But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his trickery, your minds will be led astray from sincere and pure devotion to Christ.For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, this you tolerate very well! —2 Corinthians 11:3-4 NASB
In the last blog, we talked about how some churches are “repackaging” the gospel to suit different audiences and groups of people.
The Gospel of Christ is the power of God to save everyone who believes. We do not need to alter or repackage the gospel or make it “attractive” to people. The gospel is effective and powerful enough to save and change lives. Apostle Paul said – “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes…” Romans 1:16 (NASB)
We are saved by confessing and renouncing our sins and accepting Jesus Christ as LORD and Saviour. We don’t need to add or do anything to attest, qualify or certify this work of salvation as preached by the false teachers.
The different gospel preached by the false teachers was a perversion of the true gospel of Christ’s perfect, once and for all sacrifice to redeem man. The false teachers were adding the requirements, ceremonies, and standards of the Old Testament covenant as necessary conditions and requirements for salvation.
In my years of being a Christian, I have noticed that many churches focus too much on people, events, and programmes with Jesus hardly the central focus. Although these have their place in the church, they should, however, not take the place of Christ.
The Apostle Paul said – “For I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified…And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit. I did this so you would trust not in human wisdom but in the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 2:2,4-5 (NLT)
Paul determined to know nothing among the Corinthian Church but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. He took this stance so that their faith would not be focused or based on the wisdom of men but on the power of God.
Paul made Jesus Christ his main subject, the sum and substance of his life and ministry. He lived and breathed Jesus Christ! This also should be the focus and mindset of preachers and pastors, especially in the times we currently live in. But unfortunately, many have made church tradition, prosperity, wealth and health their main focus.
Many churches use slick, entertaining, or even pretentious and deceptive means to pull or attract people into the church. But they forget or ignore the fact that what you draw them with, is what you draw them to.
We will talk more about this in the next blog.
Stay blessed,
LaraLex
Hills and Valleys 