I know that there is but One Gospel, it is the gospel that Peter, Paul and the rest of the Apostles preached, and there have not been any Authorized Revisions since. The New Birth, which includes both water and spirit, the death, burial and the resurrection of Jesus, repentance of sin, holy living, crucifying of our flesh all follow in the wake of the Gospel.

The Good News for men is that God has been willing to pay our debt on the Cross, then offer us the opportunity to repent, wash away sins in baptism and then fill each of us with His Holy Spirit . That is the Gospel according to God and His Word. The problem lies with the church, for the World usually doesn’t attend church, nor read the Bible, but they do read our lives–very carefully and daily. So the issue must be clear; what is the Gospel that is being preached, lived and shown, according to me? Can a lost world look at our actions, attitudes and attire and get the right message from us? I know many of us can point to various verses to defend our doctrinal positions, but I would like to go beyond that–am I living the Word, am I am displaying doctrine with the way I conduct my business, can my word and promises be trusted? For the Lost must be shown truth in our lives first, if they are going to believe the Bible.

We must be Living Epistles, seen and read of men. We cannot live two lives, dress two ways, lest we become pretenders of the worst kind–being deceived and then by deceiving ourselves. Paul wrote that we are to be manifestly declared to be the Epistle of Christ; can we answer this in honesty and conviction? May God help all of us not to add to the confusion of the Lost World by preaching a False Doctrine.

Copyright – 2004 J.W. Arnold