Does the Church teach two Gospels?

When the preacher says Christ died for our sin, what does it make you think? Does it make you think that he paid the penalty for sin so that the repentant might be forgiven? Or does it make you think one only needs to believe to be perfectly righteous in God's sight, and then one is saved on the basis of God's vision of righteousness?

Believe it or not, the Church teaches two gospels. One is a gospel of repentance and pardon, by which a man may be saved. The other is a gospel of acquittal and divine blindness to sin, which if swallowed whole leads to Hell. The good news of the pardon is Messiah's payment of the penalty, which is valid for those who repent. The false gospel is a gospel of legal philosophy that rejects the necessity of repentance at its very foundation.

Many Christians have taken the true gospel to heart. Many more, however, have taken the false gospel to heart. And most of those believing the true gospel are ignorant of the false Quisling Gospel (Quisling was a traitor and Nazi sympathizer) that has taken their Christian brothers to the Spiritual Death Camps.

What is an acquittal? An acquittal is when a judge finds the accused innocent of all crimes. The case of the defendant is dismissed for lack of incriminating evidence, and the accused is free to go. A pardon happens when the accused is found guilty, admits their guilt, and then the judge finds a merciful reason to let them go without punishment. It is expected that the pardoned will no longer commit the crimes of their former life.

If a judge acquits a guilty person, we call it a miscarriage of justice, or if the judge knows he is acquitting the guilty, a travesty of justice. If a judge pardons someone who repents, we say the judge is merciful and wise. If the judge pardons someone who he knows will keep committing crimes and has no intention to repent then we call it an abuse of leniency.

What I am saying is that the Church has suffered a spiritual holocaust or genocide ten times greater than that of the Nazi murder of the Jews. The gospel of acquittal has led most to believe that they have a righteous status in God's eyes, and that the meaning of the good news has to do with God dismissing his case against them on the discovery of righteousness in them or in their account. All they have to do is "believe" the message. When they understand the gospel this way, then they don't see the need for repentance. Therefore they have no true conversion.

It does not matter whether one is Catholic, Protestant, Anglican, Messianic, Baptist, Seventh Day Adventist, Seventh Day Baptist, or any other denomination. The same malady has infected them all. More Christians are going to perish in the lake of fire because they believed the false gospel which did not lead them to repentance than there are Jews who perished in the Holocaust.

So I will throw out a few barbs for discussion to illustrate the false gospel vs. the real one. It is said the cross teaches "justification by faith" which means being made righteous in God's sight or declared righteous. It doesn't really matter here whether one subscribes to the Catholic facet of the false gospel or the Lutheran/Calvinist nuance. Either way it teaches that "justified by faith" means becoming righteous in God's sight. Sounds like the magic wand of acquittal doesn't it? Well it is. God has no reason to consider anyone perfectly righteous when they are not actually perfectly righteous unless the reason for being of the doctrine is to issue an acquittal and declare the "believer" innocent!

It is time to stop this murder by legal lies that don't make any sense. In the Hellenistic/Koine Greek of Paul's day, the word "justified" from the Greek δικαιοω simply meant "justiced", in the sense of having justice done, or doing justice for someone, or pleading the case of justice. Alister McGrath admits this in Iustitia Dei. We also find the proper definition in Thayer at the end of the entry, and in BDAG (def. #1, though obscured). It is used in the sense of a penalty or punishment. Though a rarely used English word, the sense is "justiced". They hanged the crook and he was justiced. So then when Paul uses the word δικαιοω, he merely means that we are "justiced" in Messiah, i.e. he paid the penalty in our place. Therefore, it has nothing to do with the nonsense of "declared righteous" as the legal outcome of forgiveness of sins. We still have to repent in order to BE RIGHTEOUS, and in fact repentance is expected.

Second point, in Paul's conception "believe" meant "faithfulness/commitment". See the afore mentioned BDAG Lexicon (c. 2000, 3rd edition) on πιστις and πιστευω, def. #1 and #2 respectively. So the phrase "justified by faith" means "justiced by faithfulness" (cf. Rom. 5:1). Now before you get all het up and think I'm saying we are justiced by our faithfulness, listen a minute. Paul did not mean our faithfulness. He meant Messiah's faithfulness. We are "justiced by [Messiah's] faithfulness" to do the work of paying the penalty on the cross. This concept is no longer foreign to scholars as texts like Rom. 3:22 and Gal 2:16 have already been recognized as referring to the "faithfulness of Jesus Christ" and not to "faith in Jesus" Christ. So you see, Paul already defined it as Messiah's faithfulness by which we are justiced. How do you receive this? Make a commitment to be faithful to him, and you will be justiced in Messiah.

If you understand this, then you will know why Christianity is such a mess and is no longer the salt of the earth.

If you are trying to describe the American justice system, then almost all of this is completely wrong. For example, acquittals do not mean a person is innocent (ask OJ), Judges do not issue pardons, executives do such as governors or the President. In addition, there is no requirement for repentance for a pardon to be issued, and there is no necessary expectation for not committing the same crime in the future (give Clinton truth serum and ask him about Mark Rich, and notice that no one criticized Clinton over this aspect of that pardon). There are more examples, but you get the idea.

In any event, even with your use of "acquittal" you are forgetting the fact that when an acquittal is rendered then NO ONE pays any price. The person, guilty or not in fact, simply goes free. No one is punished. Therefore, this would not seem to fit any comparison you are trying to make to some false gospel.

KJV Mark 2:17 When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners TO REPENTANCE.

This verse in the modern versions leaves off the last two words (”to repentance”). Maybe this is why so many think they can remain sinners wallowing in their sins and still have salvation. They completely misunderstand the true Gospel and think they can merely “believe” and continue in a lifestyle of breaking God’s commandments, which He gave “for our good always” (Deut. 6;24).

The easy-believism expressed on this thread makes your case, Dan, that the false gospel is alive and well in our times. Thank you for trying to reach the lost who fill the pews of the churches.

>>There is nowhere in the NT that says Repent of your sins it is not there.<<

Mat 9:13 But go ye and learn what [that] meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Mar 2:17 When Jesus heard [it], he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Luk 5:32 I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

The call to repentance from sin may not be in your modern version (NIV, etc.) but it is in the KJV and the Greek manuscripts that back it (TR).

God requires human cooperation this side of the last day

KJV Romans 2:7 To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:

KJV 1 Timothy 6:18 That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; 19 Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.

Mr. Field, quoting a text without a context is a pretext:

KJV Ephesians 2:1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:

Clearly unbelievers are not literaly dead. But why should we think that Calvin or Augustine are right about the meaning of dead? "Dead" merely means as good as dead because they were under the death sentence due to transgression. So then, God merely needs to remove the blinders to enable them to choose life. Then the choice is theirs.

What Augustine and Calvin teach on the total depravity of unregenerate man is merely a thinly disguised Manichean Gnosticism crept into the Church.

Well, I guess you are sinless then, right?

I don't know how you deduce sinless out of the need for repentance. Not all sin is transgression. Not all sinfulness is rebellion.

KJV Numbers 15:29 Ye shall have one law for him that sinneth through ignorance, both for him that is born among the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them. 30 But the soul that doeth ought presumptuously, whether he be born in the land, or a stranger, the same reproacheth the LORD; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people.

God changes the heart to turn us to him, ....

God will not do that if the person is unwilling to cooperate:

KJV Deuteronomy 10:16 Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked.

KJV Deuteronomy 30:6 And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.

Agreed, the U.S. justice system does not match the biblical one in many respects.

In the biblical justice system, the Judge is the one who grants the pardons.

KJV Numbers 14:18 The LORD is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.

In the biblical justice system acquittals are only supposed to be issued to the innocent:

KJV Deuteronomy 25:1 If there be a controversy between men, and they come unto judgment, that the judges may judge them; then they shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked.

KJV Exodus 23:7 Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not: for I will not justify the wicked.

In any event, even with your use of "acquittal" you are forgetting the fact that when an acquittal is rendered then NO ONE pays any price

No, I have not forgotten that. That's why the the Church teaches two gospels, one false, and one true. You cannot combine acquittal with the actual payment of the penalty, because you are right, that with an acquittal there is no penalty to be paid!

With the doctrine of "imputed righteousness" or "active obedience" the discovery process is corrupted and changed into a lie. The "believer" is not found a sinner. Somehow Justice is blinded. Logically this leads to no need for a penalty, because the judge is going to find no guilt. Thus this concept conflicts with the true gospel.

With the true gospel the sinner is found guilty, and in eternity, it will always be a truism that so and so saved person was guilty of sin in the present age. The difference is that that person repented and Christ paid the penalty for him so he could be pardoned. But that doesn't change the legal finding of the saved persons guilt.

So the Church teaches two gospels, somewhat mixed up I agree. The question is which one are you going to believe.

We don't believe in TULIP. Calvinism is a cult. We can get along with them, but through bitter experience have found that they WILL not get along with us.
Got that right.

"Bitter experience" == getting kicked out after refusing to repent?

"It does not matter whether one is Catholic, Protestant, Anglican, Messianic, Baptist, Seventh Day Adventist, Seventh Day Baptist, or any other denomination. The same malady has infected them all."

At what point, according to your sect, did the church go off the rails?

Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

I will make this in real small bite sized steps for you to repair this mistranslation. First you can agree with me that πιστεως Χριστου means "faithfulness of Christ"; cf. NET Bible, Daniel B. Wallace, and BDAG LEXICON, definition #1.

Not all sinfulness is rebellion.

I absolutely disagree. ALL sin is rebellion. Sin is death. God will not do that if the person is unwilling to cooperate:

God is sovereign. His will is sovereign. He will do what He wills. If you don't recognize this, you believe in a different God than I do. You also believe a different gospel that is not of Christ. I don't know if your heart has been circumcised only God sees your heart, I pray that it is.

There is nowhere in the NT that says Repent of your sins it is not there.

KJV Acts 3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;

Lack of it leads to damnation:

KJV Galatians 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

I absolutely disagree. ALL sin is rebellion. Sin is death.

It is disingenuous to continue an argument by ignoring evidence otherwise:

KJV Numbers 15:29 Ye shall have one law for him that sinneth through ignorance, both for him that is born among the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them. 30 But the soul that doeth ought presumptuously, whether he be born in the land, or a stranger, the same reproacheth the LORD; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people.

I'll add a second witness also:

KJV 1 John 5:17 All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.

Perhaps you would be better served to read all of 1 John 5.

This is a great scripture, you should familiarize yourself with it.

10 Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart. Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. 1 1And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.

Romans 3;21But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement,i through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice,

Ephesians 2:8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

I will make this in real small bite sized steps for you

I can do without the patronizing tone...thank you very much! I know full well what the scripture says throughout Old and New Testaments and justification, sanctification, made-righteous, saved, etc. was and never will be based upon the goodness or merit of the person. To label this doctrine as false or "easy-believism" is a slap in the face to Almighty God and the sacrifice of the shed blood of Jesus Christ who was God Almighty incarnate.

God IS the judge. He passed judgment on all mankind when he said all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and the wages of sin is DEATH. The sentence of death has been determined already. This holy and righteous judge then came down from his throne and paid the penalty for sin for us. By his grace he offers all the gift of eternal life if we by faith accept the gift. When we do his spirit indwells us and he creates within us a new spirit nature. The spirit of the old nature is as dead and he gives us the desire and ability to walk in the newness of life.

There is only one true gospel (good news) and that is that man can have the assurance of his salvation when he believes in the Lord Jesus Christ. I John 5:13.

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