The Gospel is Contrary to the Law
Many people in the modern church have not heard the same Gospel that the Apostle Paul preached. I say this confidently (although sadly) because most churches do not receive the same kind of derogatory accusations that Paul received.
What did people who didn’t like Paul’s message SAY about Paul’s message? “This fellow persuades men to worship God CONTRARY to the law.”
When is the last time your preacher was accused of contradicting Moses?
Paul’s accusers were very knowledgeable about all the rules and regulations of the Old Testament. And they knew that Paul’s message was in conflict with the 613 rules that they were trying to follow.
To a person who is trying to please God by obeying the Old Testament commandments, the real message of the Gospel, preached by Paul but rarely preached in modern churches, is highly offensive.
Here it is in a nutshell: You cannot get to heaven by obeying the 10 commandments. You can only get to heaven by believing in Jesus.
And here it is in even more offensive language: Obeying the 10 commandments has nothing to do with going to heaven. There are people who will attempt to obey the 10 commandments who will completely miss heaven.
And there are people who will NOT obey the 10 commandments who WILL make it to heaven. The 10 commandments are not the central issue!
The message that Paul preached was exactly this: YOU CAN ONLY GET TO HEAVEN BY BELIEVING IN JESUS!
Now this is extremely offensive to someone who is following rules to make themselves good in the sight of God.
But most of the preaching in most of the pulpits in today’s modern churches will tell you to follow some rule or some principle in order to become a better person.
That was NOT the Gospel that Paul preached. And they aren’t messages that earn preachers the derogatory accusations of being contradictory to the message preached by Moses.
The Gospel that Paul preached had nothing in it about what we should “do” to make ourselves become better people.
Rather, it was all about what we should believe. And if you believe right, it is your belief that connects you to God and ushers you into His presence.
You can never cause God to love you more or be more prone to answer your prayers because you are performing well morally.
Is that in conflict with the law? Absolutely! But it is the message that Paul preached.
And sadly, it is statistically not the message you are hearing from the pulpit.
More often, they will tell you to become a better person. And THAT is not the Gospel. It is a message of death.
Only a message that is contrary to the law can bring you life.