The apostle Paul refers to 'a different gospel'. Are there any such in century twenty-one?
The world is flooded with literature about 'the Gospel'. There are now thousands of Christian web-sites proclaiming 'the Gospel'. Radio stations beam 'a Gospel message' into otherwise inaccessible nations. And in the United States especially, religious television and radio is all pervasive.
Lessons from History
Strangely, there's much argument as to what constitutes 'the Gospel'. Attempts to unify founder on the rocks of doctrinal dissent, only achieving 'success' when there is radical compromise. But Christianity - in common with all the world's great faiths - remains divided in its teachings. And that's not new, for even in the days of the apostles Christians split into factions.
The churches (in what is today Turkey) at the end of the first century illustrate this division. Christians in seven cities only a few miles apart presented the world with a smorgasbord of belief. From self-satisfied Ephesus to dozing Laodicea there was much to cause Jesus grief. Though they were lacking in Christ-like love, yet Jesus praised the Ephesian brethren for their firm hold of his Gospel. They had heeded the warnings of the apostle Paul some forty years before (Acts 20) and resisted the rising tide of gnostic heresies which their sister churches in Thyatira had absorbed.
Jesus approved the Ephesians on two fronts: "I know you cannot tolerate wicked men [i.e., immorality], and that you have tested those who claimed to be apostles and found them to be impostors [the apostles established true teaching]" (Revelation 2:2). Immorality and false doctrine are twin evils that suffused the Christian faith in the ensuing centuries. But it began in apostolic times. The apostle Peter addressed the challenge of immoral leaders who were in his day actually within the congregations of God's people:
They find pleasure in the indulgence of the moment; they are a stain and a disgrace and they revel in their deceit while they join in your religious meals. They have eyes for nobody but adulterous women - eyes insatiable in sin. They lure unsteadfast souls. Their hearts are trained in greed. They are accursed. They have left the straight path and gone astray" (II Peter 2:13-15)
Left unchecked such behavior trickles down to all the brethren - and that church dies.
We needn't explore the depravity of Christianity through the long medieval centuries of degradation which soon followed. The visible church embraced vast swathes of pagan Babylonian practice, and philosophical aberrations such as the concept of an 'immortal soul' with all its illegitimate doctrinal offspring - heaven, fiery hell, the 'lord of the dead', worship of 'saints', prayers for the dead. And having abandoned the true divine worship they wallowed in the filth of immorality - extending to the very pinnacle of leadership.
From time to time godly leaders arose who sought to turn the tide of corruption. They tried to restore sound Bible teaching and to cleanse Christianity of its pagan excess. Such men and women were vilified and often exiled or martyred by the established church. Yet even in our time, as the 'Christian' world slides into decadence, church leaders - it seems increasingly - are headline news for immoral conduct, unlawful divorce, corrupt personal life, financial scandal, robbing the gullible.
The driving force for such wickedness is false teaching - another Gospel. Abandon a deep reverence for the Creator and for His revealed Word in the writings of the Old and the New Testaments - and 'anything goes'. What God commands He means! Despise the 'first table of the Law' - the first four of the Ten Commandments - and soon you despise His 'moral code'. Lies, deceit, violence, sexual immorality, greed follow. That sounds like the imported - from Babylon - modern festival of Christmas!
Another Gospel
The 'heresy' of the first Christian century, however, has now become orthodoxy! What passes for Christianity in century twenty-one is nothing but the false teachings about which the apostles warned.
There is 'one faith' said Paul. Christians must 'contend for the faith once and for all entrusted to God's people' wrote Jude. 'The things you learned from me ... you must commit to trustworthy men who will be capable of teaching others' Paul told his deputy, Timothy. And to the Galatian brethren: "But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached - let him be accursed" (Galatians 1:89). No change to apostolic teaching. No introduction of pagan philosophies and practice. No human traditions that conflict with Scripture.
Yet today's 'Christianity' is as far removed from the Biblical faith as are the other world religions! Paul would recognize it. So, too, Jude and Peter. But what they would recognize is the ancient Babylonian religion dressed in Christian clothes.
A full half of Christians - contrary to the true Gospel - look for salvation through their own religious works and obedience to the dictates of the church. Other millions confuse an emotional response to a preacher with conversion. Yet others are trapped in the false notion that mere church attendance or being 'born into a church' equals salvation. A host of others gullibly swallow the anti-Christian pagan philosophies doled out from the pulpits of myriad churches.
Exam Time
Jesus warned that salvation is no easy ride. "Go in at the narrow gate", he said, "for the road that leads to destruction is broad and spacious, and there are many who go in by it. But the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it. Beware of false prophets" (Matthew 7:13-15). And at the end of his physical life he told the disciples "This Gospel [good news] of the Kingdom will be preached all over the world to all the heathen, and then the end will come" (ch. 24:14).
On the positive side - some few will find it. God has not left Himself without witness. That good news is still being preached, and to each man and woman who honestly desires it Jesus says 'I will not turn them away'.
It's vital, then, that we open our minds to the message preached by Jesus and his apostles. Search the Scriptures to see if you truly are 'in the faith'.
To comment on this article or request more information, please contact James McBride by e-mail at the comment form below.
For PDF or mailed copy, see CGOM. Excerpt from New Horizons Volume 6 No. 2, March/April 2002. Edited by James McBride of the Churches of God, United Kingdom.
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