Truth

"I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!"

"Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ."
-Galations 1:6-10

I read this today and it broke me. Paul is addressing followers of Christ who have traded in the True Gospel for a second-hand gospel. I started thinking about all the different types of Gospels we have in your society like Liberation Gospel, Social Gospel, and Prosperity Gospel ( I know that is not all of them). So what is the Gospel?

The Gospel is NOT a get our of hell free card. Christ never said, "If you would believe in Me than you will be saved, and dont worry about loving me, Just believe I exist!"
The Gospel is Not to make you wealthy. There are a lot of churches teaching that Christ died to make you "victorious" in your finances. God will provide and be your sustainer and comforter but He never says He will make you wealthy.
The Gospel is Not soley about helping the needy. Ill explain. God does call us to help those in need. It is a vital part of our ministry as Christians. BUT when a pastor says that the reason Christ died was for us to help people and thats all, we got a problem.

The Gospel is that while, you and I were sinners, completely broken, completely seperated from God; He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, who lived a perfect life, never having sinned, and was crucified to a cross. Hung there, to die as He carried the weight of the Worlds sins. He was murdered by the men He came to save. He rose three days later, and after appearing to many witnesses, He ascended into heaven to await the day He would return.

When I think about the Gospel, I think about the Roman Guard at Jesus' crucifiction. Do you know which guard I am talking about? In Matthew 27:54, it says that when Christ died, the curtain split and a roman guard said, "Truly, this is the Son of God." Let me ask you a question: If you were a roman guard, the one that put the nails in Christ hands, If you were the one, who mocked him, and put the crown of thorns on His head, If you were the one who shoved the spear in His side, and you realized that you Crucified God, How would you react?

How could God ever forgive me for doing that? I would think that I have absolutely no chance of reuniting with God. But It is the unfailing love that Christ has, that saves the centurion and reunites him with God, even after he crucified Him.

We are all accountable for Christ's death. We, even 2000 years later, sent Christ to the slaughter for our Sins. But still, God redeems us from our brokeness and depravity and He makes us whole and complete through Him. When we realized that we have done nothing to deserve His grace and His love, and that it is only by the absolute Mercy that God shows us that we can come to know Him, only then can we understand what the Gospel truly is.

Let me leave you with this quote from Thomas Aquinas, "All the world would be Christian if they were taught the pure Gospel of Christ!” Lets preach the True Gospel of Christ.