Christian Concern ran a campaign last year entitled ‘Not Ashamed’, based on the verses in Romans 1:16 and 2 Timothy 1:12, a campaign for Christians to stand up and be counted. David Barlow, a guest speaker, talked last night about the difference between the Gospel and general teaching and doctrine and how we must be careful not to add our own ideas and thoughts to the gospel given us by Jesus Christ.
The church in Galatia was taken to task by Paul for deserting the Lord and turning to a different gospel (Gal 1:6). The church had been influenced by those who said that circumcision was necessary for salvation; faith in Jesus Christ was not enough.
Paul reminded the Galatians that he received the gospel by direct revelation from Jesus Christ; that the gospel does not originate in human thought and is not man-made (Gal 1:11-12). It is a gospel of faith, not works (Gal 3:1-6).
At the end of His earthly ministry, Jesus gave His disciples the Great Commission (see Matthew 28 & Mark 16). Here, we are told, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation” (Mk 16:5) and after baptising the new disciples we are told the work continues by “teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matt 28:20). We have a two-fold duty to both preach the gospel and teach those who have made the decision to follow Christ; the two things are not the same. There can be a great variety of opinions about many doctrines within the Christian church, but we have to remain true to the Word of God and must preach the gospel faithfully, declaring all we know of the life, death, burial, resurrection, coronation and glorification of the Lord Jesus Christ so that others may know God’s great plan of salvation.