Jesus + ...

6I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are following a different gospel –7not that there really is another gospel, but there are some who are disturbing you and wanting to distort the gospel of Christ. 8But even if we (or an angel from heaven) should preach a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be condemned to hell!9As we have said before, and now I say again, if any one is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, let him be condemned to hell! 10Am I now trying to gain the approval of people, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a slave of Christ!  11Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. 12For I did not receive it or learn it from any human source; instead I received it by a revelation of Jesus Christ.

Galatians 1:6-12 (NET)

There are precious gifts that go with living in any human historical time, I think.  I do not envy the early Church their particular challenges.  I'm not talking about martyrdom, though that would be an obvious challenge, to be sure.  I'm referring specifically to that turbulent time when the gospel was being spread initially and error was so prevalent.  It's amazing to think that the only "God's Word' they had came from either the Old Testament or the letters of the New Testament writers.  

Of course, Satan still uses doctrinal error as one of his chief weapons for disrupting the Church.  However, the difference today is that we have the complete, written revelation of Father, Son and Holy Spirit in the form of our Bible.  We, in our modern day, have no idea how grateful we should be.

These new churches...they had it rough!  Some smooth-talker would come along and persuade them to accept some form of "Jesus +" - - - Jesus plus circumcision, Jesus plus good works, Jesus plus ______ (whatever).

The admonitions Paul gives concerning those who pervert the gospel are extremely strong.  (It's difficult to get much more intense than damning someone to hell!)  This is something I try to be very careful to avoid - - no, not hell! Heaven is already settled for me.  I'm referring to twisting and misinterpreting the Scriptures.  It's terribly easy to make a mistake, as the Bible is a very complex book, to put it mildly.  There's plenty of opportunity to draw wrong conclusions and to put something out there that is just plain wrong.  

Case in point:

After yesterday's post a person on Twitter wanted to argue with me about the dating of the book of Galatians.  (I share my posts to Twitter and on Facebook.)  I listened to the rationale put forth respectfully and said I'd look into it more at a later time.  If you go back and read yesterday's post, you'll see that I totally understand that there is a great deal of disagreement on this point.  Frankly, I don't think it is all that crucial that we know "without a shadow of a doubt" when Galatians was written.

You may have wondered now and then who I am and why in the world I am doing this.  Well, I don't do it to win any person's approval or even my own.  Nearly two years ago I felt a calling from God to start this blog. It made no sense at the time, and I didn't want to do it.  I felt it would be just "too much".  Still, the pull of God on my heart was inescapable, if I was going to be obedient to Him.  So, I began.  My pastor said one time that if a call from God is not bigger than you are, then it is not from Him.  That is because He wants all the glory, and He deserves ALL the glory! (Gal. 1:5).

Do I have a degree in Bible?  No.  I did attend a conservative, non-denominational Bible college for four years, graduated with a teaching degree, and have studied the Bible regularly since my teens.  But, that's it. Nor am I a paragon of spiritual virtue.   Rather, I am a redeemed, middle-aged lady, trying my best to follow Jesus. 

What I try to do in this blog is this:
1) share what God is giving me from the Scriptures and at the same time avoid spreading doctrinal error, as Paul warned against in today's passage
2) share honestly about what it means to be "resplendent" on a daily basis.  Some days, I am more resplendent than on other days ... that is, I allow the Holy Spirit of God to fill me some days, more than on others.  HE is the source of all resplendence, as He IS utterly resplendent.  The Word of God is alive, powerful and so sharp that it can pierce you through and through, before you even realize it! I need a lot of that piercing, every day!

So, if you ever, ever catch me "preaching another gospel", please call my hand.  This is the true gospel of Jesus Christ, two passages which perfectly describe it:  

3 For I passed on to you as of first importance what I also received—that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, 4 and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures,

1 Corinthians 15:3-4 (NET)

13 And even though you were dead in your transgressions and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he nevertheless made you alive with him, having forgiven all your transgressions. 14 He has destroyed what was against us, a certificate of indebtedness expressed in decrees opposed to us. He has taken it away by nailing it to the cross.

Colossians 2:13-14 (NET)

Jesus plus ..... nothing!  Grace, all grace!  Hallelujah! 

Good morning, Father.  You are so beyond our human comprehension.  Thank you for your Word and the privilege of worshipping you from it as often as we please.  We may have to lasso our bodies to only eat physical food in moderation, but we can have as much of You and Your Word as we want. What joy!  Please keep us from the evil one, Lord.  Deliver us from evil, especially the evil of perverting the meaning in Your written revelation.  My Lord Jesus is all in all.  To Him be all the glory and honor and praise, forever and ever.  Amen.