Examples of misinterpretation of the scriptures.
“Now may the God of endurance and comfort give you unity with one another in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 15:5 – 6, NET. Paul preached the gospel from Jerusalem to Illyricum. The weak in faith opposed the gospel Paul preached. They employed simple and seemingly innocuous words with disingenuous sophistication to misrepresent the gospel Paul preached. In an obscured way, they presented a different foundation of the Christian faith. Their foundation had a subtle but dangerous compromise between essential truths and man-made teachings.
Some of the heresies promoted in first-century Christianity are taking a new hold in the community of believers. Unfortunately, these heresies are promoted by members who have not died to themselves. They did not experience the new birth. Accordingly, they promote the unscriptural mixture of “I plus Christ.” A few examples of misrepresentation of the objective truths of the gospel are:
-Jesus made our new standing in the eyes of God available to those who seek it. This is the claim by those who have not crucified themselves with Christ.
-The truth is God has, through the body of Jesus Christ on the cross at Golgotha, accomplished everything we need for our standing as justified, sanctified, and glorified children of God in Jesus Christ. Our new and irrevocable standing before God becomes our daily experience when we trust God and Jesus Christ that “It is done.” No matter how hard they tried, sinners could not seek a new standing before God.
-Some Christians claim that Jesus Christ made our salvation only possible through his body on the cross at Golgotha. And now, sinners must repent and live according to the written code, the Ten Commandments. Only then, they claim, could sinners hope for a possibility of salvation.
-However, this is a glaring perversion of the objective truth of the gospel. Jesus came into the world as a Savior of all humanity, not only the repentant ones. John 12:47; 1 John 4:14. Jesus came to save the sinners, not the self-righteous ones. 1 Timothy 1:15. Only those who are justified by the faithfulness of Jesus Christ could repent because the goodness of God leads to repentance. Romans 2:4.
“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe in him, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13, NET
