[The Lord] said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant…I am the only one left…” The Lord said to him… “I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and all whose mouths have not kissed him.” (1 Kings 19:13–15, 18, NIV 1984).
My Musings – With the continued decline of the influence of “true” Christianity and increased rejection of the genuineness of the Gospel of Christ by our culture, it may seem at times that there are so few of us left. For, “the Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.” (1 Timothy 4:1, NIV 1984). Yet God still reserves a remnant, “all whose knees have not bowed down to [cultural influences] and all whose mouths have not kissed [a watered-down Christian faith].” A remnant that I suspect is larger than we realize.
What does it look like to “abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons?” Paul states it very succinctly. “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!” (Galatians 1:6–8, NIV 1984).
And what was the gospel that Paul preached? “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born… this is what we preach.” (1 Corinthians 15:3-8, 11, NIV 1984).
My Advice – Are you being drawn to “a different gospel” than Christ crucified for our sins and then triumphantly rose again? There is no other gospel that can save. Only “deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.”
Listen to God’s counsel to Elijah. “What are you doing here, Elijah? Go back the way you came.” (1 Kings 19:13, 15, NIV 1984). The way the cross and the empty tomb, “called you by the grace of Christ.” He’s still calling, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6, NIV 1984). “Whoever believes in [Me] shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16, NIV 1984). “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works [or a different gospel], so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8–9, NIV 1984).
A “different gospel…is really no gospel at all.” “‘Return to me, and I will return to you,’ says the Lord Almighty.” (Malachi 3:7, NIV 1984).
The Brew Is A Musing 