All articles

From Kristos Vocabulary Booster

http://www.TheLitmusTest.org

The real Gospel is something very different from what most Christians
think it is. The real Gospel seems unreasonable to those unwilling to
do God's will; but which "gospel" is truly unreasonable? Read the
following, and judge for yourself!

Which Gospel is truly unreasonable?
-----------------------------------

Jesus was willing to leave everything behind to bring into existence a
common life with those who would leave all behind to follow Him. He
left behind His home(1), all His possessions, and declared His true
family to be those who would "hear the Word of God and do it(2) ."
He gave His entire attention on those who responded to His call;
discipling them, having one purse(3) , one life, and one way with them.

He called the twelve apostles to leave all and follow Him. Unlike the
young ruler, they all did so(4) . He told them that was the cost of
eternal life, not just for them, but for everyone(5).

Jesus told the young ruler that in order to have eternal life, he had
to be willing to give up all he possessed. The young ruler went away
sad, unwilling to trust enough to obey Jesus(6).

The Son of God said that the Kingdom of God was a treasure that had the
same price for everyone, rich and poor alike; if you want it, it costs
all that you have(7).

Yahshua (His true name, in Hebrew, meaning "Yahweh's salvation")
told the great multitudes that no one could be His disciple unless he
was willing to trust Him and love Him enough to hate his father and
mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, his own life, bear his
cross, and forsake all that he has(8).

He made clear that the true Gospel would bring division between those
willing to obey Him and those unwilling to obey Him, and that such
division would not spare family relationships(9).

Jesus plainly stated that apart from hating one's own life in this
world, no one could possibly keep it unto life eternal(10).

He commanded His disciples not to even try to serve both God and money,
or lay up treasure on earth(11).

He commanded His disciples to take no thought for their own food or
clothing. He made it clear that "looking out for number one" was
acceptable for the people of the Nations; but His disciples were to
live for God's Kingdom, where He would provide for their every
need(12).

The Son of God gave a new commandment, a new Way. Instead of looking
out for their own selfish interests, His true followers would be known
for forsaking their own lives and all they possessed to come into a new
life of loving one another in just the same way that He had loved His
disciples! This, Jesus plainly said, would be the only way one could
know who was truly following Him(13).

He also made clear we have no business calling Him Lord, unless we
actually do what He commanded(14). He said unless we do what He
commanded, we are wasting our lives building on sand. He promised the
Spirit to those who would love Him and trust Him enough to obey
Him(15). John, His beloved disciple, goes so far as to say if we claim
we know Him, and don't do what He commands, then we are liars and the
truth is not in us(16).

Now this all may seem unreasonable of Jesus; that is, not rational -
irrational, showing little sense in demanding things not possible to
do. To the natural man these commands are not just, but are excessive,
exorbitant, irrational and contrary to reason; senseless demands.
Nature provides no environment to live according to such demands, to
the point of being absurd, insensible, laughable and ridiculous. Jesus
must have been mentally unsound to expect people to obey these utterly
illogical dogmas in His teachings, which are directly contrary to
reason; that is, unreasonable demands.

Isn't that how people are taught to view these "hard sayings" of
Jesus in their churches?

Actually, to be a successful "minister" in Christianity, one must
have the ability to make people believe that they are actually
"following Jesus", or "believing in Jesus", in some mystical way
that secures their salvation, completely apart from trusting Him enough
to obey any of these plain commands.

But the apostles obeyed them all. They forsook all to enter into a
common daily life with the One who forsook all for them. Jesus began a
community, and the apostles surrendered themselves to Him in that
community because it takes a Community to obey the Gospel; to have a
place to love and be loved and bring new disciples into.

After His resurrection, Jesus gave them the commission to "Go
therefore and make disciples of all... teaching them to observe all
things that I have commanded you."(17) They obeyed Him in this, and
their proclamation of these same commands that they had themselves
obeyed brought into being the "faith once for all delivered to the
saints"(18) on the day of Pentecost:

Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and
sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone
had need(19).

Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul;
neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own,
but they had all things in common. And with great power the apostles
gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was
upon them all. Nor was there anyone among them who lacked; for all who
were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds
of the things that were sold, and laid them at the apostles' feet;
and they distributed to each as anyone had need(20).

By the end of Acts 4, this community of those who all forsook all,
numbered 5,000 men, many of who would have been heads of households.
They all forsook all for the Kingdom, for the Gospel, for the Community
of faith, for the One who forsook all for them.

So did Paul. He went to far as to say that he did so, because it was a
necessary act of faith; REQUIRED in order to attain to the
"righteousness which is from God, by faith"(21). He also commended
the Thessalonians for following the same pattern as the communities in
Judea(22).

Forsaking all to enter a common life of love and unity was seen as
necessary by the Son of God; it was necessary for the Twelve; it was
necessary for the rich young ruler, who rejected the Kingdom; it was
necessary for the "great multitudes" in Luke 14:25; it was
necessary for the many thousands in the church birthed on Pentecost; it
was necessary for Paul; it was necessary for the communities he
shepherded. Why is it necessary?

It is necessary because it takes a community to live out the Gospel; to
have a place to surrender all to the One who surrendered all for you,
in His People; to have a place to "serve Him where He is"(23), to
live no longer for yourself, but for Him who died for you and rose
again(24). Only in a community where all give all to love one another
as He loved His disciples, can one live in the reality of the Sermon on
the Mount; taking no thought for one's own food and clothing. There,
all give all to build up the Body into the fullness of Christ; and
everyone's real needs are met through the Body(25). This is where you
can fall in the ground and die, and not abide alone, but bear much
fruit(26).

If a person is truly willing to do God's will, their heart yearns to
find a way to make the Son of God's words flesh; not explain them
away. Such a person rejoices at finding a place to lay down their life;
a place to love and be loved just as He loved His disciples; a place
where all the "hard sayings" are actually practiced and made a
light burden by the power of the Spirit of love(27). They know such
teaching is from God because they are willing to do His will(28). When
they find a place where all give all for the One who gave all for them,
they know they have found the Kingdom. They eagerly go and sell all
that they have to gain the Treasure they have found(29). Unlike the
rich young ruler, such people are willing to do God's will no matter
the cost. To find a place and a Way to obey the Son's commands at the
cost of everything is good news to them. For they have found the
Gospel, the true Gospel; the one that is actually found in the Gospels,
consisting of the very words of the Son of God. To know Him, and obey
Him, is Life Eternal(30).

To those not willing to do God's will, this is all bad news, not good
news. Many such people are very religious. As in Jesus day, many of
them are religious leaders. They consider all this at best laughable,
unreasonable, ridiculous, irrational and foolish; and at worst, they
consider it dangerous heresy. Such people will say all manner of evil
against us falsely, because they hate the truth that exposes the fact
that all they have to offer people is a form of godliness that denies
the power. They have a different gospel.

What is this "gospel"? It is all about "jesus"; not the real
Son of God, but an imaginary one, who can be your "Lord" without
you doing what He commands. Just believe He died for your sins, and you
are fine. Your name is written in the book of life! Relax and enjoy
life! You don't have to do anything at all. As a matter of fact, if
you allow yourself to feel like you have to do anything, you are being
deceived! Someone is trying to trick you into taking away from the
"finished work of Christ!" He did it all! For you to imagine God
might expect anything from you (other than your 10% tithe)is to be
falling into "works righteousness".

Such a so-called gospel completely ignores and mocks the plain commands
of the Son of God.

One of these Gospels makes sense; one doesn't. One is real; one
isn't. The true Gospel leads to abundant and eternal life; the false
gospel gives a false hope that will ultimately disappoint. What
determines which Gospel you choose to believe is whether or not you
have a heart that is truly willing to do God's will, regardless of
the cost. He is no fool, who gives up what he cannot keep, to gain what
he can never lose.

It still takes a community to obey the Gospel, to do the will of God,
to love and be loved; it takes a community to truly know Yahshua; whose
very name means Yahweh's salvation.

http://www.TheLitmusTest.org

1. Luke 8:19-21
2. Luke 9:57-62
3. John 12:6
4. Mark 10:28
5. Mark 10:29,30
6. Mark 10:17-30
7. Matthew 13:44-46
8. Luke 14:26-33
9. Luke 12:51-53, Matt. 10:37, Luke 14:26
10. Matthew 10:38,39, Luke 14:26, John 12:25
11. Matthew 6:19-24
12. Matthew 6:25-33
13. John 13:34,35
14. Luke 6:46-49
15. John 3:36 ASV, Acts 5:32
16. 1 John 2:3,4
17. Matthew 28:18-20
18. Jude 1:3
19. Acts 2:44,45
20. Acts 4:32-35
21. Philippians 3:7-11
22. 1 Thessalonians 2:14
23. Luke 12:25,26
24. 2 Corinthians 5:14,15
25. Ephesians 4:16
26. John 12:24-26
27. 1 John 5:2,3
28. John 7:17
29. Matt. 13:44-46
30. 1 John 4:21-5:3

david@parchmentpress.net

((( s.r.c.b-s is a moderated group. All posts are approved by a moderator. )))
((( Read http://srcbs.org for details about this group BEFORE you post. )))