Gospel Theology : Part 2

Gospel Theology: Why is Correct Theology Important for Salvation?” II Timothy 3:10 – 4:5             A number of years ago, a strange situation developed on a farm in New Zealand. Without warning, a farmer’s cows began to get sick and die. The illness was a mystery. The farmer had never experienced anything like it before, so he called in the health inspectors. They tested the farm’s water supply and conducted other environmental tests. During the testing, even more cows got sick and died. Soon almost his entire herd of 100 cows was sick.             When the test results came back from the lab, the lead readings were off the chart. An autopsy of one of the dead cows revealed the cause. The cows had lead poisoning and the remainder of the herd was slaughtered! The farmer was baffled.             A rifle range was next to the farm. Over time, hundreds of stray bullets had landed in the adjacent farmland. They inadvertently got mixed in with the grass that was made into hay, which was then fed to the cows. The tiny pieces of lead, some too small to see with the naked eye, had poisoned the cows.             False teaching can have a similar impact on a believer that lead poisoning had on that herd of cows. Over time, exposure to wrong teaching produces wrong thoughts about the character of God and His relationship with His people. This produces carelessness in our understanding of who He is and what He expects of us as His followers. That ultimately leads to spiritual death, which is alienation from Jesus Christ. For this reason, all Christ-followers should pay careful attention to what we are being fed. If we don’t know God’s Word ourselves, we won’t be able to discern if fragments of poison are part of our regular spiritual and intellectual intake.             The importance of teaching sound theology and doctrine can’t be overstated. This is particularly important for those involved in Bible teaching or missionary work. Too many professing Christians today think that being politically correct is more important than standing up for truth, even the truth of God’s Word.             You’ve heard the old saying, “You are what you eat.” If it’s true that what we put into our bodies affects our health and well-being, how much more important is it that we are careful about what we “consume” intellectually and spiritually?             Jesus said in Luke 6:45 “The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” You and I don’t live out of what we say we believe; we live out of what we actually believe! The things we believe about God affect the choices we make in life. And Scripture makes it clear that choices determine destiny. Wrong beliefs result in wrong choices. That’s why correct belief is so important!              As part of our introduction, we need at least a brief look at the terms we’re using in our title, “Gospel Theology; Why is Correct Theology Important for Salvation?” What is the Gospel? You might answer “the Good News.” OK, but the good news about what? That I can have a better life if I accept Jesus; that I can have a personal relationship with Him; or I get to go to heaven when I die? Those things are true, but they aren’t the heart of the Gospel.             The gospel is called the ‘good news’ because it addresses the most serious problem that you and I have as human beings. Here’s the problem: