I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, because the gospel of Christ is a power unto salvation for everyone that believes. If you have faith then you’ll experience the power of the gospel of Christ that makes the devil, the fallen angels, and unbelievers tremble. But I am ashamed of the perverted gospel that is preached today. This other gospel doesn’t make hell tremble but is loved by the devil, hell and death, and all those, who belong to the world. Why? Because it fuels wickedness and keeps people in darkness and bondage. This perverted gospel doesn’t save people but destroys people. What are the differences between the true gospel of Christ and the perverted gospel and their final destination?
I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith (Romans 1:16-17)
The gospel of Christ is the only gospel unto salvation for fallen humanity. This gospel of Christ delivers people from the power of darkness and the bondage of the devil, sin, and death and saves people from hell.
Hell and death have no power over the saints.
The Saints are bought with the precious blood of the Lamb; Jesus Christ the Son of the Almighty God and made holy and righteous
By faith in the redemptive work and the blood of Jesus and regeneration in Him, they are delivered from the power of darkness and translated into the Kingdom of Light, where Jesus Christ is King and reigns.
In Christ, they’ve died to the flesh, which is corrupt and wherein sin and death reign as king. And in Christ, their spirit, who lived under the dominion of death, has risen from the dead. The people, who were dead to God because of their trespasses and sins, has He quickened! (o.a. Ephesians 2; 5, Colossians 1).
All these changes take place by the hearing of the gospel of Christ and through faith and regeneration in Christ, and become visible in the holy lives of the saints on earth.
The gospel of Christ transforms people
Because of their reconciliation with God and their change of position, change of heart, change of nature, and change of mind, they shall live sanctified lives and walk as sons of God (both males and females).
Through their sanctified lives and their walk; their words and deeds, they shall be witnesses of Jesus Christ and walk in the power of the Holy Spirit in the dominion of Jesus Christ in holiness and righteousness according to the will of God.
They shall no longer walk as they walked before as sons of the devil in darkness, when their minds were darkened and their hearts were still of stone and had a sinful nature and participated in the evil works of darkness, and believed the words of their father the devil.
Instead, they shall walk in the Light as He is in the Light. They shall put off the works of the old man and do the righteous works of the new man. They’ll expose the lies and evil works of darkness and destroy them (Ephesians 5:8-14).
They are witnesses of Jesus Christ, who is the Author of eternal salvation to everyone who believes. And through the preaching of the gospel of Christ, they shall call the people to repentance. So that, they will be delivered from the power of the devil, sin, and death and be saved from hell and through the blood of Jesus Christ be reconciled with God and walk in holiness (separated from the world and devoted unto God) in the Light in the righteousness of God, so that they’ll also bear the fruit that bears witness of their repentance and salvation and inherit eternal life (a.o. Ephesians 5:1-2, Colossians 1:5-6).
Do we see the result of the gospel of Christ in the church?
This is the power of the gospel of Christ in a nutshell. But if this is the power and the fruit of the preaching of the gospel of Christ and the salvation of people, do we see the power and the fruit of this gospel in the church; in the lives of believers?
Do we see saints with transformed lives and holiness unto the Lord? And do we see the fruit of repentance, the Spirit, and righteousness in the church or do we see the opposite?
Do we see carnal people, who refuse to submit to the Bible and obey the words of God. People, who go their way and follow their own opinion and findings and keep doing the works of the flesh, whereby they live in rebellion to God?
How come we see the opposite in the lives of believers of what the gospel of Christ promises? The answer is, that a manmade twisted gospel is preached in many churches. A gospel that is perverted and opposes the truth and will of God, and makes sons of the devil instead of sons of God, and leads the people to hell instead of heaven.
I am ashamed of the perverted gospel of man that leads to damnation
Instead of people kept walking in the love and fear of God and submitting themselves unto God and His Word, staying faithful to God, preaching the unadulterated words, and keeping the commandments of Jesus, people have become prideful.
Being led by their pride, they seated themselves in the seat of God. And from their vain and carnal minds, they adjusted the words of God and made some minor alterations to the gospel and mixed the truth of God with their truth, their vision, their opinion, and their insights, according to their carnal will, lusts, and desires.
Through the interference of people and the modernization and changing of the gospel, a corrupt gospel has been created that deviates from the true gospel of the Word and doesn’t stay within the framework of the Bible, but goes outside the framework of the Bible, living a life of its own.
This perverted gospel is not a power of God unto salvation, but a powerless lie unto damnation.
Because, this perverted gospel that is open for freedom of speech and the freedom of people to do what people want to do, fuels and accepts disobedience and rebellion to God, and keeps people walking in darkness in the bondage of sin and death.
This manmade gospel hardens people’s necks, makes people prideful, independent of God, rebellious, greedy, disobedient to the commandments of Jesus, and leads to bondage.
Because of this powerless gospel, people don’t change anymore but remain the old man, who is prideful, rebellious, and opposes the truth of God and righteousness, and keeps doing the works of the flesh, and therefore live in disobedience to God and perseveres in sin.
A perverted gospel that preaches fables and embraces sin
The gospel of Christ pricks the people in their hearts and calls them to repentance and the removal of sin, which is revealed through the Word.
But this perverted gospel is a feel-good gospel, that preaches fables and is pleasant to hear and tickles the ears of sinners. Because it embraces sin and the ungodliness of the world and leads to a licentious life.
Can’t people help sinning?
The preachers of this gospel approve of the sinful lives of people, by saying that they can’t help sinning. They say that people are sinners and will always remain sinners, and that we live in a broken world. (Read also; Can you use a broken world as an excuse?).
But God’s Word doesn’t endorse these words, which sound so humble and pious but are in reality prideful and rebellious. Because these words deny Jesus Christ and His redemptive work and debunk the power of His blood and the power of the gospel and don’t call the people to a change of life(style) and submission and obedience to God and His Word and the removal of sin. On the contrary, these words approve of sin and promote sin. (Read also: Is Jesus a Promoter of sin?).
The truth is that people can help it.
God’s Word says, among others, that God has given power to everyone to become sons of God (both males and females) and commands the believers to put off the works of the flesh and do the righteous works of God. If people couldn’t do this and didn’t have the power to do this, why did God command the people to do this? God wouldn’t ask anything from people if they couldn’t do it. (a.o. Genesis 4:6-7, Deuteronomy 11:26-28, John 1:11-13, Romans 6-8, 1 Corinthians 15:34, 2 Corinthians 6:1-7:1, Ephesians 4:21-32, Colossians 3).
“Go, and sin no more”
If Jesus already commanded in the Old Covenant the people of Israel to sin no more, then this means, that the people already had a choice and the power to sin no more.
Although they lived in the Old Covenant and were trapped in a sinful nature (sinful flesh), they had the power and the power of will to keep the Law of Moses and to sin not. Because, the Law of Moses has revealed sin through the righteousness of God.
In the Old Covenant God accepted no excuse for the stubbornness of people, if they refused to submit to His words but stayed rebellious, let alone in the New Covenant, in which God gave His Son to deliver man from his sinful nature and restore man in his position (heal from his fallen state) and reconcile man with God and gave His Holy Spirit to man to lead a godly life.
If people don’t live a godly life, but want to live a licentious life like the world, then this is a conscious choice of the people.
But don’t use the gospel of Christ and the blood of Jesus as a cover to approve and do the unclean works of the flesh. Because the true gospel of Christ would never enter into a covenant with the darkness and approve the works of the flesh. God would never bless sin, despite what people say or do.
God’s Word is clear and shall always be clear. No matter how many excuses and arguments people come up with for their wickedness (ungodliness). People shall never succeed in changing the truth of God and justify sin.
The wages of sin is death
All ungodly and unrighteous people, who refuse to listen to the words of God and harden their neck and persevere in sin, shall not escape the wrath of God and His judgment (a.o. Romans 1;18-20, 2:1-9, Ephesians 5:3-7, Colossians 3:6, 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9, 1 Peter 4:3-5).
This corrupt gospel can say all kinds of things and approve everything, but in the end, it’s all about what God’s Word; the Bible says, and not what people say or find.
God is not waiting for your opinion, insights, or findings. He is only waiting for you to come to Him and yield to Him, listen to Him, obey Him, and do what He tells you to do, so that you live after His will.
You shall recognize the tree by its fruits
For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works (2 Corinthians 11:13-15)
Many people have taken a position in the church and a title (apostle, evangelist, prophet, pastor, reverend, etc.) and have seated themselves on the throne of God and preach lies. And they get away with it and can continue preaching lies, because many Christians don’t study the Bible themselves, whereby they don’t know the truth and the will of God. And so they believe every word of the preacher and don’t notice they are being misled.
Through the ignorance of believers, people are appointed in leadership and fellow believers are sitting in church, who sin and defile the church. (Read also: What does the sinning of church leaders say about them?).
Jesus said you will recognize the tree by its fruits (Matthew 7:15-20, Luke 6:43-45).
If you buy seeds for an apple tree and put the seeds in the ground and after some time, you see a tree that bears pears, you know something has gone wrong and that the seed has been put in the wrong package. The seed might be identical, but not until you see the fruit on the tree, you know if you have planted the right tree or not.
The fruit is the distinguishing mark, that Jesus gave us to discern the righteous and the unrighteous.
You don’t have to be a scholar or mature in the faith. Because a child knows from a young age the difference between an apple and a pear and can determine whether a tree is an apple tree or not.
He that does righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous, he that does sin is of the devil
My little children, let no man lead you astray: he that does righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous: he that doeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. To this end was the Son of God manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:7-8)
And the same goes for false teachers in the church and church visitors. They can say they believe and are born of God and speak charismatically using religious words or terminologies and even do signs and wonders, but there is only one thing by which you can determine their nature and find out if they are truly born of God and have the Holy Spirit abiding in them, and that is by the fruit they bear.
Do they walk in obedience in the Light and bear the fruit of repentance, holiness, and the Spirit and do righteous works according to the will of God? Or do they walk in disobedience in darkness and bear the fruit of the flesh of unrighteousness; the works of the flesh (a.o. adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, covetousness, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, (Galatians 5:19-21, Ephesians 5:3) according to their will?
‘Be the salt of the earth’
