While Paul was a prisoner at Rome, he wrote a letter to the brethren at Philippi. The church at Philippi was one of his favorites. At one point, they were the only local church that helped him financially in his efforts to spread the gospel (Philippians 4:15). In writing to them, he used terms of endearment such as, “my brothers, whom I love and long for” (4:1).
One of Paul’s famous statements in the epistles to them was, “I am set for the defense of the gospel…” (Philippians 1:17). We should have this same mindset, ready to defend, not only the gospel, but all things related to our Lord. This week, let’s think about things we should be willing to defend, starting with the gospel.
What is the gospel? It is the wonderful story about the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). However, the gospel is more than that. The word gospel is used interchangeably with the phrase “the faith” (Galatians 1:11, 23). “The faith” refers to the body of teaching that make up the New Testament. The gospel, then, includes the teaching of the New Testament.
One aspect of the gospel that we, especially, must defend is God’s plan of salvation. I refer to that specifically because the true, unperverted gospel of Christ is renounced and repudiated by the majority of the religious world today. Those who accept, obey, and advocate it are thought of as heretics.
The majority of mainstream Protestant churches teach that we are saved by faith alone. Never mind that there is not a single passage in the New Testament that teaches this, it is the foundational belief of almost all churches today. They like to say that we are saved by the finished work of Christ on the cross, and if anyone teaches anything else, that person is viewed as an unlearned false teacher who denies the sovereignty of God. If you are a Christian, do not allow anyone to silence you. Teach the truth, and do not be ashamed of it.
The gospel you can read of in the Bible reveals that there is something for man to do to be justified. Yes, a person must believe in Jesus (John 8:24), but that is not the only obligation of man to be saved and enter into fellowship with God. The gospel teaches us that a person must also repent (Acts 17:30), confess that Jesus is the Son of God (Romans 10:9-10), and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38). We must defend this vigorously. We will be in the minority, but, when you consider what Jesus taught in Matthew 7:14, that is a good thing. And do not forget, you have the Word of God on your side. You can give book, chapter, and verse for God’s true plan of salvation.
If you defend the truth, you will hear people say, “we are saved by faith and not by works.” That is only true if the proper faith and works are under consideration. We are only saved by the kind of faith that Abraham had, that is, an obedient faith (James 2:21-24). This is the kind of faith Paul said we must have (Romans 4:12). Paul’s work as an apostle was to bring about “the obedience of faith” (Romans 1:5; 16:25).
The kind of works we are not saved by are works of the law (Romans 3:20, 27, 28; Galatians 2:16, 3:2, 10). The law demanded sinless living because it did not make provision for sin, at least not in the absolute sense. The system of sacrifices it had could not take away sins (Hebrews 10:1-4). So, when Paul taught that we are saved by faith and not by works, he was not saying that there was nothing for man to do to be saved, but that we could be saved despite our sins, as long as we have an obedient faith. This is the gospel truth and must defend it. Souls are at stake.
As you wind down for the night, think about these things