Correcting a gross misunderstanding of John 16:8

Joh 16:8-11 NRSV  "And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment:  (9)  about sin, because they do not believe in me;  (10)  about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer;  (11)  about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned."

How many times have you heard someone say that the Holy Spirit convicted them? I know I have heard it many, many times. They get it from John 16:8 in the NKJV and many other modern versions. Here it is from the ESV, Joh 16:8  "And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:" The question becomes, is this what Jesus meant in the words recorded by the apostle John? To that my answer is a resounding NO!

Look at the above passage from the NRSV. It reads that he, the Spirit will prove the world wrong about sin, righteousness and judgment. It reads exactly the same way in the NIV. In the Unvarnished New Testament, by Andy Gaus it reads... "And when he comes he will show the world better about wrongdoing and justice and condemnation" This certainly sheds a different light than the way it is in the NKJV and so many modern translations including the KJV which states he will reprove the world which means convict.

First off, the people who say the Holy Spirit convicted them would be wrong based on how it reads even in the King James, as verse nine explains that the conviction is about unbelief. But, the way it is rendered in the NRSV, the NIV and the Unvarnished New Testaments sheds a completely different light on the meaning. So the question that comes to mind is how does/did the Holy Spirit prove the word wrong about sin, righteousness and judgment? Well the answer to that comes in verse nine. It is not believing in Jesus. I have often written how the writer of Hebrews equates sin and unbelief in his discussion of the Sabbath Rest in chapters three and four. He uses unbelief, sin, synonymously. throughout the entire epistle. John explains it this way:3:18  "Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God." It is important to point out that those condemned are those condemned to suffer through the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple.

Righteousness is having the character and characteristics of God. We know that God is love/agape so righteousness is love/agape. It is the love that Jesus described in his parables. It is the love that has the shepherd go after one lost sheep to find it and return it to the fold. Love is exemplified by the Father of the prodigal that ran out of the house to greet him when he was still a ways off. Love finds justice and comfort for the poor and disenfranchised. Righteousness is filling a need when it is brought to light. This is what the Holy Spirit, our Comforter and Counselor brings to light. Righteousness explains that God's heart is to make sure that all the lost, broken, poor in spirit are made whole. This is the righteousness that the Holy Spirit brings to light.

Finally, we come to judgment. It says that the ruler of the world is judged. This is the ruler of the world that tempted our original parents to partake of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The problem is that this knowledge simply makes each of us judges. It does not guarantee that we judge rightly. In fact, Jesus said this to the religious establishment of his day. Joh 7:24 NRSV "Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment." The Pharisees were judging him according to their reasoned understanding of the law, but they did not have righteous judgment. Only with one indwelt by the Holy Spirit is there even a chance for righteous judgment. When God raised Jesus from the dead, he judged Satan and made a spectacle of him with the cross according to Paul. The former ruler of the world was judged at the cross event. The promised counselor, comforter, has been poured out from Pentecost forward. The first century saints listened to the comforter and thereby turned the religious world upside-down.

This is yet another glaring example of how off course evangelical dogma is. They misunderstand sin and try to become sin managers. They have adopted the righteousness of the Pharisees which Paul criticized in Romans 10:1-4. He said that in trying to establish their own righteousness they have not submitted to God's righteousness. Sadly that can be said about most of Christendom. Finally, the Holy Spirit is ever willing to supply righteous judgment. He would help us stop judging ourselves and one another and judge according to God's judgment which we are the righteousness of God in Jesus.

Finally, the word that is rendered convict is elengkho; its first meaning is confute, which means to prove wrong and the second meaning is convict. The way it really makes sense with a correct understanding of Jesus and the Father is confute not convict. However, with the leaven of the Pharisees which I believe strongly influenced orthodox doctrine from the second century forward, convict would be the best choice. I am confident that when Jesus was speaking this to John he meant confute.

I once again hear the lyrics of the song in my minds ear.... "when will they ever learn, when will they ever... learn?"

From Before the Foundation of the World

Eph 1:3-6  "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,  (4)  just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love.  (5)  He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will,  (6)  to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved."

This is a passage that gives insight that predates Genesis chapter one. There is another such passage in the New Testament and it is found in John's gospel; it was the very first thing he wrote. Joh 1:1-5 NASB  "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  (2)  He was in the beginning with God.  (3)  All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.  (4)  In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.  (5)  The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it." Both of these passage relate to incidents before creation, that is before the world was created, and is why I say that it predates Genesis chapter one. These two passage explain the how and why of creation. One of the questions that has always been in my mind since I was a teen or before is why do we, and why does anything exist?  In the Ephesians passage you see the why. In the John passage you see the how. God created by His Word, that is the how, and it was done to the praise of his glorious grace, that is the why?

Now that we clearly know the how and why, let's ponder the implications of this knowledge. What should it mean to us today? Well first off, It is ultra important to realize that God's Word is Jesus of Nazareth. John says this: Joh 1:14 NASB  "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth." He is the one who Paul says is responsible for us having every spiritual blessing in heavenly places. Further to the point, He is full of grace and truth. And not only that but John also says in the same passage that the law was given through Moses but, grace and truth came through Jesus. This tells us that the law was not really grace or truth. Paul explains that the law was a pedagogue/teacher/tutor to drive us to Jesus.

Now that we know for sure that Jesus was in fact the creator of everything that exists, and that there is nothing that exists that was not made by him. It is instructive to see what Paul says about this: Col 1:16-17 NASB "For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.  (17)  He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together." Paul and John are in perfect agreement but, Paul adds some revelation knowledge. The universe and everything in it is held together by the Word of God. I hope you are seeing just how majestic Jesus really is. However, keep this in mind as we move along. It is to bring praise to His glorious grace. The glorious grace of who? The Father, however His Word is full of grace and truth. In fact, the Son/Word is the source of the Father's grace.

So then, looking at the implications of this and what it means today. This should immediately come to mind. God's purpose in creation was redemption. Yes, you did not misread what I have just written. God created the universe and humanity to redeem them. If God's purpose in creation was redemption, and it is quite obvious that it was, then how likely is it that God would create the universe and humanity if He thought that most of the humans who ever lived would be destined to spend eternity in torture. It is interesting that Paul writes this in the middle of his letter to the Romans; Rom 5:18  Therefore just as one man's trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man's act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all. No matter what version you choose to read it indeed says justification leading to life for ALL. Now that is good news! And, I can see that it would definitely lead to the praise of God's glorious grace.

The thing that I want to emphasize in this post is that if God had redemption as his purpose in creation then does it not make sense that He will do exactly what is necessary to redeem humanity? He certainly did. At the ripe time in history, He had his word take on human flesh to redeem humanity. Now, think about this... if God purposed to redeem humanity before creation, created with this as the purpose, when Jesus told him "it was finished," then what part was left undone?

Looking at the righteousness of God

Rom 1:16-17 NRSV "For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.  (17)  For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, "The one who is righteous will live by faith."

How is the righteousness of God revealed? Paul says it is through faith for faith. Hmnn, I think we need to unpack that statement what does through faith for faith mean. First, let's see how this phrase is rendered in other versions. The NASB renders it "to faith from faith." The KJV renders it "from faith to faith." Most versions render it "to faith from faith." to elaborate on this, Paul says, NET Gal 2:16  "yet we know that no one is justified by the works of the law but by the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by the faithfulness of Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified." There you have it. We are justified by the faith of Jesus Christ or in other words by Jesus' faith. So the righteousness of God is revealed from Jesus faith to our faith in Jesus and his faith.

So how does the gospel reveal the righteousness of God? If you use what I believe is the clearest new testament statement of the gospel, found in Second Corinthians chapter five, it shows that God was righteous in creating humanity because he was in Christ reconciling the world to himself not counting sin. So the righteousness of God was proven in his pre-planning, prior to creation to have redemption as his purpose in creation. This can be problematic for those who believe that salvation is a choice that one can make. If any are allowed to not choose redemption then one could be suspect of the true righteousness of God. The problem being is framed like this,  "why would an all loving, all knowing, all powerful, God create beings that He foreknew would reject redemption?" Further, as so many evangelicals have been erroneously taught, "why would God create a humanity whereby He would send at the very least 80% of all the people who ever lived to eternal torturous punishment?" The evangelicals may be happy with that and think that it represents a righteous God, but it does not and fortunately the bible does not really teach that!

The first clue we get to God's righteousness is the fact that we have been justified by the faith of Christ as mentioned above. Humanity was justified by one representative, Jesus of Nazareth, the Father's Messiah/Christ. Then we have Peter assure us that God is not willing that any should perish but that all should have a change of mind. Well then, if an all powerful God is not willing that any should perish and not change their mind, why would anyone believe that there would be so many that would perish and not change their mind? In fact, why would you believe that there would be any that would perish and not change their mind?

Now, if you want to quote Heb 9:27 NRSV  "And just as it is appointed for mortals to die once, and after that the judgment," don't be so sure that you understand what the writer of Hebrews is saying, especially if you have been steeped in the presuppositions of evangelical dogma. And likewise, if you quote 2Co 5:10  For all of us must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may receive recompense for what has been done in the body, whether good or evil", steeped in the presuppositions of evangelical dogma, do not be so certain that the doctrine of eternal torturous punishment is anywhere correct. I have spent a lot of key strokes in other blog posts to show that the references to Gehenna/hell are descriptive of the impending destruction of the temple and Jerusalem. And even of those, Jesus said on the cross, "Father forgive them for they know not what they are doing."

So what is the judgment seat of Christ, and what will it be like? As humans are confronted with what they did in this life both good and evil, they will see the true effect that justice was meant to have. Let me put it this way, It will be momentary pain and correction that will be consumed in agape/love. The eternal effect will be profound beyond our ability to comprehend now and it will be completely congruent, with the absolute fact that God is agape/love.

All of this points to the actual righteousness of God. But the term righteousness of God also refers to the way Father God views us. He declared according to the author of Genesis that humanity was very good (Gen 1:31.) He reinforces this after the cross event by stating that in view of Jesus perfect faith, humanity was/is justified before Father God and thereby possess the righteousness of God.

What should this good news produce if properly understood and fully believed? It should produce people who truly love God with all their heart, all their soul, and all their strength. I mean generally love Him at all times because of his grace. And, it should produce people who love their neighbor as they love them selves, including neighbor's who are enemies. What works show this love? Doing Justice, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, giving shelter to the homeless and visiting the sick and prisoners.

The New Humanity Part 9: Return to your first love!

Rev 2:4-5 NRSV  "But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.  (5)  Remember then from what you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent."

The narrative of the seven churches in Revelation offers some great insight. First, let me be clear, this narrative was first and foremost written to the actual seven churches in Asia. However, I believe that it is descriptive of aspects of the church as it exists throughout history first century foward. And, further, it has a message for the church at all points and stages of its history. I think that in this case it should be obvious what is meant by the love you had at first or as the King James renders it your first love.

Join me in an exercise of reminiscing. Think back to the time that you realized that Jesus had finished the work that gave you forgiveness with the father and cleaned your slate so to speak. Think of that specific moment in time. Think of the peace you felt at that unique minute. You did not have a care in the world. You felt completely cleansed and whole. What you had cleansed in that moment was your conscience. You had your conscience cleansed from dead works to serve the living God. It was the result of the story of redemption. It was the result of the story of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. You had peace with Father God. This welled up in your spirit to bring about a profound love for God in light of his grace in Christ Jesus.

However, due to erroneous teaching you slowly began to once again feel the weight of your sin. You were constantly confronted with the law, with statuates and commands. You were confronted with the need to continously manage your sin. You were often made aware of how you were unable to measure up to Jesus and his law. Then, you would repent, and would again feel momentary relief but would again become aware of your sin and slowly it would spiral downward into a state of ever increasing guilt. However, you would be forced to keep a happy face in front of your believing peers. The love that you had in the beginning would slowly devolve to a sense of miserable duty. Even though you would continue with the works of love, your motivation would be fear and duty and not really love.

Add to the above that you may be one with a more addictive personality and you end up with secret sins that make you feel even lower. Some may not have that problem and then would convince themselves that they were righteous, but like the good son in the Prodigal Son parable, they would be consumed with jealousy and judgment. I hope you are beginning to see the state of current evangelical teaching for what it is. Guilt producing error.

This is precisely the reason for the gospel of unlimited grace/unmerited favor. A proper understanding of the gospel will allow the saint to be continually basking in his or her first love.  It is the necessary atmosphere to create a new humanity. It was in large part the atmosphere of the first century saints. It is the reason that Paul penned the following: Eph 2:15-16 NRSV  "He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace,  (16)  and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it." This is the importance of the focus being placed squarely on God's grace and love. It is not "sloppy agape" as some like to accuse. It is the life blood for creating the peace with Father that causes the first love to flow and remain day after day.

When will groups of believers embrace this truth and begin to transform into a new humanity that will truly alleviate some of the problems of this world by demonstrating agape and being true image bearers of God.

Clarifying the Misunderstanding about the Gospel of the Kingdom and the Gospel of Grace.

1Co 15:1-8 NRSV "Now I would remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which also you stand,  (2)  through which also you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you—unless you have come to believe in vain.  (3)  For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures,  (4)  and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures,  (5)  and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.  (6)  Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died.  (7)  Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.  (8)  Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me."

Luke 17:20-21 NRSV "Once Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, and he answered, "The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed;  (21)  nor will they say, 'Look, here it is!' or 'There it is!' For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among you."

I was in a discussion on a Facebook group that I am a member of and it became somewhat heated. I had made the following statement in a post. "Until we recapture the pure gospel of grace that was preached in the first century, community is ineffectual at best, and downright damaging at worst." Well, several jumped on the post saying that they knew of the gospel of the kingdom but were not sure about the gospel of grace. Others jumped in stating that the gospel of grace was just a license to sin. This should not be suprising to me because the Calvinist Preacher John MacArthur wrote a book entitled the gospel according to Jesus. The thrust of the book was similar to all of those who jumped onto the post to criticize what they consider "easy believism" and "sloppy grace." One person adamantly stated that the gospel was the Sermon on the Mount, that grace was an entry point into following this Sermon that they referred to as the Law of Christ.

I, of course believe, that these positions come from not really understanding the transitional nature of the New Testament writings. Especially that the gospels are almost entirely Old Covenant in nature because Jesus came strictly to Jews under the Mosaic Covenant before the cross event which was the instatement of the New Covenant.

So what about the gospel of the kingdom?

When Jesus spoke of the gospel of the kingdom he was really speaking of the first part of a two part gospel that would only be consummated upon His death, burial, and resurrection. The consummation would bring about the really good news. Since that is the meaning of the word gospel, it is the good news of the kingdom. Meaning that the kingdom of God had arrived on the world scene. It arrived there because the King was there. The Jews were expecting an earthly king that would reinstate the glory of the kingdom of David and Solomon. The good news/gospel of the kingdom was simply that the Kingdom was at hand. Jesus told the Pharisees in the Luke 17 passage above that they were not going to be able to find the kingdom with observation, but He assured them that the kingdom was finally in their midst. Yes indeed that was good news.

Establishing a law that was even more rigorous than the Mosaic Law was not good news. And while there was a lot of encouraging information in the Sermon on the Mount, its purpose was not to create a new legal code. It was to demonstrate to the Jews who were taught by the Pharisees that they were living the law blamelessly (Phil 3:6) that it was not the case. See Paul had stated that as a Pharisee, when it came to righteousness in the law he was blameless. Yes indeed, that is what they taught. Jesus showed them that it wasn't so. Adultery and murder were a matter of the heart and not just actions. So no, the Sermon on the Mount had good news in it but it was not the good news of the kingdom. As previously stated the good news of the kingdom was the news of the arrival of the King.

Moving on to the gospel of grace

The second part of the gospel was even better good news. Not only had the King arrived on the scene but he had OVERCOME DEATH AND HADES. He had declared that God was our Father. He had reconciled fallen humanity with the Father. He had provided a way for peace with the Father. He had come to execute a plan that had been set in motion before creation. It was a plan that would bring praise to the Father because of His glorious grace. It was God's absolute purpose in creation (Eph 1:3-14.) Imagine what good news that was and still is. God's purpose in creation was redemption. Paul says that all who are in Christ Jesus were put there before the foundation of the world and guess what, that is before creation. So then, the only scripture that reveals God's purpose in creation is Ephesians chapter one and Paul says it was to bring praise to God's glorious grace.

There is no such thing as easy believism or sloppy grace. That is nothing more than the musings of the good son in the prodigal son story, you know, the one that would not rejoice over the Father's grace for the prodigal. The one that would not come into the party because of anger and jealousy. People who fight against the gospel of grace do not realize that it is grace that leads to repentance.

But getting back to the statement that started all the hullaballoo,  "Until we recapture the pure gospel of grace that was preached in the first century, community is ineffectual at best, and downright damaging at worst." It was unconditional grace that the Holy Spirit used to transform the saints in the first century to turn the religious world upside-down. Here is the operation that the Spirit used in the transformation process. Unlimited grace produces peace with God and love for God. Ah ha, it is the catalyst that produces the fruit of the Spirit. The last of the fruit mentioned that is really an aspect of agape/love is self control. That will only come with communities that determine to know nothing among each other save Jesus Christ crucified and risen... That is the gospel of grace. 

In the passage posted above by Paul he states that the gospel is the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. He says that it is the gospel he preached, it is the gospel in which they stood, it is the gospel by which they were saved. If the gospel is more than that then Paul is simply a liar and there is no salvation for anyone.

A New Humanity Part 8; The Pristine Gospel, Shabbat and Shalom

Eph 2:14-15 NRSV  For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us.  (15)  He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace,

Heb 4:9 NRSV  "So then, a sabbath rest still remains for the people of God;"

It is important to remember that Jesus was born a Jew. He, like all Jewish boys in the first century was taught the Torah. He no doubt attended Torah school as a child. Therefore, He thought in Hebrew even though his native language was Aramaic. And, since most of the first century apostles were Jewish there is a lot to be gained from understanding the Jewishness of the first century gospel.

What is the pristine gospel?

It is of utmost importance to define the gospel. Is the gospel a series of books with that name attached, like the Gospel of John, The Gospel of Matthew? It seems that there is a variety of answers to the question even in evangelical orthodoxy. But, what was the content of the pristine gospel that caused the religious leaders of the first century to complain that their world had been turned upside down?  If we are to hope to gain a new humanity in this fourth age since the beginning of the biblical narrative we have to be certain that we have a precise definition of the gospel. The reason is that the Holy Spirit used the gospel in the first century to supernaturally transform individuals and communities.

I will try to summarize the gospel that I believe the first century saints were taught. It must be stated that the gospel means good news. The Parent God, who established the gospel before the creation of anything so that humans would praise God's glorious grace established a plan of redemption. In the creative act, when the Word created humanity, He declared that it was very good. Not wanting robots, but rather, thinking, rational beings, God provided the opportunity to choose to have the knowledge of good and evil, without which, humanity would not be able to praise at all. God knew full well that the choice would be made, but that in choosing the knowledge of good and evil, there would be a chasm between God and humanity because the choice would result in the entrance of death into the human condition.

Death produced uncertainty and resulted in fear of the unknown. Likewise, God became unknown. Humanity could hope that there was a benevolent God and that fear was unfounded, but could not know that aside from faith. The knowledge of good and evil, Paul called it the wisdom of the world coupled with death made perfect faith impossible to acheive. This describes the human state of being lost. It is important to explain that in all of this God never changed is original declaration that the creation of humanity was very good. However people and societies could choose to be evil. Fear of death made them choose evil all too often. In many ways, it was part of the survival instinct without which humanity would not continue to thrive.

Humanity needed a redeemer, a savior to restore rest and peace. Humanity needed to be reconciled to the Parent Creator. How could this savior, redeemer, reconciler restore rest and peace with the Parent God? The answer is by having perfect faith in the benevolence of God. What would be the ultimate proof of the qualifications of this savior, redeemer, reconciler? He would have to be willing to die, knowing that by having perfect faith in the Parent God, that he would be resurrected to his eternal state of being. In other words, the death, burial and resurrection of the chosen redeemer would be necessary for humanity to have faith in their eternal nature. Likewise, there would have to be an agent that would give this assurance, a comforter of sorts. The Holy Spirit is that agent of assurance and as such is the transforming agent.

Thus, the gospel is the story of this savior, redeemer, reconciler and how he, by his perfect faith, overcame death by experiencing it and being resurrected. The thing that humanity feared most which was death and the grave, was rendered impotent by the death burial and resurrection of Jesus. The good news is that it was all done by God in Christ Jesus. There is nothing for humanity to do except apprehend this knowledge by faith and allow the Holy Spirit to bring rest and peace, Shabbat and Shalom. This is where the Jewish terms Shabbat and Shalom come into importance. Shabbat is a joyous peaceful rest from care and Shalom is prosperity, peace, well being, in other words more than just rest and peace as we know it.

The really good news is that all one need do is apprehend it by faith. Further, redemption and reconciliation is already accomplished once for ALL. The real benefit of the gospel comes from believing this message during this life. It is transformative because it creates peace and rest with the Parent God. Knowing that God and Jesus did it all causes a supernatural love for God and being reminded of this good news, humanity can begin to love one another in the same way that the Parent God loves them.

Stop working so hard to gain favor with God. You have had that favor since the actions described in Genesis 1:31!

A New Humanity Part 7; 1 Co1:18, the preaching of the cross and ongoing salvation

Eph 2:15 NRSV  "He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace,"

1Co 1:18 NRSV  "For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God."

One of the most troubling things about evangelical dogma and doctrine is the notion that the gospel of grace is merely an entry point. I don't think that Paul and the first century apostles saw it that way at all. For them, it was the entry point, but it was also a necessity for continuing the process, and would continue to have importance through out the life of a saint. Yes, I believe that God ultimately redeems all, however I see salvation as a process that plays out in this life to bring peace with the Parent God. All of the versions that I have looked at with the exception of the King James has "being saved" in 1Co 1:18. This reinforces the idea that salvation is a continuing process that plays out over a complete life. I want to reemphasize that I do not believe one can loose salvation. Still, there is a multitude of benefits in hearing the gospel over and over and allowing it to continue to produce peace with the Parent God.

It is instructive to look at salvation as it would have been understood in the first century Roman Empire. Caesar was savior and salvation was the peace that Rome provided. It is not an accident that the first century apostles used that language about Jesus. There are perhaps two other words used in the New Testament that better describes what Jesus did for humanity. Redeemed and reconciled describe what He accomplished at the cross event. As Savior Jesus continually saves his people from their sins. Since the writer of Hebrews tells us that sin is deceitful and deceptive and that it clings to us therein lies the necessity for the gospel to be heard and believed over and often. In fact, it was the reason that the writer of Hebrews encouraged the saints to continue to meet together. It was not as current evangelical pastors use that passage to keep people attending every service. Services that rarely really preach the gospel of Christ. More than not they are services in which the cleric accuses the brothers and sisters before God.

So then, "being saved" is a way of expressing an ongoing process whereby the Holy Spirit uses the gospel of grace to keep the saint in perfect peace. It is the vehicle that keeps the mind stayed on Jesus. I am confident that the first century saints were taught this by their apostles and teachers and practiced that continuously. This underscores the importance of the gospel message. I am amazed however to find that when I go to churches that I hear very little gospel. What I hear is how to use faith as a self help remedy, and how to strive to measure up while falling so short. These messages do nothing to supernaturally transform people. The Holy Spirit does not use self improvement and moralizing messages to transform.

Paul said that he urged, exhorted, begged, beseeched, the saints by the "mercy" of God. What is the mercy of God? THE GOSPEL OF GRACE! In another place Paul said that the grace of God leads to repentance, and that the grace that appeared teaches one to live Godly. It should be so obvious but alas I sigh it is not. Evangelical doctrine is so far off the mark that it presents a different gospel and a different Jesus. The result is that you have people who are reconciled, redeemed but not regularly being saved. It is not like some of the churches that have saints come to the alter every Sunday to get saved all over again because they are lost. That is not what I am writing about. That is silly. Saints are justified. Saints are redeemed. Saints are reconciled. But, in Paul's understanding, saints are BEING saved, an ongoing process. This necessitates hearing the gospel often.

I think back to my days in institutional ministry. I have always been a staunch grace preacher and I always preached the gospel. The Pastor that ordained me always preached the gospel. Now it may not have been the pristine gospel but it was the gospel of the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and it always, produced saints full of praise. It was always attended by a genuine anointing. The amazing thing about the gospel of grace that it would get little old church mothers that had been walking with Jesus for fifty years happy in the Spirit.

The point of this is that if we are to return to the gospel of grace of the first century we have to be proclaiming it often. It has to be the gospel that emphasizes the finished work of the cross. It has to be a gospel that assures that through the faith of Jesus humanity is reconciled and justified and in good standing with the Parent God.