The Authentic Gospel

We are living in a time where the world is a global village, and the internet gives everyone a platform to preach their version of the Gospel.

It has never been more critical for followers of Christ to have the Word of God written on our hearts and the Spirit of God living inside of us, enabling us to discern correctly, because it is so easy to be taken in by that which is false. Paul says, in Galatians 1:8-9, “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!”  

The only way to know the truth is to have it living on the inside of you. If we do not know the truth of the Gospel ourselves, if we do not read the Bible and do not know what the Word says, we will be fooled by something that sounds like the truth but is a false representation of the Kingdom.

A False gospel versus the True Gospel

There are many variations of a prosperity gospel in the earth today, which focus on the accumulation of private or personal wealth and which people justify in various ways. The Gospel gets cloaked as a process of self-actualization, which focuses people on what they can receive if they follow Jesus and dissociates personal discomfort from being a valid process of God. If we follow Jesus only for what we can get from Him, we are no better than spiritual gold diggers.

The true message of the Gospel is not about what we can get, but about prioritizing the establishment of the Kingdom of God in our hearts and lives. This often involves a great deal of discomfort, as the Kingdom challenges every human-caused tradition and demonic structure that operates in our hearts. It is concerned with what we are willing to lay down and lose to follow Christ and what we will submit to God. Our talents, our giftings, everything that we have and are, and our very lives must be laid down at the cross so that God’s purpose and His will can be fulfilled in our lives. (Luke 9:23-27)

What is true versus the truth?

Sometimes the misalignment is exceptionally fine, and it requires knowledge of the Word of God and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to discern it. All Scripture is true. 2 Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness,” however, the context in which Scripture is presented and communicated can be a false representation of the truth of the Gospel.

What do I mean by this? If we take the Scriptures concerning the ability to create wealth and God’s blessings and wrap it up in a message that says that God wants us to be wealthy, that blessing equals material wealth, and that we must become millionaires for personal enrichment, then what is true is being used to misrepresent the truth of the Gospel.

Our focus must be on seeking and establishing the Kingdom—God’s rule, authority, and dominion—in our hearts and lives and on being obedient to His command. This will bring us into alignment with, and under the authority of, His Word, which is then activated in our lives. When we walk in obedience, provision will follow. (Matthew 6:25-34)

We must receive the truth of the Gospel, not perverted messages that appeal to greed and self-interest. Our goals in life and in business should never be to lay up treasure for ourselves on this earth but to lay up eternal treasure in heaven. (Matthew 6:19-21)

Heavenly treasure is the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 13:44-46). This means that God’s dominion, His rule, and His sovereignty must be established in our lives and evidenced in our businesses so that we live out Kingdom principles of justice, mercy, righteousness, humility, honesty, and integrity (to name but a few).

Kingdom business—stewardship in the marketplace

When our hearts have been recalibrated, are aligned to God’s purpose, and are fully submitted to His rule, our businesses can move forward because, with that recalibration, comes the knowledge that all resources belong to God and are released to us to steward towards the fulfillment of God’s purposes. Being obedient to God means that we will be able to walk away from it if He commands us to do so, because we do not have a sense of entitlement to God’s resources, and our identities are not tied to, or vested in, it.

We are citizens of the Kingdom first, before we are business owners in the marketplace.

Do you want to learn more about the Kingdom of God?

Work through our new Bible study. Citizens of the Kingdom is a call to live fully aligned with Heaven’s values. Discover what it means to walk in purity, obey without compromise, and carry your cross as a true citizen of God’s Kingdom.

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