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by Chris Faria
For some godless people have slipped in unnoticed among us, persons who distort the
message about the grace of our God in order to excuse their immoral ways, and who reject
Jesus Christ, our only Master and Lord. Long ago the Scriptures predicted the condemnation
they have received. (Jude 4)
Every holiday season the con men seem to come out of the
corners and work the malls. One of the old dodges is called a gypsy switch. A man
approaches a customer in the mall and claims to have found a box of money. He shows you
the large wad of bills as "proof" and says that since he has had some trouble in
the past he is afraid to go to the police about it. So he invites you to share it with him
but you have to give some sort of proof that you won't run off with the box. So you go and
get some of your cash (!). He puts it together with his and asks you to hold it while he
goes to get the box out of his car…but he never returns. You are left holding an
envelope that is now only full of newspaper clippings and a few bills. Though the switch
is old, the con is older. It was going on in Jude's day.
It wasn't long before some enterprising individuals saw the early church as a target
for scamming people. They would swoop in and swoop out before the going got tough. Jude
urged the believers to contend for the faith because these conscience-less people would
slither in and "distort," (Literally "switch" the message of the
Gospel for one that was less convicting and excused their behavior. Though we'll talk more
at length later about their condemnation mentioned in verse 4, suffice it to say that it
didn't catch God unawares. But there's one idea I want to focus on in verse 4:
"…persons who distort the message about the grace of our God…" This
means that we must understand the basic message of the gospel.
Scan some of the gospel presentations and you will find that they are "us"
centered to the point that Jesus becomes nothing more than a holy psychiatrist. In other
presentations you find a curious flaw- they leave out the resurrection. The message of the
grace of God is so simple: Christ died in our place on the cross and rose again from the
dead. Believing in him as our substitute and savior (Jn 5:24; Eph 2:8, 9) transfers us
from being enemies of God to children of God by faith (Jn. 1:12; Rom.5:1). Nothing,
absolutely nothing can be added to the work of Jesus Christ. You're as saved as you're
ever going to be. Anything else is to do a gypsy switch on the message of the gospel.
If you were to "look in your pocket," of gospel presentations would you find
that what you are able to present is less than ideal? Don't have one? Let me commend to
you the following scriptures, that you write them on your heart for when you do have the
opportunity to present your savior: Romans 3:23; Rom.6:23, Ephesians 2:8, 9; John 1:12; Jn
5:24; Eph. 2:1-10. That's enough to keep you on the right track and never having the
gospel switched on you.
Grace and Grins is an electronic devotional written by Christopher A.
Faria (see disclaimer below). All Bible quotations are from the New American
Standard Version, İİ1999 Lockman Foundation and used by permission. To subscribe/unsubscribe to Grace and Grins email: gracengrins-subscribe@listbot.com
Disclaimer: Grace and Grins is an electronic devotional by
Chaplain Christopher A. Faria and is not endorsed by the United States Government, the US
Army, or the Army Chaplaincy. |
