No Other Gospel
If I had to choose one take-away from Living Hope’s recent church history class, it would be that, from the moment of its inception, the gospel has been under siege. Of course, if we know the Scriptures, this should not come as a surprise. This battle didn’t begin with the church, after all. The whole Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, is the story of God’s plan for mankind and Satan’s relentless attempts at sabotage.
No one knew better than Christ what it’s like to be in Satan’s crosshairs. And he knew that once he had ascended into heaven, Satan’s deadly fury would be aimed directly at his church. This is why he warned us: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves” (Mt. 7:15). In Revelation 12, the risen Christ pulled back the curtain to reveal to the Apostle John (and us) this vision of what happened when he ascended victorious into heaven:
“the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. . . .Then the dragon became furious . . . and went off to make war . . . on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus” (v. 9, 17).
Church history is the 2000+ year story of this war against the dragon. From the moment the gospel was first proclaimed it has been opposed. Saul, a Jew from Tarsus, was one of its most vehement early opponents, “breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord” (Acts 9:1) until Christ revealed himself to him on the road to Damascus. No one knew better than Saul (also called Paul) how offensive the gospel is to those to whom Christ has not been revealed. No one knew better the satanic rage it inspires. He had once embodied the most obvious threat the church faces: persecution from the outside.
Throughout its history and up to this very day, the church of Christ has faced this kind of persecution as Satan tries to silence the gospel by terrifying or by killing Christians. This is why Jesus warned us: “some of you they will put to death. You will be hated by all for my name's sake. But not a hair of your head will perish” (Lk. 21:16b-17). He wants us to know that even death cannot harm his people. This has never been where the greatest threat lies. In fact, the church has often experienced some of its greatest growth in times of persecution and in the wake of martyrdom.
Rather, the greater threat to the church comes from that more subtle characteristic of Satan. He is “the deceiver.” As Paul neared the end of his life he gave this final warning to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20:
“Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them” (28-30).
In one of his letters to Corinth Paul, again addressing the danger of false teachers, put it this way:
“such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness”
(2 Cor. 11: 13-15a).
These attacks on the church don’t come from the outside with battering rams and swords. These enemies don’t come with violence and insults. They don’t even necessarily come from outside. “They come from among your own selves.” They come smiling and speaking our language. They come Bibles in hand, seeming very spiritual as they divert us from the heart of the gospel and turn our attention to whatever satanic deception they are peddling. This is exactly the sort of deception that led Paul to write his letter the churches of Galatia. The Galatians faced an enemy from within, an enemy that was robbing them of the hope they had found in Christ. Against such enemies, Paul minces no words:
“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed” (Gal 1:6-9).
The Holy Spirit has preserved Paul’s words for us for a reason. We need them. In 313 AD, when the emperor Constantine legalized Christianity, the world seemed to become a much safer place for Christians. External opposition came to a screeching near-halt, but the danger to the church had not ended. In the safety of “Christendom” the church found itself overrun with false teaching, and the battle continues generation after generation until this very day.
Most of us have been exposed to bad teaching. Many of us still cling to falsehoods that undermine our faith. Some of us are actively being lured away from Christ with false hopes and various distractions dangled before us. The only way to battle these falsehoods is with the truth of Scripture, the truth of the only gospel. There is no other gospel!
