I Cor. 15:1,2; Gal. 1:11

From time to time, it is necessary to re-state in precise and definite terms what the New Testament Gospel really is: what did the apostles preach? What was the foundation on which the first believers stood? By what were they saved?

As it did in the days of Paul, the Gospel may lose its freshness and distinctiveness today; it may be watered down; it may be confused by additions; it may be subverted by distortions; it may be sterilized by traditions and killed by misrepresentation.

I will therefore try to re-state the Gospel as it was in the beginning.
It is inevitable to notice in this consideration that the Gospel of the apostles was an infinitely greater thing than that which is preached today. The word "Gospel" needs to be saved and freed from its present limited meaning.

Read more...

Biblical knowledge without a commensurate experience becomes detrimental to our spiritual growth and maturity, and turns out to be counterproductive. In the old dispensation, God first showed a pattern and then commanded that all should be made accordingly. In this present dispensation, He began with mighty acts: the acts of the cross, resurrection and exaltation of Christ and the sending of the Holy Spirit; but these were not wholly understood by most Christians and their meaning and reality had to be arrived at by way of progress and crises.

Similarly, the Lord has done and continues to do things in us and with us, and then gradually teaches us their meaning. We are still learning and there is always more room for "teachableness". The enemy, however, has never given up trying to frustrate God's plan and purpose for humanity. Sadly, Christianity as we know it today, has been turned into a set, established and accepted system, with all its institutionalism, traditionalism, etc. So much of that which goes on in the name of the Lord Jesus is separated from His Person. The "Gospel" has suffered this severance and separation: the Message has been separated from the Person. Salvation nowadays only means forgiveness, justification, peace, happiness, heaven, and escape from hell.

Read more...