Religion Apart From the Gospel

"You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, that by his poverty you might become rich."--2 Cor. 8:9

The Gospel of Christ begins and ends with what God has accomplished through Him, apart from any works or "doings" on humanity's part.  Even the very betraying, condemning, and crucifying of the Lord is attributed in Scripture to God's doing (see Ac 4:28 for example).  Far too often the commands of God are preached, taught, and understood as starting from man and not from the Gospel--as commands to be obeyed apart from "the grace of our Lord", instead of commands to be kept BECAUSE OF "the grace of our Lord" through which HE kept what we by nature are unable to keep (Jn 15:5, Rom 8:3).  This has become almost so universal that it's not even questioned by most anymore.  Most understand Christianity as obeying a set of rules, apart from God's doing, as though God's only parts to be played in humanity's existence are a) creation, b) answering of prayers (that man brings to Him of his own initiative), and c) judgment (at the End).  In this, God has no part to play in man's life presently, and man is "on his own" in his faith, obedience, and religion.  And in this, the very Gospel itself is betrayed. 

If you were to read through your New Testament, you would see that all of the commands of God are connected to Christ and His work.  Christ's work is of both fulfilling the Scripture (Mt 5:17, Lk 4:17-21, 24:44-45, Jn 5:39,46) and keeping the commands SO THAT through faith in Him and by His power, righteousness would be kept in us (see Rom 8:1-4 and 2 Cor 2:20-22 for example).  If mans' sin is that he's "fallen short of the glory of God" (Rom 3:23), the only way he could be saved is if God Himself sends a Christ who will fulfill "the glory of God" perfectly--this is promised to be the case in Is 11:1-5, 42:1, and being fulfilled in Christ (see Mt 3:17 and Jn 13:31-32, 17:4), it is the new "Way" of salvation for God's people.  By Christ's obedience, believers are MADE righteous (Rom 5:19), so that His righteousness and obedience would be accounted to us and applied to us--and the fruit of it is His believers striving for His glory in all things.  (Do a study of how often the New Testament says "to God be the glory in Christ" or something similar...you'll be amazed).  This is why He's a faithful and necessary Savior (see Heb 5:7-10).

This is why all of Paul's writings of admonition (teaching, commands, etc.) begin with Gospel theology and then move into the practical implications (notice Romans has 12 chapters on Gospel theology and ch 13 begins with practicals, and the rest of the letters are similar).  Peter's is the same, John's, James', etc.

But what about all of Jesus' teaching in the Gospel accounts?  He seems to lay down a pretty heavy load of teaching on what we are to do and not do...how do we reconcile with that?  It's very simple--every gospel account ends with Him being crucified and resurrected.  All of Jesus' teaching is meant to be understood in light of the cross, because all of His teaching inevitably leads to the cross and flows from the cross.  This is why He says that in order for one to "follow Him" he must "take up his cross" (Mk 8:34). Coming to and following Jesus means "learning from Him" (Mt 11:29), and not only that, but keeping and obeying what He says (see Jn 14:15, 15:10).  It would seem burdensome, because who could keep His commands perfectly?  That's the point--if He was just another teacher of the Law, there would be no gospel.  The point is that HE keeps the Law for us, that by faith in His Person and work, "the righteous requirement of the law would be kept in us, who walk by the Spirit" (see how Jn 14:15-17 connects with Rom 8:3-4...amazing!).  We take up our cross, because Jesus took up His cross, and we obey because Jesus obeyed to make us able to obey...by His Spirit.  This is why Jesus says "apart from me you can do nothing"...apart from Him who went to the cross in my place, I can't do anything.  But IN Him, "I can do all things" (Phil 4:13). What a wonderful gospel!

To preach obedience and righteousness apart from Christ's obedience and righteousness is to completely miss the point of the Gospel (and sadly, many...including the writer for a long time...have missed it).  In the same way, to preach God's love apart from His anger over sin is to miss the point.  The Scripture never proclaims His love apart from Christ's righteous obedience (see Jn 3:16-17).  The reason is that you need Jesus in order to have God.  "No one comes to the Father except through me...apart from me you can do nothing." 

Christ, who is so rich that all things have belonged to Him for all of eternity, became poor, homeless, despised, and rejected.  He who holds all things in His hand (Heb 1:3) gave himself into the hands of sinful men (Ac 2:23)...sinful men whom He had created and whose lives He upheld even in those moments!  These men thought that they were rich, great, and "in control"...and yet Christ was in control the whole time (Jn 10:17-18, Ac 4:28).  And what did He do?  He suffered...because only through HIS suffering could anyone actually be reconciled to the Holy God-Creator from whom they were fallen (Rom 3:23) and of whom they were hostile enemies (Rom 5:8, 8:7).  In this, there are riches beyond comparison (Mk 10:21, 1 Cor 3:21-22, 1 Pet 1:4)...but outside of this it is only death and it will all perish.

The glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ will continue to be proclaimed and sung by the people of God for all of eternity...we'll worship Christ because He went to the cross (see Rev 5:9-10).  Because He suffered and wept and was betrayed, one day, when all things are new, we the people of God will never suffer, weep, or be betrayed ever again (Rev. 21:4).  Those are true riches--riches that are worth dying for.   They're riches that Christ DID die for.  Let all of God's people rejoice!