There is an interesting aspect of the Gospel that I am just now beginning to comprehend. It is not just a message of Christ’s salvation through His sacrifice and a call to repent and believe the Gospel. It goes much deeper than that.
It is a message that has in essence a two fold meaning and purpose. It is the means by which God makes known those He is calling now, and those He is not, yet holding them responsible for its rejection by the faithless that make up the vast majority of mankind.
The faithless, stiff-necked and rebellious hear the Gospel. Those with the “deceitful and desperately wicked hearts” which all are born with hear the Gospel. Those with evil hearts of unbelief hear and are exposed to the Gospel, and they reject it. Not outright, but through what a deceitful heart does, taking it and transforming it into a message palatable to an evil heart, that is also an evil mind and soul – an evil ego.
The ego demands “participation” because the ego demands credit for accomplishments; real or imagined. That God would grant salvation, grant righteousness, grant repentance takes all the spiritual wind out of the sails of those whose egos demand recognition. They must present salvation as a goal to be achieved through personal effort, where they elevate the self and debase those less capable; less determined, and less talented as they. They must have bragging rights. They must acquire the medal on the chest where they have succeeded where others have failed. Pride.
Jesus told the ‘righteous’ Pharisees that they were going to stand there and watch the ones they despised; the ones they looked down upon, enter into the kingdom of God in their sight.
(Matthew 21:28-32) But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard. °He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went. °And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not. °Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. °For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.
I would mention here the Pharisees kept the law to a degree where they would not have had any need to “repent of sin”, where 'sin' is defined as transgressing the law, like some here view repentance, but their lack of repentance was in relation to what John the Baptist was preaching, letting it be known He was preparing the way for One to follow. You could hardly claim John was preaching the law and repentance of sin/transgressions of the law to those who were devoted to the law. But some here will make the attempt anyway…
People indeed confessed their sins that were related to their having turned away from God, where their hearts, minds, and souls were far from God. The important issue here however is when Pharisees showed up where John was preaching and baptizing…
(Matthew 3:5-10) Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan, °And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins. °But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? °Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: °And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. °And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
Fruits of repentance are not found in the law; they are found in good works later expressed by Jesus and reiterated by Paul in regards to works wrought in and through the Holy Spirit. But again those who resist the Holy Spirit conclude what is palatable to their condition, where keeping the commandments was good fruit, when in reality, keeping the law was to be fruitless when it came to good works. Or was John here mistaken with the Pharisees who kept the law? Was John falsely indicting them? Their reliance was with the law, like those Jews who passed by the severely injured man in the parable of "The Good Samaritan" which Jesus gave. The crux of the parable was about one Samaritan, whom the Jews despised, stopping and aiding the injured man. Who did the good work, the Jews who had the law or the Samaritan who had humility and loved his enemy? The Samaritans act was a good work.
Back to the Gospel then.
Those few who hear the Gospel and begin to comprehend the significance of it may well be astonished, for here was Christ Jesus declaring salvation - eternal life - to be had by simply believing Him and believing IN Him. This was completely apart from the law; to the exclusion of the law. Those being ‘granted’ comprehension would have already realized that no matter how devoted to the law one is, they still sin; they are still flawed and lacking, especially when compared to a holy God who is perfect. Those who respond to the actual Gospel, without modification or parsing, see how a Holy, Just, Righteous God would have an unbounded mercy for those who place their true and real faith in Him only, knowing now that the law they thought would lead to life had the opposite effect.
(Romans 7:10) And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death.
The carnal mind; the evil mind enamored with his own ego, doesn’t perceive the law as that which condemns him to death. He sees life and reward there; an opportunity to prove himself worthy and to be placed in the kingdom of Heaven due to his elevated, sinless state.
(Genesis 3:4-6) And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: °For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. °And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
What imparts a knowledge of good and evil? What imparts a modicum of wisdom?
The law.
What was the sin of the devil, found IN him? His desire to become like God is God; to elevate himself to be on par with God and to share in the glory of God.
False prophets have been known to preach parity with God; be like God by becoming perfect through the law.
But Jesus described a different route of becoming “perfect” and that was through faith; following Him, deriving our righteousness through Him, His righteousness imparted to us by Him, where a Christian’s righteousness is an imputed righteousness, founded in faith and not law, for the law is NOT of faith.
The true Christian is a child of God who inherits eternal life through Jesus’ “Testament” put in force by His death, where eternal life is bequeathed to the heirs. Eternal life is not a payment or compensation for “work” performed; for keeping the law.
One must be born again, of the Spirit; become a child of God, on that spiritual plane. Being in this condition, good works, wrought in the Spirit, become possible. The children of God are led by the Holy Spirit, not an outdated law given to, and required of those Hebrews who did not have the Spirit of God, but where led by their evil flesh, given a law that condemned them, being evil in heart, where all their works were motivated by that heart.
All these things are in Scripture, beyond the grasp of those led by the flesh, held by the law. They have a veil before the eyes, unable to see the true Christ, seeing only what Moses both wrote and taught, written down in the book of the law. You can find that written in 2Corinthians chapter 3.
The first will be last, and the last will be first when it comes to entry into the kingdom of God, and those who believe they should be first are going to find themselves in an embarrassing situation when those they believe will be excluded from the kingdom of Heaven walk past them into it.
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It is important that you understand; Everything on this blog is based on the current understanding of each author. Never take anyone's word for it, always prove it for yourself, it is your responsibility. You cannot ride someone else's coattail into the Kingdom. ; )
Acts 17:11
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