Evangelicals and the "fast food" gospel (Gospels, doctrine, church)

[Steph1980]

This post has turned out longer than I planned. Please forgive me for not finding a shorter way to say this:

"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works so that no one may boast"

Grace = the unmerited favor of God given to sinners who could never be righteous

Saved = rescued from the penalty of sin, eternal death

Faith = a "belief event" or decision for Christ which should show itself through obedience but doesn't have to in order to be effective

Your own doing = any striving to please God or be obedient to Him

Works = our obedience to His commands

The above explanation of Ephesians 2:8-9 is how I have always understood these verses. I have been wrestling with the "plan of salvation" i've believed and preached for several months now after having been raised as an MK and growing up in church all these years. When i first started looking more closely at why i believed certain doctrines (by going back into church history and studying how these doctrines became accepted, and studying the Bible as well as commentaries), I was doing it for the sake of theology. But God has been stirring my heart in a huge way concerning the truth about salvation. The gate is narrower than I thought and i fear that many who think they have found it have not. This has been a little traumatizing for my family and quite frankly distressing for me as well. But when God grips you, it is a good idea to hang on for the ride.....

God has really impressed on me lately the centrality and importance of the Church to His plan for the ages. I don't understand it all, but I do know that the "church" in North America is largely in shambles.... And largely unaware. We measure our success, not using a godly yardstick, but by man-centered values.

I was reading Acts this weekend, and in Acts 2, we all know the familiar story of the first wave of converts into the church at Pentecost. Their hearts were good soil spoken of in the parable of the sower, and they received the word with gladness. Then the most crazy thing happened...... They all sold all they had and distributed it among themselves as any had need. And it says that their lives were marked by joy and generosity and their number was added to daily. WOW I thought!!! What made them do that??? What made them live so radically, as one community? They didn't do this only for the first couple of months, but for 200 years!!!!! (Tertullian writes around 200AD, speaking of the church, "we have all things in common except our wives"). I always just thought they were so overjoyed at their salvation

But then I saw it.......... they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching (and to fellowship, breaking bread and prayers).

The apostles were teaching the church something about radical discipleship, and the new believers were throwing themselves into it heart and soul!!! The penny dropped for me - The last thing Jesus told His disciples was to go into all the world, preaching the good news, baptizing them, and teaching them to obey all that He commanded them.

Wow again!

So I started pouring over the gospels. What did Jesus teach that was so important that the apostles were now passing on to the church and the church was OBEYING to the point where they were literally forsaking their earthly treasure for the purpose of the kingdom? And all the while I am thinking that these new converts (and maybe even the apostles) probably have no idea yet of God's incredible purpose for the church, and that they (we) are to be His body on the earth, doing His ministry, and being a city on a hill which cannot be hidden, showing forth His incredible goodness.

Well for a start, Matthew is absolutely chock full of parables, and descriptions of the kingdom and who will inherit it, that it just blew my mind. This was the furthest thing from the evangelical gospel that I had ever heard! Lose your life, pick up your cross, only the righteous will inherit the kingdom, it's pretty much impossible for the rich to enter, sell all your possessions, value the kingdom above any treasure, don't look back or you are not worthy, hate your family in comparison to your love for Me, deny yourself........ WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But those converts in Acts 2 were already saved right? Nothing they could do would help or hinder their eternally secure position in Christ, right? According to Ephesians 2:8-9 and how I understood it, that was right. So why would they be told afterwards how to enter life and inherit the kingdom?

Maybe it is time to redefine the terms. Starting with GRACE.......

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

God is zealous about His true church in the earth.... Let's forsake the impure gospel we have so willingly received which claims to glorify God's grace by making us too weak to obey, and return to the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints whereby God's grace empowers us to live righteously for His glory in the earth.