Which Gospel?
Introduction
The Apostle Paul had to fight for the gospel. There were other versions of the Gospel being peddled in the first century, and today is no different. Our cultural background shapes the way we see Christianity. The devil, our enemy, uses our difficulties in grasping truth and our sinful inclinations to confuse us.
The Gospel of Christ
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came into human history in a particular time and culture. Jesus was careful not to give cultural rules to his followers. The meaning of the Christ event needs to be interpreted in our own culture. The first Christians had to deal with this problem of proclaiming the gospel to people of other cultures. The first hurdle they came to was whether people of other cultures needed to follow the culture that Jesus, himself, lived in.
The Counterfeits
The gospel was primarily good news to God, and humanity gets saved as a fringe benefit of the work of Christ for his Father. The gospel involves all the facets of God's creation being reconciled with the will of God. The devil's strategy to confuse the gospel only needed to introduce deception into one part of the church's teaching to undermine its effectiveness.
So, in the areas of knowledge, relationships and power to serve, the devil introduces legalism, self-centredness, and domination.
Secular Religion
Secularism claims to be neutral in regard to all religions. But it tries to eliminate religion from the public sphere. Behind secularism there is a belief that denies the supernatural and God as the basis of morality and purpose in life. It leaves people with no foundation to live by. Secularism is a counterfeit religion attacking the Christian faith, and other religions too, while hiding its own beliefs. It leads to nihilism and gives no hope of life after death.
Four Responses
Jesus Parable of the Sower explains the different responses that people show towards the gospel. Today, in our own industrialised culture, the same responses are evident. Many people live their lives as if the gospel is of no account. Others are happy enough to accept it but do so without conviction, so that they fall away when it is inconvenient to be a Christian. Others would accept it, but they get sidetracked with other matters that are more important to them. Even the Christians who produce a harvest do so to different degrees.
See Resources page for Discussion Guide.
