Marcion's 'Nicey-Nice Gospel'
The Old Testament tells us that God will not destroy the world again by a flood (Genesis 9:11). But the unprecedented heat waves and fires around the world signal something else to us. The New Testament says it will be by fire next time. Look what just happened: The Gulf Of Mexico Was On Fire. In the New Testament we read –
"Knowing this first, that in the last days mockers will come, walking after their own lusts, and saying, 'Where is the promise of his coming? For, from the day that the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.' For this they willfully forget, that there were heavens from of old, and an earth formed out of water and amid water, by the Word of God; by which means the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished. But the heavens that now are, and the earth, by the same Word have been stored up for fire, being reserved against the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. But don't forget this one thing, beloved, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
"The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some count slowness; but is patient with us, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore since all these things are thus to be destroyed, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy living and godliness, looking for and earnestly desiring the coming of the day of God, by reason of which the heavens being on fire will be dissolved, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? But, according to his promise, we look for new heavens and a new earth, in which dwells righteousness" (2 Pet. 3:3-13).
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit! Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
Most people refuse to believe that the world as we know it will come to a fiery end. People would rather believe in a "Nicey-Nice Gospel" that tells us everything will turn out just fine, that a loving God would never punish His creatures, and that everything will continue just as in the past. The idea that the Old Testament God was harsh and judgmental, but the God of the New Testament is an all-loving God who would never do such a thing is called "Marcionism," named after a second-century heretic called Marcion. According to the New World Encyclopedia –
"The basic premise of Marcionism is that many of the teachings of Christ are incompatible with the actions of Yahweh, the God of the Old Testament. Tertullian claimed Marcion was the first to separate the New Testament from the Old Testament. Focusing on the Pauline traditions of the Gospel, Marcion felt that all other conceptions of the Gospel were opposed to the truth. He regarded Paul's arguments of law and gospel, wrath and grace, works and faith, flesh and spirit, sin and righteousness and death and life as the essence of religious truth. He ascribed these aspects and characteristics as two principles: the righteous and wrathful God of the Old Testament, the creator of the world, and a second God of the Gospel who is purely love and mercy and who was revealed by Jesus. ... His canon consisted of 11 books: his own version of the Gospel of Luke, and ten of Paul's epistles. All other epistles and gospels of the New Testament were rejected. Marcion declared that Christianity was distinct from and in opposition to Judaism. He rejected the entire Hebrew Bible, and declared that the God of the Hebrew Bible was a lesser demiurge, who had created the earth, but was (de facto) the source of evil."
So Marcion rejected the Old Testament and sliced-and-diced the New Testament to his own liking, inventing a nicey-nice god. But see Revelation 16:5-11 –
"I heard the angel of the waters saying, 'You are righteous, who are and who were, You Holy One, because You have judged these things. For they poured out the blood of the saints and the prophets, and You have given them blood to drink. They deserve this.' I heard another from the altar saying, 'Yes, Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments.' The fourth poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was given to him to scorch men with fire. People were scorched with great heat, and people blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues. They didn't repent and give Him glory. The fifth poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was darkened. They gnawed their tongues because of the pain, and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores. They didn't repent of their works."
In response to the idea of scorching people with fire, you might think that they would repent. But rather than repenting, they chose to blame God: "I don't deserve this! It's not fair! How could a loving, merciful God let this happen to me? He must not be a god of love, but an evil, angry god." Imagine that! People reject the God of love and justice, accusing Him of doing evil, not accepting responsibility for their own misbehavior. To believe that God is only an all-loving God is to make Him into a demi-god, something less than Almighty God. But the one true God is a perfect combination of mercy and truth, justice and peace – "Mercy and truth meet together. Righteousness and peace have kissed each other" (Psalm 85:10). The angel was perfectly correct in saying to God – You are righteous."
To project our own faults and guilt onto God is to make Him the author of sin. In the same way, to say that we are totally depraved and guilty of Adam's sin is to shift the blame and responsibility for our sinning onto Adam and ultimately onto God for making Adam and us the way He did. But the first chapter of the Bible states – "God created man in His own image. In God's image He created him; male and female He created them. ... God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good" (Genesis 1:27 and 31a). Originally, all mankind was "very good" because as male and female we were created in the image of the all-good God. But today, many people are trying to erase these distinctions, insisting you can believe, be, and do whatever you want: see my 2015 essay WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE, AND WHAT WILL YOU DO?
To say that God is the author of sin is blasphemy, plain and simple. To excuse our own sins by saying – "That's the way God made me" is blaspheming the name and character of God. To believe that God willy-nilly rolls the dice and randomly says to the vast majority of mankind – "You're predestined to perish in eternal fire", but tells the lucky few – "You are preordained to live in heavenly bliss forever" is to make God into a pagan demi-god of fatalism and fortune, a genie we can manipulate by our incantations. How could this notion have come about?
Frequently I mention St. Jerome's Latin Vulgate mistranslation of Romans 5:12 – "Therefore, as sin entered into the world through one man, and death through sin; and so death passed to all men, [for] in him all sinned." See how this shifts the blame from us onto Adam (and Eve), and ultimately onto God? It conveniently lets us say – "That's just how I am, I can't help it, God made me this way!" It is a refusal to accept responsibility for our own sins. The correct translation of Romans 5:12 from the original Greek is – "Therefore, as sin entered into the world through one man, and death through sin; and so death passed to all men, in that all sinned." One little pronoun – "him" versus "that" – made a huge difference: this was the key verse upon which St. Augustine misinterpreted Romans 8:28-30 and many other passages related to "predestination" and "the elect."
Why do I keep coming back to this topic? Why is it such a big deal? It's because you've never met an Augustinian or Calvinist who doesn't believe that he's one of the elect, predestined for eternal bliss. Human nature leads us us believe that everything will turn out just fine, that we will win the lottery, that we will live forever and that nothing bad will ever happen to us because we're special. Life on earth and the whole universe will simply keep going on and on happily ever after.
But we know now that the universe had a beginning with the "Big Bang" about 13.5 billion years ago. Although the universe is very, very big, it can be measured in terms of time: billions of years, and space: light-years of distance, which tells us that it is finite. It had a beginning and it will have an end, it's not infinite. Only God is infinite and immortal. A real, "full-Gospel" Christian is one who doesn't shift the blame onto Adam or God, but accepts responsibility for his sins by humbly and continually praying – "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, have mercy on me, a sinner!" And He will.
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit! Christ is among us! He is and ever shall be!
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