The Lost Elements of the Gospel
"For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was
preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor
was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ."
Gal. 1: 11, 12
Paul tells us here that the gospel (good news)
which he preached was based upon a revelation he had of Jesus Christ. So here is
my question. Is the gospel you have heard based upon a revelation of Jesus
Christ? Or is it based upon the evangelical movements of the nineteenth century
lead by such men as Dwight L. Moody, Charles Finney, and others?
This is what I call the gospel of the evangelicals and it is very lopsided. It basically
says that Jesus died on the cross for your sins so that you could be forgiven
and go to heaven. This is what most born-again evangelical Christians believe
the gospel to be. However, one cannot read the letters of Paul without seeing
that there was much more to it than that.In fact, I believe that we have altogether missed the very heart of the message. We have missed the center and core of the New Testament proclamation!
My co-workers and I travel all overthis country (and others) to speak to groups of believers who are searching for organic church life. Most of them report to us that they have never heard this part of the message. So I would like to outline the main points of the 'gospel that Paul preached that are, for the most part, being ignored today.
I.Christ in you - an indwelling Lord
Paul said that he received his gospel through a revelation of Jesus Christ (Gal. 1:12). Then, he goes on to tell us that this revelation was of the Son in him and that this Son in him is who he preached (Gal 1: 15, 16).
In other words, Paul preached Christ. (I Cor. 1:23; I Cor. 2:2) But he preached the Christ who lived within him. This "Christ in you" revelation was obviously the core of his message (see Gal. 2:20; Gal. 4:6, 19; Eph. 1:22, 23; Eph 2:22; Eph. 3: 16-19; Col. 1:27; Col. 3:11; I Cor 3:16; I Cor. 6:19; I Cor. 12:27; I Cor. 4:7; Rom. 8: 9-11).
This part of the message is actually the essence of the New Covenant. (Jer. 31:33) In the old covenant everything was external (i.e. - the tablets of stone, an external
priesthood, tabernacle, law). In the New Covenant, everything becomes internal -
Christ in you, the law and lawgiver comes to live within you. And now you learn
to live by the life of Another.
Jesus Christ came to initiate and walk out the New Covenant right in front of his disciples. He lived by the life of his indwelling Father! This changes everything. This means no longer living by an external code of behavior but by the life of another Person. Do you see it? This is the main element in our following the Lord. This is true
discipleship. It's all about learning to follow an indwelling Lord! But how many
books are written about this? How many people are telling us how to live by an
indwelling Christ? How many people even tell us that we have an indwelling
Christ?
II. The Centrality and Supremacy of Jesus ChristThis is one element that every believer and Christian worker would agree is essential. We must be Christ-centered. But what does that mean? To most, it means that the life (earthly life) and teachings of Jesus must be taught and held in the
highest regard. In other words, being Christ-centered means that you adhere to
the correct doctrines. It's mostly a matter of proper theology and teachings.
But Christ is not a teaching. He is a Person. He is both God and Man. This
divine Person is to be the preeminent one in all things (Col. 1:18). It is a
Person who is to be the Center, the Head, and the Life of all we are, and all we
do. Paul said that he preached Christ (I Cor. 1:23) crucified. This means that
he preached the Person and Work of Jesus Christ. Have you ever noticed that in
Paul's writings he very rarely refers to the Lord's earthly life? That's because
Paul was proclaiming an eternal and glorified Christ. He preached the all
inclusive, full, ascended, and glorified Christ. He preached a Christ who is the
All in all!
III. The Eternal Purpose of God
". . . according to the kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth." Eph. 1: 9, 10
This element of the eternal gospel flows right into our last element of the centrality of Christ. The gospel that is preached today is mostly man-centered and based
upon our western culture which is based upon human need. We live in a society of
consumerism. Everything revolves around our own needs. This environment has bled into our "churches" and into our message. The gospel we preached is founded upon the need of humankind. Jesus came to save us, heal us, deliver us, teach us,
etc. Man has a need - God came to fill that need. That, in a nutshell, is what
most Christians believe is God's eternal purpose. But that is not what Paul
tells us. The letter to the Ephesians (especially chapters 1 and 3) tell us
another story. Paul tells us that God's purpose is centered in His Son, not in
human need. You could even say that God himself has a need. Oh I know, God is
all sufficient within himself and has no need within his nature. But God (in a
sense) does have a need pertaining to his purpose. Maybe we should call it a
passionate desire. He has a great passion, a will, a purpose, a goal. And that
goal has to do with his Son. He wants to make his Son the Center of everything!
But he has chosen a unique way to do this. He will make his Son the center or
sum of all things by expanding or increasing the Son until he fills all things
with himself. He increases his Son by making him the firstborn of many brethren
(Rom. 8:29) through his death and resurrection. The Son increases through the
growth of the Body, his Church (see John 3:30; Eph. 1:23). And Christ becomes
the All in all.
This is a most glorious purpose! But how often have we heard this preached in any of its many forms and expressions? In the last century there were three men who shared this message by spoken and written means. They were: T. Austin-Sparks, Watchman Nee, and Devern Fromke. But where are the men and women who will take the baton from these brothers and bring this message today?
The three missing elements of the gospel that I have shared
in this article all require two things for understanding. Revelation and the
work of the cross. These are absolutely necessary for understanding to come.
However, this is costly and therefore not very popular in our consumerism
society. The work of the cross in the life of the believer takes time. But as
consumers, we want things to be done instantly. Revelation happens slowly as one
yields and breaks before God. But as consumers, we want to read a book and have
the message.Where are the brothers and sisters who are willing and passionate about allowing God to break their soul lives so that his life can flow out of them? Where, oh where, are the brothers and sisters who are willing to get to know an indwelling Lord, the centrality of Christ, and God's eternal purpose, and then preach the whole counsel of God? My prayer is that God will raise up some of these men and women in our generation and the generations to come so that he may have his house, his bride, and his body. And that his Son may be increased and expanded to fill all things with himself.
Written by Milt Rodriguez
I've spent too many years trying to figure out life on my own. Reading books, attending classes, always keeping an eye out for folks who seemed to be getting the hang of things. I'd notice that the neighbors' kids seemed to be doing well, and I'd think to myself, What do they do that I'm not doing? Their kids are in sports. Maybe I should get mine in sports. I'd walk away from a conversation with someone who seemed to be on top of th world, and afterward I'd think, She seems so well-read. I'm not reading enough. I should read more. I'd hear that a colleague was doing well financially, and quickly I'd jump to, He spends time managing his money. I ought to do that. We do this all the time, all of us, this monitoring and assessing and observing and adjusting, trying to find the keys to make life work.
We end up with quite a list. But the only lasting fruit it seems to bear is that it ties us up in knots. Am I supposed to be reading now, or exercising, or monitoring my fat intake, or creating a teachable moment with my son?
The good news is you can't figure out life like that. You can't possibly master enough principles and disciplines to ensure that your life works out. You weren't meant to, and God won't let you. For He knows that if we succeed without Him, we will be infinitely further from Him. We will come to believe terrible things about the universe--things like I can make it on my own and if only I try harder, I can succeed.That whole approach to life--trying to figure it out, beat the odds, get on top of your game--it is utterly godless. Meaning entirely without God. He is nowhere in those considerations. That sort of scrambling smacks more of the infamous folks who raised the tower of Babel than it does of those who walked with God in the garden in the cool of the day. In the end, I'd much rather have God.
General William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, once said this:
The chief danger of the twentieth century will be religion without the Holy Spirit. Christianity, the chief danger, but Christianity without Christ.
In 1787, Gibbon the noted historian completed his Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Here’s the way he accounted for the fall of the
The rapid increase of divorce
The undermining of the dignity and sanctity of the home
The mad craze for pleasure and sports
Sports becoming every year more exciting and more brutal
The building of gigantic armaments when the real enemy was within…in the decadence of the people.
The decay of religion. Faith fading into mere form. Ritual instead of reality. Language instead of life. Losing touch with life…becoming impotent to warn or guide the people.
1BUT UNDERSTAND this, that in the last days will come (set in) perilous times of great stress and trouble [hard to deal with and hard to bear].
2For people will be lovers of self and [utterly] self-centered, lovers of money and aroused by an inordinate [greedy] desire for wealth, proud and arrogant and contemptuous boasters. They will be abusive (blasphemous, scoffing), disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy and profane.
3[They will be] without natural [human] affection (callous and inhuman), relentless (admitting of no truce or appeasement); [they will be] slanderers (false accusers, troublemakers), intemperate and loose in morals and conduct, uncontrolled and fierce, haters of good.
4[They will be] treacherous [betrayers], rash, [and] inflated with self-conceit. [They will be] lovers of sensual pleasures and vain amusements more than and rather than lovers of God.
5For [although] they hold a form of piety (true religion), they deny and reject and are strangers to the power of it [their conduct belies the genuineness of their profession]. Avoid [all] such people [turn away from them].
In other words, these folks may be in church on Sunday enjoying an empty religion with all the pious language intended to make it valid, but empty of substance. A hollow mockery of the real thing. Noise, lots of it, but little knowledge of God.
"Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it." The One who calls you to a life of righteousness is the One who by your consent lives that life of righteousness through you! The One who calls you to minister to the needs of humanity is the One who by your consent ministers to the needs of humanity through you! The One who calls you to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature, is the One who by your consent, goes into all the world and preaches the Gospel to every creature through you!
This is the divine genius that saves a man from the futility of self-effort. It relieves the Christian of the burden of trying to pull himself up by his own bootstraps! If it were not for this divine provision, the call to Christ would be a source of utter frustration, presenting the sorry spectacle of a sincere idealist, constantly thwarted by his own inadequacy. If you will but trust Christ, not only for the death He died in order to redeeem you, but also for the life that He lives and waits to live through you, the very next step you take will be a step taken in the very energy and power of God Himself!
