The Gospel

 

    When the Bible was being written it was not a book.  The people doing the writing never imagined that it would all come together to make it easy for the everyday person to get their hands on scripture and be able to read and learn for themselves.  It is an accumulation of scroll writings over hundreds of years.  It starts with the creation of all life and ends with the destruction of all life.

    The books begin with the Torah, which is the beginning of the Bible.  It holds all the rules and regulations of God.  The then holds the history and prophecy records of God's people that involved Him.  There are more writings that never made it into the Bible.  Next came the Gospel.  The Gospel is the 4 books that were written by apostles of the account of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection.  What comes after is written by the apostles in defense of their faith or letters to the new church.

    Galatians was written by Paul.  It it begins with the defense of the Gospel.  Paul wanted grace and peace to the people, so he wrote them a letter of encouragement because he could not be with him.  His letter today still teaches us things and encourages the church still.  God gave it to us to use to fight against evil and to see His glory.

    Why do people turn from the Gospel?  God's Word hold all truth and teaches us how to best live a fulfilled life, so why would people reject it?  I am sure people have their reasons, but the truth is they don't want to change and to follow Jesus requires extreme change at times.  Some people may be confused by the lies and false prophets.  Anyone who distorts the Bible is cursed, so don't be led astray by the cursed.

    If you do not follow the guidance of the gospel when you preach, then you are preaching condemnation.  Christianity is not about what you can't do.  It is about your relationship with Jesus.  Instead of focusing on what the Christian culture doesn't allow, look into how what you want to do would affect your relationship with Jesus.  Maybe finding balance instead of extremes is the way, but working out your faith and Christian walk it up to you.

    Who do you want to please in life?  Are you selfish and self-serving?  Do you live everything for other people (People Pleaser)?  Or is your focus on God and living like Jesus?  It requires being bold and willing to stand out from the crowd because you can't serve people and God.  When you are serving God, then you are taking care of people.  The difference is that it is about following God's direction more than your self-esteem or feeling good for the act of kindness.

    The Gospel is real and pure.  There are no lies.  It is not mythology.  It is truth in black, white, and red.  It is a revelation from God.  It was the only communication once that people had to God.  It is powerful and special.  The Gospel is meant to hold you accountable while you glorify God. 

    Religion leads to intense persecution.  It is all about rules and regulations.  You have to fit into the culture or you are not really welcome.  Faith and walking with Jesus is different.  You no longer care if you fit in as much.  It is always nice to be liked, but there are important things in life and life is short.  

    Faith sets you apart through grace in how God reveals Himself to you on a personal level.  There is no lies in the relationship based on grace and faith.  Faith will never be destroyed.

Galatians 1