Who Changed The Gospel?
Salvation-by- works advocates claim that the Gospel changed and now includes faith plus works, namely water baptism. These apologists will tell you that it, water baptism, is a " work of God"( Col.2:12), not of man. I have some questions for those who make this claim. Did God carry you down to,and then immerse you under the water on the day you were baptized? The obvious answer is no. Man did , and he did it by performing PHYSICAL LABOR, or, what the Bible calls "works" or "deeds"( Ergon, Strong's 2041). If man cannot be saved unless man TOILS( Ergon), then Salvation is by faith in Christ AND by the toiling of man ( faith plus works). Paul's arguments are crystal clear on this matter in Romans 4: 1-5 and Galatians 3:1-3. No one was ever saved by works. In spite of overwhelming evidence in the Bible that Salvation is by Grace alone, through Faith alone, in Christ alone all throughout the ages, there are still those today that teach, as the Judaizers in Paul's day did, that man SECURES ( by a ritual ) and SUSTAINS (by keeping commandments) salvation of the soul. These Judaizers changed the Gospel that Paul preached( 1 Cor.15:1-4) into " another gospel" ( Gal. 1:6-9) by adding rituals and commandment keeping to the Salvation formula, the very same thing that is done by Salvation by works apologists today. Did Jesus change the Gospel? These apologists say so, and that He did with one verse; Mark 16:16. This, along with Acts 2:38, constitutes the hub of their theological doctrine that ALL New Testament Scripture MUST agree with. In Mark 16:15 Jesus told the eleven to " preach the Gospel" and there is no verse in Scripture that suggests that this was a " new" or " different" Gospel than the one that they had ALREADY BEEN PREACHING ( Mark 1:1,38-39,2:17,3:14,6:12). Nowhere in the book of Mark or any other of the Gospels will you find Jesus and the disciples preaching any Gospel that included water baptism. Peter is the best example that proves that he continued this same Gospel when he preached the first message after Jesus' resurrection. His sermon to the lost that day started in Acts 2:14 and ended in Acts 2:36 ( see the article "The "first " Gospel Message"). In Luke 24:47 Jesus told the disciples to preach " remission of sins" and this is EXACTLY what Peter did in his message in Acts 10:43. The hearers believed it, and THEN were baptized. This message is consistent throughout the ages ; The " believer" receives remission of sins ( Ro.4:1-4, Lu. 18:9-14,23:39-43, Jn.1:11-13, Ro.1:16, 10:10-14, Gal.3:8). Here is a closing thought to ponder; James was the speaker who addressed the issue of what CAUSES Salvation in Acts 15:12-29, and his verdict was this; Performing a ritual and keeping commandments DOES NOT cause salvation. The Judaizers could not bind works for salvation upon the church at Galatia and no modern-day Judaizer ( saved by rituals and commandment keeping) can bind it upon the church today. SOLA FIDE!
Salvation-by- works advocates claim that the Gospel changed and now includes faith plus works, namely water baptism. These apologists will tell you that it, water baptism, is a " work of God"( Col.2:12), not of man. I have some questions for those who make this claim. Did God carry you down to,and then immerse you under the water on the day you were baptized? The obvious answer is no. Man did , and he did it by performing PHYSICAL LABOR, or, what the Bible calls "works" or "deeds"( Ergon, Strong's 2041). If man cannot be saved unless man TOILS( Ergon), then Salvation is by faith in Christ AND by the toiling of man ( faith plus works). Paul's arguments are crystal clear on this matter in Romans 4: 1-5 and Galatians 3:1-3. No one was ever saved by works. In spite of overwhelming evidence in the Bible that Salvation is by Grace alone, through Faith alone, in Christ alone all throughout the ages, there are still those today that teach, as the Judaizers in Paul's day did, that man SECURES ( by a ritual ) and SUSTAINS (by keeping commandments) salvation of the soul. These Judaizers changed the Gospel that Paul preached( 1 Cor.15:1-4) into " another gospel" ( Gal. 1:6-9) by adding rituals and commandment keeping to the Salvation formula, the very same thing that is done by Salvation by works apologists today. Did Jesus change the Gospel? These apologists say so, and that He did with one verse; Mark 16:16. This, along with Acts 2:38, constitutes the hub of their theological doctrine that ALL New Testament Scripture MUST agree with. In Mark 16:15 Jesus told the eleven to " preach the Gospel" and there is no verse in Scripture that suggests that this was a " new" or " different" Gospel than the one that they had ALREADY BEEN PREACHING ( Mark 1:1,38-39,2:17,3:14,6:12). Nowhere in the book of Mark or any other of the Gospels will you find Jesus and the disciples preaching any Gospel that included water baptism. Peter is the best example that proves that he continued this same Gospel when he preached the first message after Jesus' resurrection. His sermon to the lost that day started in Acts 2:14 and ended in Acts 2:36 ( see the article "The "first " Gospel Message"). In Luke 24:47 Jesus told the disciples to preach " remission of sins" and this is EXACTLY what Peter did in his message in Acts 10:43. The hearers believed it, and THEN were baptized. This message is consistent throughout the ages ; The " believer" receives remission of sins ( Ro.4:1-4, Lu. 18:9-14,23:39-43, Jn.1:11-13, Ro.1:16, 10:10-14, Gal.3:8). Here is a closing thought to ponder; James was the speaker who addressed the issue of what CAUSES Salvation in Acts 15:12-29, and his verdict was this; Performing a ritual and keeping commandments DOES NOT cause salvation. The Judaizers could not bind works for salvation upon the church at Galatia and no modern-day Judaizer ( saved by rituals and commandment keeping) can bind it upon the church today. SOLA FIDE!