Easter: The Social Gospel - Losing Sight of the First Purpose of Jesus' Saving Work

Jesus came to deliver His people from their sins. 

• He would deliver them not merely from earthly powers but from spiritual powers, 
• which held them in bondage to sin and to death.

There is still a need to emphasize this today in light of the preaching of what is called the Social Gospel. 

• It preaches Jesus as the Savior of society life. 
• It teaches that Jesus is the Man who came to free men from racial discrimination and inequality. 

He is the Man, for example, who would fight against apartheid as it existed in South Africa, 

• just as He broke down the barrier of hostility between Jews and Samaritans 
• when He spoke with the Samaritan woman at the well. 

The Social Gospel teaches that Christ came to deliver men, 

• not from their sin but from their misery. 
• He came to help the sick and the oppressed, the poor and the hungry.

While it is true that Jesus also saves us from the misery of sin, 

• He could do so only after He had delivered us from our sin. 
• For the cause of our misery is sin. 
• Only when sin is removed can the misery of life be removed. 
• Thus the first purpose of Jesus’ work was to deliver us from our sins.

We, too, must be careful not to lose sight of the first purpose of Jesus’ saving work. 

• Our prayers for deliverance from the misery of life are often more ardent than our prayers for deliverance from our sins. 
• When we experience illness or wasting disease, we pray with great fervor for deliverance from them. 
• Yet how often is our prayer for the forgiveness of sins not just a “one-liner” at the end of our prayer? 

We, too, can easily overlook the great need for salvation from sin, 

• and focus our faith on Jesus as the One who redeems us from our misery. 
• Christ saves us from both, our sins and our misery, 
• but in the first place He saves us from our sins.

To be continued...

Adapted Excerpt From

Only By True Faith

A. VanDelden