The Alternate Gospel

 

Now faith is an assumption of what is being expected, a conviction concerning matters which are not being observed. 

Hebrews 11: 1, Concordant New Testament 

Maybe you've been there.  You've read the scriptures and thought that you understood the word.  That is, until another so called gospel was introduced to you.  As a young believer, this is the position I often found myself in.  It is, I believe, the position many Christian believers often find themselves in.  They've read and feel that they understand the bible, only to have a monkey wrench tossed into what they believe by a pastors Sunday sermon.  You've read that God sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins {2 Corinthians 5:21}.  Yet this alternate gospel will preach to you that we need to continually seek the Lords forgiveness.  You've read that your salvation is a gift from God {Ephesians 2:8-9}.  Yet the alternate gospel tells us that it is by our own efforts (tithing, serving and church attendance) that we can affect our own salvation.  So, my question to you is this, who is it that you trust in?  Do you trust in the honest word of the Lord?  Or, do you place your trust in an alternate man created gospel?  For most of my Christian life, the alternate gospel was indeed the be all end all.  I viewed salvation as a gift received from the Lord.  However, I also believed that I could lose that gift if I did not perform in a way which pleased the Father.  Contrary to the scriptures, my salvation had become a competition.  These days I describe adhering to this alternate gospel as akin to running on a hamster wheel.  Those who accept it are constantly performing in the hopes that God will deem them acceptable.  The apostle Paul warned early believers of alternate gospels {Galatians 1:6-9, 2 Corinthians 11:3-4}.  Paul knew and understood that there would be others claiming to be the true word of the Lord.  One of these was indeed Paul's former masters in the Jewish church.  He confesses that the gospel he spoken to him after his conversion was not a gospel spoken according to man {Galatians 1:11}.  The apostle John calls upon believers to "Test the spirits, whether they are of God" {1 John 4:1}.  That is, do I trust in the word, or in a separate gospel originated and spoken by man?  

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see if they are of God, for many false prophets have come out into the world.  In this you know the spirit of God: every spirit which is avowing Jesus Christ, having come in flesh, is of God.  

1 John 4: 1-2, Concordant New Testament 

When we get down to the nitty gritty of the alternate gospel, I believe that we are able to determine which one is the one true gospel spoken by the Father through His Son Jesus Christ.  I have never known the Lord to be a liar, so I have faith in knowing that what He has promised me is true.  We are told that Christ died on the cross carrying the sin of all mankind within Him.  The debt is paid!  The alternate gospel demands that we continue to seek forgiveness for something which Christ Jesus has already bled and died for.   Paul speaks to us that our salvation is the gift of the Father, and that nothing we can ever do will ever change that {Ephesians 2:8-9}.  The alternate gospel preaches to us that our actions here on earth will have a direct effect on our own salvation.  I don't know about you, but I trust the scripture over the claims of the alternate gospel.  In my heart, I have never known God to take away something He has promised.  Some might find my words harsh, but I believe that the alternate gospel is designed to make believers live in fear of God.  We live in fear of His angry punishment.  We live in fear of Him disregarding His misbehaving children (Through the judgement of sin).  Remember, Christ Jesus paid our sin debt at the cross.  It is the work of Christ on the cross that flies in the face of the alternate gospel.  It is also through the work of Jesus on the cross that all believers may find freedom in Him.  

If ever, then, the Son should be making you free, you will be really free. 

John 8: 36, Concordant New Testament 

~Scott~