In many churches today, the message of the gospel has been watered down and distorted through eons of half-truths and platitudes that have disregarded the cutting words of Christ in favor of all grace and no repentance messages of inclusivity, that cherry pick scripture to support their unique perspective. The Church of Christ has become the church without Christ and many denominations are bogged down in religiosity that misses the salvation Jesus bled and died for. Rather than being a city on a hill, shining its light for the world, much of Christianity has become hidden and is indistinguishable from the world. In most churches, quantity supersedes quality, filling auditoriums is the measurement of success, tolerance trumps calls for repentance and overlooking immorality has led to sanctioning sin in the form of the ordination of openly sinful lifestyles of pastors and priests. Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on a stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” Mathew 5:13-16. Much of the church has become impotent in the face of today’s culture of subjective truth and moral relativism. In an effort to be accepting, tolerant and progressive and facilitate growth, many of today’s “Christian” teachings have become false in every sense of the word. Jesus predicted this would be a sign of the last days (Mathew 24:10-11), and the apostle Paul echoed those sentiments in his first letter to Timothy (1 Timothy 4:1-4).
Today the prosperity gospel garners the attention of a culture that worships wealth and materialism. The poor are coerced into tithing their grocery money with the promise that they will receive “a hundred times as much in this present age” (Mark 10:30), in a blatant twisting of scripture to support their narrative. In doing so, prosperity preachers put contradictory words into the mouth of Jesus, making him out to be a liar. Jesus never preached prosperity in this life but rather taught, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Mathew 6:19-21.
Religion has become a man-made, self-serving monster that has grown like a malignant tumor. It encompasses many belief systems, corrupts the pure at heart, perverts the vulnerable, deceives the innocent and builds wealth at the expense of the poor. Today, religion is a tragedy that undermines the very fabric of faith. It eats away at the sincerity of the heart by setting obstacles in the way of salvation that only serve the establishment and lay claim to one’s righteousness through the observance of ritual and ceremony. In other cases, it strips down the foundation of belief to eliminate the need for repentance and holiness, claiming sin was conquered on Calvary therefore it is no longer sin, and that sinners are free carry on without the need for change. Religious enterprise has thrived on the splitting of hairs in the interpretation of scripture, leading to mass confusion and self-defeating logic that only serves to divide and conquer the house of God through Satan’s deception. Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” Luke 18:17.
The apostle Paul wrote, “If anyone teaches false doctrines and does not agree with the sound instructions of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, he is conceited and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction between men of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.” 1 Timothy 6:3-5.
Paul appealed to the early Church not to believe in any other gospel but the true gospel he nad the other apostles preached. Through hypocrisy, false teachers who did not understand the freedom we have in Christ (Galatians 2:4), tried to persuade believers to become circumcised and observe Jewish laws. Others were guilty of preaching that the day of the Lord prophesied by Jesus had already come, which Paul addressed in 2 Thessalonians 2:3.
Skeptics often raise the issue that there were several gospels and that not all were canonized therefore the New Testament gospels are lacking truth and that the gospels were anonymous and cannot be considered reliable. The apostle Paul’s letter to the Galatian church gives evidence that there were false gospels in existence within a couple of decades of the crucifixion. “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 – which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ.” Galatians 1:6-7.
The Bible is the word of God. It is the most authenticated ancient document in the history of civilization with more manuscripts and more accurate manuscripts than any other ancient writing. The book of Acts was written only 30 years after Christ died on the cross, with the Gospels following within the next 40 years. The apostle Paul was martyred in AD 64, only thirty years after the crucifixion, and he wrote over half of the New Testament. Considering the limitations on the spread of the gospel due to modes of transportation, persecution at the hands of the Pharisees and the Romans and the absence of the printing press, Christianity exploded throughout the world very early on, in the face of adversity, therefore, its authenticity is beyond reproach.
Jesus said that if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit (Mathew 15:14), yet here we are with over 45,000 Christian denominations claiming to be right throughout the world today. Many offshoot Christian denominations never preach the true gospel or teach from the Bible.
It is critical that the message of the gospel not be distorted in any way, shape or form. God did not send his one and only Son to live and die just to have mankind undermine his purpose. Without Christ, mankind has a veil covering its eyes and fails to understand the truth of God. Only Jesus can remove the scales off the eyes of humanity. He said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12.
In Christ we have freedom from the bondage of sin and freedom from the restraints of religion. This makes us free to serve God through love for him and for each other. What nonbelievers witness as human acts of kindness are often mistaken for actions only and can be confused with salvation by works, or religious duty to gain merit. Not only is it impossible to gain salvation through human effort, good works is the fruit of being born again and is the result of salvation.
Christ instructed us to serve each other out of love and Paul wrote, “You my brothers and sisters were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge in the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” Galatians 5:13-14.
Christians were not called out of this world to continue in bondage to the world. By dying to the world, dying to sin and turning our backs on worldly pleasures, we shift our focus onto Christ through repentance. We are then free to celebrate and glorify God in a spirit as free as the wind. In John 3:8, Jesus said, “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
We shortchange ourselves terribly when we fail to claim the freedom we have in Jesus Christ. We were created to experience a life that is so much greater than one of secular mundaneness or nothing more than participation in the proverbial rat race in pursuit of wealth that is only temporal. We were never meant to succumb to slavery to sin or the yoke of religion that only serves to drive a wedge between us and our Creator.
We were designed to be creatures of immense love and reverence for each other, all of creation, of life itself and above all, God. We are meant to walk in the presence of the Lord, to have fellowship with him daily and to enjoy his great blessings. Redemption through Christ offers us the opportunity to reclaim our inheritance as children of God. To live a life of true peace and happiness here and now as well as for eternity.
