Edelen uses Ephesians 2:8-10 to illustrate "two-halves" of the same Gospel.
v. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
He describes verses 8-9 as the half loved by the Elect.
They obsess about doctrine, detest even a whiff of works righteousness, and are enormously concerned with getting people saved. They got their marching orders at the Reformation and consider it the high point in modern history. And heaven help anyone who’s not in total agreement with them.
He contrasts that to verse 10 which is favored by the Fieldworkers.
They obsess about helping those in need, detest the hypocrisy of not walking the talk, and are enormously concerned with bettering the lives of everyone around them. They can’t point to any one point in time for their marching orders, but earnestly believe that we need a new Reformation. And heaven help anyone who’s not in total agreement with them.
Edelen then does a nice job of describing how each half can tend to "bash" the other half because of course, the other half's version of the Gospel falls short. The issue of course isn't that either side is wrong. It's that each side is in fact true, but they are half of the truth. He makes the following wonderful conclusion.
The whole Gospel contains both the power to raise the dead in spirit to spiritual life in the name of Jesus AND the power to tenderize the human heart toward the service of others in the name of Jesus.
The whole Gospel is the whole Gospel. If we’re not concerned with seeing people saved through hearing the message of salvation, maintaining the integrity of our doctrine, and preaching that we can’t earn our way to heaven, then we’re blowing it. If we’re not concerned about taking care of those in need, living out the love of Christ in practical ways, and fighting for the betterment of everyone we meet, then we’re blowing it.
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4 comments:
I realize what he was getting at but I have always rejected the "full gospel" moniker because it gives the wrong impression. The workmanship thing is post salvation so it has no place in a faith activated gospel, it is within a discipleship definition.
Lordship salvation must be approached with a delicate understanding that must truly split hairs. So I agree with his overall teaching but disagree with the full gospel title.
Rick - yes, and I think that's why Scripture uses just Gospel or Good News.
Many have come along with the new, artificial phrase Full Gospel simply to stand out against what many share, i.e., only part of the Good News. Still Good News but not all of it.
The phrase Full Gospel is redundant like born-again Christian, etc..
The problem is that in an effort to address the deficiency of one groups focus, one can find themselves also too narrowly focused.
Did James address this in his "faith without works" section? Either one alone is not proof of salvation.
Rick,
Thanks for the nod!
Henry,
One thing that people are not grasping here--and it crops up in your analysis of my post--is the relationship between "The Gospel For Us" and "The Gospel for Others." They are both the Gospel--it is largely a difference in vantage point. The problem is that the Elect focus on the "For Us" while the Fieldworks focus on "For Others."
I hope this explains the distinction. Folks trapped on one side or the other find this very hard to understand; their point of view is solely their own and not the big picture. It's a bit like being in the Northern Hemisphere and calling someone in the Southern blind because they can't see northern constellations like Ursa Minor.
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