The LORD has burned into the very
fiber of my spirit His truth found in Matthew 16:13-19 and Romans 1:16 and how
different “this” gospel is from that which has been shared by many churches and
by many believers today and in past decades.
The gospel of “cheap grace” and
“easy believe-ism” and “Jesus plus something” is not the same gospel JESUS
spoke of in Matthew 10 and Matthew 16:13-19, or that Paul spoke of in Romans
1:16.
It is important to understand
that the biblical teaching of the security of the believer and walking in the
grace of GOD never embodies the practice of antinomianism.
The biblical truth of the
security of the believer embraces the reality that JESUS’ death, burial and
resurrection fully satisfied the redemptive plan of GOD for all who truly
believe once and for all (Hebrews 10).
If one thinks that GOD’s grace
gives us a license to continue on in sin then they clearly do not comprehend
GOD’s grace at all (Romans 6).
For many reasons a large
percentage the Church has cheapened the GOSPEL
OF JESUS. The primary reason perhaps
is because we have not fully grasped the power of it. Due to our unbelief we have been forced to scramble
to find substitutes for the GOSPEL OF
JESUS: church growth strategies,
works, human effort and ingenuity, church programs and events to draw people
into the church building, evangelistic presentations that manipulate and
attempt to “sell” Jesus to the lost.
If JESUS preached the message
that ministers preach today He would have never been crucified (Lenard
Ravenwood).
We are forced to enter into the
political arena due to our unbelief in the power of the GOSPEL OF JESUS. Our culture
has become incredibly decadent because the Church has failed to be “salt and
light.” We pitifully strive to preserve
what we believe to be a Christian culture within a kingdom that is not our own.
When JESUS responded to Peter’s
confession in Matthew 16 He did not say that political debate is the rock upon
which He would build His Church. JESUS
did not say church growth strategies is the rock, or that works of the Law is
the rock, or that human effort and ingenuity is the rock, or that church
programs and entertainment is the rock, or that shallow evangelistic
presentations is the rock. JESUS said
the rock upon which He is building His Church is the confession that "He is the Christ, the Son of the Living GOD."
What the church has been doing to
respond to our culture has not worked well.
This is evident by the state of the Church today. It is weak and full of strife, conflict and
division. The lifestyles of Christians
today basically mimic the lifestyles of our godless culture. If we could see past the masks and walls of
many believers and peer into their secret closets we would see that there
really isn’t a lot of difference. Many
believers are caught up in debate over the most frivolous issues you can
imagine. Pride and self-centeredness are
rampant. There is a thick cloud of
self-righteousness that breeds a judgmental condemning attitude toward
unbelievers. Those outside of faith are simply living out of who they are and
what they were born into (the Adamic nature/sinful nature/the old man).
Also, look at our culture. Why would we expect people who do
not know JESUS and, therefore, who do not possess HOLY SPIRIT, to act differently? Do we actually believe we are going to gain ground
or usher in GOD’s Kingdom through cultural battles?
The call of GOD to His Church is
to “go and makes disciples” (Matthew 28:18-20).
JESUS shows us what it looks like to be His disciple in Matthew 10. That looks radically different from the
watered-down, compromised, cheap grace, "easy believe-ism" gospel which is the
gospel often shared today.
Believing the GOSPEL OF JESUS: “. . . upon this rock I will build My
church and the gates of Hades will not overpower it” (Matthew 16:18) and
believing that the GOSEPL OF JESUS
is the power of GOD unto salvation to all who believe” (Romans 1:16), I choose
to be provoked by the GOSPEL OF JESUS
to engage our culture rather than to be offended and withdraw from it. Prophets were developed in the wilderness, not
in the temple.
I choose to follow the example of
JESUS who radically loved sinners, harlots, prostitutes, tax collectors, lepers
and the outcasts of His day. The leper
of today is the gay community and people like me who follow JESUS though we may
continue dealing with same-sex attractions.
I will continue to engage the gay
community with “His kindness, tolerance and patience . . . because it is the
kindness of GOD that leads to repentance” (Romans 2:4) not self-righteousness
and condemnation, debate and politics. I totally renounce and
resist any offer of Law rather than JESUS’ complete and finished redemptive
work.
I am not a heretic and I have not
renounced GOD’s word. I am a follower of
JESUS and I embrace the GOSPEL OF JESUS.
