{"id":461,"date":"2016-08-16T14:42:59","date_gmt":"2016-08-16T14:42:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/gospelpost\/?p=461"},"modified":"2017-05-26T20:01:26","modified_gmt":"2017-05-26T20:01:26","slug":"the-nobility-of-false-gospels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/gospelpost\/the-nobility-of-false-gospels\/","title":{"rendered":"The Nobility of False Gospels"},"content":{"rendered":"

What is a false gospel? Think about it in terms of news. The Gospel of Jesus substituitionary life, death, and resurrection, in the place of sinners for the glory of God, is really good news! That, in fact, is the best news the world has ever heard. The impact of the<\/em><\/strong> good news not only saves sinners but it will restore\u00a0the entire cosmos. Yet, i’m seduced. Lesser news comes wrapped in shiny paper. In a moment, my heart believes a lie.<\/p>\n

The book of Ecclesiastes is helpful with this. Qoheleth (King Solomon), with his endless resources, takes us with him on a journey. King Solomon set out to discover good news<\/em> on his own terms. This King would try everything “under the sun,” all the best things the world has to offer. He was driven to find something of eternal value in this temporal world. Is there anything that will satisfy the appetite of the soul? Ecclesiastes 1-2 tell of his\u00a0pursuits. He began the experiment by seeking out earthly wisdom and knowledge. Verdict? Vanity. He peeked around the next corner and\u00a0sets his heart toward self-indulgence. Ecc 2:10 “And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my hear from no pleasure”\u00a0<\/strong>The King partied. \u00a0He laughed so much he had a six pack. He had\u00a0sex to his heart’s delight. And the food! He ate a global cuisine. He did it all. The King tells his story and puts us right in the middle of it with him. We see his rise and fall. He doesn’t hide his party days nor does not shy away from his victories. But, what did he discover? It was all a farce. He declared “All vanity and a striving after the wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.” Ecc 2:11<\/strong><\/p>\n

Solomon wised up as he sobered up. He turned his attention to more noble pursuits. Qoheleth left the frat life and walked on the road toward the false\u00a0gospel called good choices<\/em>. Ecc 2:13 “Then I saw that there is more gain in wisdom than in folly, and there is more gain in light than in darkness.” <\/strong>He\u00a0rightly saw the superiority of wisdom to folly. So, Solomon walked and lived with wisdom. He made good choices. He was patient rather than spontaneous. The King did the right things instead of the\u00a0wrong things. He succeeded in becoming the wisest man on earth. 1 Kings 4:30 “So that Solomon\u2019s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the people of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt.”\u00a0<\/strong>Problem? The King declared\u00a0“How the wise dies just like the fool! So I hated life because what is done under the sun was\u00a0grievous\u00a0to me, for all is vanity and a striving after wind.” Ecc\u00a02:16-17.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

To live with wisdom is a good thing. Christian’s call it “living by the Spirit.” We\u00a0should live this way for it is right. But, let’s not make the same mistake as Solomon. We can learn from him. Salvation by way of imparted righteousness<\/em> is seductive. Wise living. Holy Spirit empowered obedience is good. But it is not the gospel. Christ alone saves! The hope of the Christian is in what is imputed<\/em> and not in what is imparted<\/em>.\u00a0\u00a0The gospel of “Make Good Choices” is no gospel at all! It may sound right, but it will never have the saving power of “It is finished.” Jn 19:30<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What is a false gospel? Think about it in terms of news. The Gospel of Jesus substituitionary life, death, and resurrection, in the place of sinners for the glory of God, is really good news! That, in fact, is the best news the world has ever heard. The impact of the good news not only […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":108,"featured_media":462,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-461","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-devotional","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/gospelpost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/gospelpost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/gospelpost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/gospelpost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/108"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/gospelpost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=461"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/gospelpost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/gospelpost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/gospelpost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/gospelpost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/gospelpost\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}