The True Gospel of Christ vs. The False Gospel of Carnal Christianity by L. R. Shelton, Jr. Chapter 1 The False Gospel of Carnal Christianity “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” - Galatians 6:7 A False Gospel There is rampant in this age a false gospel of carnal Christianity which has deceived many souls. The vast majority of Christendom today have not bowed to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. These are on sinking sand and are an easy prey to such a teaching which has permeated our land and our pulpits. So our purpose is to bring out the true gospel and the false, showing clearly the warnings from God’s Word that we should not sow to the flesh, but rather to the Spirit. May you have an open heart and an open Bible, as we pray that God will deal with us all by His Spirit. We are warned concerning this false gospel of carnal Christianity in Galatians 6:7,8: “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.” This to me is a most solemn warning to all of our hearts, and especially in this day of free-believism and carnal Christianity which is preached on such a large scale. You see, the vast majority of Christendom today is deceived as to the state of their never-dying souls before God. What is happening is justification in Christ is preached alone, at the expense of holy living; and the hearers of this one-sided gospel are left in the dark as to God’s requirement of the necessity of a holy life. God’s grace has been turned into lasciviousness; the attitude of most has been: “A little sin won’t hurt-I’m just a `carnal Christian’ you know, and besides, doesn’t grace cover it all?” Holiness Required by God But my prayer is that God would so work by His Spirit as to make blind eyes to see the exceeding sinfulness of sin, that there would be a mourning over it, for this is our only hope. Oh, how our hearts should cry to the Lord for the truth of His Word that appeals not to our fleshly desires or to our fleshly emotions, but to that which cuts off our flesh and lays us bare before God in confession and repentance! We should cry to Him to so work in our hearts by His Spirit, that holiness of thought, word and action would characterize our hearts and lives. This false teaching of carnal Christianity has so permeated our churches that no one ever questions his interest in Christ, no matter how he lives. People are told that if they have believed, that is all that is necessary, and therefore all is well with their souls. But the Holy Word of God declares no such teaching, but in fact declares just the opposite! For we read in Hebrews 12:14, “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.” Yes, holiness must characterize our lives, “for God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness” (I Thess 4:7). “He hath chosen us in him [Christ] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love” (Eph 1:4). Again, He “hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling” (II Tim 1:9). This is the same One Who says to be “obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: but as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written, be ye holy; for I am holy” (I Peter 1:14-16). Our warning text from Galatians 6 declares the same thing. God would have us to understand and not to be deceived about this false teaching, that no matter what false preachers and teachers say about it: “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” My friend, if you sow to your flesh, you shall of your flesh reap corruption. I don’t care how many professions you have made or whose church you may belong to; you cannot mock God! He is no respecter of persons. Each and every one who sows to his flesh shall of his flesh reap corruption. Repentance Is Given A man who sows to his flesh continually has never been saved; he’s never been born again. Why? Because under Holy Spirit conviction we are given the grace to repent, and in repentance we learn to hate sin, to abhor it, to loathe ourselves, and to flee by faith to Christ for deliverance from sin. We know that sin has not been eradicated, for it is still the plague of our hearts; but sin is no longer the practice and rule of our lives. It cannot be, for the soul whom God saves has had a new nature and a new heart put within; and he now desires holy things and walks in the way of righteousness. He knows in himself that this is true, because the Holy Spirit has worked in him the things found in God’s Word. He reads in Ezekiel 36:26 about the new heart that God has given him; and in II Peter 1:4 about the new nature he has been given. He finds in I John 3:9 that he has been born of God, and that he who is born of God does not make sin the practice and rule of his life. Why? Because His seed (the seed of God) remaineth in him, and he cannot make sin the practice and rule of his life anymore. He hears the Word say, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (I John 2:15). Having been taught by the work of the Holy Spirit that he is a lost, hell-deserving sinner, having laid at the feet of God in repentance, having looked by faith to Christ as his Lord and Savior, having seen that his sin put Christ to death, then he wants no part of the world. The love of God has been shed abroad in his heart by the Holy Spirit’s work in him. He learns well that “all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh [the desire to indulge]...is not of the Father,” so he hates it and cries out against it because it put Christ to death. Again, he learns, “all that is in the world, the lust of the eyes [the desire to possess]...is not of the Father,” so he hates it and cries out against it because it put Christ to death. He learns that “the pride of life [the desire to attract to oneself]...is not of the Father, but is of the world”-the Satanic world system of sin -so he hates it and cries out against it because it put Christ to death on the cross. He also learns that “the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever” (vv. 16,17), so he desires by grace to do the will of God, which is to walk in “righteousness and true holiness” (Eph 4:24). A New Nature Therefore, since God gives every sinner whom He saves a new heart and a new nature, and puts His Holy Spirit within him to guide him into all truth, that saved sinner now searches the Word of God, not to find things that will justify him in his sins, but to find that Word which warns him against sin and tells him how to flee to Christ from sin. He reads Romans 8:6: “For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace”; so he begins to cry to the indwelling Holy Spirit to deliver him daily from a fleshly, carnal mind, and to give him that spiritual mind of life and peace in Christ. No, he is not seeing how close he can walk to the world and sin, but how he can walk close to God in Christ by His Spirit. He is not searching the Word of God to find out the sins of others recorded there so he might use them as a means of justifying his walking in sin, but he reads these things as warnings to him not to walk where others have walked and failed. You see, the man or woman, boy or girl, whom God saves, and unto whom He gives eternal life in Christ, hears these words from Colossians 3:2-5: “Set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. Mortify [put to death, reckon as dead] therefore your members which are upon the earth.” How then could any soul justify living a life to the flesh? No, for because of what Christ has done for him and because Christ’s life is now his life, this saved soul now desires to put to death the things of the flesh, that he might sow to the Spirit and walk after the Spirit. Beloved, this is the way God deals with our souls-I know first hand: I know what the difference is between carnal Christianity and the life which is lived by faith in and upon the living God by the Holy Spirit, for I have lived them both. The only difference between me and the carnal Christian is the grace of God, and I praise Him for it! Therefore, when the saved soul hears God’s Word: “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth: fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry”; and “put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another”-now he desires to mortify them, and why? Because he has “put off the old man with his deeds” and “put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him” (Col 3:5,8-10). So his desire is for Christ and His life, to walk in a way pleasing to God and not after sin, because he has been born of the Spirit of God and has a new heart. Also in Colossians 3:6 the Holy Spirit gives us another reason for walking in the Spirit and not after the flesh. He says we are not to walk in these sins, “for which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience.” Yes, those who walk in such a way of disobedience to God’s revealed will, shall find themselves under His curse and wrath. A Holy Life Follows Salvation My friend, I would not have you deceived! A holy life, a sowing to the Spirit, must follow the salvation that God gives in Christ, or it is not God’s salvation; for Christ came to save His people from their sins, and not in their sins (Matt 1:21). A holy life, a sowing to the Spirit, must follow the salvation that God gives us in Christ or God’s purpose in saving us would be defeated, and this cannot be. Did we not read that God has chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world “that we should be holy and without blame before him in love” (Eph 1:4). We cannot thwart the purpose of God toward His people. Listen again to this definite and positive statement-”For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness” (I Thess 4:7). Yes, a holy life must follow the salvation that God gives in Christ, or God’s will would be turned aside, and this cannot be-”For this is the will of God, even your sanctification” (4:3). Sanctification is your being set apart from sin by the progressive work of God’s Spirit in your heart and life. Again, a holy life, a sowing to the Spirit, must follow the salvation that God gives in Christ, or the grace of God would not reign in the believer’s life; and this cannot be, for we read in Titus 2:11,12: “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.” I want you to pay particular attention to these verses and pray that the Holy Spirit will write them upon your heart. When the grace of God that brings salvation appears to all, it teaches them the same thing. And what does God’s grace teach us?-that we will be self-denying ones. In what way?-saying no to the world and denying ourselves ungodliness and worldly lusts, because we hate sin, self, Satan and the world of ungodliness. “All” learn this lesson, not just some of God’s children. “All” of them are taught by the Holy Spirit to hate sin and deny self. If this self denial and hatred of sin is absent from the life, then God’s salvation is absent (John 16:13,15; Isa 54:13). But this Scripture does not end only in giving us the negative; the Holy Spirit shows the grace of God that brings salvation will teach us something positive as well-how to live soberly, righteously and godly. Where? in heaven? No, in this present evil world, right at home, on the job, or wherever we walk! For by His grace and blood He has delivered us from “this present evil world” (Gal 1:4). Remember this: the same Holy Spirit teaches all of God’s children the same lessons. What are they? He trains us to reject and renounce all ungodliness, and worldly, passionate desires; and He also trains us to live sober, temperate, self-controlled lives in an upright, devout manner (Titus 2:12). In other words, He teaches us to live spiritually-whole lives controlled by Him, here in this present evil world. The False Gospel - no power over sin What a far cry this is from the present-day gospel that is preached-a gospel that gives no new heart or new nature, a gospel that does not break the power of sin, but allows one to live on in it, a gospel that gives only an insurance policy against hell and knows nothing about holiness of thought and action, a gospel that will let you indulge the flesh, and puts no restraint upon your passion, pride and evil heart! Oh, this is not a gospel, but a false thing! I say false because it says that all one has to do is say “yes” to the four spiritual laws and believe in a historical Jesus; and after he “believes” he is saved and saved for ever, no matter what he does. Did you know that the average individual tells you that he made a profession when he was 6, 8, 12, or 15 years of age; but he drifted off into sin, and after 10 years or so he came back and rededicated his life and now gives himself to religious service? It is from this group that the majority of our missionaries, teachers and preachers come, and they know nothing of heart-felt repentance or standing before God as a guilty, lost sinner! If you are in this group, I tell you in love, you have mistaken the call to salvation -to come to Christ as a guilty, needy, lost sinner-as the call to service; and therefore you have become two-fold more the child of hell than you were before, unless the Holy Spirit by His Word and grace gives you a heart to see your desperate need of Christ. You see, you have mistaken the call to a broken heart and a contrite spirit, to repentance and faith-the call to break with sin and to walk in holiness of life in conversion-as a call to the ministry! I know this does happen, for I have heard so many testimonies given along this line. It even happened to me! I mistook the call to salvation as the call to the ministry, and only by the grace of God was I awakened to see that I had missed true repentance and faith, and was still in the gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity. Therefore, let me proclaim today that I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ: for that Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth (Rom 1:16). This salvation is the deliverance from the power of sin, which I have experienced by the grace of God in Christ; and beloved, I praise the Lord that Romans 6:18 is true: “Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness,” servants of Him Who has delivered us from the law of sin and death! (Rom 8:2).Chapter 2 Death to Self and Sin “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting” (Gal 6:7,8). A “Friendly Pal”? Beware of that false gospel which allows a man to stay in his sins and sow to his flesh, and yet gives him a hope for heaven. Beware of that false gospel that sells you an insurance policy against the flames of hell and yet gives no power over sin. Beware of that false gospel which lets you go on in your same way of fleshly living and makes no demands for the death of your fleshly nature. Beware of that false gospel that gives you religion without life, profession without possession. Beware of that false gospel that leads you to believe that there are two roads to heaven and not only the one road which is described by our Lord in Matthew 7:13,14 as “the narrow way.” You see, this false gospel makes a second way, and it is the road of carnal Christianity-”a way that seemeth right unto a man [because it is an easy road], but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Prov 16:25). It appeals to the flesh, but it is a way that leads to hell! Again I say, beware of the false gospel which is preached today, which makes no demands upon you, but shows you the easy way unto salvation (which is but the shortest way to hell). This false gospel is not opposed to your flesh, rather it is a “friendly pal”; and, if understood rightly, it is the source of oceans of good, clean fun and innocent enjoyment. It lets you live without interference; it never changes your life; it still lets you live in your own pleasure, only now instead of singing cabaret songs and drinking hard liquor, you take delight in singing choruses and watching religious movies. The accent is still on enjoyment, though the fun is now on a higher plane, morally if not intellectually. This false gospel encourages a new and entirely different evangelistic appeal. It seeks not to slay the sinner before he receives the new life in Christ, but tells him to receive new life before the old life is slain. So it tries only to redirect the sinner. It directs him into a jolly way of living, which saves his self respect. This false gospel says to the self-assertive: “Come and assert yourself for Christ.” To the egotist, it says: “Come and do your boasting in the Lord,” and to the thrill seeker: “Come and enjoy the thrill of Christian fellowship.” It tries to pour new wine into old wineskins, and it will not work! The old must be torn down before the new can be built. The Meaning of the Cross So you see, this false gospel of carnal Christianity misses completely the whole meaning of the cross, which means death. But the Gospel of the grace of God in Christ, which is the power of God unto salvation, demands the death, burial and resurrection of you, the sinner, in Christ. It sets forth the cross of Christ as the abrupt, violent end of all that you are by nature, and raises you to a new life in Christ with the shackles of sin broken. It brings to an end your pride and ambition, and leaves you at the feet of a holy God crying for mercy. The true Gospel of God tells you that you will take up the cross of Christ and say goodbye to your friends and the world, for you are not coming back the same person. It tells you that you are not going to have your life redirected, but you are going to the place of death. As Hebrews 13:13 puts it, “Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach,” for there we die to the world. As the Lord Jesus Himself says in Luke 14:27, “And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.” We must die to the world and all of its pleasures and allurements, as Galatians 6:14 tells us: By the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ “the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.” Did you know that the two ingredients that make up the table salt we use every day, when taken by themselves, are a deadly poison and will kill you? But put together, they become a blessing in the form of salt which purifies, gives taste, preserves, and is used in so many different ways. It is the same with the true Gospel, the Gospel of the grace of God! We can preach Christ and His blood for the forgiveness of sins, in such a way that will deceive sinners, if we do not tell them that the death of Christ means death to us and our ways, and death to sin! If we do not put all of the ingredients into the message we preach, what we do preach then becomes deadly poison to the soul, damning instead of saving! No Compromise with Sin This doctrine or false gospel of carnal Christianity (which is no gospel!) has swept Christendom today, and there is not that ingredient of repentance which causes us to hate sin, showing that the power of sin must be broken, and that God by His Spirit in true salvation not only justifies but also sanctifies us. You see, justification and sanctification are the two sides of the same coin; and when God justifies us before Himself in Christ by His blood, He also sanctifies us-that is, sets us apart for His holy use-and causes us to walk in His ways. So the true Gospel of Christ makes no compromise with sin. It demands coming clean and coming clear with God or perishing. It says, “Down sinner, down at the feet of the holy and sovereign God in repentance; down at the feet of Christ in faith, looking only to Him for salvation.” And all sin must be forsaken; all sin must be renounced; all sin must be repented of; all sin must be hated. You must die to the world, and the world to you. You must forsake your sin and then go on to forsake yourself, or you will never know Christ in true salvation. The Gospel of the grace of God in Christ Jesus will not let you cover, defend or excuse any sin, for when the convincing power of God’s Holy Spirit works in your heart, you are going to die to sin and self; and then Christ, by His mighty power-the power of the Gospel-will raise you to a new life. This will be His life in you, and you will be a new creature in Christ. Therefore, my dear friend, do not seek to make terms with God, for you deserve to be cast into hell, but for Christ’s sake, God can and will have mercy upon you if you come to Him as a hell- deserving sinner, renouncing your sins and turning to God from them in true, heart-felt repentance. This is your only hope of salvation in Christ, to come unto Him with the rope around your neck, giving Him the other end and telling Him to slay you or to save you for Christ’s sake. Come to Him with bowed head just as you are, as a lost sinner, for He came “to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). The true Gospel of Christ not only makes no compromise with sin, but there is also no place in the true Gospel for a second compromise: a middle ground between the broad way and the narrow way. None! For when you come to Christ to set you free from the penalty of sin in hell by His cross work (and this is justification ), you of a necessity also come to Him to set you free from the power and dominion of sin in this life (and this is sanctification ). The very nature of faith which embraces a whole Christ, demands that justification not be separated from sanctification. For Christ Himself-His very Person-is our salvation and hope of glory, and you cannot divide the Person of Christ. No man can call Jesus Lord but by the Holy Spirit (I Cor 12:3), and you cannot know Him as Savior without knowing Him as Lord, the One Who breaks the power of sin and sets you free. As John 8:36 tells us: “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed”- free from sin! In God’s salvation we die to sin and its reigning power (Rom 6:2). We Have Died to Sin Oh, what a subtle trick Satan has pulled on the vast majority of Christendom today!-so subtle that many are deceived and cannot see that they are deceived, thinking that it is possible to be saved without the power of sin being broken (its reigning power); believing that they can live a life in the flesh and sow to the flesh. Yet all is well with their never-dying souls because they have made a decision and are living the best they can! But listen to Romans 5:19-21: “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. Moreover the law entered, that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound” Hear what the Holy Spirit is telling us: “As sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.” This is what I have been setting forth: that when God saves us, He breaks the reigning power of sin, and now grace reigns! How?- through righteousness, and not apart from righteousness; so by the grace of God we can walk in righteousness and true holiness. You see, my friend, this false gospel of carnal Christianity has so permeated our churches today that no one questions his interest in Christ, because he is told that the believer can still live in the flesh, sow to the flesh, and have hope of heaven when he dies. But this is a lie out of hell, for as we have shown you, God’s Word teaches differently. From the verses we have read in Romans 5, we see that when the law enters in convicting us of the awfulness, guiltiness and offensiveness of sin before God, then we find sin abounding and reigning in our hearts and lives, and cry out unto God for mercy. When God saves us in Christ, giving us His new nature and sending His Spirit to dwell in us, then His grace abounds and reigns in the heart and life of His redeemed child. Then Romans 6 opens with the question, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?” And the answer comes back in verse 2, “God forbid”-By no means, of course not! Heaven forbid, perish the thought!-for: “How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” If we have been delivered from the penalty and power of sin, shall we live any longer in it? No! For we have died to sin. Before we go any further, let us define the word “dead,” for “dead, died and death” are used 14 times here in Romans 6. And what does it mean? Physical death is spoken of in the Scriptures as the separation of the individual from his physical body, while spiritual death is spoken of as separation of the individual from the life of God in salvation. So the Holy Spirit is here telling us that we have died to sin once for all-we have been separated from sin as the reigning monarch of our lives-and that now the principle of grace reigns, and reigns as monarch. Therefore we walk in newness of life (v 4) with the power of sin broken, never again to come under its reigning power. Why? Because the power of grace does much more abound; therefore this is the true Gospel-the Gospel of the grace of God in Christ. “Well,” he asks, “since this principle of grace reigns, shall we then sin that grace may abound?” And again the answer is “God forbid!” For being what we are-justified, blood-washed and cleansed sinners-can we who are dead to sin live any longer therein? The answer is no, because as Titus 2:11,12 tells us, the grace of God which now reigns, teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world. The Fine Line of Demarcation But although we can see clearly here in these verses of Romans 5:20,21 and 6:1,2 that the true Christian, the true child of God, has died both to the guilt of sin and its penalty, and the power of sin and its reign in the human heart, yet it is on this fine line of demarcation that Christendom is divided today. For this is where the subtle work of Satan has come in with this carnal Christian teaching that says: “The moment a man makes a profession of faith in Christ, he is saved from the guilt and penalty of sin, but that the power of sin has not been broken, so of a necessity he will still live in sin and sin will still reign in his life.” And again I must raise my voice in protest, and proclaim what God’s Word teaches-that in salvation both the penalty of sin and the reign (or power) of sin is broken. Yes, a believer still has sin in the flesh, but it no longer rules or reigns over him as a master. If indeed he is a true child of God, he will say, “I have died to the reign of sin; sin no longer has dominion over me, for now the principle of grace and not sin reigns in my heart and life.” So again we see that this is what the power of the true Gospel of Christ does for us: it delivers us and sets us free in Christ. Please hear me. We are either under the reign of sin in Adam, therefore lost, or we are under the reign of grace in Christ, therefore saved and safe. There can be no middle ground of carnal Christianity! If the Holy Spirit, by His almighty power, has not brought us from under the reign of sin and its power, its realm of dominion, then we are lost and lost forever. But this is only negative; something else must be done. The same Holy Spirit must also bring us under the reign of grace, and this He does in salvation: for we know its power, its force, its might, and its dynamic influence upon our lives as it reigns in our hearts and lives through righteousness. I must warn you, my dear friend, be not deceived! If you sow to your flesh, you shall of your flesh reap corruption and eternal damnation; but if you sow to the Spirit, you shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting in Christ by His grace (Gal 6:6-8). Oh, be not deceived!
Posted on: Thu, 04 Jul 2013 00:31:55 +0000
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