The Truth of the Gospel

For several years, there's been a lot of talk about "the truth of the gospel."  Calvinists (Piper, Chandler, et al.) have written several best-sellers defending "justification by faith" as the truth of the gospel.  So, they spend a lot of time in their sermons reminding us of our sins and how God has forgiven us through faith in Jesus Christ.  We didn't do anything to "earn" our salvation.  It is the work of our sovereign God.  He saved us, and that should inspire us to worship Him.  In fact, many of the praise songs we sing emphasize the divine transaction of salvation.  We were lost.  God reached down to save us.  That is the truth of the gospel.  That is what we sing; that is what we hear.  Over and over again the mantra is repeated:  we were once lousy sinners.  We couldn't do anything to save ourselves.  God sent his Son to do for us what we couldn't do for ourselves.  And, since Calvinists believe God chose us individually, sending His Spirit to enable us to believe the gospel, even our faith is a gift from God.  Not even trusting in Christ is something that we do.  It's all God.  Therefore, the truth of the gospel centers exclusively on what God has done for us:  justification by faith.  As long as we get that right (the vertical), we're defending the gospel.

But Paul argued that "the truth of the gospel" was more than getting the "vertical" relationship with God right.  He claimed there is a horizontal dimension to the gospel.  How we treat one another matters when it comes to the "truth of the gospel"--something he tried to get the Galatians to see (Gal. 2:1-14).  When "false brothers sneaked in to spy out our liberty in Christ," Paul said he didn't yield to them "for even an hour so that the truth of the gospel might remain with you" (v. 5).  Later, Paul accused Cephas (Peter), Barnabas, and the rest of the Jewish Christians who refused to eat with Gentile believers of hypocrisy because they were "not walking straight concerning the truth of the gospel" (v. 14).  Notice, the argument wasn't over some theological wrangling about "justification by faith."  The issue was a social problem:  who eats with whom.  As far as Paul was concerned, the truth of the gospel had as much to do with how we treat one another at the table as our personal relationship with God.  Indeed, for Paul, the truth of the gospel is a social reality grounded in theological truth.  Justification by faith not only happens vertically (our relationship with God) but also horizontally (our relationship with each other).  In fact, when Paul gets in Peter's face, he argues that "superior" Christians can't claim they are justified by faith when they separate themselves from the "sinners" (vv. 15-21).  For them, the cross is merely a divine transaction, the place where sin is cancelled--something done for them.  For Paul, the cross also requires our participation, the divine way of death that leads to life--something we do.  The cross was not only done for us; it is also done to us and through us.  That is the truth of the gospel.

So, listen up crusaders, zealots, loyal members of self-sequestered theological clubs and secret societies:  you're not defending the "truth of the gospel" when you alienate your brother and sister in Christ.  In fact, according to Paul (the one you call your "beloved brother"), you prove you're not even justified by faith.