"Luther Quotations": #15
"Fourteen years later I went up again to Jerusalem..." (Galatians 2;1)
Paul went to speak to the apostles at Jerusalem to "set before them the gospel that I preached among the Gentiles." Why? There was at that time as well as in our own time great confusion over the true definition of "the gospel." The question at root was this:
Is a person made acceptable to God ("justified") by Christ alone, or by faith
in Christ PLUS acts of obedience?
Paul's answer was clear, offering proof that ones acceptance with God is through faith in Christ alone and NOT in addition to that works of obedience.
Hear Luther explain Paul's gospel along with Paul's proof that his gospel was genuine and the false teachers was a different (and perverse) gospel:
"Paul and Barnabas held strongly to the truth and said in essence,'Wherever we preached among the Gentiles, the Holy Spirit came and fell upon those who heard the Word...we did not preach circumcision (OBEDIENCE), nor did we require the law (OBEDIENCE) to be kept. We preached only faith in Jesus Christ, and when this faith was preached, God gave the listeners the Holy Spirit.' The Holy Spirit, therefore, approved the faith (IN CHRIST ALONE) of the Gentiles, without observing the law and circumcision...we do not find that this (THE HOLY SPIRIT DESCENDING ON PEOPLE) ever happened before when the law (OBEDIENCE AS A MEANS TO JUSTIFICATION) was preached.' "
Paul's gospel: Justification by grace through faith in Christ alone (without works of obedience)
Paul's proof that this was the genuine gospel: The Holy Spirit descended upon those who heard the message and who responded by faith without works, proving that the Holy Spirit approves the uncircumcised Gentiles on account of their faith in Christ alone. (See Galatians 3;2)
Be honest here: Do you believe that your consistent bible reading or tithing or obedience makes you more acceptable to God? Or, do you believe that your sins and failures make you less acceptable to God? Either way, you are believing that your acceptance/justification/righteousness in the sight of God has something to do with your obedience or lack of obedience. That is a different gospel
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