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Monday, November 18, 2013

Obey the Gospel

Paul, writing to the church in Thessalonica, says something a little ... unusual, at least to my ears.
This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering — since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus (2 Thess 1:5-8).
The text is about the suffering of the Thessalonican Christians. The ones inflicting this suffering and, thus, on whom God will inflict vengeance, are described in two ways. First, they "do not know God." Fine. We get that. Second, they "do not obey the gospel." Now, wait. "Obey the gospel"? What exactly does that mean?

You see, to most of us the gospel is "good news". And that, of course, is because that's precisely what the word means. But what is to be obeyed? The gospel that we think of tells us that we are sinners and that Christ died to remedy that and if we believe we can be saved from our just reward of eternal death. Where is the obedience part?

The first mention of "gospel" in the New Testament is in Matt 4:23 when Jesus "went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom." And what was this gospel? "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matt 4:17). It was the same message in Mark 1.
Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel" (Mark 1:14-15).
"The kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe." That was "the gospel of God". When the Philippian jailer asked what he had to do to be saved, Paul told him, "Believe in the Lord Jesus" (Acts 16:31). So apparently there are commands intrinsic to the gospel that must be obeyed. The two commands appear to be "believe" and "repent".

Faith, then, is commanded. Paul speaks of his mission to "bring about the obedience of faith" (Rom 1:5). Faith itself, it would appear, produces obedience. And this is what we see elsewhere. Jesus didn't know the false prophets who claimed to do miracles in His name because they were "workers of lawlessness" (Matt 7:21-23). They "believed" and they "did miracles", but they didn't obey, so it couldn't be called biblical faith. James says that faith without works is dead (James 2:17). So genuine faith -- Jesus's "believe" -- produces works of obedience.

Then there is repentance. The word doesn't mean, as some think, feeling remorse for your sin. It isn't a guilt trip. It is a change of mind. What kind of change? Well, when you start to examine it, this is a huge change ... and not, to the natural mind, quite sane. Indeed, the "repentance" -- the "change of mind" -- demanded by Scripture is radical. It was evidenced in Jesus's rebuke of Peter when He said, "You are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man" (Mark 8:33). Not setting your mind on the things of man is radical thinking. It was demonstrated when Jesus explained, "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple" (Luke 14:26). Not highly valuing family and self is radical thinking. It was illustrated when Jesus told His disciples, "If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me" (Matt 16:24). Denying self and purposely taking up a cross is radical thinking. Paul picked up this "other-minded" theme when he told the Philippian Christians, "Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves" (Phil 2:3). Considering others as more important than yourself is radical thinking. What is called for here is a complete overhaul, a paradigm shift, in normal human thinking -- a serious change of mind.

Obedience to the gospel occurs in two areas. First, it must be received and embraced by faith. This faith isn't simple mental agreement. It isn't merely "believe". It is a faith that produces a change in action and outlook. Second, to be obeyed the gospel must include repentance, a change of mind. This is no small change. It isn't "Okay, now I feel bad about my sins." No, it is radical and serious and large. Anything less is a failure to obey the gospel, and failing to obey the gospel puts you in the category of those who don't know God. So, is "repent and believe" your response to the gospel? Or are you looking for an easier, wider gate?

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