What do you do when the Gospel is at stake? What do you do when the truth of the Word of God is being maligned and undermined? What do you do when you witness compromise and worse?
All this is not new although we are living in a day when the Bible is being marginalised and side tracked and even overlooked and ignored as far as saving faith is involved.
Let's turn to the letter to the Galatians. My desire and plan is to write on the 'Fruit of the Spirit' but an introduction to the letter might be advantageous for some.
What an amazing letter this is, as it deals with some of the real problems which are presently facing the Church of Jesus Christ.
Paul is writing to believers - to disciples of Jesus. He is writing to men and women who have tasted something of the Mercy and Love and Forgiveness of Jesus Christ, and of the Power of the Holy Spirit. But, they were deserting God, and they were falling back into what we call legalism.
They had been bewitched. We read of that at the beginning of Chapter 3. They were turning away from the Cross of Jesus Christ, and having begun in the Spirit, and having begun in the power of the Holy Spirit, they were now relying upon works of the flesh, and what they could do.
This is a problem we face in Scotland. How often do we hear something like - "O, if anybody deserved to get to heaven he did, or she did. He never did anyone any harm. He never had an enemy in the whole world. (You could not even say that about Jesus!) I have always just tried to do my best."
You only have to read some of these 'In Memoriam' in the newspapers. That is what some people believe. That is what some people are relying upon.
Where did people get that type of thinking? Was it from the Church? Possibly! Was it from former types of teaching in Sunday Schools? More than likely!
We must do all we can to make it clear to people - that is NOT the Gospel - and that is what Paul is dealing with here. In this letter it is the authority and authenticity of the Gospel of Jesus Christ which is at stake.
This letter is written to churches in Galatia - part of modern Turkey - and it is being written in a time of upheaval and confusion, when certain false teachers had been misleading these believers, and even raising real questions about the validity of the ministry of Paul!
That is partly why he begins - from Paul - an apostle - a man of God who has been sent by God - not from men - but by Jesus Christ and God the Father.
Were his credentials under question? It would appear so. It would appear that some were saying that Paul had no special divine appointment and calling - so you do not need to pay too much attention to his message. It is so subtle. And this is what we are facing today.
The Church of Jesus Christ has never had to face a period when the authority of the Bible has been so undermined. There have always been immoral people in the Church - at all levels - but not even these immoral leaders dared deny the authority of the Word of God.
Sandy Shaw is Pastor of Nairn Christian Fellowship, Chaplain at Inverness Prison, and Nairn Academy, and serves on The Children's Panel in Scotland, and has travelled extensively over these past years teaching, speaking, in America, Canada, South Africa, Australia, making 12 visits to Israel conducting Tours and Pilgrimages, and most recently in Uganda and Kenya, ministering at Pastors and Leaders Seminars, in the poor areas surrounding Kampala, Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu.
He broadcasts regularly on WSHO radio out of New Orleans, and writes a weekly commentary at http://www.studylight.org entitled "Word from Scotland" on various biblical themes, as well as a weekly newspaper column.
His M.A. and B.D. degrees are from The University of Edinburgh, and he continues to run and exercise regularly to maintain a level of physical fitness.
By Sandy Shaw
Article Source: What Do You Do When the Truth of the Gospel Is at Stake? You Have to Speak Out - He Did!
All this is not new although we are living in a day when the Bible is being marginalised and side tracked and even overlooked and ignored as far as saving faith is involved.
Let's turn to the letter to the Galatians. My desire and plan is to write on the 'Fruit of the Spirit' but an introduction to the letter might be advantageous for some.
What an amazing letter this is, as it deals with some of the real problems which are presently facing the Church of Jesus Christ.
Paul is writing to believers - to disciples of Jesus. He is writing to men and women who have tasted something of the Mercy and Love and Forgiveness of Jesus Christ, and of the Power of the Holy Spirit. But, they were deserting God, and they were falling back into what we call legalism.
They had been bewitched. We read of that at the beginning of Chapter 3. They were turning away from the Cross of Jesus Christ, and having begun in the Spirit, and having begun in the power of the Holy Spirit, they were now relying upon works of the flesh, and what they could do.
This is a problem we face in Scotland. How often do we hear something like - "O, if anybody deserved to get to heaven he did, or she did. He never did anyone any harm. He never had an enemy in the whole world. (You could not even say that about Jesus!) I have always just tried to do my best."
You only have to read some of these 'In Memoriam' in the newspapers. That is what some people believe. That is what some people are relying upon.
Where did people get that type of thinking? Was it from the Church? Possibly! Was it from former types of teaching in Sunday Schools? More than likely!
We must do all we can to make it clear to people - that is NOT the Gospel - and that is what Paul is dealing with here. In this letter it is the authority and authenticity of the Gospel of Jesus Christ which is at stake.
This letter is written to churches in Galatia - part of modern Turkey - and it is being written in a time of upheaval and confusion, when certain false teachers had been misleading these believers, and even raising real questions about the validity of the ministry of Paul!
That is partly why he begins - from Paul - an apostle - a man of God who has been sent by God - not from men - but by Jesus Christ and God the Father.
Were his credentials under question? It would appear so. It would appear that some were saying that Paul had no special divine appointment and calling - so you do not need to pay too much attention to his message. It is so subtle. And this is what we are facing today.
The Church of Jesus Christ has never had to face a period when the authority of the Bible has been so undermined. There have always been immoral people in the Church - at all levels - but not even these immoral leaders dared deny the authority of the Word of God.
Sandy Shaw is Pastor of Nairn Christian Fellowship, Chaplain at Inverness Prison, and Nairn Academy, and serves on The Children's Panel in Scotland, and has travelled extensively over these past years teaching, speaking, in America, Canada, South Africa, Australia, making 12 visits to Israel conducting Tours and Pilgrimages, and most recently in Uganda and Kenya, ministering at Pastors and Leaders Seminars, in the poor areas surrounding Kampala, Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu.
He broadcasts regularly on WSHO radio out of New Orleans, and writes a weekly commentary at http://www.studylight.org entitled "Word from Scotland" on various biblical themes, as well as a weekly newspaper column.
His M.A. and B.D. degrees are from The University of Edinburgh, and he continues to run and exercise regularly to maintain a level of physical fitness.
By Sandy Shaw
Article Source: What Do You Do When the Truth of the Gospel Is at Stake? You Have to Speak Out - He Did!
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