The church is under attack from within.
The names of our enemies are new, but their methods aren’t.
The old Social Gospel is back. The error which has corrupted the mainline Protestant denominations and Catholicism, is now being served up, in a new way, to the Evangelical church.
This error has been carefully repackaged to seduce the younger leaders and younger people away from the saving gospel of Christ. And away from the sound teaching and preaching of the word of God.
Instead, it is moving them toward a false gospel of good works and earth-centered activism. Engaging them in actions to make the world a better place instead of preparing the souls of men and women for Eternity.
An Earth-Centered Gospel
The great deception of our age has been the seduction of the church away from the saving gospel to something else.
Whatever that something else might be.
It doesn’t really matter if that something else is a carnal thing – like sex or money or pride. That thing could just as easily be good works or good deeds.
Such as feeding the poor, taking care of the downtrodden, running a soup kitchen, clothing the naked, fighting for racial equality or fair housing, saving the planet, or a thousand other things that one might choose to do to help people in this world.
As long as it takes our focus away from, or distracts us from, the saving message of the gospel of Christ. Or as long as it causes us to alter or water down or delay the message of the gospel.
Which will confuse the gospel. Complicate salvation. And muddy the waters of truth.
In order to better accomplish some other objective.
Is Christ or Our Works the Substitute?
A common corruption within the mainline denominations has always been their attempt to place the good works of men above all else. In other words, to make good works at least equal to faith in the word of God.
This means that the Sermon on the Mount is placed at the forefront of teaching.
It becomes a kind of filter from which all other Christian truth and activity is evaluated. Not only for salvation, but also for whether a person is pleasing the Lord in his daily walk with Christ.
This priority change elevates the good works that Jesus preached about in those passages to a place above the foundational truths of faith and doctrine.
Saved by Love Instead of by Faith?
This emphasis allows a lost man, doing good works for others, to have a hope of salvation. Even though he has never been born again, according to the scriptures.
His good works are emphasized above faith and repentance for the salvation of his soul. Or they are considered a co-equal requirement along with faith.
His good works are then substituted as a kind of fulfillment of the love passages in scripture. Such as those of I Corinthians 13. Where love is supposedly elevated above faith and hope. (Avoiding a real understanding of the context of that passage.)
So that a man, according to the Social Gospel, is saved by love. By his loving works. Or by his loving thoughts. Or by his loving attitude.
Which is meant to replace salvation based upon repentance from sin and a clear belief in the record that God gave of His Son. A record that starts in Genesis and goes through the end of Revelation.
Foxes in the Hen House
The Social Gospel is based on a corruption of the Sermon on the Mount, as well as similar passages, in order to present a gospel of good works instead of a gospel of repentance and faith.
It is a false gospel. But it is a very powerful and seductive one. And it appeals to a wide spectrum of false religious groups.
And it is being pushed by men who are highly revered in Evangelical circles. By coalitions and organizations of Christians that pretend to be making the gospel more relevant and accessible to the culture; while corrupting the gospel of Christ itself.
But this Social Gospel strategy has been tried many times before. The difference today is that Evangelical leaders are claiming not to be pushing a Social Gospel; while, at the same time, they are pushing a Social Gospel!
It’s like a fox that walks into a hen house claiming that he is not going to steal any eggs. And how he is opposed to those foxes that steal eggs.
Even while he is stealing the eggs!
This compromise on steroids is taking place right before our eyes.
And it is being packaged and marketed by the most popular and the most respected Evangelical leaders of our day.
Image by winterseitler from Pixabay
October 21, 2020 at 9:51 pm
Thanks for a true message.
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October 22, 2020 at 8:45 am
Thanks, Carole for reading and responding.
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