THE PENALTY FOR DISTORTING THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST – 1:8-9:
“We” cannot preach a gospel different than what “you” have heard! Notice that Paul wrote if “we” – if an apostle – were to teach anything different than what had already been preached, they would be accused! Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 16:22 that if anyone does not love Jesus, he is accursed. The person is accursed who distorts the gospel of Christ, which puts him into the same category as someone who does not love Jesus Christ!
But not only that…
An “angel” cannot preach a gospel different than what you have heard! Paul writes that even if an angel came out of the unseen world and preached something different than what had already been preached, that person, that angel would be accursed. In other words, God revealed His will in the first century and there is no further need for a revelation from God and there is no further revelations from God. The gospel does not need any additions and it does not need any modifications.
The Bible – the gospel message – as it is is adapted to man as he is. If you adapt the gospel message to fit a changing culture, then you distort the gospel message so it is no longer suitable for man’s needs.
That’s why it can’t be distorted!
THE ESSENCE OF A BOND-SERVANT OF CHRIST – 1:10-12:
The “bondservant” of Christ seeks to please Him. Who do we seek to please in our teaching? Our friends or family or Jesus Christ? In 1 Thessalonians 2:4, Paul tells us that God is the one who examines our hearts; therefore, we need to seek to please Him.
A young minister-friend of mine was antsy about studying with someone about some false ideas that person held. My friend was fidgety because he did not want to offend his student. I encouraged him to teach the truth with kindness, love, and patience, but with courage – to be sure he didn’t offend God in his study with that person. Does that concern us at all? That we might offend God as we talk about the gospel to other people?
Paul’s gospel is not according to men. If the gospel was “according to men,” we could change it. We could adjust it. We could take out the parts that we didn’t like. Just about two weeks ago, a man told me that we don’t have to believe Genesis is a literal account of the creation because the “majority of Christian scholars” say that Genesis is not literal. Seriously? How much can we reject out of the mouth of God and not offend God? This book is not “according to men!” Rather…
The gospel came through a revelation of Jesus Christ. King David said, “The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me, and His word was on my tongue” (2 Sam. 23:2). That’s the idea of inspiration. That’s the idea that the gospel came through a revelation of Jesus Christ. We can’t distort the words out of the mouth of God! How can we get to heaven if we distort the message that came out of heaven which tells us how to get to heaven?
Don’t distort the gospel of Christ! Understand the text, embrace His words, obey His commands, in order to enjoy His blessings!
Paul Holland
