Don’t Church It Up!

By -

Grace-Filled Evangelism in Preaching and Teaching

 
It has been said by many that Christianity is always one generation from extinction.[1] Thus the gospel of faith alone in Christ alone must go out clearly and succinctly to fulfill the task of evangelism that God has called us to as His ambassadors.[2] We must also be diligently mindful of what the Apostle Paul proclaims with vigor:
 
“I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!”[3]
We must pay special attention to the presentation of the gospel message lest we fall under the curse[4] that Paul proclaims for those who bring a message that does not line up with the simple message of faith alone in Christ alone for eternal life.[5] We cannot fail to preach the Gospel, for Jesus has commanded us to make disciples in Matthew 28:16-20 and Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 9:16 that we are compelled by God to preach the gospel.
 
Since we are compelled to present the gospel message of eternal life through faith in Christ, and since God is keenly interested in keeping that message profoundly clear of works and completely centered on His gracious offer of eternal life through the work of Christ[6], it becomes our highest mandate to maintain a truly free offer of eternal salvation in our preaching and teaching ministries.
 
This mandate is achieved through a two-part process that must guide us in all of our preaching and teaching: we must (1) understand the text that we are preaching, and (2) communicate it clearly and simply. 
 
These two concepts will be fleshed out in subsequent posts, but for starters let us ask the question of how we fall off the beam. How have you seen the gospel message “churched up” and because of that obscured?  Have you done it yourself or been subjected to it in church, Sunday School, or elsewhere?  How have you stopped it in your own teaching or confronted it in ministry?
 
[1] The origin of this saying is hidden in the past, and has been attributed to different authors, speakers, and theologians. Perhaps it is best to simply see it as an axiom of the church.
[2] 2 Cor 5:20
[3] Galatians 1:6-9, NASB
[4] The term ἀνάθεμα (anathema), which Paul pronounces upon those who bring a different gospel, refers to that which has been cursed. (BDAG) In the LXX it translates the Hebrew חֵ֫רֶם (herem) as a rule, which refers to something that has been “devoted” to God and is therefore unable to be reclaimed. Paul’s likely intent here is to have the Galatian church remove anyone from their church who taught them a different message than that which they had received from him.
[5] Cf. Gal 3:26.
[6] Ephesians 2:8-9

Popular posts from this blog

Antinomianism and Free Grace Theology

By -
By Dr. Roger Fankhauser, FGA Executive Council member and the pastor of Burleson Bible Church in Burleson, Texas.  Dr. Fankhauser can be reached at rsfankhauser at bellsouth dot net.   Antinomianism.   A fancy word meaning “lawless”.   Many who don’t get the free grace message accuse us of practicing and teaching antinomianism. They think – wrongly – that the free grace message is light on sin and light on obedience. The author of a recent best-selling book describes the message that he alleges some present this way: “We have been told all that is required is a one-time decision, maybe even mere intellectual assent to Jesus, but after that we need not worry about his commands, his standards, or his glory. We have a ticket to heaven, and we can live however we want on earth. Our sin will be tolerated along the way….” Another well-known author put it this way: “What is no-Lordship theology (the author’s name for free grace theology) but the teaching that those who died to sin can
Read more

Understanding Hebrews 10:26: Is Christ’s Sacrifice Sufficient for Me?

By -
Image
(Originally posted at thegracelings.org) Bible wasn’t given to us as a bunch of unconnected verses that all make perfect sense on their own. Sometimes, without the context, verses can sound like they mean the opposite of what the authors meant by what they wrote. It’s a terrible thing, but many times people take advantage of this fact and use isolated verses in a way that hurts people and devastates their walk with Christ. (Sometimes it’s out of ignorance. Sometimes it’s malicious. It’s always tragic.) It’s especially common for people to cite Scripture out of context in order to cause believers to doubt Christ’s love for them or the security of their salvation. This article is about one verse that is often used this way. It’s Hebrews 10:26, which reads, “For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins” (NKJV, same throughout the article). Often, people throw this verse out there on social media like a grenade wi
Read more

A Change of Mind about Repentance: Do you Dare?

By -
By Dr. Fred Lybrand   Repentance has been a sticky issue and has been around as a major conversation piece since the Reformation. I know, because ‘my view’ (which I found out I share with Dr. Elliot Johnson of Dallas Theological Seminary) has been labeled an error by those involved in the Marrow of Divinity Controversy way back in the 1600s! Of course, no need to get excited, every view on the planet and throughout history is an error to someone or some group.   So, the issue of concern here --- is repentance necessary to get saved (as in from-hell-to-heaven)? If it is necessary, then is it a part of saving faith? These are the essential questions. There are many views, often being represented as repentance meaning the necessary turning from all known sin (and interest in future sin, usually) to ‘believe’ in Christ. In this regard, some purveyors of salvation make repentance as much of a part of faith as they do works (see http://www.backtofaith.com ).   I have a bit of an uncom
Read more