Lesson 5 - DISHONOURING GOD

1. The world we live in is definitely not a paradise. This observation is shared by everyone who has been around for a while. Christians and non-Christians alike do agree that this world in which we are living is filled with death, suffering, pain, injustice, violence, corruption, sexual immorality, hatred and the like. The Bible addresses the source of all these imperfections and attributes it to what happened in the Garden of Eden. It is there, a long time ago, that we witness the fall of man not long after he was created by God. In Adam and Eve's decision to dishonour God by violating God's command, sin entered the human race. Thenceforth, the descendants of Adam would be born in sin. Every human offspring would be spiritually dead right from birth, without an innate ability to honor God and to follow His commands. in Adam and Eve's separation from God came generations of men and women who would have a corrupted nature. Mankind in the line of Adam would no longer have the ability on their own to honor and praise God. Idolatry in the form of the worship of anything else except the true living God became the norm of human existence. It is against this backdrop that we identify the world we live in as a "fallen world”.

The apostle Paul addresses the human condition and gives his fullest explanation of sin in Romans 1:18-3:20. Paul asserts that all men, both Jews and Gentiles, are without excuse because all men have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The day will come when all men will be judged for their sin.‘The Gentiles dishonoured God by rejecting the revelation in nature and turning to idolatry. The Jews , on the other hand, dishonoured God by failing to keep his law. In both instances, bringing dishonour on God's name is the fundamental sin.

2. In these 6 verses, Paul refers to Gentiles and states that God can be known through seeing the wondrous creation of God in nature and men will face the wrath of God for suppressing this knowledge of Him and turning to idolatry and wickedness.

Rom 1:18-23

18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities — his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

3. Both the Jews who have the written Mosaic law and the Gentiles who have the law written on their hearts will be judged accordingly

Rom 2:12-16

12 all who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. 13 For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight. but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. 14 (lndeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, 15 since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.) 16This will take place on the day when God will judge men's secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.

4. Jews cannot claim protection from God's wrath just by virtue of their being elected as God's people because they will be judged according to whether they have obeyed the law.

Rom 2:25-29

25 Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, you have become as though you had not been circumcised. 26 If those who are not circumcised keep the law’s requirements, will they not be regarded as though they were circumcised? 27 The one who is not circumcised physically and yet obeys the law will condemn you who, even though you have the written code and circumcision, are a lawbreaker. 28 A man is not a Jew if the is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. 29 No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man's praise is not from men, but from God.

5. All men, both Jews and Gentiles alike, stand condemned before God because there is none who is righteous.

Rom 3:9-12

9 What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. 10 As it is written: "there is no one righteous, not even one; 11 there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. 12 All have turned away, they have together become worthless,- there is no one who does good, not even one.”

6. All men, both Jews and Gentiles, can only be declared righteous through faith in Christ Jesus.

Rom 3:21-24

21 But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known , to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

Rom 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Questions

1. Do we become sinners because we sin or do we sin because we are sinners?
2. Are the Ten Commandments still valid for Christians today since the Old (Mosaic)covenant is already replaced by the New Covenant?
3. "I think the Christian concept of sin is a negative idea that is not suitable for a Sunday message. After all a Sunday message should be positive and uplifting.” Evaluate this statement from the viewpoint of Luke 7:41-43.
4. Hypothetically, if a Jew were able to obey completely the Mosaic law and keep all its requirements by his own ability, can he then be saved by his own righteousness?

I want to look at one of the questions here. Question 1. The answer here is that we sin because we are all born with a sinful nature. This is the sin nature. There is no other way for God to institute salvation for us unless the line of Adam is  broken.

When Admin sinned there are two ways to look at it. First on this one and Adam it stood as a representative of the human race. So all behind him partake of that nature.

The second one is that we rightfully has Adam's seed. We all inclusively came from that seed. The source is him and intrinsically we have his sin. At accountable age, they affirm what Adam did. There is that personal sin and the inherited sin. Where your personal choice agrees with Adam's choice.

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Today I want to talk about the Ebola virus. It is contained now but the height of its outbreak was in 2014. It was from 2013 to 2016. About 29,000 cases and 11,000 death. About one in three will die. They just isolate the patient and that's it. No treatment or cure. It's very contagious. They will give you an IV drop to maintain your fluids. Most go into fits and then internal bleeding before they die. Why I talked about this? WHO encountered a problem in 2014 and declared a national emergency. They stopped all flights because it became an epidemic.

Those times, when the WHO team went in, the family will hide the sick ones because they thought these came to harm them. In the containment centres, they come to liberate them and killed the medical team with machetes. The problem was these people are in denial. They have their witch doctors whom they think can handle the sickness. They even said they came with the suits to inject the Ebola virus into them.

The good news is the same. They are living a good life and you come with the gospel and condemn them as sinners. You are coming to condemn us and to say we are wrong when there is nothing wrong with us.

Here lies the question. When is a person condemned to hell? This is a question the world do not understand. Is he condemned when you preach the gospel to him or at the time he was born. Or the day he reaches accountability age? People are born as unbelievers and at an accountable age they face the condemnation to hell. So what's the accountable age? Generally a Jewish child is considered accountable at age 14. Plus minus around there.

Like the Ebola case. The person already have Ebola without the doctors telling them they have Ebola.

They think they are condemned when you preach the gospel to them and it is you that condemn them. They also think "accept Jesus go to heaven and don't accept Jesus go to hell." Who are you to condemn me? They didn't understand that Jesus  did not come to condemn them. Jesus  came to rescue you because in the first place you are already condemned before Jesus came.

I want to start with this word Gospel. The Greek word is evangelion which literally means good news. The gospel is actually good news. Take Ebola. When WHO came it is good news. A team that came that can save them. It is good news. I want to start with the good news first.

Romans 3:21-24

21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

Paul said faith is Jesus Christ saves. This is the solution. If you have a solution there must first and foremost be a problem. What's the problem?

It's at Romans 1:18-3:20. The problem is sin. The solution is in Romans 3:21-24. Harmatia which literally means "missing the mark". It's the word used in bows and arrows. Missing the mark. What mark is it? The mark is the standard that God has fixed. The standard of the righteousness of Jesus Christ. It is a mark of perfection.

Matthew 5:17-20

The Fulfilment of the Law

17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 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.

Hebrews 4:15

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.

Jesus was sinless. He was without sin. His standard is perfection. So what is sin? It has something to do with the law. Sin - violating the commandments of God and thereby dishonouring him. Jesus Christ is the only one who actually have not violated a single command of God. Sin do not bring glory to God but dishonours him.

That mark is an absolute mark and not a relative mark. It is a standard of Jesus. Perfection. You break any one of God's commands you break every one. Paul understands this. Sin preached without the gospel is condemnation. Sin must be preached with the gospel. End with a victorious note. We have power from God to give us victory over sin.

What's the problem with the world? The problem is they don't think they have a problem. So why need the good news? When we preach the gospel there are many angles to work from. Common angle is that your life is not good and the gospel is a solution.

The problem with this is that they were not good when they accepted Christ. Then things went well but after 10 years they are back to square one and life is not good again. So they find the gospel irrelevant because it's according to his state. The gospel is only relevant with sin. For God to send his son, he is not primarily to enable you to buy a bigger car or house. If that is the reason, he would not have to die on the cross. It has to be something deeper. Sin separates you from God. And the world is already condemned so he had to come.

Paul sees mankind in terms of two categories. Jews and Gentiles. The Roman church, the Jews were a minority. While the Gentiles are the majority. The Roman church is the only church that Paul writes to that is not established by him or his co-workers.

When he writes to the Romans he has to write from the beginning. Very systematic because it was not under his tutelage.

Romans 1:18-23 are for the Gentiles. So what's the difference? The Jews had the law, the Gentiles no. The Jews hence think they are better than the Gentiles. They had the mark of circumcision so they have the mark to state they are a people of God. The status is not about faith. So Paul was trying to address this. The Gentiles think the Jews have no life because everything also cannot do. While the Jews looked at the Gentiles as unbelievers.

To the Gentiles he is saying that God has made it plain that they don't have an excuse that they do not know God. But Paul says although they know there is a God, they suppressed the truth. So they are without excuse. Paul says they build images.

When does a person become an atheist? Children naturally believe what you tell them. You tell them to pray they will pray. But once they are 13 or 14, they start to think and question. And when they go to university they think they are smarter than us. Paul says they suppress the truth. Don't think that God will not judge you. The result of suppressing this truth is images that were made. The word is idolatry.

We are made in the image of God. We are made with a vacuum that can only be filled by God. We can put two things in his place. Idols we pray to which God calls images or idolatry. The second is in Colossians 3:5.

Colossians 3:5

Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.

You may ask how can greed be idolatry? First Commandment is worship God alone and the Tenth Commandment is do not covet. All the other Commandments you have to do something external but this one is internal. Covetousness is internal. It's an internal desire. Desire is what you put in the vacuum where God is supposed to be. That is idolatry.

All of us have to give first place to God. He is to be honoured and glorified in our life.

Why was God so unhappy with the Israelites? When you read carefully, you'll find it's idolatry. That's why God ask choose you this day whom you will serve. The key theme of the OT is idolatry.

In Romans 2 Paul handled the Jews.

Romans 2:12-16

12 All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. 13 For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. 14 (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.) 16 This will take place on the day when God judges people’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.

The Jews have the written law (black & white) but the Gentiles had the law written on their hearts.

Someone asked me long ago, bro Koay, cannot divorce ar? So I told her unless he commits adultery. She said she is emotionally abused but I told her that is not adultery. So she said it's difficult to be a Christian because her non Christian friends can easily divorce. What do they have in mind? Here is when Paul addresses it. Take adultery. Adultery is always wrong whether you are a Christian or not a Christian. Stealing is wrong whether you are a Christian or not. Wrong is written in your heart. Jews or Gentiles will be judged impartially and you cannot plead innocence. It's called conscience.

This word conscience. The nearest word is guilt and different people have different feeling towards guilt. Romans 8 said there's no more condemnation in Christ Jesus. So the line of thinking is that we should not feel guilty because there is no more condemnation. We call it a seared conscience or a soft conscience.

I take this example. Murder. In the heat of the moment we commit a crime of passion. It's extreme but what I want to put to you is that when it comes to guilt we say a Christian cannot do certain things. How should the person feel in terms of guilt? If he don't feel guilt, then he has a seared conscience. If you have a soft conscience you will feel guilty. Romans 8:1 is not to give us the liberty to sin. We think we feel bad when we feel guilty. Why did God put guilt in our hearts? It's actually a spiritual pain. Guilt draws you back to God.

People ask why pray when God already knows my problem. What is the primary objective of prayer? It is to draw you back to God. God is more interested in you than your circumstances. Once he changes you, your circumstances will change.

Guilt is like your physical pain. When you have very bad pain, a bad doctor just give you pain killers. The problem is still there. Is pain good or bad? It is part of a system in your body to tell you there is something wrong with your body. Pain is a warning sign language to warn you something is wrong. Why did God put guilt into our conscience? It is a spiritual pain that God put in us to warn us. The guilt can bring a person into remorse and like Judas committed suicide or you can come to God for forgiveness and God gives you grace.

A son of God must be someone with a soft or tender conscience. When he draws to God he grows. You cannot say I can do what I want because I am not condemned. The conviction of sin is through the Holy Spirit. When you say I have sinned you draw near to God.

I would be very worried if my son or daughter tells me,I don't feel guilt. It is true that we are covered in the blood but God also wants to draw us near to him. When sin abounds so does grace. That's how we grow.

Next Paul handled the Jews. Romans 2:2-29.

Romans 2:25-29

25 Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, you have become as though you had not been circumcised. 26 So then, if those who are not circumcised keep the law’s requirements, will they not be regarded as though they were circumcised? 27 The one who is not circumcised physically and yet obeys the law will condemn you who, even though you have the written code and circumcision, are a lawbreaker.

28 A person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. 29 No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God.

The Jews think that by election they will be accepted even if they don't follow the law. But God is impartial and whether you are Jew or Gentile you have to obey the law. Election for the Jews does not negate obedience.

Are Jews better than the Gentiles? The answer is no.

Lesson 1 - THE CENTRALITY OF GOD IN CHRIST

Have you ever wondered why, in interpreting the 13 letters of the apostle Paul, different people have drawn different conclusions about what exactly was on the apostles’ mind? To adequately answer this question, we need to first determine what is most important in the apostle's thinking? The first priority is to inductively determine the centre of Paul's thought. Many different themes have been taken as the Pauline centre. Justification, reconciliation, 'being in Christ', salvation history and the imminent apocalyptic triumph of God are examples of such themes. All these themes do portray specific areas of Pauline theology but they cannot be used as the centre of Paul's thought primarily because they express the work and promises of God rather than His person. These themes concern what God does rather than who He is. Take for example the theme of justification. If justification is used as the centre of Paul's thought, we will be elevating the gift of righteousness above the person who gave the gift. Taking justification as the Pauline centre will suppress other parts of the Pauline gospel. The only theme that can be taken as the centre of Paul's thought that adequately covers all aspects of the Pauline gospel can only be the person of God himself. Pauline theology, therefore, revolves around the centrality of God in Christ.

The centrality of God in Christ can be inductively derived from looking at the following
passages/verses.

1. God and Christ

Rom 11:36

"For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever Amen.”

1 Corinthians 8:6

"yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from Whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.”

Colossians 1: 16

"For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on Earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.”

2. The gospel of God in Christ

Galatians 2: 20

"l have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Galatians 3: 26

"You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus,”

1 Corinthians 2: 1-5

"When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as l

proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2 For l resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling.4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, 5 So that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power.”

3. Unity and Living for Christ

Phil 1: 20-21

"20 I eagerly expect and hope that i will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. 21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”

Phil 1: 27

"Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then,

whether i come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, l will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel.”

Phil 3: 7-11

"7 But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, l consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose l have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ — the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. 10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.”

4. Pre-eminence of Christ

Colossians 1: 19-20

"19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”

5. Righteous living

Colossians 3: 17

"And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

1 Corinthians 10: 31

"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”

6. Salvation History

Ephesians 1:3-6

"3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in the accordance with his please and will-- 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.”

1 Corinthians 8:6

“yet for us there is butane God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.”

Questions

1. Why is it important to determine the centre of Paul's thought?

2. What is the difference between the ’righteous living’ of a Christian and that of a Buddhist?

When a Buddhist do good works, it is impossible to bring glory to God. His righteous living cannot glorify God because he does not know him. The righteous Christian living at the end of the day brings glory to God. A Buddhist can be good but cannot be godly. A Buddhist can qualify Commandments 5 to 10 but not Commandments 1 to 4.

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Last week we talked about God, there's us and then the blessings. Everything that God has done for us. We worked on what was in the centre of Paul's teaching and study. Often we take the blessings as the centre and that's where we went wrong. There is a trend of thought, and it's something we want to address. A lot of things happened in the 80s. It was something cultural and sociological. The interpretation of the gospel was affected by the civil rights movements and the hippies era.

You will find at the end of the 80s, the positive thinking gospel came out. After that, we have the faith movement or the faith gospel. Then came health and wealth, which is the prosperity gospel. Now we have the gospel of grace. These are some things we must bear in mind. The early church was not an ideal church. What's happening now was also some of things that happened in the early church.

When the Kingdom of God expands, it will not expand without opposition from without and within. The devil won't leave you alone. We often get into leadership because there is a need and we are approached. But in leadership you realised it's not so easy and you get to face the opposition. The early church was much like that. And that's normal. The devil is hard at work and the heart of men is full of wickedness.

Positive thinking movement had only verses that's supporting positive thinking with those verses in red. All these biblical themes cannot be the centre except God himself. The centrality of Paul's thinking is Christ. Does the Pauline Letters teach that the centre is Christ? If you make a statement without biblical support, it will just be a personal statement. Today we have to look into the Bible and see what is on Paul's mind.

The ideal thing is to go book by book. That is what we call an inductive study. I gave you the statement that the centre of Paul's teaching is God.

Why do we say that Paul's centre is God himself?

Romans 11:36

For from Him and through Him and for Him are all things, to him be the glory forever! Amen.

From

Through

To

In everything that is written, Paul is saying that it is from God, and what is maintained and sustained is through God and to him is the glory. For Paul, it is the person of God and his glory that occupies his mind. It not only apply to Paul but also many of the writers of the NT and OT.

1 Corinthians 8:6

yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came, and for whom we live; and there is but  one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom all things came, and through whom we live.

From whom and for whom and through whom.

God in Christ. Paul's centre is not just God but God in Christ. Many of the Pauline Letters actually exalt Jesus.  Paul's centre is the person of God and his glory.

In the letters to the Colossians you will find they are situational letters to address specific problems. At the Colossians there was the Colossian Heresy. There was some teaching on ceremonialism. There were certain types of rules to obey. It's what we call ritualism and it was required for your salvation. There was also ascetism and also secret knowledge including angel worship. These are called the Colossian Heresy or an early form of Gnosticism.

Colossians 1:15-16

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.

This addressed the angel worship.

Colossians 1:18-20

18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.

Reconciled in Christ

19 For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, 20 and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.

That the fullness of God is in Christ.

These verses help you pick Paul's mind. And you see him as a man that when he sees the problems in the church, the Holy Spirit hovers over him as he writes to address these problems.

The second one I want to work on is the gospel. What exactly is the gospel?

The Galatian Heresy is different from the Colossians. There were Judaizers (Jewish Christians) who are teaching that to be saved, a person needs to believe in Christ, e=which is perfectly fine and also to follow certain OT rites. (eg Circumcision).

Faith alone does not save. It must be faith with works of some of the law.

Galatians 1:6-7

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.

Some translation calls it a different gospel. There's this word - the gospel of Christ.

Paul needed to address this because he was contending on the truth of the gospel of Christ. How does Paul answer them.

Galatians 5:1-6

1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

2 Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. 3 Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. 4 You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

Paul contends for the centrality of Christ. That it is faith in Christ without the practice of the law like circumcision.

Galatians 3:26

So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith,

Gospel of Grace

Faith gospel

Prosperity gospel

Positive thinking gospel

These words like grace or faith is a theme of the gospel. There is no gospel of faith or grace and definitely no gospel of prosperity or positive thinking. There's only the gospel of Christ or God.

How do I know this? It is because I checked the bible. I used to go through the bible and concordance looking for specific words. Praise God for technology. Now I just search and all the verses comes out!

1 Corinthians 9:12

If others have this right of support from you, shouldn’t we have it all the more?

But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ.

Romans 15:16

to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles. He gave me the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

Except for Ephesians 6:15 that talks of the gospel of peace, but there is a reason for that. It is always the gospel of God and the gospel of Christ.

I had a conversation with a Christian who asked why is it that his non Christian friends are more successful in their business. He could not understand. To me his centre is the gospel of prosperity and his centre is not Christ.

Another talked about how he prayed so long and is still not healed. Then he said his faith is also less now because his prayers are not answered. That to me his centre is the gospel of faith and not God or Christ.

What do you think the apostle thinks about when he wakes up? How much money that he'll earn that day making his tents? I don't think so. I think this is what Paul thinks about when he wakes up.

Galatians 2:20

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

When he wakes up in the morning it is Jesus he is thinking of. This man is Christ-saturated. I'm a physic teacher ya, so I use the word saturation.

I want us to look at Heresy and Cults.

Jehovah Witness - Jesus was a created being

Mormons - the Bible is not complete

Oneness Movement - Jesus is God the Father

Moonies - the wife is the Holy Spirit

These are labelled as cults. They must be labelled heretical before they can be called cults. They must all get the person of Christ wrong.

There was a time I thought cults don't concern us until it happens to someone I know. Then I realised the danger of not being grounded.

Today we don't hear of so much of these cults. The game have changed. The problem we are facing today are the blessing gospels. Yet these gospels believe much of the same things we believe. The problem is when they actually tell you that you are saved through the blood of Christ, they put a full stop there. Their sermons will draw you to the blessings. They will tell you, you are saved, but after that they tell you their gospel of blessings and whether it's centred on Christ or not no longer matters.

Are they heretical? I do not want to use this word. I would use a diluted or distorted gospel. So the question is are you saved? If you are one of the cult, you are not saved. I formulated this. If it is this dilution of the gospel, you are at best a spiritual baby and at worst an unbeliever.

I do not know whether you are exalting Christ or exploiting Christ. Whether you wake up thinking about Jesus or money. If you have a church like that how do you measure spirituality. If times are good they will thrive. Their state is dependent on the financial state of the economy. But if the economy is in a downturn or if there are persecution, who will be found standing. They will probably be the first to cabut! The question is are you found standing if you are persecuted. That will qualify you of being more than a spiritual baby.

The devil or opposers of God will always recycle his tricks. They may at best be a victim and at worst a messenger of death.

The gospel is the gospel of God or the gospel of Christ.

Philippians 1:20-21

20 I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. 21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

For Paul, Christ is the source and secret of Paul's continual joy, for in Paul's life, he found  all its meaning in Christ. His most precious possession is Christ.

What is one thing you cannot afford to lose? I have been listening to the hymn "It is well with my soul". The writer went through a lot, even his business failed. All things in our life, like our career or our wealth or health is not something we can anchor our life on. There are certain things that we hold close to our life. Some hold on to their careers, some their family, and some their health. Their world collapse when the things they hold close to disappears. Nothing can be a secure anchor except Christ who could be your security in life.

Look at the apostle Paul. His most precious possession is Christ. To live is Christ and to die is gain. A lot of people say they want to go to heaven. When I ask them why they want to go to heaven, they will say because there'll be no more tears, it's a nice place etc but if you ask Paul, he'll say it's because my Christ is there.

Everything he does revolves around the person of Jesus Christ. All of us as children of God will have that seed. How far we go along  our road will depend on us, how we magnify Christ in our life.

What about holiness?

1 Corinthians 10:31

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

Paul did not pursue holiness for holiness sake but for the glory of God. It always revolve around Christ.

Why are Christians running on the spot? It all boils down to this.

The centre of Paul's life is God in Christ. Christ-saturation. Ask if this has been your focus? If you have not you would have been the same now as you have been before.

I want to talk about the word of God. The one thing that mark my Christian faith is the word of God. I have a certain biases and often it's through our experience.

I know someone in ministry that moved though the spirit. We are all ministers of God but we cannot be all. Some are called to be pastors, or evangelist, prophets or teachers. That's why we cannot be all. But whatever we do we have to be grounded in the word. The person today is moving in the spirit and when I talked to him, he says to me not to be a Pharisee. Does what we do concur with scripture? But he says the spirit of God has spoken to me, end of the story.

Whatever we do in ministry have to concur with the word of God and the Holy Spirit will never contradict the word of God. Theology will help you know about God. But it does not mean that you know God.

A person can know about God without knowing him. But a person cannot really know God without knowing about him.

The apostle is someone who knows about God, but more than that, he is someone who knows God.

There must be a head knowledge and a heart experience.