A different Gospel!

Many years ago, when my family and I lived in Livingston, in West Lothian, my wife and I were members of Ladywell Baptist Church, and I was occasionally invited to preach at the Sunday Worship Services. During the week prior to one particular preaching engagement, we received a visit from two charming young men who shared their testimonies with us. Much of what they said sounded good, as they spoke of what God was doing in their lives, and how much Jesus meant to them.

At the morning worship service on the Sunday, I shared with the fellowship about these two young men. I assured them that, if I had invited the two men to come with me, and to share their testimonies from the front of the sanctuary, that many of them would have been wanting to shake hands with two such fine specimens. I then added a very important piece of information - that the two young men were Mormons: members of the "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints". 

What, one might ask, is the greatest challenge facing Biblical disciples of the Lord Jesus in the early part of the 21st century? It isn't difficult to find contenders for such a title! Is it divisive social issues - whether stemming from the current BLM movement (that conveniently forgets the number of black lives destroyed in the womb!), or from the demands of certain sexual deviants? Is it the rampant immorality as even young children are allegedly sending nude self-images of themselves to their friends? Is it the current refusal of so many to adhere to the guidelines with regard to 'social distancing'? These, and many other topics, would certainly be 'in the running'. However, I would dare to suggest that the biggest threat, as my two visitors all of those years ago showed, is religion - any religion that draws us away from the truth of the Gospel as revealed in the written Word of God. 

Some religions, of course, openly oppose the Christ; others are more subtle They use language that disciples of Jesus already know, giving their testimony a familiar sound. Then they add to it their own twisted brand of thinking - whether it be the teachings of the Book of Mormon; or the inaccuracies of the New World Translation of the Bible, used by the "Jehovah's Witnesses"; or whatever is placed alongside, or above, the written Word of God contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments.

But if such groups "sound" Christian, how may we know that they are preaching "... a different gospel - not that there is another gospel ..." (Gal.1:6-7)? Here are a few false teachings for which we may look out:

1. Salvation through anything other than faith in the finished work of the Lord Jesus, the Christ! The Lord Jesus made that perfectly clear when he told Thomas: "I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father but by Me." (John 14:6). In his great sermon, preached on the first Day of Pentecost of the Christian era, Peter proclaimed: "And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven, given among men, by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12).

2. A refusal to see the Lord Jesus as the eternal God in human flesh, our only, and all-sufficient, Saviour. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made." (John 1:1-2).

3. Giving more importance to the words of men than to the Word of God. Paul writes to the Corinthian disciples: "Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit Who is from God, that we might understand the gifts bestowed on us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who possess the Spirit." (2:12-13).

4. Leaders who do not provide Christlike guidance through careful Biblical instruction. Advising his young "son in the faith", Timothy, Paul wrote: "If you put these instructions before the brethren, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, nourished on the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have followed." (I Tim.4:6 - but be sure to read the full context!). Jude wrote, in his short letter:  "For admission has been secretly gained by some who, long ago, were designated for this condemnation; ungodly persons who pervert the grace of our God into licentiousness, and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus the Christ." (v.4).

There are, indeed, those who want to lead us into another 'gospel' that is no Gospel (Good News). Learn God's Word; steep yourself in it; soak it up as a sponge soaks up water; so that you won;t be deceived by fine, but false, words. Apply yourself to the Bible; and the Bible to yourself.

Imitating others.

Earlier in the week, it was reported that heavy objects had been thrown, from bridges, at cars passing underneath, in the Blackburn area of West Lothian.  Thankfully, on those occasions, no-one was hurt but, as an Inspector from the Lothian and Borders Police Force stated: "... there is every chance this mindless vandalism could have had serious consequences."

One theory is that the perpetrator(s) of  those incidents were copying the actions of others that had happened, last week, in the Chelmford area of Essex.  Police officers are well aware of so-called 'copy-cat' crimes of one sort or another!

Copying the actions, and lifestyle, of someone else seems to be a natural trait among human beings - and, indeed, among other species as well.  It is, of course how our young learn the basics of life.  A child will copy its parents in all sorts of ways.  If a parent wants to know what (s)he is really like, (s)he only has to watch the child(ren)!  Some copying, of course, is frowned upon - and there were, recently, a number of publicised cases of plagiarism, when someone takes the words of another, and passes them off as his/her own work!  Indeed, the son of the late Muammar Q'adaffi is alleged to have gained his Ph.D. from the London School of Economics by a combination of plagiarism and cash donations!

The important thing about copying others, is that we choose the right person to emulate.  One of the problems in our contemporary society and culture is that a sizeable minority of young people choose poor role models!  Of course, those in the public eye don't always help by the way in which they act!

The apostle, Paul, knew a bit about copying someone else.  Writing to the disciples of Jesus in first-century Corinth - a city that was a byword for loose and licentious living - he urged: "... be imitators of me." (I Cor 4:16).  When we learn something about the life of the apostle, then we can see that he would have been an excellent role model.

However, it would appear that, as he continued to dictate the letter to his amanuensis (secretary!), he realised that he wasn't giving the Corinthian believers a good enough role model in himself.  So, later on, we find him saying "Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ." (11:1; my emphasis!).  What a difference those few extra words make!  Imitating, copying, Jesus!  Having Him as my role model!  I know that I'll never match up to the example that He gives me - of love, compassion, self-sacrifice, devotion, holiness, etc., etc.  But I can try!

And I already have the assurance that He will help me in the process that theologians refer to as "sanctification" (a full chapter on it in the forthcoming book!!).  That's what sanctification is all about - becoming more and more like Jesus.  It's something that I will never fully attain in this life, but it's a goal worth aiming for.

Perhaps if more of us were to "copy Jesus" (or even Paul!) our world would be a safer, and a better, place!