Now that we have a general understanding of the apostle Paul’s gospel, we can begin to understand why it generated such disdain and hostility among those who heard it. Although the gospel is the power of God for the salvation of all who believe, it is still a scandalous and incredible message for a fallen world.
Paul’s flesh had every reason to be ashamed of the gospel he preached because it completely contradicted everything that was considered true and sacred among his contemporaries. For the Jew, the gospel was the worst kind of blasphemy because he claimed that this Jewish Messiah was God in So Paul knew that every time he opened his mouth to speak of the gospel, he would be completely rejected and ridiculed with contempt unless the Holy Ghost intervened and acted in the hearts and minds of his listeners. it is no less offensive, because it contradicts all the dogmas or “isms” of contemporary culture: relativism, pluralism and humanism. [1]
- Are we living in an age of relativism? a belief system based on the absolute certainty that there are no absolutes.
- We hypocritically applaud people who seek the truth.
- But we order the public execution of anyone who is arrogant enough to believe they have found it.
- We live in a self-imposed dark age.
- The reason is clear.
- The natural man is a fallen creature.
- Morally corrupt and stubborn about his autonomy (that is.
- His autonomy).
- He hates God because God is just and he hates God’s law because it rebukes and restrains his evil.
- He hates the truth because it exposes it for what it is and upsets what remains of his conscience.
- Therefore.
- Fallen man seeks to push forward the truth.
- Especially the truth about God.
- As much as possible.
- It will suppress the truth to any extent.
- To the point of pretending that it does not exist.
- Or if it does exist.
- It cannot be known or influence our lives.
- This is never the case with a God who hides.
- But with a man who hides.
- The problem is not the intellect.
- But the will.
- Like a man hiding his head in the sand to prevent a rhino from preparing to attack.
- Modern man denies the truth of a just God and absolute morality in hopes of appeasing his conscience and taking away the judgment he knows is inevitable.
- The Christian gospel is scandalous to man and his culture because it does precisely what it wants to avoid: awakening him from his self-imposed lethargy from the reality of his fallen and rebellious state and calling him to reject his autonomy and surrender to God through repentance.
- And faith in Jesus Christ.
Are we living in an era of pluralism? A belief system that puts an end to the truth by declaring that everything is true, especially when it comes to religion. This may be difficult for contemporary Christians to understand, but Christians living in the first century. were in fact marked and persecuted as atheists. The images of the deity filled the world and religion was a booming company. [2] People not only tolerated the deities of others, but also exchanged and shared. The whole religious world was fine until Christianity arrived and declared, “Those who are made of human hand are not gods. “They rejected the Caesars the tribute they demanded, refused to bend their knees in front of all the other so-called gods, and confessed only Jesus as Lord of all. [4] The whole world has seen this astonishing arrogance and reacted furiously against the bigoted intolerance of Christian tolerance.
The same scenario remains in our world today. Against all logic, we hear that all opinions on religion or morality are true, however different or contradictory, the most impressive thing about all this is that, thanks to the tireless efforts of the media and academia, this has quickly become the opinion of the majority, however, pluralism does not solve the problem or cure it , just anesthesia to the patient so that he no longer feels or thinks, the gospel is scandalous because it awakens the man from his dream and refuses to let him rest in such an illogical position. This forces you to come to a conclusion: “How long are you going to liw between two thoughts?”If the Lord is God, follow Him; If it’s Baal, follow him.
The true gospel is radically exclusive. Jesus is not a way; It’s the road and all the other lanes aren’t lanes at all. If Christianity took a small step towards more tolerant ecumenism and replaced the article defined by the indefinite article, the scandal would end and the world and Christianity could become friends. However, every time this happens, Christianity ceases to be Christianity, Christ is denied, and the world runs out of Savior.
[1] The term early gospel refers to the gospel of the first century preached by Jesus and the Apostles.
Excerpt from chapter 7 of the book “The Power and Message of the Gospel?From Paul Washer, which will be published by Faithful Editor. We had the opportunity to translate it and the privilege of being able to share with you brief excerpts from each chapter. “.
Translation: Vin-cius Musselman Pimentel. Un revised or modified version. Published with permission.
© Faithful Editor. All rights reserved. Original: An Outrageous Gospel (Paul Washer) [7/26]
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