Guard The Gospel

Guard The Gospel
(Excerpt from "What is a healthy Church Member by Thabiti M. Anyabwile"
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Finally , a healthy church member takes seriously the responsibility of guarding the gospel from corruption and abandonment. The New Testament seems to place this responsibility ultimately in the congregation rather than on the pastors alone. When the churches at Galatia were unsettled by false teachers who were trying to add circumcision to the demands of the gospel , the apostle Paul wrote not to the pastors and elder but to the churches themselves. He addressed the membership and called them to guard the gospel he had preached to them. His instruction is strong:

Galatians 1:8-9
New Living Translation (NLT)
8 Let God’s curse fall on anyone, including us or even an angel from heaven, who preaches a different kind of Good News than the one we preached to you. 9 I say again what we have said before: If anyone preaches any other Good News than the one you welcomed, let that person be cursed.

The Galatians, indeed all Christian Church Members, are to be careful concerning what they entertain in gospel preaching. The apostle John warns his reader that "If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked work" (2 John 10-11). Peter reminds his readers that those who follow the "Shameful ways" of false teachers cause "the way of truth to be blasphemed" (2 Peter 2:2). So it is understandable, then, that Judes exhorts his audience to "contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints" (Jude 3). The healthy church and church member fight for and protect the apostolic gospel delivered and preserved in the pages of scripture. When we don't accept that responsibility and are not vigilant in understanding and applying the gospel, we leave it to be corrupted, abused, and abondoned by unscrupulous teachers and the forces of the evil one.