer grasp of the bible. It may also be necessary that bible teachers use
sound bible concordance to trace root meaning of words in their original Greek
form and know the context in which words are used, while at the same time
paying attention to the historical perspectives within which the epistles were
written and whom the epistles were written to. This way it becomes very easy to
know how to apply these messages to our time. A plethora of errors are being
propagated because bible teachers are not studious enough. Every Christian minister
must be a theologian if he must be able to rightly divide the word of truth.
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| The Christian's Constitution |
My hope is that if anyone has not
made a decision for Christ and has managed to read through all I have written, such a person would come to faith in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I believe that the
same God, who is mighty to save you, is also sufficient to keep you safe unto
that day when we shall be in God’s kingdom. I also trust God that Christians
who have read this piece will find increasing grace to grow in their faith in
the Lord: loving God and humanity, and increasing in a zeal to better human
life through true gospel preaching and living.
Thank you for reading and God bless
you greatly.
1. For a more in-depth study of the
doctrine of Dispensation, I
recommend R. B. Thieme Jnr’s book on the same subject. Others have also written
exclusively on it and a simple google of the word would shed some light on it.
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