The Heresy of the Gospel
Nearly every teacher who espouses the pure Gospel unadulterated by the traditions, rules, rites, and rituals, of religion has been labeled a heretic at one time or another. I have personally experienced this kind of persecution, though no one called me that name directly. Rather they made it clear that what I was teaching was unwelcome and needed to stop. I am a very easy-going person, so I stopped, left the fellowship, dusted off my shoes, and started a fellowship in my home.
Family is perhaps the most difficult audience for any of us. Jesus faced this as we see here, “Is this not the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are His sisters not here with us?” And they took offense at Him. Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not dishonored except in his hometown and among his own relatives, and in his own household.” And He could not do any miracle there except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. And He was amazed at their unbelief. And He was going around the villages teaching.” (Mark 6:3–6, NASB 2020)
As my wife and I first began to see the pure and unadulterated Gospel, we asked ourselves a thousand times whether we had begun to believe heresy. It all seemed too good to be true. We WANTED it to be true! It brought joy to our hearts. It seemed to glorify the Lord Jesus far more than anything we had heard before. Still, we questioned this new revelation very deeply. It was scary.
Ultimately, we found that when we searched the Scriptures to see if these things were true, we found that the Scriptures affirmed these beliefs.
I would encourage each of you to do the same. Be like the believers in Berea who checked out the things Paul was teaching to see if they were consistent with the whole of Scripture. That is the only truly trustworthy way to know if what we believe is heresy or not. The Holy Spirit confirms the Truth, and rejects heresies, lies and errors.
According to Oxford Languages, the definition of a heretic is "a person believing in or practicing religious heresy" or "a person holding an opinion at odds with what is generally accepted." They give this example, "the Vatican branded Galileo a heretic for saying the Earth revolved around the sun."
So, by that definition, I am a heretic too, and I'm OK with that because the Scriptures agree with me.
The real issue is the Lord Jesus. If Jesus is being glorified, then we can all agree. If the good news that salvation is by grace through faith is being taught, then we can agree on that. The fact that many (maybe even most) churches teach a mixture of rules. Rites, and rituals and grace. Such teaching indicates that salvation is by grace and not of works, but works are sort of, kind of, needed to keep us on good terms with God. This is a very serious error, but it need not divide us completely. If anyone trusts Jesus as their hope, then that person is His child, and He is working to bring them where they need to be.
Ultimately, relationship is far more important than theological agreement. If someone cannot see the truth, just continue to Love them. Don't push particular doctrines upon them. Instead, let them see the compassion of Christ in you. Trust that Holy Spirit is working to awaken all His children to the true and unadulterated Gospel.
Romans 14 talks about this sort of issue. It's focused on a problem from that period of time (food sacrificed to idols) but the principles are applicable to us today.
