The Truth to Fight For

The Truth to Fight For | Devotional

But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.

Galatians 1:8

It may not always be easy to determine whether a disagreement is merely petty or truly weighty, but a careful, thoughtful application of biblical wisdom will usually settle whatever questions we may have about the relative importance of any given truth.

Scripture makes clear, for example, that we must take a zero-tolerance stance toward anyone who would tamper with or alter the gospel message (Gal. 1:8–9). And anyone who denies the deity of Christ or substantially departs from His teaching is not to be welcomed into our fellowship or given any kind of blessing (2 John 7–11).

The principle is clear: the closer any given doctrine is to the heart of the gospel, the core of sound Christology, or the fundamental teachings of Christ, the more diligently we ought to be on guard against perversions of the truth—and the more aggressively we need to fight the error and defend sound doctrine.

Differentiating between truly essential and merely peripheral spiritual truths does require great care and discernment. The distinction is not always immediately obvious. But it is not nearly as difficult to draw that line as some people today pretend it is.

Scripture suggests that the gospel is the best gauge for determining the true essentials of Christianity. Misconstrue the gospel or adapt it to suit a particular subculture’s preferences and the inevitable result will be a religion of works and a system that breeds self-righteousness.

That is exactly what Jesus’ conflict with the Pharisees was all about.
Where in your life can you defend the gospel against claims that compete with it?