The Roman Catholic Church held a form of the gospel from the Roman Emperor Constantine in the 4th century until the Protestant Reformation which was started by Martin Luther in the 16th Century.
Since then until this day a more truer form of the gospel was held by what we know as mainstream Christianity; namely Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians, Brethren, Baptists etc.
The real gospel is in the process of being recaptured and restored, new understanding that was hidden in plain sight has been coming to light. At the turn of the 20th century understanding that had remained dormant for 1900 years began re-emerging. Understanding like the gifts of the Holy Spirit, for example. healing, deliverance, prophecy.
The gospel is about to be re-honed, restored just that little bit more again.
That last guardians of the gospel which we call mainstream christianity, held the gospel in trust for 500 years. They have protected and treasured it, they have got the main things right but some enormous things wrong, change is coming.
The real gospel is being revealed in these last days, with correct focus and correct empowerment.
Where mainstream Christianity has focused on He is righteous and you are an ungodly sinner, the coming shift will glorify the finished work of Christ and move away from always being about sin. It will draw on the scriptures that mainstream Christianity has forgotten, has a lesser meaning for, or doesn’t understand the importance of.
Where mainstream Christianity has focused on the weeds, behavior modification and continual repentance to be saved, the coming gospel will focus on the flowers, the finished work of Christ, freedom, life, the beauty of wholeness, (holiness).
While mainstream Christianity climbs the mountain to victory over sin, the coming gospel will enjoy coming from victory no matter how messed up the individual is.
Being Christ-like is the goal and there are two different ways people try to achieve this goal.
One by religion: for example, do not touch, do not taste, do not handle, pull your socks up, putting your best foot forward, continual repentance, make yourself acceptable to God. If your heart is not right you’re on your way to hell. This is wrongly trying to climb the mountain to victory.
The second way is: righteousness, God gifts you righteousness apart from your performance and by you believing that you are holy and righteous, it will transform your soul life. God says I have made you righteous in Christ now go and live righteously. I have made you Christ-like, now live Christ-like. I have forgiven you, now forgive. This is coming from His Victory, not your striving to be made right.
One is dirty and is always trying to become clean, the other is clean and rejects all that is unclean.
Salvation will not be based on your performance, your ability to keep your hands and heart clean, but on His performance and the greatness of His gift. It will not be based on your ability to put your best foot forward and say, “See God I am living right, I have kept my heart free from sin,” I must be acceptable to you now, or even I am so unacceptable, God I am such a sinner”. This is a Christianity where repentance is your good news, your savior along with Christ. It says that God’s gift of righteousness is affected by your daily conscience. Its called 10 minute eternal life and its dependent on the fragility of your conscience. This is nothing more than religious bondage. Forever repenting to stay right with God, going clean dirty, clean dirty, right, not right, saved, unsaved, from fear to fear not faith to faith.
Paul says we do not go by, “do not touch, do not taste, do not handle”, it is powerless to control the flesh. We go by recognizing ourselves dead to sin and alive to Christ. The real gospel will focus on the new life. Not just a positional salvation and a focus on sin but a literal new life, one that is complete and righteous right now. Not just a positional righteousness but a literal righteousness. Not just a “created human” that has been adopted to be positionally called a son or daughter of God, but a very real “born of God, spirit,” a literal son or daughter.
There are two types of repentance, one to be righteous and the other because you are righteous. 1. ‘repentance unto righteousness’ and 2. ‘righteousness unto repentance’, one says I am wicked and I am evil and I am sorry. The other says; He has made me righteous, I am born of my Father God and this wicked sin has nothing to do with me, I reject it and renounce it. I tear it off like Lazarus’s death clothes.
‘Repentance unto righteousness’ was half of the equation to get into Christ (the other half having faith in His sin sacrifice at the cross), but once we are in Christ we switch to the other type; ‘righteousness unto repentance’, we get given the gift of righteousness and now live by His righteousness not our own.
However if you don’t change from an old creation understanding to a new creation understanding, if you don’t rise from the dead, and realize you are not the same soulical being you started life as, then the first type of repentance will remain. Your focus will be on your sin, it will be forever before you, guilt ridden, so you will focus on the cross rather than the resurrection. Forever trying to finish the work rather than understand it is finished, that you are complete and righteous right now.
Your righteousness in Him is not equal to how righteous your heart is, or your ability to keep it clean. The belief that you have to repent to keep yourself righteous, or you fall from grace is wrong. You do not earn or keep the free gift of God’s righteousness by repenting, if that were the case you would only be as righteous as your repentance. And all that is, is your own ability to keep your heart right. That is called self righteousness and it masquerades behind the religious spirit of ‘repentance unto righteousness’.
The real gospel is not about you cleaning up your old life, it’s about empowering your new life, its focus is not on sin, that is an ugly focus, and its polluted the gospel for the last 2000 years. Its focus will be on life, wholeness, Christ’s finished work, and Him dying on the cross for you, you rising with Him in newness of life. You the new creation, not like old school Christianity which focuses on sin, saying you are the death clothes of Lazarus. The truth is you are not the death clothes but a new resurrected you, with His new life.
In this life you now live in the flesh, (Galatians 2:20), you live in the flesh to have a go against sin, so you can develop faith, hope and love, it is the earth lesson of sin vs. real life, (He is real life), remember whatever you sow you will reap!
We hate sin, not because it could take us to hell, but because it is destructive, evil, immature, selfish, foolish. There is no life in it, no blessing in it, it is the domain of the enemy and it attracts him like wasps to honey. We have nothing to do with it, it is the opposite of light and love, it is contrary to Christ. If you dwell in it how can you be blessed, God is not there.
We overcome by realizing we are dead to sin and alive in Christ, in other words, you have been resurrected with Him, Hidden in Him, translated into Him, baptized in Him, a new perfect complete being who has Christ’s life, but you are living in a body of death, like Lazarus struggling with his death clothes.
Our focus will be walking with our Father in unapproachable light, we are now a born again life giving spirit, full of love, righteousness peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. We will live from the finished work, all things being lawful, but maybe not helpful, not controlled by do not touch, taste or handle. Although we stink of sin we will never ‘repent unto righteousness’ (to do that would belittle the finished work).
We will tear off the death clothes of Lazarus because they stink, they muffle God’s voice, blind our eyes and bind us up. Not because we are making ourselves alive but because He made us alive inside the old death clothes and says take them off.
The real gospel is emerging and it is happening around you now. It is, “as He is in heaven so are you on the earth”, no matter how bad your death clothes stink. Therefore awake you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light. Ephesians 5:14.
You will never be any more righteous than you are now, just like Lazarus was not any more alive by taking off the death clothes. Did you get that?
Let me repeat it. You will never be any more righteous than you are right now, just like Lazarus was not any more alive by taking off the death clothes.
His death clothes were burial wrappings, yours is your old soul encoded life. All old things have passed away, behold and see all things have become new.
Smarten up Lazarus, you are alive!! even though its dark, smelly, you feel bound, alone and cold. Come into the light, the real gospel and find your new life.