It Stands Alone

"The idea that the Christian gospel can mix with or blend with any other religious system in any way is absolutely wrong. You cannot mix the gospel with Roman Catholic or orthodox sacramentalism. You cannot mix the gospel with liberalism. You can't mix the gospel with Mormonism, or the religion of the Jehovah's Witness, or Christian Science or any other religion. You cannot mix the gospel even with the religion of Judaism. The gospel is absolutely exclusive. It mingles with no other religion. It accommodates no other religion. In fact, it replaces all other religion. The gospel is absolutely exclusive. Now this needs to be emphatically understood in a time which exalts diversity of belief, tolerance of religion, pluralism, inclusivism and even universalism which essentially says we're all headed the same direction. Now we know there is one God, there is one authoritative book, the Bible. There is one Redeemer of souls, the Lord Jesus Christ. There is one gospel, the gospel of grace and faith. And that singularity of the Christian gospel means that any intrusion that mixes or alters the singularity of the gospel renders it void, nullifies it. It stands alone". —John MacArthur

"It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe" (1 Corinthians 1:21)

Christians are not called to compromise the Word of God by adulterating it with the hodge podge spirituality and so-called wisdom of this fallen world. In fact to compromise the infallible, immutable, eternal, and plenary counsel of the One True and Living God as contained uniquely within the Holy Bible is the very pinnacle of satanic hubris and wickedness!

And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. (Revelation 22:19)

It's not humble, or noble, or reflective to question God Almighty!

It's downright sinful.

It's wicked.

It's an abomination.

The stern and crystal clear warning above from Revelation 22:19 ought to cause those who would proclaim the Word of God to fall on our faces in holy reverence, awe, and terror before the Infinite Creator and Judge of the universe. Those who preach, teach, and reach with the Eternal Gospel ought to do so with fear and trembling fully realizing that they are directly accountable to King Jesus alone for each and every word they utter. Christians are responsible for properly handling God's truth, defending His Holy Name, and declaring His divine judgment upon this sin sick and dying world.

My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. (James 3:1)

So why is it that so many within today's broader professing church willfully choose to corrupt God's unchanging Word by perverting it into a man-centered, feel-good, message of self-esteem?

Or why is the whole counsel of God defiled by preaching promises of health, wealth, and material prosperity as though God's primary concern is the kind of clothes one wears, the type of car one drives and the number of bedrooms in one's new upscale suburban home?

Again why is the eternal gospel of grace reviled by enshrining the highest post-modern ideal - UNCERTAINTY - above the ancient Biblical truth that not only can God be known, but that He has personally endeavored to clearly reveal Himself to mankind by His Holy Word?

And last - but not least - why are so many self-professed evangelical Christians utterly preoccupied with the soteriology of Gnostic governance and completely given over to busily sacrificing their energy, finances, lives, and even ministries to the service of the Baal of political expediency?

Shouldn't Christians go to God's Word alone to discover His solution to the problems of our day and the solution to the culture? For in God's Word we find that the Eternal Gospel is the solution to the culture! There's nothing new or fancy here! God's plan, His strategy hasn't changed one bit and not one jot or one tittle of His Word needs modification to make it "relevant" or to make it "work" neither yesterday, today, nor tomorrow. This is because it is the ETERNAL GOSPEL! It changes not!!

In point of fact it is ONLY the Eternal Gospel that changes men; GOD FORBID IT SHOULD EVER BE THOUGHT TO BE THE OTHER WAY AROUND!!

Oh! How far modern Christianity has fallen from the Lord Jesus Christ! Surely men have made gods of themselves and perverted the ETERNAL GOSPEL in favor of a watered down, man-centered, cotton candy, sinless, bloodless, compromised, Nerf theology that's fit for nothing! The modern non-gospel embraced by vast swaths of professing Christianity is no gospel at all!

It's a tool of political expediency!

It's wide tent of paganized spirituality!

It's an idolatrous abomination and offense to the One True and Living God!

So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. (Revelation 3:16)

Look, the Holy Bible contains God's strategy for changing the culture - preaching the gospel!

The Holy Bible contains God's strategy for changing men's hearts - preaching the gospel!

The Holy Bible contains God's strategy for making foolish the wisdom of this world - preaching the gospel!

The Holy Bible contains the cure for the culture - preaching the gospel!

So why is it that so many within the broader professing church itself insist on corrupting the simplicity of the gospel by blending it, marginalizing it, ignoring it, assimilating it, being ashamed of it, hiding it, twisting it, perverting it, allegorizing it, spiritualizing it, and thereby outright denying it?

And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie; That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (2 Thess. 2:11-12)

Now the Spirit speaks expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils (1 Timothy 4:1)

They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate (Titus 1:16)

"God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty" (1 Corinthians 1:27)

According to the Holy Bible the preaching of the gospel is God's chosen strategy to change men's sinful hearts and the church is not permitted to modify it. Men are not permitted by God to substitute their own strategies in place of His own holy counsel!

But clearly many today have modified it greatly and as previously mentioned many professing Christians seem to believe the solution to the culture is to be found in the realm of politics instead of the Word of God. These poor, misguided souls think it's possible to redeem society through political action and legislation. This is sheer folly and represents the Eternal Gospel being co-opted for political expediency. This is a totally unacceptable compromise on the part of those who would claim Christ.

Human government is NOT your friend.

Human government is NOT the church's friend.

Human government is NOT the friend of God.

HUMAN GOVERNMENT ISN'T THE SOLUTION, IT'S PART OF THE PROBLEM!

The sooner professing Christians as individuals and the broader church in general realize this fact the sooner they can begin extricating themselves from the back of the beast.

Now this is not to say that the Christian political activists are necessarily wrongheaded in their moral affirmations, but they are misguided. In fact all Christians ought to be unified in full agreement with our mutual, corporate loathing of the sinful wickedness of our nation and our world which openly and brazenly manifests its utter depravity by rejecting God's Holy Word in so many unspeakable ways.

The problem with the Christian political activists is that they apparently remain unconvinced that God's chosen strategy of preaching the gospel is a more effective remedy to the culture than a temporal political solution.

Why have so many professing evangelical Christians been duped by this Satanic lie?

Why are so many within the broader professing church seemingly convinced that the solution to America's continued slide into moral decay is a political solution?

Why after more than three decades of concerted political activism has the church still not realized that they're LOSING GROUND in this fight?

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. (Ephesians 6:12)

Yet in spite of the clear Biblical solution offered by God - which is preaching the gospel - many, many ministries continue to pour their human and financial capital into political lobbying. When did playing politics replace preaching the gospel as the effectual socio-cultural change agent? When was the church co-opted by this superstition?

Politics is built on compromise. ANY politician, political science teacher, and in fact anyone who's involved in politics whatsoever will and must affirm this undeniable fact. And there are certain things that are off limits within the political arena and genteel political discourse - and among those things are the exclusive claims of the Eternal Gospel! One isn't going to be very successful in gaining sufficient political allies by stubbornly holding fast to the annoying habit of preaching Christ crucified and the narrow way. The complete exclusivity of the Christian truth claims makes it stand alone over against and apart from all other competing philosophies, ideologies, and worldviews!

Is the true Body of Christ really so desperate for recognition by and identification with the vain imaginings, deceitful philosophies, and demonic powers of this fallen world that we're willing to sell out Christ Himself in order to gain the praise of men? Are we so ashamed of the foolishness of preaching and the offense of the cross that we're willing to abandon Christ's absolutely authoritative and unique truth claims in order that we might borrow from and adorn ourselves with the worthless, so-called "wisdom" of the secular culture? Why is the broader professing church so willing - nay eager! - to bend the knee to the Baal of cultural relevance and grovel for the attention and affection of those who wield the temporal power of human government? When did the spirit of the age come to possess the professing church at large?

In truth MANY IF NOT MOST of the political "co-belligerents" with whom the broader professing church shamefully plays the harlot do not have any love for or interest in the Eternal Gospel of the new covenant whatsoever. They utterly reject the exclusive claims of Christ. They deny the gospel. They are unregenerate unbelievers who are all too happy to use the money and resources of professing Christians and make merchandise of the church in order to further their own carnal, worldly ambitions.

"...he who believes not is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." (John 3:18)

Listen, when your politics gets in the way of the exclusive truth claims of God Himself you have a problem. When the success or failure of one's political agenda depends on holding together tepid alliances with all sorts of unbelievers then one finds that COMPROMISE on the uniqueness and exclusivity of Christ's truth claims is required. And when a Christian finds himself willing to hide, stifle, or otherwise suppress God's truth in unrighteousness for any reason then he finds that he is at enmity with Almighty Himself for that soul is found guilty of undermining the gospel!

Friends, when a Christian is forced to offer up the Lord Jesus Christ Himself on the altar of political expediency then that is too high a price to pay! In this case for the true born-again Christian THERE ARE SIMPLY NO ENDS THAT CAN JUSTIFY THESE MEANS!!