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Listening to various preachers/teachers, I can see where understanding Christianity or the Gospel can be confusing for a non-believer. Have you noticed this? Everyone thinks they are right. Everyone thinks that they KNOW what the Gospel is. And yet, as you listen, you will hear differences. One says, "Now, listen, I'm going to tell you about the TRUE Gospel." And another says, "This is what the REAL Gospel is all about." And the differences continue. Ask church members, they too will offer differences. And sometimes, maybe it is me, but sometimes it seems like there is a lot of arrogance out there. The tone of many messages is that what this person says is completely infallible. I have to be careful myself. Shouldn't we all add the following caveat: Now, my understanding of what the Bible says is this.."
Anyways, do you see how there could be much confusion out there?
Listening to various preachers/teachers, I can see where understanding Christianity or the Gospel can be confusing for a non-believer. Have you noticed this? Everyone thinks they are right. Everyone thinks that they KNOW what the Gospel is. And yet, as you listen, you will hear differences. One says, "Now, listen, I'm going to tell you about the TRUE Gospel." And another says, "This is what the REAL Gospel is all about." And the differences continue. Ask church members, they too will offer differences. And sometimes, maybe it is me, but sometimes it seems like there is a lot of arrogance out there. The tone of many messages is that what this person says is completely infallible. I have to be careful myself. Shouldn't we all add the following caveat: Now, my understanding of what the Bible says is this.."
Anyways, do you see how there could be much confusion out there?
To understand what the gospel message truly is, you have to listen to what the New Testament writers say that it is. And it's very simple. The word 'gospel' means good news. And the good news, the gospel according to Paul is, as he states it,
1 Corinthians 15:1 Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, 2] by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. 3] For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4] and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
John put it like this.
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his unique Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
God loved the world and therefore sent His Son to die for the sins of the world so that anyone who believes in the Son will not perish but will have eternal life. The Son (Christ Jesus) having died for our sins, rose again on the third day.
And that basically is the gospel. Now the backdrop for the gospel is that we are sinners under condemnation, but that is not good news and so is not part of the gospel. The gospel, the good news is that God did something about the bad news.
The gospel message gets distorted by adding anything to the fact that God sent Jesus into the world to die for our sins so that anyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.
Yes, simplicity is key. It is important to recognize that "believe in" is not just an intellectual assessment, but a commitment to the concern for the well-being of everyone that is basic to community with God and man best stated in John 13 "34A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so also you must love one another. "
Listening to various preachers/teachers, I can see where understanding Christianity or the Gospel can be confusing for a non-believer. Have you noticed this? Everyone thinks they are right. Everyone thinks that they KNOW what the Gospel is. And yet, as you listen, you will hear differences. One says, "Now, listen, I'm going to tell you about the TRUE Gospel." And another says, "This is what the REAL Gospel is all about." And the differences continue. Ask church members, they too will offer differences. And sometimes, maybe it is me, but sometimes it seems like there is a lot of arrogance out there. The tone of many messages is that what this person says is completely infallible. I have to be careful myself. Shouldn't we all add the following caveat: Now, my understanding of what the Bible says is this.."
Anyways, do you see how there could be much confusion out there?
For me,It was never about any of us being right in the first place about beliefs and doctrines. It was always about Christ making a differnce in our lives. When we have met the Christ the I am of God we are never the same again. It doesnt matter then whether the scriptures are literal allegorical, a book of philosphy or however we choose to believe what they are, the question is, is what you are believing working out for you in experience and in love towards our neighbor.
Yes, simplicity is key. It is important to recognize that "believe in" is not just an intellectual assessment, but a commitment to the concern for the well-being of everyone that is basic to community with God and man best stated in John 13 "34A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so also you must love one another. "
You just distorted the gospel. To believe in Christ is indeed simply to give intellectual ascent to the proposition that Jesus died for your sins and that He rose again with the result that you place your trust in Him for eternal life. Loving one another is not a requirement for receiving eternal life. Loving one another should be a goal of the Christian, and is a result of spiritual growth, but the gospel by which you are saved is not ''you must love one another.''
Hello Student66. The Holy Spirit is showing me you are sincere. Perhaps these passages may help to point you in a good way for your journey...
Emily Dickinson wrote:
Tell all the truth but tell it slant —
Success in Circuit lies
Too bright for our infirm Delight
The Truth's superb surprise
As Lightning to the Children eased
With explanation kind The Truth must dazzle gradually
Or every man be blind —
Rumi once wrote:
Cleverness is mere opinion, Bewilderment is intuition.
And within I Corinthians 14:33 lay an admonishment: "...God is not a God of confusion but of peace..." Am suggesting pursuing this. When there's no peace, when things are somehow bewildering, the Holy Spirit is moving within. Quiet your mind to hear Him in your heart. It's like learning to walk.
Thank you for your honest, honorable post, Student66. You are a subject of my prayers this day. Illegitimi non carborundum.
.
Last edited by Glu Glukan; 07-08-2017 at 09:22 AM..
Reason: one wee word swap - "in" for "of"
You could apply this to Paul, James, John, etc. Or any author of any individual book in the Bible. They didn't always agree with each other. And they might have even evolved in their own beliefs from what they stated in their most popular letters or books.
I guess I should have clarified. I apologize. I am a believer. I was simply making an observation about the massive amount of inconsistencies out there, which surely must lead to confusion, for non-believers, and for believers. If I were to simply have posted the question, how does one get saved, the number of diverse replies would have been substantial I imagine, proving my point about the high level of confusion out there. Thank you for your replies by the way.
For example, so many "famous" Christians talk about about turning from sin, and "repenting." Quite often it ends up sounding like, one has to clean up their life before they can become eligible to be saved. I cringe when I hear Gospel messages/presentations like that. You cannot tell an alcoholic they must stop drinking before they can become eligible to be saved. We are all a mess, and, without G-d stepping in, we cannot save ourselves by somehow "cleaning up our act." Last time I checked, salvation is a gift. Gifts are to be received. Or, I hear salvation is based on us forsaking all sins or making a complete commitment. Not good. Did we sin last week, yesterday, or today? I guess that means our act of forsaking or commitment failed, which means, somehow we are not saved. If we base our eligibility to receive the Gift of salvation on our performance, we are doomed.
Last edited by Student66; 07-08-2017 at 10:01 AM..
Reason: typo
I guess I should have clarified. I apologize. I am a believer. I was simply making an observation about the massive amount of inconsistencies out there, which surely must lead to confusion, for non-believers, and for believers. If I were to simply have posted the question, how does one get saved, the number of diverse replies would have been substantial I imagine, proving my point about the high level of confusion out there. Thank you for your replies by the way.
I'm certain you are correct.
You said that people should preface their sharing of their faith with, "This is how I understand it...", and I think that's a good step in the right direction. I think another step in the right direction is to be willing to listen to how the person you are speaking to understands it. I'm afraid many Christian "evangelicals" don't do much of that.
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