First of all, let's be clear about what the Gospel is.
For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them.
[2 Corinthians 5 : 19 NLT]
Most churches would claim that they faithfully proclaim this gospel message.
But many don't.
Their main message is:
We are all sinners with our sins standing against us.
We have a choice.
If we repent of our sins and we accept Jesus as our Saviour we will be forgiven and secure peace with God and a place for ourselves in heaven.
However, if we refuse to do this, we are forever lost, alienated from God, and on our way to everlasting torment in hell.
The difference between heaven and hell as an eternal destiny is determined by our freewill choice.
In Chapter 2 of "The Really Good News About God" (beginning on page 78) I deal quite extensively with the common concept that mankind has freewill by showing that, at best, we have limited freewill.
I have also addressed this topic in several earlier posts. You can find these by typing freewill in the search box on the right.
Today's post deals with a serious consequence of this belief in freewill.
It torpedoes the gospel !
Let me explain.
The salvation message of many churches is that because we are sinners, our sins stand against us and, unless we do something about it, we are on our way to everlasting torment in hell.
And this is where our freewill comes in. We can freely choose Jesus or not.
If we use our freewill to choose Jesus, we are forgiven for our sins and we avoid that terrible hell consequence.
In other words, our freewill choice saves us. Unless we make that choice, we are lost. Jesus doesn't save us; our freewill choice does!
Wow! How subtle is the deception.
The truth is that God, through Christ, is the Saviour of the world.
We struggle and work hard, because we have placed our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all and especially of those who believe.
[1 Timothy 4 : 10 GNB]
He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
[1 John 2 : 2 NIV]
Jesus has done it all - with absolutely no assistance from us.
Salvation is a done deal because of what Jesus achieved on our behalf.
That is THE gospel.
We must not dilute what Jesus has achieved by claiming he needs our assistance to complete the deal or to put the deal into effect.
Blessings, Barry
I am often asked this question.
When asked by those who hold to the view that only a relatively few will be saved, it is usually designed to shame me into admitting that I no longer share the gospel with unbelievers and have lost my evangelistic drive.
As mentioned on page 20 of "The Really Good News About God", my motivation to share the gospel has actually increased.
Why?
- I now have a better gospel to share, which is much more exciting and satisfying than the old good news-bad news one, because it's all good news.
- I now see each person as a creation of God, made in his image, for whom he has a definite, positive purpose.
- I now understand my role in the Body of Christ better. I am not here to help God save the lost before they die, but to announce the good news so that those who have been chosen to be early believers can hear it and be given the faith to believe it and be added to the Body. (I am engaged in Christ's Body-building program.)
- I am no longer stressed when people fail to respond to the gospel, knowing full well that their time will come, either in this age or in a later one, depending on whether God has chosen them as a first fruit or as part of the main harvest.
And I now have a greater appreciation of God's love and sovereignty, and, of course, a more accurate and comprehensive understanding of God's purpose for his creation.
So, how has the really good news of universal reconciliation changed me?
It has given me a better gospel to share and a greater enjoyment in sharing it.
As an aside, I guess the thing that surprises me most since receiving this understanding is the lack of determination and urgency in sharing the good news-bad news message by those who are convinced that the majority of their neighbours (and families in many cases) are on the way to "eternal damnation" if they don't "get saved" before they leave this planet. And they are often the first to suggest that I might have lost my drive to share the gospel now that I see that all will be eventually reconciled.
Blessings, Barry
"Most sections of mainstream Christianity preach what they call the good news. But, in many of these, it really is a mixture of good news for a few and very bad news for the majority." (Quote from page 23 of "The Really Good News About God".)
It does not seem to faze these Christians that they gather each Sunday to worship a God of supposed unconditional love who will oversee, even orchestrate, the fearful unending torment of the majority of His creation, the same ones for whom Jesus died.
When I try to explain to any of these Christians what the really good news is, I am treated like a heretic who should be burned at the stake.
Questions like "You don't really believe God will save people like Hitler, do you?" are designed to put me on the defensive and make me abandon the discussion.
And I sometimes do ... until very recently.
I now offer my own provocative questions.
"You don't really believe a God of love would torture those he loves and created in His image, do you?"
"Do you think Jesus was successful when he died for the sins of the world?"
"Do you love your children? If one of them disappointed you, would you torture him/her forever?"
I have changed from leaving myself open to being attacked to asking those sorts of uncomfortable questions. I now avoid being put on the back foot by a person advancing an unbiblical, traditional church position by advancing the true good news found in the Bible.
And what is this good news that the Bible announces?
The end of all things is ...
- Jesus, the Omega (Revelation 1 : 8, 11 and Revelation 21 : 5 - 6)
- When all of creation have life and God is everything to everyone
(1 Corinthians 15 : 22 - 28)
- When all of creation has come to repentance (2 Peter 3 : 9)
- When all of creation is in unity and perfect harmony (Ephesians 1 : 10)
- When everything is reconciled to God (Colossians 1 : 19 - 20)
- When the whole world is saved (John 3 : 17 and Luke 3 : 4 - 6)
- When all of creation is restored (Romans 8 : 20 - 21)
- When all of creation will worship God ( Revelation 15 : 3 - 4 and
Philippians 2 : 9 - 11)
The Bible has a much better "end of all things" than does mainstream Christianity, and I am becoming much more adventurous in sharing this good news.
Blessings, Barry
(BTW, Hitler is discussed on page 159 of "The Really Good News About God".)
I don't get to talk much with my regular church friends about God's plan to reconcile all of creation to himself by the end of the ages.
Although they have heard me quote the universal verses from the Bible, especially from Paul's writings, and don't deny them, their major stumbling point is the tradition of the church.
"How can you possibly be right when the whole church has taught the opposite for so many centuries?" they ask.
(I guess Martin Luther got the same question in his day.)
Majority opinion becomes the orthodox view, whether it's correct or not.
A view that then opposes orthodoxy, or even just questions it, is considered heresy, and the questioner a heretic.
However, on the same day I saw the Les Miserables movie, a conversation with my friends over a coffee touched on the subject of God's grace. One of my friends reminded us of the common evangelical use of GRACE as an acronym for God's Riches At Christ's Expense.
As the conversation continued I quietly mentioned that I use GRACE as an acronym for a quite different expression. Eventually someone realised there was a question floating around somewhere in the room just begging to be voiced, and asked for what expression was GRACE an acronym for me.
I was happy to tell them, that for me, GRACE stands for God Reconciles All Creation Eventually - the ultimate manifestation of God's Grace.
Everyone stopped talking, seemingly stunned. One person even admitted he had recently read that idea somewhere in one of Paul's epistles. (1)
Wow! The gently dripping tap may be finally making an impression on the hard ground of tradition that surrounds it.
God's time for one of his saints in this group to see the tremendous truth of universal reconciliation may be approaching.
God's timing is his alone to determine.
I (we) just need to be faithful ministers of his reconciliation message. (2)
Blessings Barry.
(1) For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in Christ, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in the heavens, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. [Col 1 : 19 - 20]
(2) God was in Jesus Christ, reconciling the world to himself, not counting people's sins against them. And the message of this reconciliation has been entrusted to us. [2 Cor 5 : 19]
To answer this question it is imperative to remember that "gospel" means "good news."
So when we hear evangelists preaching the gospel we expect to be hearing them announcing or explaining good news.
That is a given, surely.
I guess that's why we see the gospel described in the Scriptures as "the gospel of the grace of God" and "the gospel of Jesus Christ" and "the gospel of the kingdom of God" and "the gospel of peace" and "the gospel of the glory of Christ."
I can't find anywhere anything like "the gospel of the wrath of God" or "the gospel of everlasting torment."
How absurd to suggest that either of these could be associated with the word "gospel."
Yet how many times do we hear wrath and everlasting torment masquerading as gospel preaching in our churches and on our television screens?
How different is this from Paul's statement in Romans 10:15 ?
As it is written:
“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace,
Who bring glad tidings of good things!” [NKJV]
The gospel is glad tidings of good things.
It is the good news that through Jesus God has reconciled us to himself - he is at peace with us.
God loves us and is on our side.
God holds nothing against us - any of us - whether we know it or not, whether we believe it or not, whether we appreciate it or not.
What God has done through Jesus does not depend on us in any way.
It is totally his decision, his work.
Now that's good news; that's the gospel; that's what God calls us to preach.
And the Christmas season is a great time to preach it - to explain to people the mission of the babe in the manger.
Blessings, Barry
