"And this gospel"

[Robert]

Matt 24:14 "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come."

 

Please take note that Jesus said "this gospel", not "another gospel" as Paul mentions in Gal 1:6-9.

 

When "this gospel" is preached then Jesus will return and we can go home.  But if we keep on preaching "another gospel" we will be here for a very long time.

[Robert]

"Gal 1:6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! 9As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!

 

 What gospel was this "different gospel"?  He gives a clue:  "Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ."

[Robert]

 

 What gospel was this "different gospel"?  He gives a clue:  "Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ."

 

 

Who were these "some people"?

 

Acts 15:1 Certain people came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the believers:

 

“Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.” 

 

5Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses.”

 

Okay, the answer to the question "who where these 'some people'" is "the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees"

 

So they were Christian believers who taught that to be saved one must do more than simply accepted Christ; they must keep the law of Moses.  The law of Moses being the first, five books of the OT including the moral law.

 

We know this group of Christian Jews as the Judaizers.

[Robert]

Gal 5:1Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

 

To be under the law as pertaining to salvation is a "yoke of bondage".

 

2Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised (one of the requirements of the law of Moses), Christ shall profit you nothing. 3For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.

 

4Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.

 

Those who pervert the gospel of Christ through any works program have perverted the gospel.  They are seeking to be just before God's law.  To those who persist in this wicked course they shall surely fall from grace.

[Robert]

Now, what is the gospel?

 

I can tell you what it is not"  The gospel is not what Christ does in you as you are resting in His finished work.  That is the fruits of the gospel or sanctification.  

 

The gospel is what Christ did in our corporate humanity 2000 thousand years ago.  The gospel is what saves.  

 

Yes, when we accept the gospel we bear fruit, but again that is not the gospel.

 

Within Adventism today some five different kinds of gospels can be heard:

1. The conservatives in our midst are preaching the Armenian gospel, which is anything but good news: that I must first meet God’s requirements of faith, repentance, and confession before He will put me into Christ and save me. Thus, instead of being good news, the gospel has become good advice. Unfortunately, the great majority of our people have failed to meet all of God’s requirements and, therefore, have been robbed of the joy and assurance of salvation. As a result, many are leaving the church in discouragement.

    

2. Then you have the traditionalists who claim to be upholding Historist Adventism. They are preaching a Galatian type of Gospel: salvation is not by faith alone or grace alone but by faith plus works or grace plus keeping the law. This is a subtle form of legalism that has produced a Pharisaical people who are always criticizing those who do not see as they do or whose behavior is not conforming to the do’s and don’ts of the church.

    

3. At the other extreme we have the liberals who are preaching the social gospel. That is: the gospel is practicing the life of Christ, going about doing good. This is a sophisticated form of legalism. Yes, the true gospel will produce a people who will go about doing good, but that is the fruits of the gospel and not the gospel itself. Any form of works that we do that is equated with the gospel is legalism. The gospel is the birth, life, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, period. Nothing must be added to that or we are perverting the gospel.

    

4. Since the sixties another gospel has been introduced into Adventism: the evangelical gospel. While there is much truth in this gospel, it is an incomplete gospel. Its emphasis is on salvation from the guilt and punishment of sin only, our ego-centric concerns. But the gospel did not only save us from the guilt and punishment of sin but also from sin itself and our slavery to it. This brings us to the fifth gospel, which I believe is the true and full gospel God raised the Advent Movement to restore and proclaim.

    

5. This is the everlasting gospel of Revelation 14 - the truth as it is "in Christ"

[Robert]

How do we know if we are preaching the gospel?

 

Because the gospel we present must answer the following question!  If not it's "another gospel":  

 

"How can God justify the ungodly [Romans 4:5] and still maintain His integrity to His holy law which condemns sinners [Galatians 3:10]?

 

Keep in mind the following:

 

Ez 18:20 "The person who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment for the father's iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the son's iniquity; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself. 

 

In other words guilt cannot be transferred.  Christ was not and is not the sinner....Christ's death instead of yours does not answer the law...it mocks it!

[Robert]

How do we know if we are preaching the gospel?

 

Because the gospel we present must answer the following question!  If not it's "another gospel":  

 

"How can God justify the ungodly [Romans 4:5] and still maintain His integrity to His holy law which condemns sinners [Galatians 3:10]?

 

....Christ's death instead of yours does not answer the law...it mocks it!

 

What is the solution?  

 

2 Cor 5:14 "If One died for all, then all died."

 

Christ's death, as the Son of Man, was a corporate death.

 

Rom 6:6 "We know that our old self was crucified with him"

 

Our shared life from Adam (our corporate life) died in Christ.

 

Therefore "You died to the law (it demanded your death) in the body of Christ" Romans 7:4

 

This is the full & complete gospel that doesn't make void the law of God.  In Christ the law has been satisfied!  You are complete in Him.

[LifeHiscost]

 

In other words guilt cannot be transferred.  Christ was not and is not the sinner....Christ's death instead of yours does not answer the law...it mocks it!

20Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. 21For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him....2 Cor 5

 

God is Love!  Jesus saves! 

[thx4mercy]

Christ's death instead of yours does not answer the law...it mocks it!

I'm trying to understand this statement.  I know you probably explained it further in your other posts, but could you maybe try again, more simply for me and more in your own words. 

[LynnDel]

There are those who do not believe in the substitionary death of Christ.

[thx4mercy]

There are those who do not believe in the substitionary death of Christ.

 

I guess I've never realized there was this disagreement of beliefs.  So they think the voluntary crucifixtion of Christ was for what purpose?

[LynnDel]

I don't know. I am sure I have been told, but it didn't make sense to me, so I don't remember.

[LifeHiscost]

I like this part brother Robert, but when you wrote: "In other words guilt cannot be transferred.  Christ was not and is not the sinner....Christ's death instead of yours does not answer the law...it mocks it!" I think you are going beyond the safe boundaries of the Word. Then, when brother LifeHiscost quoted 2 Cor. 5:20,21 something came to my mind:

 

Has anyone in this thread heard about "paradoxical truth"? I think it applies here and helps to harmonize some statements written by brother Robert and brother LifeHiscost. They seem to contradict each other but in reality, from the right angle, they complement each other.

 

Blessings to y'all.

I think that particular angle is well known to the Author.

 

God is Love! Jesus saves! 

[Robert]

 21For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him....2 Cor 5

 

God is Love!  Jesus saves! 

Very good....

 

Notice "to be" is an addition because it is italicized.

 

So it reads:  "For He (God the Father) hath made Him (Jesus as God) sin (as man) who (as God) knew no sin"

[Robert]

I'm trying to understand this statement.  I know you probably explained it further in your other posts, but could you maybe try again, more simply for me and more in your own words. 

 

It's very simple.  The law demands our death because we have broken it.  

 

Jesus is not the sinner and therefore the law cannot justly condemn Him.  

 

If He dies instead of you then He gets to go to heaven instead of you.

[Robert]

The law of Moses is separate and distinct from the Law of God.

 

No Sir!  The law of Moses is called the Pentateuch.  Exodus is part of "the law of Moses" and there you will find the moral law.

 

This issue was settled back in the GC of 1888.  Those who opposed Jones, Waggoner and Ellen White made the same claims.  

 

In 1900 she wrote, “What law is the schoolmaster to bring us to Christ? I answer: Both the ceremonial and the moral code of ten commandments.”

 

The whole legal system was represented as the schoolmaster, to “bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” (See The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Volume 6, pages 1110, 1109.)  

 

Ref:  http://text.egwwritings.org/publication.php?pubtype=Book&bookCode=QSEW&pagenumber=56

[Robert]

Please Robert research the bible thoroughly before posting as it is a serious offense to teach another gospel.

 

 

I have thoroughly investigated this.  I'm presenting "the gospel" not "another gospel".

[Robert]

 

 There is a curse contained in the Law of Moses but not in the 10 commandments

 

Paul disagrees:

 

Gal 3:10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under a curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one who continueth not in all things that are written in the book of the law, to do them.

 

The book of the law contains the moral law.

 

IF God's moral law does not bring the curse then why did Paul say the following?

 

Romans 7:7 What shall we say, then? Is the law sin?

 

What law does Paul have in mind?

 

"I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, "Do not covet."

 

What law commands, "do not covet"?  

 

Answer:  The moral law.  See Ex 20:17 of the Ten Commandments.

 

Let's continue:

 

10 I found that the very commandment (i.e., "you shall not covet") that was intended to bring life actually brought death.

 

End of story....

[Robert]

There are no curses in the 10 commandments.

 

Context is everything....

 

Gal 3:10 All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law." (i.e., the first, five books of the OT) 11 Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, "The just by faith will live." 12 The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, "The man who does these things will by them live." (i.e., "obey & live") 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree." 14 He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.

 

15 Brothers, let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case. 16 The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say "and to seeds," meaning many people, but "and to your seed," meaning one person, who is Christ. 17 What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. 18 For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on a promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise. 

 

What law was established 430 years after God made the covenant of grace with Abraham?

 

Gen 15:13 Then He (the Lord) said to Abram: "Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years...16 But in the fourth generation (approximately 400 yrs)  they (your descendants) shall return here...

 

Ex 12:40 Now the length of time the Israelite people lived in Egypt was 430 years. 41 At the end of the 430 years, to the very day, all the LORD's divisions left Egypt.

 

Ex 19:1 In the third month after the Israelites left Egypt--on the very day--they came to the Desert of Sinai. 

 

What law was given 430 years after God made His covenant with Abraham?

[Robert]

Matt 5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. 

5:18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. 

5:19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach [them], the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

 

 

Right, the law was never abolished.  The law remains, however the believer has been delivered from under the law to under grace.  Why?  Because "in Christ" the believer has met the demands of the law.  Hence, as far as the law is concerned, the believer is dead and therefore the justice of the law has been satisfied.

 

But, for those "under the law" anyone who breaks one of these commandments will be called the least in the kingdom of heaven.  In fact, according to Matt 5:2, Jesus said,  "For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven."

 

Keep in mind the Pharisees were full time law keepers.  That was their job...to keep the law. Nevertheless Jesus said that their law keeping wasn't good enough.  So then, what does the law of God expect of you in order to gain heaven?

 

Matt 5:48 "You must be perfect, therefore, just as your heavenly Father is perfect."

 

In other words you must be has holy as God is holy. 

[Robert]

 

Robert you should reevaluate your doctrine in light of  plain scripture. You don't want to lead people astray, do you?

 

I have and I've come to the same conclusions.  Perhaps you should be the one "reevaluating"?

[Robert]

What law was given 430 years after God made His covenant with Abraham?

 

In other words what law was the law in Galatians according to Ellen White, Jones & Waggoner?

 

"The law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith" (Gal. 3:24). In this scripture (i.e., the context of Gal chapter 3), the Holy Spirit through the apostle is speaking especially of the moral law. 

 

An unwillingness to yield up preconceived opinions, and to accept this truth, lay at the foundation of a large share of the opposition manifested at Minneapolis against the Lord's message through Brethren {E.J.} Waggoner and {A.T.} Jones. By exciting that opposition Satan succeeded in shutting away from our people, in a great measure, the special power of the Holy Spirit that God longed to impart to them. The enemy prevented them from obtaining that efficiency which might have been theirs in carrying the truth to the world, as the apostles proclaimed it after the day of Pentecost. The light that is to lighten the whole earth with its glory was resisted, and by the action of our own brethren has been in a great degree kept away from the world." [1 SM, 233]

[phkrause]

Excellent post jackson

[Robert]

"The law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith" (Gal. 3:24). In this scripture (i.e., the context of Gal chapter 3), the Holy Spirit through the apostle is speaking especially of the moral law. 

 

So "the law" in Galatians is "especially...the moral law", but as I quoted Ellen White previously "the book of the law" contains "both the ceremonial and the moral code of ten commandments.” In other words to be just before God's law you must keep the moral law and you must fulfill the ceremonial laws.  Failure to do this brings the curse! 

 

"Cursed is every one who continueth not in all things that are written in the book of the law, to do them." Gal 3:10

[Robert]

Just about every time I bring up the gospel (the finished work of Christ) it immediately gravitates to the keeping of the law.  Why?  Because apparently there are many who do not believe it is the imputed righteousness of Christ that justifies and hence works must be added.  Well, this is subtle legalism and is in line with Roman Catholicism. 

 

Does that mean there is no change in the believer who is resting in Christ's finished work?

 

No!  Let's look at this, but not so we can sideline the topic:

 

Romans 7:6 But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound (see Romans 6:6/7:4), so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.

 

Why has the believer been released from the dominion of the law?  Because "All have sinned" and continue to "fall short" of God's agape love.  See Rom 3:23.  Sinning under law brings the curse so to remain under law means death, the 2nd death.

 

Now, just because the believer isn't under law doesn't mean that he/she can practice known sin as a legitimate lifestyle.  The latter part of Romans 7:6 brings this point out:

 

We have been released from under the law, not so we can live for the flesh (human nature), but "so that we serve in newness of the Spirit".

 

Is the Spirit of God going to lead you towards sin or away from sin?  The latter....

 

So please don't accuse me of preaching that we can live like a devil under grace.  That's not what I'm saying....

 

However, none of us are measuring up to the righteousness of Christ; therefore ultimately it's Christ imputed righteousness that saves.  What He does in me as I rest in His finished work witnesses to the fact that my faith is in Him.

 

Now, back to the gospel....