WHAT IS THE TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL?
First of all, the truth of the Gospel is SOMETHING TO BE DEFENDED at all costs. Paul said it was "of foremost importance"(first of all) in 1 Cor.15:3. It's the part that matters the most. Why ? Eternal destinies are at stake. Only one Gospel has the power to bring salvation ( Rom.1:16 ) .If we err in the Gospel, we err in everything else. Paul was constantly defending the Gospel during His ministry. In Gal.2:5,14 we see Him first of all confront the salvation by works crowd in order to protect the Church and secondly we see Him confront Peter and the others because of their hypocrisy in this matter. When we see the great new testament preachers (starting with Jesus) we see people who stood up for the truth of the Gospel. If we teach the truth we will also have to make a stand for the Gospel. Are you ready? Do you have what it takes? Remember, we are not alone. Jesus and the others have already blazed the trail of truth. Secondly, the truth of the Gospel is SOMETHING TO BE DEFINED. For too long now religious people have gotten away with defining the Gospel as something other than what the Bible defines It as. In Acts 15 the Judaizers tried to intimidate Paul into accepting a salvation that included works, namely being circumcised and keeping the law of Moses. Paul's reaction? They "had no small dissension and disputation with them" (Acts 15:2) . " To whom we gave place to subjection no, not for an hour; that the TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL might continue with you" ( Gal.2:5 ). Layman's terms ? " We didn't back down from defending the Gospel". Like Paul and Jesus and the first preachers, we as true believers are OBLIGATED to define clearly what the true Gospel is . So how do we do this? We go back to the Bible and see what it says. If the Bible gives a CLEAR definition of the Gospel, then the issue is settled. End of discussion.
First of all, the truth of the Gospel is SOMETHING TO BE DEFENDED at all costs. Paul said it was "of foremost importance"(first of all) in 1 Cor.15:3. It's the part that matters the most. Why ? Eternal destinies are at stake. Only one Gospel has the power to bring salvation ( Rom.1:16 ) .If we err in the Gospel, we err in everything else. Paul was constantly defending the Gospel during His ministry. In Gal.2:5,14 we see Him first of all confront the salvation by works crowd in order to protect the Church and secondly we see Him confront Peter and the others because of their hypocrisy in this matter. When we see the great new testament preachers (starting with Jesus) we see people who stood up for the truth of the Gospel. If we teach the truth we will also have to make a stand for the Gospel. Are you ready? Do you have what it takes? Remember, we are not alone. Jesus and the others have already blazed the trail of truth. Secondly, the truth of the Gospel is SOMETHING TO BE DEFINED. For too long now religious people have gotten away with defining the Gospel as something other than what the Bible defines It as. In Acts 15 the Judaizers tried to intimidate Paul into accepting a salvation that included works, namely being circumcised and keeping the law of Moses. Paul's reaction? They "had no small dissension and disputation with them" (Acts 15:2) . " To whom we gave place to subjection no, not for an hour; that the TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL might continue with you" ( Gal.2:5 ). Layman's terms ? " We didn't back down from defending the Gospel". Like Paul and Jesus and the first preachers, we as true believers are OBLIGATED to define clearly what the true Gospel is . So how do we do this? We go back to the Bible and see what it says. If the Bible gives a CLEAR definition of the Gospel, then the issue is settled. End of discussion.
