In today’s Christianity, including both Catholicism and Protestantism, most people do not have an accurate concept concerning God’s salvation, nor do they have a clear knowledge of the economy and arrangement of God in His salvation. There is a widely accepted concept in Christianity today that is seemingly based on the Scriptures but is actually derived primarily from human speculation. This concept did not exist at the beginning of the church. Rather, it was an idea formed later through human conjecture and then further developed into a doctrine. Now it has evolved into a traditional concept that is prevailing in Christianity.
What is this concept? People who have this concept believe that we all are sinful, but because God had compassion toward us, He sent His only begotten Son to be our Savior. This One died for us on the cross, bore up our sins, resurrected and ascended to heaven, and is now continually interceding for us before God as our great High Priest. According to this concept, if a person who feels that he is a sinner and deserves to suffer perdition repents and believes in the Lord-receiving Him as his Savior and calling on Him-his sins will be forgiven, he will be reconciled to God, and God will be gracious to him and bestow blessing upon him. As a result, this person will become a saved one. Since God has been so gracious to him, from that point on he should show his gratitude to God by conducting himself in a manner that will glorify the name of God. After this person dies, his soul will go to heaven to enjoy eternal blessing. This is the so-called orthodox belief in today’s Christianity.
Is this concept correct? We must compare it carefully with the truth in the Scriptures. When Martin Luther compared the Catholic doctrine on the sacrament of penance with the biblical truth concerning justification by faith (Rom. 1:17), he found out that the teaching of doing penance was a man-made tradition based on human opinions and was altogether erroneous. Today we should also discern the authenticity of the so-called orthodox beliefs taught in Christianity by comparing them with the truth revealed in the Bible.
If we would abandon human opinions with the traditional concepts, not holding on to our ideas and views but simply coming to the Word of God, then we would see that in Christianity the current concept of God’s salvation definitely contains certain inaccuracies and deficiencies. To be inaccurate is to be incorrect and in disagreement with the truth revealed in the Scriptures whereas to be deficient is to not measure up to the biblical truth in its richness and transcendence.
The Gospels do not consist of one book but four books, and each of the Gospels has a different emphasis. For example, from the beginning to the end, the Gospel of Luke covers the truth of the forgiveness of sins, the gospel of forgiveness (24:47). It shows us that in God’s eyes we were prodigal sons who were far away from God the Father and that we were also lost sinners and lost sheep (15:1, 6-7, 11-32). Therefore, God sent His Son as our Savior to find us and bring us back. God accepted us, the prodigal sons, when we repented and came back to Him. Even if we were like the disreputable woman in chapter seven who had many sins (vv. 36-50), the corrupt tax collector in chapter nineteen (vv. 1-9), or the robber on the cross in chapter twenty-three (vv. 32, 40-43), when we repented and believed in the Lord, receiving Him as our Savior, our sins were forgiven. This is the truth of the forgiveness of sins shown in the Gospel of Luke. Because the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished redemption on the cross, whoever believes in Him will receive the forgiveness of sins freely, without having to pay any price. This is the emphasis of the Gospel of Luke.
John preached the gospel of life. At the outset, the Gospel of John shows us that the Lord was God, that in Him was life, and that He became flesh (1:1, 4, 14). The reason He came from the heavens to the earth was that He intended to impart life to the world (10:10b). He said that He was a grain of wheat, and as such, He could not release the life from within Him for men to receive unless He fell into the ground, died, and resurrected. Therefore, one day He went to the cross and died, and on the third day He resurrected. Now at any time and in any place if someone believes in His name and receives Him as the Savior, He will enter into him as the Spirit that he may receive the life of God. In this way a person can be regenerated and have the life of God (3:3, 5, 15-16; 20:31). This is the grace of life. We receive this grace of life altogether by faith, without having to pay any price. This is clearly seen in the Gospel of John. Therefore, Luke and John both show us that we can receive the gospel, whether it be the gospel of the forgiveness of sins or the gospel of life, simply by faith. There is no need to pay any price or to fulfill any requirement.
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