The Gospel Inside-Out
By: Jeremiah Baldizan
“Ye fools, did not He who that made that which is without make that which is within also.” (Luke 11:39)Could you imagine if you went to a restaurant , and were served with the same cups as the people who came in before you without them being washed? How long would such an establishment stay in business before being shut down, or going out of business? Would you complain to the manager? Would you let your child drink from a cup, that a stranger had just used? What a nonsense idea it would be? No one drinks from used dirty cups. Yet the Pharisees in this text were trying to serve God in this way. They were the elite religious leaders of their day, a time when the established religion was over run, with men that cared more about outward religious rituals than matters of the heart. What a horrible dishonor to God to serve Him with the dirty cups, of externals? So it is perfectly reasonable for Christ to be outraged and say to them “Ye fools”. These men were making a terrible mistake and for their sakes and the ones who were taught by them Christ Jesus our Lord rebuked these elders openly. The text says,
“Ye fools, did not He who that made that which is without make that which is within also.” (Luke 11:39)
These words are for our benefit as well as past generations because fallen men are always prone to make religion based in the religious externals. So I want to look at what is happing today and compare it with the truth of this Scripture. The question remains, What will be your reaction to it? Will you be the Jerusalem which stones the prophets sent to you? Will you reject the prophets by rejecting their words and have their blood on your hands? Lets find out, because this is the living and abiding Word which has much to say to this wicked and perverse generation.
My wife grew up in the catholic church. She made her first holy communion and participated in all the religious rights aimed at providing her with salvation. She told me of a time she went to confession and told the priest of her sins, and she was told to do X number of prayers, and she would be forgiven. Many American evangelicals would strongly object to such a thing being practiced. Salvation is never some outward work of man but the work of God changing a man’s heart. “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.” (Titus 3:5 NKJV). The strange thing is most evangelicals are not putting two and two together. What most of our pastors are offering to God is nothing but an outward work more abominable than anything the Catholics are producing. Declaring men saved after having them repeat some outward prayer, raising their hand, or stepping forward at some silly bible contradictory crusade, flies in the face of Scripture. The last crusade I saw on television the evangelist said how being born again is the work of the Holy Spirit, but then he went right on and declared men saved after having them make some outward profession of faith. What a walking contradiction? Jesus used another term “hypocrite!” This is too strong a word for me to use, me being from a post-modern era, so I’ll let Jesus use it. Jesus called men who regard outward professions of faith through traditions of men, for the sake of the praises of men, “hypocrites!” (Matt 23:13), “blind guides” (Matt 23:16), and “snakes!” (Matt 23:33). Now don’t make the mistake that I am happy about this. Will I rejoice at this horrible reality? No, I will weep. Does not Jesus desire to gather America’s children together like a hen gathers her chicks? Then this false gospel preaching needs to stop. How long will we stand for our children to be led into false professions? How long will we sit down while our country goes into secular captivity? How long will we allow Christ name to be dishonored by those who would rather return to the comfort of Egypt (worldliness) than trust that God will deliver us to His kingdom as we abide as pilgrims? If we want Christ to gather our children to Himself, we need men who preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Namely a message that at it core contains Christ work on the cross, “repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21). We will have to lay down our man-made traditions and obey the command of Jesus Christ to preach “repentance and remission of sins” (Luke 24:47) among all the nations beginning in our own backyard. We will have to begin believing that salvation is the work of God and God alone when it comes to us being “born again”. That God raises the dead when he converts a man. A regenerate man becomes a “new creature” (2 Cor 5:17) in love with Christ and his will is no longer captive to the devil (see 2 Timothy 2:26). He is now a willing slave to righteousness (see Romans 6:18). This is the essence of the New Covenant,
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel…But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” (Jeremiah 31:31-34)
From our hearts
depravity departs,
and now aflame,
unto the great and glorious Name.
Will we face this awakened giant of a secular culture with the King Saul of worldly wisdom, and traditions of men? Or will we face our giant with stone in the sling that is the “foolishness of preaching” (1 Cor 1:21) that saves men through the power of God changing their hearts? I think it is time to keep our pastors, Sunday school teachers, and evangelist accountable for the way they witness*. We need to see scriptural proofs for the way they witness or it is time to be separate from a false gospel and those who preach it.
*"Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother." Matt 18:15
The Underground Gospel Team
