- Overcomer Literature Trust
- Swindon
- Wiltshire
IN DEFENCE OF THE GOSPEL.
By J.C.Metcalfe.
In the first chapter of Galatians we find some of the distinctive features of the Gospel. It is the good news of grace (v6). It is the Gospel of Christ (v7), which means that Christ is at once its author, its theme and its substance. It is no human invention (v12), but is only understood by means of a direct Christ-given revelation. Such a revelation consists not merely of understanding concerning the truths that revolve round Christ, but it is His actual coming to dwell within the believer. The magnificent words of 2 Corinthians 4 v6 describe this experience, which is the foundation upon which the Christian life is built, ‘’For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness’, made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ”. Such is the trust delivered not only to the apostle, but also for all time to the Church of Christ.
Galatians chapter 2 shows us Paul in active defence of this Gospel. “I went up again to Jerusalem”, he writes, “in response to a revelation and set before them the Gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. But I did this privately to those who seemed to be leaders” (v2). The good news of the free grace of God was being assailed by teachers from Jerusalem who sought to force the Jewish rites on the Gentile churches. The first instinct of this great Christian gentleman was to deal with the matter privately and to keep it well hidden from the unpleasant attentions of publicity. Such an attitude was not only a mark of true courtesy, it was also an evidence of the formation of Christ-like character in the apostle. Later he recommends the same course of action of forbearing love to Timothy (2 Timothy 2 v23-26).
It is so much easier to rush into print and denounce the actions and teachings of others, than to take the matter up quietly and privately with them. Controversy is as a rule more popular with us than the genuine concern for others which drives us to prayer on their behalf, and inspires us with the longing to cover rather than to publish abroad their suspected shortcomings. This is evidence that we have not begun to learn the lesson of our union with Christ in His death and resurrection, but that the self-life in us is still strongly entrenched even though it wears the trappings of soundness.
This does not mean that Paul yielded an inch on any point which affected the purity of the Gospel. He knew too well the infinite value of the good news and understood how quickly something can be added to or taken from it which would render it useless. But his concern was not for the Gospel as a system of dogma, but as being the sole means of peace and deliverance to those in need. He speaks of false brethren who infiltrated the church (Gal. 2 v 4-5). Here were men and women being won from the dreadful entanglements of heathen superstition, and Paul had rejoiced as he watched the miraculous working of the Holy Spirit in their hearts and lives. They were now in grave danger of being dragged down into the bondage of a lifeless legalism which would obscure the light of God’s marvellous grace, and drive them back into the frustrations of self-effort and joyless living. It was his love for them which prompted his dogged resistance.
Unless we are motivated by the same great caring for souls committed to our keeping we can know little of the reality of this great struggle in defence of the Gospel. We must remember that those we are seeking to help do not always appreciate our efforts on their behalf. We can listen with wonder to the anguished cry of the Saviour Himself, ‘‘O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets, and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, but you were not willing” (Matt. 23 v37). Love is so often slighted and misunderstood, but in the end she always wins.
The same motive is behind the public rebuke to Peter (Gal. 2 v14). For the sake of the Gentile churches no wrong impression concerning the true meaning of the Gospel must be conveyed either by the actions of the rank and file, or by outstanding leaders. Paul wrote, “When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all . . .”. The truth of the Gospel which we preach can be denied by the way in which we behave. When this happens the Spirit of God is unable to work and the power of the good news is nullified. All our natural reactions and inclinations are against us. This is just where Paul sets such a high standard before us. He stood fearlessly and solidly in defence of the gospel, and even when it meant standing against Peter, he did it with such humility and grace that the crises in the Church was triumphantly resolved. There are so many things in the life of our churches which cripple the power of our witness in an hour of the world’s great need.
In 1 Corinthians 9 we gain an insight into the extent to which Paul’s whole life was governed by the aim to live so as to enhance the glory of the gospel. He acknowledges that God has ordained “that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel”. But he sees the peril that the economics of Christian work may so easily begin to govern a persons thinking, that a completely wrong impression will be given to those to whom the gospel is being preached. Under such circumstances there seems to be only one safe course to take, ‘’but we did not used this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ” (1 Cor. 9 v12). “Woe to me, if I do not preach the gospel” (1 Cor. 9 v16).
Verses 19-27 of this chapter give us further light on Paul’s self-discipline as a preacher of the Gospel. “I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some” (v22). He allows no discomfort, barrier or race distinction to dominate his life work. If the gospel is to be preached effectively, if he is to win men and women, then he must sit next to those of every type and under all circumstances. He bore the same message for all. He spoke of Christ, and of Him only, to a Roman Governor and a runaway slave, to an Athenian philosopher and a prison gaoler, to a fellow tentmaker and a Praetorian Guard. The Gospel had been given him as a trust, and if only he could bring others under its gracious influences, then all was well. He would never compromise with anything likely to hinder him in attaining this objective, not even his own bodily needs.
Another chapter which tells the same story is 1 Thessalonians 2, which gives a vivid picture of the apostle’s attitude to the gospel. In the second verse we are reminded of the bitter opposition which flared up against him during his first visit to the city. In the fourth verse Paul touches on a theme constantly recurring in his letters, that of his being put in trust with the gospel. Then follows mention of his unswerving aim to please God alone, and his avoidance of either flattery or covetousness. Verses 7-12 strike a particularly touching note, “But we were gentle among you”.
We see here the type of life and ministry which adorns the gospel. It is not so much our evangelical traditions that need our defence as the gospel itself, and the gospel needs defending not only against the attacks of unbelief in others, but also against ourselves. People judge the gospel by the Christlikeness of its ministers. The winsomeness of the gospel is often absent from the cold fundamentalism of our day because while we are rightly ready to take up arms against those who sabotage the work of the gospel by their modernistic theories, we do not with equal fervour attack our own pet brand of modernism, which accepts the authority of Scripture as an intellectual dogma, but rejects it too closely applied to our own lives and ministry.
The fearlessness of the apostle’s witness led him into a whole catalogue of distresses and persecutions, but never damped the fire of his love and zeal. Writing from prison in Rome to the Church at Philippi he says, ‘’Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel . . . Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly” (Phil. 1 v12-14). Without any thought of quarrelling with the providence that has placed him in so precarious a situation, and without a shade of bitterness towards those who were hoping to make his imprisonment more galling by preaching Christ out of envy, he turns his seeming limitations into glorious opportunity. He is in fact so successful in manifesting the glory of the gospel that at the close of his letter he is able to send greetings from all the saints . . . chiefly they of Cesar’s household. This is the true defence of the gospel.
From: ‘There must be heresies’.